Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
When knowledge becomes information: a case of mistaken identity

We discuss research conducted by the authors in a large financial services firm. The purpose of the research was to examine issues relating to the use of a research database (RDB), designed primarily to provide market information to clients. While the RDB is considered successful in terms of report production, it has created many problems. Analysts resist its use, do not feel ownership of their data once it had been loaded, feel alienated from the report generation process and generally have negative attitudes rewards it. We examine these issues and argue that the lack of a clear theoretical understanding and distinction between data, information and knowledge contributed to their inability to recognise that the RDB is nor a typical information system but should be conceptualized more holistically as an expert knowledge system.
Niflumic acid modulates uncoupled substrate‐gated conductances in the human glutamate transporter EAAT4

1 The effects of niflumic acid on the substrate‐gated currents mediated by the glutamate transporter EAAT4 expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes were examined using radiolabelled substrate flux measurements and two‐electrode voltage clamp techniques. 2 Niflumic acid significantly enhanced the substrate‐gated currents in EAAT4, without affecting the affinity of the substrates towards EAAT4. At a concentration of 300 μm, niflumic acid caused a 19 ± 5 % reduction in l‐[3H]glutamate uptake and no significant effect on the uptake of dl‐[3H]aspartate. Thus, enhancement of the substrate‐gated currents in EAAT4 does not correlate with the rate of substrate transport and suggests that the niflumic acid‐induced currents are not thermodynamically coupled to the transport of substrate. 3 Niflumic acid and arachidonic acid co‐applied with substrate to EAAT4‐expressing oocytes had similar functional consequences. However, niflumic acid still enhanced the l‐glutamate‐gated current to the same extent in the presence and absence of a saturating dose of arachidonic acid, which suggests that the sites of action of the two compounds are distinct. 4 The EAAT4‐mediated currents for the two substrates, l‐glutamate and l‐aspartate, were not enhanced equally by addition of the same dose of niflumic acid and the ionic composition of the niflumic acid‐induced currents was not the same for the two substrates. Protons carry the l‐glutamate‐gated niflumic acid‐induced current and both protons and chloride ions carry the l‐aspartate‐gated niflumic acid‐induced current. 5 These results show that niflumic acid can be used to probe the functional aspects of EAAT4 and that niflumic acid and other non‐steroid anti‐inflammatory drugs could be used as the basis for the development of novel modulators of glutamate transporters.
Assessing contribution of DOC from sediments to a drinking-water reservoir using optical profiling

Abstract Understanding the sources of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in drinking-water reservoirs is an important management issue because DOC may form disinfection by-products, interfere with disinfection, or increase treatment costs. DOC may be derived from a host of sources—algal production of DOC in the reservoir, marginal production of DOC from mucks and vascular plants at the margins, and sediments in the reservoir. The purpose of this study was to assess if release of DOC from reservoir sediments containing ferric chloride coagulant was a significant source of DOC to the reservoir. We examined the source-specific contributions of DOC using a profiling system to measure the in situ distribution of optical properties of absorption and fluorescence at various locations in the reservoir. Vertical optical profiles were coupled with discrete water samples measured in the laboratory for DOC concentration and optical properties: absorption spectra and excitation emission matrix spectra (EEMs). Modeling the in situ optical data permitted estimation of the bulk DOC profile in the reservoir as well as separation into source-specific contributions. Analysis of the source-specific profiles and their associated optical characteristics indicated that the sedimentary source of DOC to the reservoir is significant and that this DOC is labile in the reservoir. We conclude that optical profiling is a useful technique for understanding complex biogeochemical processes in a reservoir.
Using Mindful Eating to Treat Food Restriction: A Case Study

This case study describes the application of the principles of mindful eating to the treatment of a case of anorexia nervosa. While many clinicians currently use mindful eating in their treatment of binge eating disorder and bulimia, it also may benefit clients who restrict. The client in this case study is a 19-year-old college student with a BMI of 17.9 and daily restriction of approximately 900–1000 calories who exercises 1 hour daily. Over 15 sessions, she was introduced to the principle of mindful eating. There was an overall decline in restriction, her BMI raised to 19.5, and her caloric intake increased to approximately 1,500–2,000.
Relationship of matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors to cartilage proteoglycan and collagen turnover: analyses of synovial fluid from patients with osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE To determine the relationship between matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), their inhibitors, and the turnover of matrix molecules in articular cartilage from patients with osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS Synovial fluid samples were collected from the knees of 54 patients with OA. Radiographic evaluations and magnetic resonance imaging were performed on the knees of 34 OA patients to classify the stage of the disease. Biochemical analyses and immunoassays were used to measure the concentrations of MMP-1, MMP-3, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP-1), TIMP-2, the disaccharide of hyaluronic acid, the proteoglycan glycosaminoglycan disaccharides of chondroitin 4-sulfate (delta di-CS4) and chondroitin 6-sulfate (delta di-CS6), the 846 epitope on chondroitin sulfate of cartilage proteoglycan aggrecan (putative biosynthetic marker), the keratan sulfate (KS) epitope of aggrecan (putative degradation marker), and the C-propeptide of cartilage type II procollagen (CPII) (biosynthetic marker). RESULTS The concentration of TIMP-1 was directly correlated with the levels of MMP-1 and MMP-3 (both were also correlated with each other), confirming earlier results. There was an inverse correlation between the delta di-CS6:delta di-CS4 ratio and the concentration of MMP-3. The level of delta di-CS6 was correlated with that of the KS epitope, and to a lesser degree, with that of the 846 epitope (the latter was also correlated with the level of delta di-CS4). The concentration of TIMP-1 correlated with that of the 846 epitope, whereas TIMP-2 levels correlated with those of CPII. There were significantly lower concentrations of delta di-CS6, delta di-CS4, the 846 epitope, and CPII in synovial fluid from patients with late-stage OA. CONCLUSION These observations suggest a link between proteolysis and inhibitor concentrations in OA cartilage. Production of TIMPs appears to be individually linked to the synthesis of specific cartilage molecules. The reduction in the amount of cartilage-matrix structural components suggests that there is a measurable loss of cartilage in the late stages of the disease, as suggested previously. The resultant composition of the cartilage suggests that the loss may primarily involve "resident" molecules originally present in healthy cartilage.
A robust bioassay to assess the toxicity of metals to the Antarctic marine microalga Phaeocystis antarctica

Despite evidence of contamination in Antarctic coastal marine environments, no water‐quality guidelines have been established for the region because of a paucity of biological effects data for local Antarctic species. Currently, there is limited information on the sensitivity of Antarctic microalgae to metal contamination, which is exacerbated by the lack of standard toxicity testing protocols for local marine species. In the present study, a routine and robust toxicity test protocol was developed using the Antarctic marine microalga Phaeocystis antarctica, and its sensitivity was investigated following 10‐d exposures to dissolved copper, cadmium, lead, zinc, and nickel. In comparisons of 10% inhibition of population growth rate (IC10) values, P. antarctica was most sensitive to copper (3.3 μg/L), followed by cadmium (135 μg/L), lead (260 μg/L), and zinc (450 μg/L). Although an IC10 value for nickel could not be accurately estimated, the no‐observed‐effect concentration value for nickel was 1070 μg/L. Exposure to copper and cadmium caused changes in internal cell granularity and increased chlorophyll a fluorescence. Lead, zinc, and nickel had no effect on any of the cellular parameters measured. The present study provides valuable metal‐ecotoxicity data for an Antarctic marine microalga, with P. antarctica representing one of the most sensitive microalgal species to dissolved copper ever reported when compared with temperate and tropical species. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:1578–1587. © 2015 SETAC
A Compact Triband Bow-Tie Slot Antenna Fed by a Coplanar Waveguide

A uniplanar and compact bow-tie slot antenna capable of triband operation is proposed. Design considerations for the three operating frequencies are extensively discussed. Unlike most other multifrequency antennas having their sizes determined by the lower resonant frequency, the size of the proposed antenna is determined by the upper resonant frequency, and thus it is compact in nature. The middle and lower operating frequencies are obtained by inserting two metal strip pairs near the ends of the bow-tie slot without increasing the overall antenna area. Measured reflection coefficients are compared to the simulated ones with good agreement, and radiation patterns at the three operating frequencies are broadside and bidirectional and with satisfactorily low cross-polarization levels.
Emergence of a Convex Trade‐Off between Transmission and Virulence

Most models of virulence evolution assume that a parasite cannot raise its transmission rate without causing more harm to its host. However, the existence of such trade‐off relationships has recently been challenged. Here, we study how a trade‐off can emerge from a model that explicitly incorporates within‐host dynamics. We find that the existence and the convexity of the trade‐off are robust, which implies a definite level of evolutionarily stable virulence (ESV) for the parasite. However, we also show that the dependence of the ESV on parameter values may be very strong. One possible consequence of this sensitivity is that relationships between transmission and virulence observed across populations need not conform to the patterns expected on the basis of a common (fixed) trade‐off. We discuss possible experiments and implications of our results for the development of virulence management strategies.
Do Means Matter?: Differences in Characteristics of Finnish Suicide Completers Using Different Methods

It is unclear whether suicides by different methods are distinguishable by their sociodemographic or clinical characteristics. We set out to investigate whether completed suicides by different methods show disparities in their sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Within the National Suicide Prevention Project in Finland, all 1,397 suicides occurring April 1, 1987, through March 31, 1988, were investigated using the psychological autopsy method. Disparities were found in characteristics of suicide completers using different methods. Intoxication suicides were more often female and had a history of both previous attempts and psychiatric treatment, whereas suicides by shooting were the opposite in character. Victims using vehicle exhaust gas were most frequently younger males who had experienced a recent interpersonal loss or other adverse event and committed suicide while intoxicated with alcohol. Thus, typical characteristics associate with certain suicide methods, probably due to differences in availability and acceptability of the methods. Various restrictions on the availability of suicide methods are likely to exert their possible impact on somewhat different subpopulations at risk. In terms of suicide prevention, it seems reasonable to target availability restrictions for certain identifiable groups of potential suicide attempters. For instance, carefulness in the practice of prescribing of intoxicating substances to particular psychiatric patients seems justified.
Structural Hybrid Systems

This thesis introduces the concept of structural hybrid systems to address, as a particular case, the model checking problem of switching (possible large scale) linea r time invariant systems. Within the proposed setup, we provide ne cessary conditions to ensure properties such as controllabi lity, at each time. We show that such model checking controllability properties can be implemented using efficient algorithms (with polynomial complexity). An example, based on the IEEE 5-bus power syste m, is presented which illustrates our model checking and desig n methodologies.
Concept Based Approach for Adaptive Personalized Course Learning System.

One of the most important factors for improving the personalization aspects of learning systems is to enable adaptive properties to them. The aim of the adaptive personalized learning system is to offer the most appropriate learning path and learning materials to learners by taking into account their profiles. In this paper, a new approach to adaptive personalized e-learning systems is proposed. This approach provides navigation on course materials, as well as navigations on course topics and domain concepts. In this approach, in addition to the difficulty of learning materials and course topics, students’ levels of knowledge and students’ understanding degrees on the course topics have also been taken into account. The Item Response Theory and Law of Total Probability have been used for estimating understanding degrees. The performance evaluation of the proposed approach has been tested by using the exam and project results, as well as grade point averages of the students from the Computer and Instructional Technology Department. The test results show the accuracy of the proposed method. It is believed that this study can improve the effectiveness of the adaptive e-learning system.
Altered resting functional connectivity of expressive language regions after speed reading training

A goal of interventions designed to increase reading speed is to reduce the practice of articulating words in an individual’s thoughts, or subvocalization. This practice may require redundant cognitive resources, slow reading speed, and detract from efficient transfer of written words to semantic understanding. It is unclear, however, whether exercises designed to promote faster reading speed generalize to cognitive function beyond the reading task itself. To investigate this possibility, we measured resting state functional connectivity in classical language regions before and after a course of cognitive exercise designed to increase reading speed in 9 healthy adolescent female volunteers. We found significantly decreased correlation between left Broca area and right Broca homologue and between right Broca homologue and right Wernicke homologue in the resting state after the training period compared to before training. Differences in functional connectivity after training to left Broca area showed a spatial distribution reflecting decreased correlation to memory-associated brain regions and increased correlation to auditory regions, which might be consistent with a hypothesis that such training may decrease subvocalization associated with semantic memory function during the resting state.
Transient gene expression control: effects of transfected DNA stability and trans-activation by viral early proteins

The effects of trans-acting factors and transfected DNA stability on promoter activity were examined with chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) transient expression analysis. With cotransfection into CV-1P and HeLa cells, simian virus 40 T antigen, adenovirus E1a, and herpes-virus IE proteins were compared for their ability to trans-activate a variety of eucaryotic promoters constructed into CAT plasmids. T antigen and the IE protein were promiscuous activators of all the promoters tested [the simian virus 40 late promoter, the adenovirus E3 promoter, the alpha 2(I) collagen promoter, and the promoter of the Rous sarcoma virus long terminal repeat]. Conversely the E1a protein was specific, activating only the adenovirus E3 promoter and suppressing the basal activity of the other promoters. This specificity of activation by E1a contrasted with the high activity generated by all of the promoter-CAT plasmids when transfected into 293 cells, which endogenously produce E1a protein. Examination of transfected 293 cells determined that they stabilized much greater amounts of plasmid DNA than any other cells tested (CV-1P, COS, NIH-3T3, KB). Thus the high activity of nonadenovirus promoter-CAT plasmids in 293 cells results from the cumulative effect of basal promoter activity from a very large number of gene copies, not from E1a activation. This conclusion was supported by similar transfection analysis of KB cell lines which endogenously produce E1a protein. These cells stabilize plasmid DNA at a level comparable to that of CV-1P cells and, in agreement with the CV-1P cotransfection results, did not activate a nonadenovirus promoter-CAT plasmid. These results indicate that the stability of plasmid DNA must be considered when transient gene expression is being compared between cell lines. The use of relative plasmid copy numbers for the standardization of transient expression results is discussed.
Techniques for examining Pneumocystis carinii in fresh specimens

Pneumocystis carinii was examined in fresh preparations of infected rat lung homogenates and tissue culture supernatants by a variety of light microscope techniques, vital dyes, and histologic stains. Phase-contrast microscopy, Nomarski interference-contrast microscopy, and bright-field microscopy with oblique illumination provided excellent views of P. carinii. Erythrosin B, and to a lesser extent trypan blue, were helpful in assessing organism viability. The use of Triton X-100-Giemsa stain permitted differentiation of the developmental stages in the P. carinii life cycle. The techniques developed here are easily adaptable to the microbiology laboratory and thus should have important clinical and research applications.
Treatment of Shivering After Epidural Lidocaine

The effectiveness of intravenous meperidine and warm local anesthetic for prevention of postanesthetic shivering was evaluated in urology patients undergoing epidural blockade for extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy. When administered before the blockade, meperidine, 12.5 mg or 25 mg, was not significantly better than saline placebo for preventing postepidural shivering. Changes in the concentrations of catecholamines or lidocaine did not result in differences between patients who shivered and those who did not shiver. In a second experiment, patients receiving body-temperature or room-temperature epidural lidocaine did not differ with respect to the incidence of postanesthetic shivering, onset of sensory blockade, or core temperature during a 30-minute observation period. The authors concluded that neither meperidine, in doses employed, nor body-temperature lidocaine prevents shivering after epidural blockade. This shivering appears to be different from that observed during emergence from general anesthesia.
Discrepancy between parental reports of infants' receptive vocabulary and infants' behaviour in a preferential looking task*

ABSTRACT Two experiments are described which explore the relationship between parental reports of infants' receptive vocabularies at 1 ; 6 (Experiment 1a) or 1 ; 3, 1 ; 6 and 1 ; 9 (Experiment 1b) and the comprehension infants demonstrated in a preferential looking task. The instrument used was the Oxford CDI, a British English adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates CDI (Words & Gestures). Infants were shown pairs of images of familiar objects, either both name-known or both name-unknown according to their parent's responses on the CDI. At all ages, and on both name-known and name-unknown trials, preference for the target image increased significantly from baseline when infants heard the target's label. This discrepancy suggests that parental report underestimates infants' word knowledge.
Culture-Negative Periprosthetic Joint Infection

Background: Culture-negative periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a challenging condition to treat. The most appropriate management of culture-negative PJI is not known, and there is immense variability in the treatment outcome of this condition. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the characteristics, outcomes, and risk factors for failure of treatment of culture-negative PJI. Methods: A retrospective review of 219 patients (138 hips and 81 knees) who had undergone surgery for the treatment of culture-negative PJI was performed utilizing a prospectively collected institutional PJI database. PJIs for which the results of culture were unavailable were excluded. An electronic query and manual review of the medical records were completed to obtain patient demographics, treatment, microbiology data, comorbidities, and other surgical characteristics. Treatment failure was assessed using the Delphi consensus criteria. Results: The prevalence of suspected culture-negative PJI was 22.0% (219 of 996), and the prevalence of culture-negative PJI as defined by the Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) was 6.4% (44 of 688). Overall, the rate of treatment success was 69.2% (110 of 159) in patients with >1 year of follow-up. Of the 49 culture-negative PJIs for which treatment failed, 26 (53.1%) subsequently had positive cultures; of those 26, 10 (38.5%) were positive for methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus. The rate of treatment success was greater (p = 0.019) for patients who had 2-stage exchange than for those who underwent irrigation and debridement. Conclusions: The present study demonstrates that culture-negative PJI is a relatively frequent finding with unacceptable rates of treatment failure. Every effort should be made to isolate the infecting organism prior to surgical intervention, including extending the incubation period for cultures, withholding antibiotics prior to obtaining culture specimens, and possibly using newly introduced molecular techniques. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence