Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Respiratory and laryngeal symptoms secondary to gastro-oesophageal reflux

Gastro-oesophageal reflux may cause a range of laryngeal and respiratory symptoms. Mechanisms responsible include the proximal migration of gastric refluxate beyond the upper oesophageal sphincter causing direct irritation of the larynx and lower airway. Alternatively, refluxate entering the distal oesophagus alone may stimulate oesophageal sensory nerves and indirectly activate airway reflexes such as cough and bronchospasm. Recognising reflux as a cause for these extraoesophageal symptoms can be difficult as many patients do not have typical oesophageal symptoms (eg, heartburn) and clinical findings on laryngoscopy are not very specific. Acid suppression remains an effective treatment in the majority of patients but there is growing appreciation of the need to consider and treat non-acid and volume reflux. New opinions about the role of existing medical and surgical (laparoscopic techniques) treatment are emerging and a number of novel anti-reflux treatments are under development.
[Foodborne disease outbreaks in China from 1992 to 2001 national foodborne disease surveillance system].

OBJECTIVE To study the foodborne disease outbreaks in the areas covered by National Foodborne Disease Surveillance System. METHODS Total 13 provinces were included in the surveillance system, and the foodborne disease outbreaks data during 1992 to 2001 were collected. RESULTS During 1992-2001, a total of 5770 outbreaks of foodborne disease were reported. These outbreaks caused a reported 162,995 persons to become ill. Among outbreaks for which the etiology was determined, bacterial pathogens caused the largest percentage of outbreaks (38.5%) and the largest percentage of cases (50.9%). Vibrio parahaemolyticus (31.1%) accounted for the largest number of outbreaks and cases. Chemical agents caused 37.5% of outbreaks and 28.6% of cases. CONCLUSION More work needs to be done to improve the foodborne disease surveillance system.
RESULTS Isolation of crp 79 as a Multicopy Suppressor of rae 1 – 167 nup 184 – 1 Synthetic Lethality

The export of mRNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm involves interactions of proteins with mRNA and the nuclear pore complex. We isolated Crp79p, a novel mRNA export factor from the same synthetic lethal screen that led to the identification of spMex67p in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Crp79p is a 710-amino-acid-long protein that contains three RNA recognition motif domains in tandem and a distinct C-terminus. Fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP), Crp79p localizes to the cytoplasm. Like Mex67p, Crp79-GFP binds poly(A) RNA in vivo, shuttles between the nucleus and the cytoplasm, and contains a nuclear export activity at the C-terminus that is Crm1p-independent. All of these properties are essential for Crp79p to promote mRNA export. Crp79p import into the nucleus depends on the Ran system. A domain of spMex67p previously identified as having a nuclear export activity can functionally substitute for the nuclear export activity at the C-terminus of Crp79p. Although both Crp79p and spMex67p function to export mRNA, Crp79p does not substitute for all of spMex67p functions and probably is not a functional homologue of spMex67p. We propose that Crp79p is a nonessential mRNA export carrier in S. pombe.
Dynamic tuning of the noise transfer function of high order delta-sigma analog to digital converters

This paper presents a dynamically tuned 3/sup rd/ order /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator to ensure stability and enhance input range. Dynamic tuning is achieved by tuning of the noise transfer function (NTF) through the movement of poles via independently varying the feedback DAC voltages. This method is shown to increase the input signal range by up to 28% over conventional design methods.
Purification and Some Properties of Neuraminidase Isolated from the Culture Medium of Oral Bacterium Streptococcus mitis ATCC 9811

Neuraminidase acting on the salivary bacterial agglutinating factor was isolated and purified from the culture medium of Streptococcus mitis ATCC 9811. The molecular weight and the isoelectric point of the enzyme were determined to be 42,000 and a pH of 4.6, respectively. The enzyme showed high activity against human glycoprotein substraes, especially the salivary bacterial agglutinating factor.
Code‐expanded radio access protocol for machine‐to‐machine communications

The random access methods used for support of machine‐to‐machine, also referred to as Machine‐Type Communications, in current cellular standards are derivatives of traditional framed slotted ALOHA and therefore do not support high user loads efficiently. We propose an approach that is motivated by the random access method employed in LTE, which significantly increases the amount of contention resources without increasing the system resources, such as contention subframes and preambles. This is accomplished by a logical, rather than physical, extension of the access method in which the available system resources are interpreted in a novel manner. Specifically, in the proposed scheme, users perform random access by transmitting orthogonal preambles in multiple random access subframes, in this way creating access codewords that are used for contention. We show that, for the same number of random access subframes and orthogonal preambles, the amount of available contention resources is drastically increased, enabling the massive support of Machine‐Type Communication users that is beyond the reach of current systems. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sound information seeking in Web 2.0 virtual communities: the moderating effect of mindfulness

Virtual communities are a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0. Information seeking has been demonstrated to be a main motivator driving web use. Given the challenge brought by quality in the early stage, the healthy development of virtual communities relies on sound information seekers. Mindfulness, which is regarded as a psychological state of consciousness, is an important factor for individuals to make a sound decision. This study develops a research model by extending the updated information systems success model with the consideration of the moderating effect of mindfulness. Data collected from users of virtual communities were used to test the model. The findings suggest that mindfulness negatively moderates the effects of information quality, system quality and service quality on perceived usefulness, which further impacts information seeking in virtual communities. The findings and the implications for theory and practice are discussed.
LEVELS OF INSECTICIDE RESISTANCE AND RESISTANCE MECHANISMS IN AEDES AEGYPTI FROM SOME LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES

ABSTRACT Eight Latin American strains of Aedes aegypti were evaluated for resistance to 6 organophosphates (temephos, malathion, fenthion, pirimiphos-methyl, fenitrothion, and chlorpirifos) and 4 pyrethroids (deltamethrin, lambdacyhalothrin, betacypermethrin, and cyfluthrin) under laboratory conditions. In larval bioassays, temephos resistance was high (resistance ratio [RR50], ≥10×) in the majority of the strains, except for the Nicaragua and Venezuela strains, which showed moderate resistance (RR50, between 5 and 10×). The majority of the strains were susceptible to malathion, fenthion, and fenitrothion. However, resistance to pirimiphos-methyl ranged from moderate to high in most of the strains. Larvae from Havana City were resistant to 3 of the pyrethroids tested and moderately resistant to cyfluthrin. The Santiago de Cuba strain showed high resistance to deltamethrin and moderate resistance to the other pyrethroids (lambdacyhalothrin, betacypermethrin, and cyfluthrin). The rest of the strains were susceptible to pyrethroids, except for the Jamaica and Costa Rica strains, which showed moderate resistance to cyfluthrin, and Peru and Venezuela, which showed resistance to deltamethrin. Adult bioassays showed that all the strains were resistant to dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane and to the majority of pyrethroids evaluated. The use of the synergists S,S,S,-tributyl phosphorotrithioate and piperonil butoxide showed that esterase and monooxygenases played an important role in the temephos, pirimiphos-methyl, and chlorpirifos resistance in some strains. Biochemical tests showed high frequencies of esterase and glutathione-S-transferase activity; however, the frequency of altered acetylcholinesterase mechanism was low. The polyacrylamide electrophoresis gel detected the presence of a strong band called Est-A4. Insecticide resistance in Ae. aegypti is a serious problem facing control operations, and integrated control strategies are recommended to help prevent or delay the temephos resistance in larvae and pyrethroids resistance in adults.
Information theoretic models of social interaction

This dissertation demonstrates, in a non-semantic information-theoretic framework, how the principles of “maximisation of relevant information” and “information parsimony” can guide the adaptation of an agent towards agent-agent interaction. Central to this thesis is the concept of digested information; I argue that an agent is intrinsically motivated to a. ) process the relevant information in its environment and b. ) display this information in its own actions. From the perspective of similar agents, who require similar information, this differentiates other agents from the rest of the environment, by virtue of the information they provide. This provides an informational incentive to observe other agents and integrate their information into one’s own decision making process. This process is formalized in the framework of information theory, which allows for a quantitative treatment of the resulting effects, specifically how the digested information of an agent is influenced by several factors, such as the agent’s performance and the integrated information of other agents. Two specific phenomena based on information maximisation arise in this thesis. One is flocking behaviour similar to boids that results when agents are searching for a location in a girdworld and integrated the information in other agent’s actions via Bayes’ Theorem. The other is an effect where integrating information from too many agents becomes detrimental to an agent’s performance, for which several explanations are provided.
Repeat Pregnancy Prevention Self-Efficacy in Adolescents: Associations With Provider Communication, Provider Type, and Depression

Objectives Among adolescent mothers, pregnancy prevention self-efficacy developed during pregnancy may predict the use of contraception following delivery. Communication between patients and their primary care providers (PCPs) is important for adherence to physician recommendations and may be associated with pregnancy prevention self-efficacy. Depression, which is common among adolescent mothers, has been associated with poor self-efficacy. The associations among pregnancy prevention self-efficacy, provider communication, provider type (PCP vs others), and depression are unclear. The objectives of the study were to determine the association of positive provider communication with pregnancy prevention self-efficacy, whether provider type or depression is associated with positive provider communication, and whether the association between provider communication and pregnancy prevention self-efficacy varies by provider type and depression. Methods Cross-sectional study of 164 third trimester Baltimore adolescents measuring pregnancy prevention self-efficacy, perceptions of the quality of provider communication (Ambulatory Care Experiences Survey), provider type, and depressive symptoms. Results Of 164 pregnant teens, 79% reported pregnancy prevention self-efficacy, 72% had a specific PCP, and 17% scored positive for depression. Positive provider communication was associated with pregnancy prevention self-efficacy (odds ratio 1.25; P = 0.04). Adolescents with PCPs had significantly higher communication scores (&bgr; 0.90; P = 0.001). Depressed adolescents had significantly lower communication scores (&bgr; −0.74; P = 0.03). The association between positive provider communication and self-efficacy was significant only for adolescents who reported having a PCP (P = 0.04) and those who were not depressed (P = 0.05). Conclusions Having a PCP and favorable perceptions of provider communication are important for pregnancy prevention self-efficacy among adolescents. Depression negatively affects perceptions of provider communication, which may limit self-efficacy.
Macleaya cordata Extract Reduces Inflammatory Responses of Intestinal Epithelial Cells in Vitro

Background: The EU ban on antimicrobial growth promoters (AGP) has initiated a search for non-antibiotic alternatives. It has been demonstrated that certain antibiotics and non-antibiotic alternatives enhance growth by inhibiting inflammatory cells, i.e. neutrophils and macrophages in the intestine. There is very little information on the effect of anti-inflammatory compounds on intestinal epithelial cells, which are known to play an important role in intestinal inflammatory responses. In order to establish this, a porcine intestinal epithelial cell line (IPEC J2) was incubated with an adherent enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) to stimulate inflammation, using a non-pathogenic non-adherent E. coli (EC) as a control. The influence of the presence of the anti-inflammatory compounds Macleaya cordata extract (MCE) and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) on inflammatory transcriptional responses was studied. Results: ETEC induced a strong inflammatory response as was most evident from the expression of IL-1β, IL-8 and TNF-α, whereas EC induced IL-1β only. Co-incubation with MCE and ASA significantly reduced the responses of the pro-inflammatory cytokines, similarly for IL-1β and TNF-α, but ASA was more effective than MCE in reducing the IL8 response. Conclusions: The present results suggest that the in vivo anti-inflammatory growth promoting effects of AGP and effective alternatives to AGP such as MCE and ASA are not restricted to inflammatory cells and also involve the more abundant enterocytes. This suggests a major role for epithelial cells in growth promotion livestock, and it further supports the notion that effective alternatives to AGP should have anti-inflammatory activity.
Expression of receptor‐binding cancer antigen expressed on SiSo cells and estrogen receptor subtypes in the normal, hyperplastic, and carcinomatous endometrium

The objectives were to study the expression of receptor-binding cancer antigen expressed on SiSo cells (RCAS1) and estrogen receptor (ER) subtypes in the normal, hyperplastic, and carcinomatous endometrium and to explore their possible role in carcinogenesis and progression of endometrial carcinoma. Immunohistochemistry and semiquantitative reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were applied to detect protein and messenger RNA expression of RCAS1, ER-α, and ER-β in normal, hyperplastic, and carcinomatous endometrium. Western blotting was also used to detect the RCAS1 protein expression. Immunohistochemistry showed that the high expressions of RCAS1 protein were 0% (0/20), 9.1% (2/22), 40% (8/20), and 68.0% (34/50) in normal, simple, and complex hyperplasia, atypical hyperplasia, and endometrial carcinoma, respectively. There was a significant difference between each group (P < 0.05). The high-level expression of RCAS1 was detected more frequently in endometrial cancer with deep myometrial invasion, vascular invasion, and positive ER-α (P < 0.05). Two staining patterns of RCAS1 were observed. All normal, simple, and complex hyperplastic endometrium showed P pattern, while all malignant endometrium were of the D pattern. In atypical endometrium, 25% (5/20) cases showed D pattern. The Western blotting and RT-PCR results correlated with the immunohistochemistry results. The expression and distribution of RCAS1 may be involved in the malignant transformation of endometrium, and RCAS1 coexpression with ER-α may be associated with development and metastasis of endometrial carcinoma.
An ILP model for a monotone graded classification problem

Motivation for this paper are classification problems in which data can not be clearly divided into positive and negative examples, especially data in which there is a monotone hierarchy (degree, preference) of more or less positive (negative) examples. We present a new formulation of a fuzzy inductive logic programming task in the framework of fuzzy logic in narrow sense. Our construction is based on a syntactical equivalence of fuzzy logic programs FLP and a restricted class of generalised annotated programs. The induction is achieved via multiple use of classical two valued induction on α-cuts of fuzzy examples with monotonicity axioms in background knowledge, which is afterwards again glued together to a single annotated hypothesis. Correctness of our method (translation) is based on the correctness of FLP. The cover relation is based on fuzzy Datalog and fixpoint semantics for FLP. We present and discuss results of ILP systems GOLEM and ALEPH on illustrative examples. We comment on relations of our results to some statistical models and Bayesian logic programs.
Association between sex, systemic iron variation and probability of Parkinson's disease

Objective: Iron homeostasis appears altered in Parkinson's disease (PD). Recent genetic studies and meta-analyses have produced heterogeneous and inconclusive results. In order to verify the possible role of iron status in PD, we have screened some of the main metal gene variants, evaluated their effects on iron systemic status, and checked for possible interactions with PD. Materials and methods: In 92 PD patients and 112 healthy controls, we screened the D544E and R793H variants of the ceruloplasmin gene (CP), the P589S variant of the transferrin gene (TF), and the H63D and C282Y variants of the HFE gene, encoding for homologous proteins, respectively. Furthermore, we analyzed serum concentrations of iron, copper and their related proteins. Results: The genetic investigation revealed no significant differences in allelic and genotype distributions between patients and controls. Two different multivariable forward stepwise logistic models showed that, when the effect of sex is considered, an increase of the probability of having PD is associated with low iron concentration and Tf-saturation. Conclusions: This study provides new evidence of the involvement of iron metabolism in PD pathogenesis and reveals a biological effect of sex.
A new protein conjugate that replaces the use of secondary antibodies engineered from the two staphylococcal enzymes protein A and 6-phospho-beta-galactosidase.

The lacG gene encoding the 6-phospho-beta-galactosidase (E.C.3.2.1.85) of Staphylococcus aureus was fused to the protein A gene in the plasmid pRIT2T. Escherichia coli cells containing this plasmid produce a fusion protein with both IgG binding and 6-phospho-beta-galactosidase activities after heat induction. The recombinant gene was overexpressed and the hybrid protein was purified to homogeneity in high yield. The chimeric protein was shown to have almost identical enzymatic characteristics to pure 6-phospho-beta-galactosidase. This result leads to the conclusion that a free N-terminus of the 6-phospho-beta-galactosidase is not required for biological activity. The hybrid protein of protein A and 6-phospho-beta-galactosidase was used as an enzyme conjugate in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). The experiments presented demonstrate that the 6-phospho-beta-galactosidase is a suitable fusion partner in various diagnostic applications where an unique biological activity is required.
Organizational Structure, Policy Learning, and Economic Performance: Evidence from the Chinese Commune

Using original county-level panel data on Chinese communes over two decades, 1958 to 1979, this article builds upon existing theories about the influence of organizational size and structure on institutional performance. We found a consistent and robust interaction effect among the size of the commune (i.e., the coordination level) and its subunits, the brigade (i.e., the supervisory level) and production teams (i.e., the working level), on agricultural productivity. Future work on the relationship between organizational performance and size would likely benefit from including such interaction variables. We also provide evidence that to create a more productive institution, county-level officials learned from their most productive neighbors and adjusted the size of their communes accordingly. This work explains the role of organizational structure as a driver of economic performance and how policy diffusion occurred during China’s Maoist era—a period generally treated as a monolith rather than a period of institutional change.
Health Communication Strategies as Gateway to Effective Health Promotionand Well-being

This paper reviewed health communication strategies as gateway to effective health promotion and well-being. Health promotion supports personal and society development by providing information which improves health and enhance wellbeing. Communication creates meaning to any information given. Changing an already existing behaviour is very difficult. However, with effective communication and application of effective strategies, behavioural change could be achieved. Therefore, this paper expunges some of the strategies adopted by the health educator to influence people and bring about behavioural charge. Some of them include; health campaign, newsletters/journals, bill board, radio/ television and social/internet media. Benefits of health communication include increasing audiences’ knowledge and awareness on health related issues and its advocacy for health issue and policies were identified. Also barriers such as low health literacy and poor communications were identified. It was concluded that health communications contribute to all aspects of disease prevention and health promotion. Hence, the recommendation is that health communication should be included in all levels of health’s curriculum to enable health educators acquire better skill to promote health and improve well-being.
Impact of therapeutic switching in long-term care.

OBJECTIVE To collect clinician perceptions on the impact of switching medications for nonmedical (ie, formulary) reasons in long-term care settings under Medicare Part D and to use the qualitative findings to support more robust research into the effects of Part D policies on nursing home patients and providers. METHODS We collected individual clinician accounts of experiences with and perceptions about Part D plans when medications were switched for nonmedical reasons, including diseases that clinicians believed were most medically risky for switching with nursing home residents and the common health outcomes of switching. Publisher HCPro's long-term care readership database was used to reach survey participants. Individuals were classified by clinician type and then e-mailed an invitation to take these electronically disseminated surveys in September 2007. RESULTS A total of 569 total case histories representing 555 nursing homes were collected. About three-quarters of the case histories collected showed decreased efficacy after a nonmedical switch for Part D beneficiaries. Switching for those with hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, HIV, and bipolar disorder, among other diseases, was considered most medically risky in this population. CONCLUSION Nurses, physicians, and pharmacists who shared their perceptions regarding the effect of nonmedical switching in long-term care settings reported situations in which switching increased administrative time, increased side effects, and appeared to have increased downstream costs to plans.