Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experience with a once-daily aminoglycoside program administered to 2,184 adult patients

Once-daily aminoglycoside (ODA) regimens have been instituted to maximize bacterial killing by optimizing the peak concentration/MIC ratio and to reduce the potential for toxicity. We initiated an ODA program at our institution that utilizes a fixed 7-mg/kg intravenous dose with a drug administration interval based on estimated creatinine clearance: > or = 60 ml/min every 24 h (q24h), 59 to 40 ml/min q36h, and 39 to 20 ml/min q48h. Subsequent interval adjustments are made by using a single concentration in serum and a nomogram designed for monitoring of ODA therapy. Since initiation of the program, 2,184 patients have received this ODA regimen. The median dose was 450 (range, 200 to 925) mg, while the median length of therapy was 3 (range, 1 to 26) days. The median age of the population was 46 (range, 13 to 97) years. Gentamicin accounted for 94% of the aminoglycoside use, and the majority (77%) of patients received the drug q24h. The 36-, 48-, and > 48-h intervals were used for 15, 6, and 2% of this population, respectively. Three patients exhibited clinically apparent ototoxicity. Twenty-seven patients (1.2%) developed nephrotoxicity (the Hartford Hospital historical rate is approximately 3 to 5%) after a median of 7 (range, 3 to 19) days of therapy. On the basis of a prospective evaluation of 58 patients and follow-up of additional patients via clinician reports, we have noted no apparent alterations in clinical response with our ODA program. This ODA program appears to be clinically effective, reduces the incidence of nephrotoxicity, and provides a cost-effective method for administration of aminoglycosides by reducing ancillary service time and serum aminoglycoside determinations.
An Examination and Critique of the Use of Knowledge Management in Achieving and Sustaining Competitive Advantage in Business

Today Knowledge Management and innovation have become factors for success. Organizations must compete in such complex and competitive environment in order to stay competitive. The organizations must know how to implement and distribute knowledge in the organizational process in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantages. The organizations have invested heavily in building Knowledge Management Systems. Knowledge Management is essentially important especially in airline industry. In order to prove the previous statement, an airline industry – British Airways has been chosen to show how the industry has applied and used Knowledge Management in managing their business. British Airways has applied Knowledge Management in strategic planning, communication and customer experience.
Dynamic Data Management Among Multiple Databases for Optimization of Parallel Computations in Heterogeneous HPC Systems

Rapid development of diverse computer architectures and hardware accelerators caused that designing parallel systems faces new problems resulting from their heterogeneity. Our implementation of a parallel system called KernelHive allows to efficiently run applications in a heterogeneous environment consisting of multiple collections of nodes with different types of computing devices. The execution engine of the system is open for optimizer implementations, focusing on various criteria. In this paper, we propose a new optimizer for KernelHive, that utilizes distributed databases and performs data prefetching to optimize the execution time of applications, which process large input data. Employing a versatile data management scheme, which allows combining various distributed data providers, we propose using NoSQL databases for our purposes. We support our solution with results of experiments with our OpenCL implementation of a regular expression matching application.
Phase I study of vorinostat in combination with standard CHOP in patients with newly diagnosed peripheral T‐cell lymphoma

The prognosis of patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) is poor after conventional chemotherapy, such as CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) (Abouyabis et al, 2011). There is a great need to further our knowledge beyond that of conventional chemotherapy. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) can modulate the expression and function of survival and resistance cellular proteins, providing rationale for combination strategies with other anticancer drugs. We conducted a phase I clinical trial of vorinostat in combination with CHOP in untreated patients with PTCL. This study was approved by the institutional review board and registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00787527). The objectives of the study were to assess the safety and to gain preliminary results of efficacy of this combination regimen. Eligible patients were required to have untreated PTCL including PTCL-not otherwise specified (NOS), angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL), anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-negative or -positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL); be ≥18 years of age; have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status 0–2; and adequate major organ functions. Patients were treated with 6 cycles of standard CHOP (cyclophosphamide 750 mg/m on day 1, doxorubicin 50 mg/ m on day 1, vincristine 1 4 mg/m with maximum dose of 2 mg on day 1, and prednisone 100 mg on days 1–5) in 21-day cycles. Vorinostat was administered orally on days 5–14 (Schedule A), first at 300 mg orally once daily (3000 mg over 10 d per cycle), and next at 200 mg orally twice daily (4000 mg over 10 d per cycle) based on 3 + 3 design. Dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was evaluated during the first cycle and was defined by grade 3/4 non-haematological events except nausea, vomit or fatigue that responds to symptomatic therapy. In addition, febrile neutropenia, grade 4 neutropenia lasting ≥5 d, and grade 4 thrombocytopenia were considered DLT. After a second cohort in schedule A was terminated as detailed below, we enrolled patients into schedule B, on which vorinostat was given at 300 mg orally three times daily from days 2 to 3 (4500 mg over 5 d per cycle). This dose and schedule were adopted from a leukaemia study of vorinostat plus intensive chemotherapy (Kadia et al, 2010). Dose reduction was allowed in schedule B if patients experienced grade 3 or 4 toxicity in subsequent cycles. Responses were evaluated by revised criteria (Cheson et al, 2007) after 2 cycles of and the end of therapy. Table I. Patient characteristics.
CXCR2-specific chemokines mediate leukotriene B4-dependent recruitment of neutrophils to inflamed joints in mice with antigen-induced arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the mechanism underlying neutrophil migration into the articular cavity in experimental arthritis and, by extension, human inflammatory synovitis. METHODS Antigen-induced arthritis (AIA) was generated in mice with methylated bovine serum albumin (mBSA). Migration assays and histologic analysis were used to evaluate neutrophil recruitment to knee joints. Levels of inflammatory mediators were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Antibodies and pharmacologic inhibitors were used in vivo to determine the role of specific disease mediators. Samples of synovial tissue and synovial fluid from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or osteoarthritis patients were evaluated for CXCL1 and CXCL5 expression. RESULTS High levels of CXCL1, CXCL5, and leukotriene B4 (LTB4) were expressed in the joints of arthritic mice. Confirming their respective functional roles, repertaxin (a CXCR1/CXCR2 receptor antagonist), anti-CXCL1 antibody, anti-CXCL5 antibody, and MK886 (a leukotriene synthesis inhibitor) reduced mBSA-induced neutrophil migration to knee joints. Repertaxin reduced LTB4 production in joint tissue, and neutrophil recruitment induced by CXCL1 or CXCL5 was inhibited by MK886, suggesting a sequential mechanism. Levels of both CXCL1 and CXCL5 were elevated in synovial fluid and were released in vitro by RA synovial tissues. Moreover, RA synovial fluid neutrophils stimulated with CXCL1 or CXCL5 released significant amounts of LTB4. CONCLUSION Our data implicate CXCL1, CXCL5, and LTB4, acting sequentially, in neutrophil migration in AIA. Elevated levels of CXCL1 and CXCL5 in the synovial compartment of RA patients provide robust comparative data indicating that this mechanism plays a role in inflammatory joint disease. Together, these results suggest that inhibition of CXCL1, CXCL5, or LTB4 may represent a potential therapeutic strategy in RA.
Systemic varicella zoster virus reactive effector memory T‐cells impaired in the elderly and in kidney transplant recipients

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) infections cause varicella and subsequently herpes zoster upon reactivation. Immune‐compromised individuals and the elderly are at high risk of developing herpes zoster due to waning of VZV‐specific T‐cell immunity. In the present study, a novel functional T‐cell assay was developed to test the correlation between age and VZV‐specific T‐cell responses in peripheral blood from healthy individuals. Secondly, VZV‐specific T‐cell responses from renal transplant recipients were compared with healthy individuals. Monocytes were differentiated into mature monocyte‐derived dendritic cells (moDCs) and were infected with VZV. T‐cells were co‐cultured with autologous moDCs infected with VZV and subjected to flowcytometric analysis to identify the phenotype (i.e., naïve [NA: CCR7+CD45RO−], central [CM: CCR7+CD45RO+] and effector memory [EM: CCR7−CD45RO+] T‐cells) and the frequency of VZV‐reactive T‐cell subsets by intra‐cellular IFN‐γ flowcytometry. In contrast to NA and CM T‐cells, the frequency of VZV‐reactive CD4 and CD8 EM T‐cells was inversely correlated with age (P = 0.0007 and P = 0.01). No difference was found in the percentage of VZV‐reactive CD4 NA, CM and EM T‐cells between transplant recipients and controls. However, the percentage of VZV‐reactive CD8 EM T‐cells was significantly lower in transplant recipients compared to controls (P = 0.02). In conclusion, moDCs infected with VZV are efficient antigen presenting cells applicable to enumerate and characterize the phenotype and differentiation status of the systemic VZV‐specific T‐cell response ex‐vivo. The data suggest that VZV‐reactive EM T‐cells are impaired in the elderly and renal transplant recipients. J. Med. Virol. 84:2018–2025, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Methemoglobinemia—An Effect of a New Local Anesthetic L‐67 (Prilocaine)

The formation of methemoglobinemia following use of n‐propylamino‐2‐methylpropionanilide (L‐67) was measured both in a clinical study and in animal experiments. In the study of 60 patients receiving doses of 400 to 1,200 mg, 62% developed measureable amounts of methemoglobin. The highest value found represented 18% of the total hemoglobin. Rapid reconversion to the normal pigment by methylene blue was satisfactorily achieved in both patients and animals.
The impact of regulation of innovation in the logistics sector

Innovation is the driving force for companies nowadays. The European Union is promoting both entrepreneurship and innovation in order to achieve both economic growth and progress on important social issues. Even though the European Union is encouraging innovation, European companies cannot compete with companies in other continents like Asia and North America (Nixon, 2015). A possible reason why the European Union is not able to compete with companies from other continents is regulation. Regulation can be a powerful stimulus in order to support innovation and entrepreneurship in companies (Pelkmans & Renda, 2014). Examples of regulation that might help innovators are patents and copyright. However, regulation can also have a negative impact on innovation. In this research, the impact of regulation on innovative activities carried out by SME’s will be researched. General ideas exist about the impact of regulation on innovation, but the available literature shows that there is need for more specific studies. Since there has not been done a lot of research on the effect of regulation on innovation in the logistics sector yet, this research is focused on companies active in the logistics sector. The assumption that regulation can be a powerful stimulus to innovation will be tested. The central research question in this paper is: “In what ways do general regulations such as competition rules support or constrain small entrepreneurs from successfully launching innovations in the logistics sector? ”
Dramatic Increase in Heritability of Cognitive Development from Early to Middle Childhood

The generalist genes hypothesis implies that general cognitive ability (g) is an essential target for understanding how genetic polymorphisms influence the development of the human brain. Using 8,791 twin pairs from the Twins Early Development Study, we examine genetic stability and change in the etiology of g assessed by diverse measures during the critical transition from early to middle childhood. The heritability of a latent g factor in early childhood is 23%, whereas shared environment accounts for 74% of the variance. In contrast, in middle childhood, heritability of a latent g factor is 62%, and shared environment accounts for 33%. Despite increasing importance of genetic influences and declining influence of shared environment, similar genetic and shared environmental factors affect g from early to middle childhood, as indicated by a cross-age genetic correlation of . 57 and a shared environmental correlation of . 65. These findings set constraints on how genetic and environmental variation affects the developing brain.
Recognition and prevention of hospital-associated enteric infections in the intensive care unit

The objectives of this article were to review the causes and extent of hospital-associated infectious diarrhea and associated risks in the general hospital ward and intensive care unit (ICU), to compare microorganisms with similar symptoms to aid in recognition that will lead to timely and appropriate treatment and control measures, and to propose infection prevention protocols that could decrease human process errors in the ICU. This literature review describes epidemiology, comparison of microbial characteristics for potential hospital-associated enteric pathogens, diagnosis, and prevention, especially if important in the ICU, and particularly in regard to Clostridium difficile. Enteric organisms that most commonly cause hospital-associated infectious diarrhea in acute care settings and the ICU are C. difficile, rotavirus, and norovirus, although others may also be important, particularly in developing countries. To recognize and control infectious diarrhea successfully in the ICU, intensivists should be aware that epidemiology, risks, and prevention measures may differ between these microorganisms. In addition, intensivists should be ready to implement systems changes related to notification, isolation precautions and prevention, and environmental cleaning in the ICU.
Towards a simple Gaussian model to describe multiple source areas during wind erosion events

[Abstract]: Wind erosion is a broad-scale process in inland Australia. When conditions are conducive to wind erosion, dust storms can entrain fine sediment over large areas of the continent, however closer examination indicates that the dust source areas are often spatially discrete. The fine sediment entrained from these sources, is transported as dust plumes, which may coalesce at some point downwind. While some progress has been made in estimating the dust load in these plumes [Knight et. al. 1995], the accuracy of these estimates is limited by the size and shape of the source region assumed. In addition, soil loss per unit area is a more appropriate measure of soil erosion than total plume load, but estimating loss per unit requires accurate estimation of source areas. The new model developed hopes to overcome these limitations by working from the source area downwind, rather than back-tracking to estimate the source area as done by Knight et al. [1995]. As a result of this, the new model is quite distinct from that of Knight et. al. [1995], in that it no longer assumes that entrainment is uniform across a single source area, and consequently that the concentration profile is uniform across the source area. The new model uses a Gaussian plume model [Zannetti 1990], with the dispersion parameters based on the Hann et. al. [1982] estimates for rural areas. As a first approximation, the model describes dust loads emanating from sources of different strength and spacing along a crosswind line. This configuration is indicative of spatially discrete sources, with different soil erodibility and cover protection, producing different source strengths. Initial results from the model indicate that the nature of the downwind dust concentration profile is dependent on the following factors: downwind distance from source; source strengths; and crosswind source separation. A detailed discussion of the relationship between the above factors is presented. As a result of this discussion a number of conjectures are made about the nature of the physical system.
A recent survey of consanguineous marriages in Japan

A survey of consanguineous marriages in Japan was conducted on September 1 in 1983 through questionnaires. The total number of couples studied was 9,225 chosen from six widely different areas of Japan. The rates of first cousin marriages and of total consanguineous marriages for all areas are 1.6% and 3.9%, respectively. The mean inbreeding coeffient is 0.00134 for all areas of Japan. On the other hand, the rate of total consanguineous marriages was ten times higher in Fukue‐Shi (7.9%) than in Asahikawa city area (0.78%). The rate of total consanguineous marriages is decreased with the marriage year in Japan, where the rate of first cousin marriages has changed remarkably.
Role of para‐esophageal collateral veins in patients with portal hypertension based on the results of endoscopic ultrasonography and liver scintigraphy analysis

Background and Aims: Para‐esophageal collateral veins (para‐ECV) are observed by endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) in patients with portal hypertension. However, the role of para‐ECV in the portal venous system is not clear. To verify the role of para‐ECV in the portal venous system, we investigated the relationship between the development of para‐ECV as determined by EUS, and the portal blood flow ratio (PBFR) as determined by liver scintigraphy using 99mTc‐phytate.
Associations between health status and utilities implications for policy.

BACKGROUND If shape of a person's utility function is associated with his health status, as is predicted by Prospect Theory, the use of utilities from the healthy could result in 'de facto' discrimination against the sick. OBJECTIVES To determine if patients' utilities for hypothetical states and for their current health were associated with their health status. DESIGN A cross-sectional study of the health and values of patients with depressive illnesses. SETTING Patients from three large primary care practices with various medical illnesses complicated by symptoms of depression. MEASURES Short-Form 12 health status measurements, standard gamble, and visual analog scale preference measurements for patients' current health and for three hypothetical states. RESULTS One hundred and forty nine patients enrolled in the study and 139 patients completed the survey. Utilities for the best and worst states were similar across different levels of health status; however, standard gamble utilities for intermediate health states were higher for patients in poorer health than patients in better health (P = 0.019,) suggesting utility functions with radically different shapes. Utilities for patients' current health were also associated with their health status. Patients in poor health tended to overvalue their current health relative to the most similar hypothetical state; whereas, patients in good health tended undervalue their current health state (P = 0.036). CONCLUSIONS In patients with depressive illnesses, there were significant interactions between health and values, that were consistent with the predictions of Prospect Theory, and that could result in systematic under valuation of the health effects of treatments that primarily benefit more severely patients ill.
Migraine and its Relationship to Hypertension*

Headaches present a common and important group of symptoms in general practice, the accurate diagnosis and treatment of which may be the despair of the practitioner. Until comparatively recently the problem of headache received only scant attention and the mechanisms producing the various types of headaches were poorly understood. The importance of the problem is aptly expressed in the following words: " If one should search for a human ill which has manifested itself most widely during all times and among all people, there can be little doubt headache would achieve this undesirable distinction" (A. H. Riley, cited by Meuller, 1951). This study was an attempt to give some indication of the incidence in general practice of one common and distressing variety of headache-namely, migraine -and, secondly, to establish a possible relationship between migraine and the later development of hypertension. Though the condition has been recognized for many centuries it was not until the beginning of the second world war that any real progress was made towards solving the mystery of this distressing complaint. Migraine can scarcely be called a serious condition, but it is nevertheless an incapacitating one; the unfortunate sufferer may lose a considerable number of working days during a year, while the young mother may be quite incapable of performing her normal household duties for several days following an attack. The problem thus assumes an economic importance which presents an additional challenge to the doctor in his management of the many cases which are bound to come his way in normal day-to-day practice. The material for this study has been drawn from a population of approximately 6,000 comprising the patients of a practice situated on the outskirts of the City of Liverpool, and the observations were made over a period of three years, 1954 to 1957.