Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Change of Public Participation in Swiss School Governance: More or Less

Public municipal school boards are the traditional form of public layman participation in Swiss local school governance. We however observe a reduction and professionalization of traditional public school councils and an institutionalization of councils involving only parents ( parent councils ) since the 1990s. This paper addresses the question of how the layman participation and the understanding of democracy are changing in Swiss school governance. I investigate what functions public participation has for democracy by analyzing the tasks as well as institutional and economical criteria of participatory forums. The analysis shows that parent councils have more of an economic rather than a democratic function: Parents support schools with the organization of school activities without having co- determination rights. The implementation of parent councils and the reduction of public school councils thus indicate a change from public participation to stakeholder participation. The involvement of stakeholders provides the local government with a greater capacity for responding to stakeholder demands but not for the demands of the entire public. This change of the understanding of public in school governance demonstrates as well a change from input legitimacy to output legitimacy in democracy.
Pathology of chronic hepatitis b virus infection in children: With special reference to the intrahepatic expression of hepatitis B virus antigens

The clinical, virologic and pathologic features of chronic hepatitis B virus infection were studied in 66 children, of whom 29 were symptomatic and 37 asymptomatic. The majority (79%) of symptomatic children had histologically aggressive diseases: 11 had chronic active hepatitis and 10 had cirrhosis. In contrast, most asymptomatic children had nonaggressive diseases (35 cases); only 2 had chronic active hepatitis. Nine of the 10 children with cirrhosis were under 6 years of age, and the cirrhosis was often advanced, indicating that hepatitis B virus infection can cause the rapid development of cirrhosis in early life. HBcAg was present in 71% of 62 cases examined and correlated well with the status of HBeAg in serum. Cytoplasmic HBcAg was more frequently associated with aggressive disease than was nuclear HBcAg expression alone or no detectable HBcAg in the liver. A male predominance (75%) was found, particularly in children with aggressive diseases (91%) compared to those with nonaggressive forms of disease (67%). Sera from mothers of 43 of these children were tested for HBsAg, and 51% were positive. HBsAg was particularly common among mothers of children with symptomatic disease (69%) or cirrhosis (100%). These findings suggest that male sex and perinatal infection are important factors in the development of overt chronic hepatitis B and cirrhosis in children.
Partial splenectomy in a child with human immunodeficiency virus-related immune thrombocytopenia.

Immune thrombocytopenia (IT) is a frequently occurring disease in childhood and a well known complication of HIV infection. Splenectomy is a part of the treatment strategy for severe chronic IT. However, overwhelming infections after splenectomy have limited its use, especially in young children. A 7-year-old child with maternal-fetal HIV-1 infection and related thrombocytopenia underwent splenectomy after previous treatment failed to improve her platelet count. Approximately 75% of the spleen was removed. The postoperative period was uncomplicated, and the platelet count increased significantly to greater than 500,000/mm3. Ultrasonographic examination performed 3 months later showed a stable volume of the spleen stump (40 x 40 x 20 mm) with effective "vascularization. " The platelet count 12 months after surgery showed a sustained increase greater than 150,000 cell/mm3. Subtotal splenectomy may be a safe and effective alternative for patients with HIV and immune thrombocytopenia.
The Savings and Loan Insolvencies and the Costs of Financial Crisis

Abstract At the time they occurred, the savings and loan insolvencies were considered the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Contrary to what was then believed, and in sharp contrast with 2007–2009, they in fact had little macroeconomic significance. Savings and Loan (S&L) remediation cost between 2 percent and 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), whereas the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the conservatorships of Fannie and Freddie actually made money for the US Treasury. But the direct cost of government remediation is largely irrelevant in judging macro significance. What matters is the cumulative output loss associated with and plausibly caused by failing financial institutions. I estimate output losses for 1981–1984, 1991–1998, and 2007–2026 (the latter utilizing forecasts and projections along with actual data through 2015) and, for a final comparison, 1929–1941. The losses associated with 2007–2009 have been truly disastrous – in the same order of magnitude as the Great Depression. The S&L failures were, in contrast, inconsequential. Macroeconomists and policy makers should reserve the word crisis for financial disturbances that threaten substantial damage to the real economy, and continue efforts to identify in advance financial institutions which are systemically important (SIFI), and those which are not.
An Empirical Research : Impact of the Changes of Oil Prices over Stock Market Prices

The stock market volatility is a well-known phenomenon. These volatility and fluctuations are empirical proven but which macroeconomic factor affect stock prices in what proportion and with what frequency is not well known phenomenon. Although, there are many macroeconomic factors that affect the stock market, however, we considered only one macroeconomic factor for the purpose of this research paper; that is, oil prices and its impact on the stock market prices. Therefore, the aim of this research paper is to investigate the empirical relationship between oil prices shocks and stock market. An empirical approach has been utilized to accomplish this research paper. The findings of this research paper concludes that stock market and oil prices are related but under what circumstances how it will react is uncertain. JEL: E44, E03
Medical Student Education in Sleep and Its Disorders

OBJECTIVE To investigate the pattern of medical student teaching about sleep and its disorders in the UK. DESIGN A questionnaire was sent to organisers of preclinical and clinical courses in which aspects of sleep and its disorders might appropriately be included. SETTING All UK medical schools. RESULTS There was an overall 71% response rate, with all medical schools represented. A wide variation (80-6%) was seen between departments in the provision of such teaching. The median total time given to sleep and its disorders in undergraduate teaching as a whole was five minutes, for preclinical teaching 15 minutes, and zero in clinical teaching. Teaching was particularly limited on the various types of sleep disorder common in clinical practice, and also on non-medication treatments. Little consistency was evident in teaching format, recommended reading, use of other instructional material and student assessment. Awareness of local sleep research or clinics was reported by very few. CONCLUSIONS As in other countries, undergraduate medical teaching is inadequate as a basis for the development of competence in diagnosing and treating sleep disorders, which are common and cause difficulties in all sections of the population. There is a need to correct this deficiency in ways compatible with recent recommended changes in medical education.
Metabolic syndrome and benign prostatic enlargement: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

To summarise and meta‐analyse current literature on metabolic syndrome (MetS) and benign prostatic enlargement (BPE), focusing on all the components of MetS and their relationship with prostate volume, transitional zone volume, prostate‐specific antigen and urinary symptoms, as evidence suggests an association between MetS and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to BPE.
Individualizing Glycemic Targets in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Implications of Recent Clinical Trials

One of the first steps in the management of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus is setting glycemic goals. Professional organizations advise setting specific hemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c)) targets for patients, and individualization of these goals has more recently been emphasized. However, the operational meaning of glycemic goals, and specific methods for individualizing them, have not been well-described. Choosing a specific HbA(1c) target range for a given patient requires taking several factors into consideration, including an assessment of the patient's risk for hyperglycemia-related complications versus the risks of therapy, all in the context of the overall clinical setting. Comorbid conditions, psychological status, capacity for self-care, economic considerations, and family and social support systems also play a key role in the intensity of therapy. The individualization of HbA(1c) targets has gained more traction after recent clinical trials in older patients with established type 2 diabetes mellitus failed to show a benefit from intensive glucose-lowering therapy on cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes. The limited available evidence suggests that near-normal glycemic targets should be the standard for younger patients with relatively recent onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus and little or no micro- or macrovascular complications, with the aim of preventing complications over the many years of life. However, somewhat higher targets should be considered for older patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes mellitus and evidence of CVD (or multiple CVD risk factors). This review explores these issues further and proposes a framework for considering an appropriate and safe HbA(1c) target range for each patient.
Antibody‐mediated peripheral neuropathies associated with ARC and AIDS: Successful treatment with plasmapheresis

Peripheral neuropathy is increasingly recognized in patients with AIDS as well as AIDS‐related complex (ARC). Thirty homosexual men with polyneuropathy were evaluated in this study. Twenty‐one had ARC and nine had AIDS. We observed three distinct clinical syndromes: distal sensorimotor polyneuropathy, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyrediculoneuropathy (CIDP), and mononeuropathy multiplex.
Noninvasive prenatal exclusion of haemoglobin Bart's using foetal DNA from maternal plasma

Prenatal diagnosis of alpha‐thalassaemia requires invasive testing associated with a risk of miscarriage. Cell‐free foetal DNA in maternal plasma presents an alternative source of foetal genetic material for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis. We aimed to exclude HbBart's noninvasively by detection of unaffected paternal alleles in maternal plasma using quantitative fluorescence PCR (QF‐PCR).
Thresholding Approach based on GPU for Facial Expression Recognition

Facial expression recognition and its applications are currently research topics in computer science. When analyzing face images, it is necessary to apply an algorithm for pre-processing them in order to extract features from each facial expression. In this paper related to our initial research phase, we propose variations and results from algorithms for binarizing and thresholding face expression images. In addition, we present earlier results about the parallel implementation of our proposed algorithms.
Very low-voltage swing while high-bandwidth data transmission through 4096 bit TSVs

A three tier, three dimensional chip stack forms wide I/O test vehicle and demonstrates 100 GByte/sec in vertical data channels with 4096 bit TSVs. The operation is stable for the wide range of supply voltage from 0.75 V to 1.2 V. An in-place waveform capture and a built-in self test mechanism embody on-chip diagnosis of high-bandwidth data transmissions, by monitoring signal waveforms as well as measuring eye openings and bit error rates.
Antilipopolysaccharide improves survival in primates subjected to heat stroke.

Recent investigations have suggested that endotoxins or lipopolysaccharides (LPS) may play a role in heat stroke pathophysiology. In this study we wish to investigate whether prophylactic administration of anti-LPS hyperimmune plasma improves survival of experimental heat stroke in primates. Eleven monkeys were anesthetised and heat-stressed to a rectal temperature of 43.5 degrees C (group A) and then allowed to recover at room temperature. Five had received a prophylactic i.v. dose of equine anti-LPS (experimental group), while the other six (control group) received an equivalent i.v. dose of nonimmune equine plasma. All the experimental monkeys survived, while only one out of the six controls survived (chi 2 = 4.65, p less than 0.025). All the control animals that succumbed had significantly elevated plasma LPS levels (p less than 0.05) as compared to the experimental group and the single surviving control. The latter showed very little or no change in plasma LPS levels. A further eight monkeys (group B) were heat-stressed to a rectal temperature of 43.8 degrees C. Of these eight, four had received a prophylactic i.v. dose of equine anti-LPS plasma. Although all eight animals died, the four which were pretreated with anti-LPS plasma had a significantly longer survival time (427.5 +/- 61.39 min) than the untreated group (81.25 +/- 33.94 min) (p less than 0.05). Furthermore, the plasma LPS levels in the treated monkeys remained unchanged whereas in the untreated group, a significantly elevated plasma LPS level was noticed (p less than 0.005). We conclude that LPS may have a role in heat stroke pathophysiology and that prophylactic treatment with anti-LPS antibodies would seem to offer protection against the effects of heat stress.
Prognostic influence of histopathological regression patterns in rectal adenocarcinoma receiving neoadjuvant therapy.

BACKGROUND Neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (CRT) is an important management strategy in rectal carcinoma. Different systems grading response have shown varying prognostic influence. METHODS To analyze the prognostic influence of pathological response in a series of 183 patients with rectal carcinoma receiving neoadjuvant therapy. To determine the prognostic significance of the histopathological patterns of response. RESULTS A total of 183 patients from two hospitals. The concordance rate between pathologists was good. In total, 18% of the patients showed grade 0 (complete response), 31.7% grade 1, 19.2% grade 2 and 31.1% grade 3 regression. T down-staging was found in 51.9% of the cases. 46 patients recurred and 18 died of disease (median follow-up time: 39 months). We found a statistically significant association between pathological response and pT stage and down-staging. Inflammatory reaction in the tumor bed was significantly associated to regression and prognosis. Cox's multivariate analysis of survival revealed that down-staging and presence of mucin pools in the tumor bed behaved as significant predictors of recurrence and regression grade and mucin pools as significant predictors of survival. CONCLUSIONS Pathological response is an important surrogate marker of prognosis in some large series, but results are varying. There are many systems to grade regression and this makes it difficult to compare the results by different groups. It is important to report the specific pattern of response, for some of them may have prognostic relevance. We feel there is an urgent need to develop standarized protocols and employ a universal regression scheme if we intend to use this factor to guide therapy.
Shipping stress and social status effects on pig performance, plasma cortisol, natural killer cell activity, and leukocyte numbers.

Crossbred pigs were used to evaluate the effects of shipping stress on natural killer (NK) cell activity, leukocyte numbers, plasma cortisol, and BW changes. In the first study, pigs were bled at a commercial farm and, after shipping, resident and shipped pigs were bled again. Plasma cortisol concentrations were not different (P > .10) because of large variation in cortisol concentrations. Furthermore, NK cytotoxicity was nondetectable among all pigs. A second study showed that plasma cortisol concentration rose by approximately 2.6 ng/mL (P = .018) for each minute after pigs were aroused. In the third, more controlled study, pigs were housed in pens of three pigs each. Video recordings were made during the first 24 h pigs were grouped to identify socially dominant, intermediate, and submissive pigs. At time zero (before shipping), resident pigs and those to be shipped had similar plasma cortisol concentrations. However, after the 4-h shipping experience, shipped pigs had elevated (P < .05) plasma cortisol compared with resident control pigs. Shipped pigs lost 5.1% of their BW (P < .05) compared with resident pigs, which gained . 02% of their BW. Body weight change during shipping and plasma cortisol were negatively correlated (r = -.34, P = .04), indicating pigs that had greater adrenal response to shipping also lost more weight during shipping. Shipping reduced (P < .05) NK cytotoxicity among pigs of intermediate and submissive social status compared with shipped, dominant pigs. At the end of shipping or control treatments, the correlation between NK cytotoxicity and plasma cortisol was positive (r = .35, P = .036), indicating that pigs with greater cortisol response had greater NK cytotoxicity. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Plasma lipid and lipoprotein abnormalities in patients with malabsorption.

1. Plasma lipids and lipoproteins have been studied in control subjects and patients with various types of steatorrhoea. 2. Low plasma cholesterol levels were found in malabsorbers and were associated with decreased amounts of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in males and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in females. 3. Serum triglyceride levels were normal in males, but exceeded control values in some of the females, due to an increase in very-low-density lipoprotein. 4. LDL composition was abnormal in both male and female malabsorbers, with a decreased proportion of cholesterol ester and an increased proportion of triglyceride. There was also an increased proportion of triglyceride in HDL. 5. These findings show that malabsorption markedly influences not only the concentration but also the composition of plasma lipoproteins.
Statistical Methods for the Reliability of Repairable Systems

for problem-solving teams to follow, for trainers of the problem-solving teams to train by, and for quality professionals or managers to use to guide problemsolving efforts and track results. By using these techniques, measures of process quality will be developed, which is the most basic  rst step that needs to be taken to improve quality. Businesses that have already applied more advanced techniques, or that have developed their own internal structured problem-solving methods, should probably pass (unless a “basic training” reference to be supplemented by other material is desired). Although many readers will  nd this book overly simplistic, it could be the ticket to better quality and thus better business performance for many smaller businesses that do not have formal problem-solving methods in place. You must start somewhere to improve quality—this is a good place to start.
Novel methods for image-guided ToF depth upsampling

Sensor fusion is an important part of modern cyber-physical systems that observe and analyse real-world environments. Time-of-Flight depth cameras provide high frame rate low-resolution depth data that can be efficiently used in many applications related to cyber-physical systems. In this paper, we address the critical issue of upsampling and enhancing the low-quality depth data using a calibrated and registered high-resolution colour image or video. Two novel algorithms for image-guided depth upsampling are proposed based on different principles. A new method for video-guided upsampling is also presented. Initial test results on synthetic and real data are shown and discussed.
Laser Radar Receiver Channel With Timing Detector Based on Front End Unipolar-to-Bipolar Pulse Shaping

An integrated receiver channel for a pulsed time-of-flight laser range finder is presented based on a timing discrimination principle in which the incoming unipolar detector current pulse is converted to a bipolar pulse at the front end of the receiver channel. Thus no optical or electrical gain control is needed within the dynamic range of the receiver, which according to measurements is 1:3000 with a timing walk error of plusmn 55 ps (plusmn 8 mm in distance). The minimum detectable input signal current is about 1.3 muA at an SNR of 10 with a bandwidth of 200 MHz. The circuit is realized in a 0.35 mum SiGe BiCMOS process and consumes 220 mW of power.
Phase Noise Characterization of SGDBR Lasers Using Phase Modulation Detection Method With Delayed Self-Heterodyne Measurements

This study employed the coherent phase modulation (PM) detection method to characterize the phase noise of a Sampled-Grating Distributed Bragg Reflector (SGDBR) laser via delayed self-heterodyne (DSH) measurements. We derived the formula for phase-error variance from the FM noise spectrum of the laser and performed measurements on the Distributed Feedback (DFB) and SGDBR lasers. The results confirmed that the DFB laser phase noise is well described by white FM noise while the SGDBR laser has additional frequency fluctuations below 400 MHz. The measurement and simulation results also demonstrated that the low frequency excess noise significantly broadens the linewidth of SGDBR lasers and can degrade the performance of coherent optical communication systems.
Silicon based THz antenna and filter with MEMS process

A silicon based THz substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) bandpass filter with a pair of antipodal linearly tapered slot Antennas (ALTSA) is designed and fabricated with MEMS process. A prototype with passband range 350GHz∼370GHz is measured by using a quasi-optic measurement system. The measured data are in agreement with the simulated results, which show the filter has good selection performance and verified the wideband characteristic of the ALTSAs.
Drug-induced gynecomastia: an evidence-based review

Introduction: Drugs are estimated to cause about 10 – 25% of all cases of gynecomastia. Over the course of several decades, multiple medications have been implicated in the development of gynecomastia mostly in the form of case reports and case series. However, these reports suffer from a multitude of deficiencies, including poor quality of evidence. Areas covered: Studies were selected for this review by performing an extensive electronic and hand-search using BIOSIS, EMBASE and Medline, from 1940 to present, for all reported drug associations of gynecomastia and their possible pathophysiology. Quality of evidence was assessed on a three-point scale: good, fair and poor, and each of the drugs reported to cause gynecomastia was assigned a level of strength. The pathophysiology of gynecomastia is also discussed in detail for each of the drugs found to have a good or fair evidence of association with gynecomastia. Expert opinion: Most of the reported drug–gynecomastia associations were based on poor quality evidence. The drugs definitely associated with the onset of gynecomastia are spironolactone, cimetidine, ketoconazole, hGH, estrogens, hCG, anti-androgens, GnRH analogs and 5-α reductase inhibitors. Medications probably associated with gynecomastia include risperidone, verapamil, nifedipine, omeprazole, alkylating agents, HIV medications (efavirenz), anabolic steroids, alcohol and opioids.