Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Current Knowledge of Buprenorphine and Its Unique Pharmacological Profile

Despite the increasing clinical use of transdermal buprenorphine, questions have persisted about the possibility of a ceiling effect for analgesia, its combination with other μ‐opioid agonists, and the reversibility of side effects. In October 2008, a consensus group of experts met to review recent research into the pharmacology and clinical use of buprenorphine. The objective was to achieve consensus on the conclusions to be drawn from this work. It was agreed that buprenorphine clearly behaves as a full μ‐opioid agonist for analgesia in clinical practice, with no ceiling effect, but that there is a ceiling effect for respiratory depression, reducing the likelihood of this potentially fatal adverse event. This is entirely consistent with receptor theory. In addition, the effects of buprenorphine can be completely reversed by naloxone. No problems are encountered when switching to and from buprenorphine and other opioids, or in combining them. Buprenorphine exhibits a pronounced antihyperalgesic effect that might indicate potential advantages in the treatment of neuropathic pain. Other beneficial properties are the compound's favorable safety profile, particularly in elderly patients and those with renal impairment, and its lack of effect on sex hormones and the immune system. The expert group agreed that these properties, as well as proven efficacy in severe pain and favorable tolerability, mean that buprenorphine can be considered a safe and effective option for treating chronic cancer and noncancer pain.
Solution of Electromagnetic Problems in Cartesian, Spherical and Cylindrical Coordinates by Green’s Function Method

Application peculiarities of the Green’s functions method for Cartesian, cylindrical and spherical coordinate system are under consideration. Layered magneto-dielectric structures with arbitrary extraneous electric and magnetic currents are investigated. The equivalent circuit approach is applied for layered structures description. Transmitting matrices are used for wave propagation modelling in each layer and through boundaries between layers. It is shown that the boundary transmitting matrix for flat and spherical structures is equal to the unit matrix. Different kinds of loads are used for region boundaries modelling. Proposed approach with transmitting matrices allows one to develop universal algorithms with common modules for solution of electromagnetic problems such as wave excitation and propagation, antennas radiation and scattering associated with flat, cylindrical and spherical structures of any number of layers, arbitrary permittivity and permeability.
Calorimetry for particle physics

Calorimetry has become a well-understood, powerful, and versatile measurement method. Besides perfecting this technique to match increasingly demanding operation at high-energy particle accelerators, physicists are developing low-temperature calorimeters to extend detection down to ever lower energies, and atmospheric and deep-sea calorimeters to scrutinize the universe up to the highest energies. The authors summarize the state of the art, with emphasis on the physics of the detectors and innovative technologies.
Aggregate Interference and Capacity-Outage Analysis in a Cognitive Radio Network

This paper presents a study on the interference caused by secondary users (SUs) due to misdetection and its effects on the capacity-outage performance of the primary user (PU) in a cognitive radio (CR) network assuming Rayleigh and Nakagami fading channels. The effect of beacon transmitter placement on aggregate interference distribution and capacity-outage performance is studied, considering two scenarios of beacon transmitter placement: a beacon transmitter located 1) at a PU transmitter or 2) at a PU receiver. Based on the developed statistical models for the interference distribution, closed-form expressions for the capacity-outage probability of the PU are derived to examine the effects of various system parameters on the performance of the PU in the presence of interference from SUs. It is shown that the beacon transmitter at the PU receiver imposes less interference and, hence, better capacity-outage probability to the PU than the beacon transmitter at the PU transmitter. Furthermore, the model is extended to investigate the cooperative sensing effect on aggregate interference statistical model and capacity-outage performance considering or (i.e., logical or operation) and maximum likelihood cooperative detection techniques. Simulation results are also provided to verify the developed analytical models.
Multicenter Survey of the Changing In Vitro Antimicrobial Susceptibilities of Clinical Isolates of Bacteroides fragilis Group, Prevotella, Fusobacterium, Porphyromonas, and PeptostreptococcusSpecies

ABSTRACT In vitro surveys of antimicrobial resistance among clinically important anaerobes are an important source of information that can be used for clinical decisions in the choice of empiric antimicrobial therapy. This study surveyed the susceptibilities of 556 clinical anaerobic isolates from four large medical centers using a broth microdilution method. Piperacillin-tazobactam was the only antimicrobial agent to which all the isolates were susceptible. Similarly, imipenem, meropenem, and metronidazole were highly active (resistance, <0.5%), whereas the lowest susceptibility rates were noted for penicillin G, ciprofloxacin, and clindamycin. For most antibiotics, blood isolates were less susceptible than isolates from intra-abdominal, obstetric-gynecologic, and other sources. All isolates of the Bacteroides fragilis group were susceptible to piperacillin-tazobactam and metronidazole, while resistance to imipenem and meropenem was low (<2%). For these same isolates, resistance rates (intermediate and resistant MICs) to ampicillin-sulbactam, cefoxitin, trovafloxacin, and clindamycin were 11, 8, 7, and 29%, respectively. Among the individual species of the B. fragilis group, the highest resistance rates were noted among the following organism-drug combinations: for clindamycin,Bacteroides distasonis and Bacteroides ovatus; for cefoxitin, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, B. distasonis, and Bacteroides uniformis; for ampicillin-sulbactam,B. distasonis, B. ovatus, and B. uniformis; and for trovafloxacin, Bacteroides vulgatus. For the carbapenens, imipenem resistance was noted among B. fragilis and meropenem resistance was seen among B. fragilis, B. vulgatus, and B. uniformis. With few exceptions all antimicrobial agents were highly active against isolates of Prevotella, Fusobacterium, Porphyromonas, andPeptostreptococcus. These data further establish and confirm that clinically important anaerobes can vary widely in their antimicrobial susceptibilities. Fortunately most antimicrobial agents were active against the test isolates. However, concern is warranted for what appears to be a significant increases in resistance to ampicillin-sulbactam and clindamycin.
A hepatitis B virus mutant associated with an epidemic of fulminant hepatitis.

BACKGROUND A nosocomial outbreak of fulminant hepatitis B occurred in five patients in Haifa, Israel. Previous investigations identified the suspected source as a carrier of hepatitis B surface antigen who was positive for antibodies to hepatitis B e antigen and had chronic liver disease. We examined the strain of hepatitis B virus (HBV) that caused this epidemic, in order to identify specific mutations in the precore or core region. METHODS The presence of HBV was identified by polymerase-chain-reaction amplification of viral DNA in serum from the source patient, the five patients with fulminant hepatitis B, and five controls with acute, self-limited hepatitis B. The amplified viral HBV DNA samples were then cloned and sequenced. RESULTS Sequence analysis of viral DNA established that the same HBV mutant with two mutations in the precore region was present in the source patient and the five patients with fulminant hepatic failure. This HBV mutant had significant sequence divergence from other known HBV subtypes in the X, precore, and core regions. Cloned HBV DNA derived from a hospitalized patient who had subclinical hepatitis B at the same time as the outbreak and from four other control subjects with acute, self-limited hepatitis B all contained the wild-type sequence in the precore region. CONCLUSIONS In the outbreak we studied, a mutant hepatitis B viral strain was transmitted from a common source to five patients who subsequently died of fulminant hepatitis B infection. Naturally occurring viral mutations hepatitis B infection. Naturally occurring viral mutations in the HBV genome may predispose the infected host to more severe liver injury.
Intake of Vitamin C, β-Carotene, and Polyphenolic Compounds by Children and Adolescents from Orphanages

Objective: The objective of this study was analytical assessment of the concentration of selected antioxidants as well as total antioxidant capacity of daily diets of children and adolescents from orphanages in Krakow (Poland). Methods: Daily diets of children and adolescents were collected in 4 seasons of the year from 7 orphanages located in Krakow. The concentrations of vitamin C, β-carotene, polyphenolic compounds, and antioxidant capacity were measured. Results: The lowest content of vitamin C in diets of children and adolescents was measured in diets collected in autumn. The estimated average requirement (EAR) was in the range 49.0%–76.4%. In winter the content of this compound was significantly higher in daily diets (113.9%–192.0% coverage of EAR) compared to the level of this nutrient in daily diets from other seasons. The content of β-carotene, lower than 50% of EAR value, calculated as the vitamin A equivalent, has been demonstrated in 4 orphanages in summer and in one in spring and autumn. The highest mean content of this antioxidant in daily diets was found in winter, when β-carotene intake met recommendations in the range 131%–368%. The mean concentration of polyphenolic compounds per year was in the range 301.5–537.5 mg/person/day. It has been observed that diets during the winter and autumn generally provide higher amounts of polyphenols than in other seasons. The highest antioxidant activity was measured in diets collected during the winter season. Conclusions: The results indicate that the diets of children and adolescents should contain more fresh vegetables and fruits, which are good source of natural antioxidants.
In-depth electrical characterization of carrier transport in ambipolar Si-NW Schottky-barrier FETs

In this paper the operation mechanism of ambipolar Si-nanowire (Si-NW) Schottky-barrier (SB) FETs is discussed in detail using temperature dependent current-voltage (I-V) contour maps. Thermionic and field emission mechanism limited the overall conduction behavior of ambipolar Si-NW SB-FETs with considerable SB-height. However, Si-channel dominant transports with phonon scattering mechanism occur even in the SB based device at a specific bias condition, where charge carrier injection is saturated with a very thinned SB. Temperature dependent transconductance (gm) behavior, TCAD simulation and extracted activation energy (Eae) maps also support the explained operation principle of ambipolar Si-NW SB-FETs.
SVM based simultaneous hand movements classification using sEMG signals

Prediction of motion volitions is a practical issue in control of artificial limbs. Four classifiers are investigated in this paper to discriminate simultaneous hand movements based on pattern recognition of surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals. A sEMG signal processing tube composed of feature extraction, feature reduction and movements classification is proposed for offline myoelectric pattern recognition. Previous research was mainly devoted to individual hand movements classification. In this paper, several common tools are used for definition of movements. The results show that Support Vector Machine (SVM) outperforms the other three classifiers on both accuracy and model-training time. The user-depend classification accuracy reaches as high as 92.25% while the accuracy of user-independent is about 80%. The proposed classification method is a promising candidate to be used in prosthetic control for a rehabilitation robot in the future.
Modelling of dispersion flattened photonic crystal fibers for communication application

We present a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) for shaping nearly zero ultra-flattened dispersion and low splice loss at telecom window. The finite-element method with perfectly matched layers boundary condition is used to investigate the guiding properties. Simulation results reveal that, ultra-flattened dispersion of 0 ± 0.8 ps/nm/km is obtained in a wavelength range of 1.33 to 1.71 μm with low splice loss of 3.82 dB in the entire band of interest from an eight-ring PCF.
Measuring mechanisms for quality assurance in primary care systems in transition: test of a new instrument in Slovenia and Uzbekistan.

BACKGROUND This World Health Organization (WHO) study aimed to develop and field test an instrument to assess the availability of structures and mechanisms for managing quality in primary care in countries in transition. METHOD The instrument is based on a literature study, consensus meetings with experts, and observations in these countries. It consists of three parts: a semi-structured questionnaire on national policies and mechanisms; a structured questionnaire for general practitioners (GPs); and a structured questionnaire for use with managers of primary care facilities. The instrument has been field tested in 2007 in Slovenia and Uzbekistan. RESULTS In Slovenia, leadership on quality improvement was weak and local managers reported few incentives and resources to control quality. There was a lack of external support for quality improvement activities. Availability and use of clinical guidelines for GPs were not optimal. GPs found teamwork and communication with patients inadequate. In Uzbekistan, primary care quality and standards in health centres were extensively regulated and laid down in numerous manuals, instructions and other documents. Managers, however, indicated the need for more financial and non-financial levers for quality improvement and they wanted to know more about modern healthcare management. GPs reported strong involvement in activities such as peer review and clinical audit, and reported frequent use of clinical guidelines. Overall, the information gathered with the provisional instrument has resulted in policy recommendations. At the same time, the pilot resulted in improvements to the instrument. CONCLUSION Application of the instrument helps decision makers to identify improvement areas in the infrastructure for managing the quality of primary care.
EEG Beta 1 Oscillation and Sucrose Sensitization in Fibromyalgia with Chemical Intolerance

Patients with fibromyalgia (FM) have diffuse musculoskeletal pain; half report concomitant intolerance for low levels of environmental chemicals (CI). Previous investigators have hypothesized that the chronic pain and chemical intolerance reflect sensitization of different central nervous system limbic and/or mesolimbic reward pathways. We evaluated electroencephalographic (EEG) beta activity and blood glucose responses of FM patients with and without CI and normals during three repeated sucrose ingestion sessions and during a final, water-only session (testing for conditioning). The FM with CI exhibited oscillation (reversal in direction of change from session to session) at rest and then sensitization (progressive amplification) of EEG beta I over time across the 3 sucrose sessions versus controls. FM with CI showed sensitization of blood glucose over the 3 sucrose sessions, which, like the EEG findings, reverted toward baseline in the final water-only session. The data suggest that the subset of FM patients with CI have increased susceptibility to oscillation and physiological sensitization without conditioning, perhaps contributing to fluctuations in their chronic course.
Using XSLT for the Integration of Deep and Shallow Natural Language Processing Components

WHITEBOARD is a hybrid XML-based architecture that integrates deep and shallow natural language processing components. The online system consists of a fast HPSG parser that utilizes tokenization, PoS, morphology, lexical, named entity, phrase chunk and (for German) topological sentence field analyses from shallow components. This integration increases robustness, directs the search space and hence reduces processing time of the deep parser. In this paper, we focus on one of the central integration facilities, the XSLT-based WHITEBOARD Annotation Transformer (WHAT), report on the benefits of XSLT-based NLP component integration, and present examples of XSL transformation of shallow and deep annotations used in the integrated architecture. Furthermore, we report on a recent application of XSL transformation for the conversion of XML-encoded typed feature structures representation in the context of the DEEPTHOUGHT project where deep-shallow integration is performed on the basis of Robust Minimal Recursion Semantics (RMRS).
Role of chloride‐mediated inhibition in respiratory rhythmogenesis in an in vitro brainstem of tadpole, Rana catesbeiana.

1. The isolated brainstem of larval Rana catesbeiana maintained in vitro generates neural bursts that correspond to the lung and gill ventilatory activity generated in the intact specimen. To investigate the role of chloride channel‐dependent inhibitory mechanisms mediated by GABA(A) and/or glycine receptors on fictive lung and gill ventilation, we superfused the isolated brainstems with agonists, antagonists (bicuculline and/or strychnine) or a chloride‐free solution while recording multi‐unit activity from the facial motor nucleus. 2. Superfusion with the agonists (GABA or glycine) produced differential effects on frequency, amplitude and duration of the neural bursts related to lung and gill ventilation. At a GABA or glycine concentration of 1.0 mM, fictive gill bursts were abolished while fictive lung bursts persisted, albeit with reduced amplitude and frequency. 3. At the lowest concentrations used (1.0‐2.5 microM), the GABA(A) receptor antagonist bicuculline produced an increase in the frequency of lung bursts. At higher concentrations (5.0‐2.0 microM) bicuculline produced non‐specific excitatory effects. The glycine antagonist strychnine, at concentrations lower than 5.0 microM, caused a progressive decrease in the frequency and amplitude of the gill bursts and eventually abolished the rhythmic activity. At higher concentrations (7.5 microM), non‐specific excitatory effects occurred. Superfusion with bicuculline (10 microM) and strychnine (5 microM) combined abolished the neural output for gill ventilation but increased the frequency, amplitude and duration of lung bursts. 4. Superfusion with Cl(‐)‐free solution also abolished the rhythmic neural bursts associated with gill ventilation, while it significantly increased the amplitude (228 +/‐ 51%; P < 0.05) (mean +/‐ S.E.M.) and duration of the lung bursts (3.5 +/‐ 0.1 to 35.3 +/‐ 3.7 s; P < 0.05) and improved the regularity of their occurrence. 5. We conclude that different neural systems generate rhythmic activity for lung and gill ventilation. Chloride‐mediated inhibition may be essential for generation of neural bursts associated with gill ventilation. In contrast, the burst associated with lung ventilation can be generated in the absence of Cl(‐)‐mediated inhibition although the latter plays a role in shaping the normal lung burst.
Oral hygiene of elderly people in long-term care institutions--a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the level of oral hygiene in elderly people living in long-term care institutions and to investigate the relationship between institutional and individual characteristics, and the observed oral cleanliness. MATERIALS AND METHODS Clinical outcome variables, denture plaque and dental plaque were gathered from 359 older people (14%) living in 19 nursing homes. Additional data were collected by a questionnaire filled out by all health care workers employed in the nursing homes. RESULTS Only 128 (36%) residents had teeth present in one or both dental arches. About half of the residents (47%) wore complete dentures. The mean dental plaque score was 2.17 (maximum possible score = 3) and the mean denture plaque score was 2.13 (maximum possible score = 4). Significantly more plaque was observed on the mucosal surface of the denture with a mean plaque score of 2.33 vs. 1.93 on the buccal surface (p < 0.001). In the multiple analyses only the degree of dependency on an individual level was found to be significantly correlated with the outcome dental plaque (odds ratio: 3.09) and only the management of the institution with denture plaque (odds ratio: 0.43). CONCLUSION Oral hygiene was poor, both for dentures and remaining teeth in residents in long-term care institutions and only the degree of dependency of the residents and the management of the institutions was associated with the presence of dental plaque and denture plaque respectively.
THE EFFECT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE , TEAMWORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT : THE MEDIATING ROLE OF HUMAN CAPITAL

Original scientific paper The aim of this work is providing a model for determining impact of organizational culture, teamwork and organizational development on organizational commitment with emphasis on the mediating role of human capital. The 266 employees of SAFA Industrial Group were selected using random sampling and they responded research tools. Path analysis test was used for analysis of research data. Findings show that organizational culture, teamwork, and organizational development have direct and significant impact on human capital. In addition, human capital has a positive effect on organizational commitment. Organizational culture, teamwork and organizational development have direct and significant effect on organizational commitment. Finally findings show that human capital has mediating role between organizational culture, teamwork, organizational development and organizational commitment.
Utility-Gradient Implicit Cache Coordination Policy for Information-Centric Ad-Hoc Vehicular Networks

Increased Caching Capability is one of the main benefits of Information-Centric Networking and a necessity for highly mobile ad-hoc networks such as VANETs. Hence, it is crucial to efficiently store items to improve resource utilization, increasing cache efficiency, reducing network load. In this paper, we propose a cache content insertion policy, UG-Cache, for ICN-VANETs. In UG-Cache, cache insertion decisions are made based on recommendations from content sender dependent on request frequency and cache distance. Numerical results denote the benefits of increased control over cache variety via application of UG-Cache. Simulation results reveal increased delivery rates and reduced average hop count of content delivery of UG-Cache over other schemes. UG-Cache also achieves higher cache hit ratio than other on-demand caching strategies.
Resonances for the Laplacian on Riemannian symmetric spaces: the case of SL(3,$\mathbb{R}$)/SO(3)

We show that the resolvent of the Laplacian on SL(3,$\mathbb{R}$)/SO(3) can be lifted to a meromorphic function on a Riemann surface which is a branched covering of $\mathbb{C}$. The poles of this function are called the resonances of the Laplacian. We determine all resonances and show that the corresponding residue operators are given by convolution with spherical functions parameterized by the resonances. The ranges of these operators are infinite dimensional irreducible SL(3,$\mathbb{R}$)-representations. We determine their Langlands parameters and wave front sets. Also, we show that precisely one of these representations is unitarizable. Alternatively, they are given by the differential equations which determine the image of the Poisson transform associated with the resonance.