101,968 research outputs found

    Detection of latent tuberculosis in immunosuppressed patients with autoimmune diseases: performance of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen-specific interferon gamma assay

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    OBJECTIVE: To analyse the performance of a new M. tuberculosis-specific interferon gamma (IFNgamma) assay in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases who receive immunosuppressive drugs, including tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) inhibitors. METHODS: Cellular immune responses to the M. tuberculosis-specific antigens ESAT-6, CFP-10, TB7.7 were prospectively studied in 142 consecutive patients treated for inflammatory rheumatic conditions. Results were compared with tuberculin skin tests (TSTs). Association of both tests with risk factors for latent M. tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and BCG vaccination were determined and the influence of TNFalpha inhibitors, corticosteroids, and disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) on antigen-specific and mitogen-induced IFNgamma secretion was analysed. RESULTS: 126/142 (89%) patients received immunosuppressive therapy. The IFNgamma assay was more closely associated with the presence of risk factors (odds ratio (OR) = 23.8 (95% CI 5.14 to 110) vs OR = 2.77 (1.22 to 6.27), respectively; p = 0.009), but less associated with BCG vaccination than the TST (OR = 0.47 (95% CI 0.15 to 1.47) vs OR = 2.44 (0.74 to (8.01), respectively; p = 0.025). Agreement between the IFNgamma assay and TST results was low (kappa = 0.17; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.32). The odds for a positive IFNgamma assay strongly increased with increasing prognostic relevance of LTBI risk factors. Neither corticosteroids nor conventional DMARDs significantly affected IFNgamma responses, but the odds for a positive IFNgamma assay were decreased in patients treated with TNFalpha inhibitors (OR = 0.21 (95% CI 0.07 to 0.63), respectively; p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that the performance of the M. tuberculosis antigen-specific IFNgamma ELISA is better than the classic TST for detection of LTBI in patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy for treatment of systemic autoimmune disorders

    Bibliographie Hilarion G. Petzold 1958 – 2009 mit Anhang als Einführung

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    Dieses Archiv enthält die Gesamtbibliographie der Werke des Autors nebst einiger Texte „Über H. G. Petzold“ im Schlussteil der Bibliographie sowie einen Anhang mit einer Einführung in die Architektur des Werkes in seinem wissenslogischen Aufbau als Ausarbeitung seines „Tree of Science Modells“ (2007).This archive contains the complete bibliography of the author and some texts about H. G. Petzold, moreover an epilogue with an introduction to the architecture of the works in its epistemological structure and composition and as an elaborations of Petzold’s „Tree of Science Modell (2007).https://www.fpi-publikation.de/polyloge/01-2009-petzold-h-g-gesamtbibliographie-h-g-petzold-1958-2009-updating-november2009/peerReviewedpublishedVersio

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods

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    Mobility function after total hip replacement surgery recovery prediction of statistical analysis methods

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    Matulis G. Mobility function after total hip replacement surgery recovery prediction of statistical analysis methods, master thesis / research adviser: Ph. D. L. Pauliukėnas; Lithuanian University of Health Scien-ces, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physics, Mathematics and Biophysics. - Kaunas, 2017 - 49 s. The aim: to find basic statistical analysis of prognostic factors that best describes the mobility function recovery after hip replacement surgery. Research objectives: 1. For the purposes of statistical analysis techniques to identify predictors of attributes that best describes the function: 1.1 postural change and maintenance; 1.2 the seizure of items, storage and maintenance; 1.3 turn and move; 1.4 the movement in transportation. 2. For the purposes of statistical analysis methods provide assessment identified mobility features. 3. The results are compared with the control group. Research methods: physical examination, evaluation of certain criteria, questionnaire, statistical data analysis. The questionnaire evaluated for hip mobility, making certain movements. Systematic study material using the statistical software package. The participants: Patients (men and women) from 38 m. up to 87 m. Results: A questionnaire was developed based on the scientific literature. The survey questionnaire prepared by integrating the International Functioning, Disability and Health classification of the questionnaire scales, choosing “I can move freely”, “have difficulty”, “can not move”. The questionnaire we applied in practice. The completed questionnaire by email after 3 weeks was recovered and investigators performed the data analysis. Conclusions: 1.1. The application of statistical methods for the analysis found that postural change and retention of the best predictors of daily operational features. 1.2. It was found that the seizure of items, storage and retention of the best predictors of daily activities characterizing features. 1.3. It was found that the turn and movement of the best predictors of daily activities characterizing features. 1.4. It was found that the movement of transport using the best predictors of daily activities characterizing features. 2. The analysis identified three possible values that describe recovery and provides mobility assessment: “I can move freely”, “have difficulty” and “can not move”. 3. The results confirmed the expediency of the questionnaire

    The Right to Strike under the United States Constitution: Theory, Practice, and Possible Implications for Canada

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    Answering critics of the Canadian Supreme Court's judgment in B.C. Health, the author argues that the Court laid the foundation for a principled and durable doctrine protecting constitutional labour rights, one that goes directly to the heart of the matter — the inequality of workers’ power in the employment relation. In the author’s view, two paths could lead from B.C. Health to the recognition of Charter protec- tion for a right to strike: one that treats the right as an accessory to col- lective bargaining, and one that upholds the right directly on the basis of the Charter values of equality and participation. The author supports the latter approach, contending that constitutional rights should be defined in relation to fundamental values, in a way that is not contingent on time-bound or fact-sensitive assessments about the role of strikes within a particular collective bargaining regime. Although a Charter right to strike may involve the courts in difficult choices about when to defer to legislative policy decisions, and courts may lack the institutional capac- ity to deal effectively with labour law issues, the author points out that judges can look to ILO standards for expert guidance. Noting that the U.S. experience in this area might be of considerable use to Canadians, the author concludes by providing an overview of American case law concerning a constitutional right to strike.Peer reviewe

    G-Rank: Unsupervised Continuous Learn-to-Rank for Edge Devices in a P2P Network

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    Ranking algorithms in traditional search engines are powered by enormous training data sets that are meticulously engineered and curated by a centralized entity. Decentralized peer-to-peer (p2p) networks such as torrenting applications and Web3 protocols deliberately eschew centralized databases and computational architectures when designing services and features. As such, robust search-and-rank algorithms designed for such domains must be engineered specifically for decentralized networks, and must be lightweight enough to operate on consumer-grade personal devices such as a smartphone or laptop computer. We introduce G-Rank, an unsupervised ranking algorithm designed exclusively for decentralized networks. We demonstrate that accurate, relevant ranking results can be achieved in fully decentralized networks without any centralized data aggregation, feature engineering, or model training. Furthermore, we show that such results are obtainable with minimal data preprocessing and computational overhead, and can still return highly relevant results even when a user’s device is disconnected from the network. G-Rank is highly modular in design, is not limited to categorical data, and can be implemented in a variety of domains with minimal modification. The results herein show that unsupervised ranking models designed for decentralized p2p networks are not only viable, but worthy of further research.https://github.com/awrgold/G-RankComputer Scienc

    Author inscription in The Chinese slave-girl: a story of woman's life in China

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    This edition includes a gift inscription by author Rev. J.A. Davis, "To Rev. A. G. Russell with the warmest regards of the author J.A. Davis."Davis, John Agnell, 1839-1897

    Wissenschaftliche Bibliographie Hilarion G. Petzold 1958 – 2014 mit Anhang von 2007 als Einführung

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    Dieses Archiv enthält die Gesamtbiliograpie der Werke des Autors bis Dez. 2013 nebst einiger Texte „Über H. G. Petzold“ und einen Anhang mit einer Einführung in die Struktur des Werkes in seinem wissenslogischen Aufbau als Ausarbeitung seines „Tree of Science Modells“ (2007).This archive contains the complete bibliography of the author up to Dec. 2013 and some texts about H. G. Petzold, moreover an appendix with an introduction to the structure of the work in its epistemological structure and composition as an elaborations of Petzold’s „Tree of Science Modell (2007).https://www.fpi-publikation.de/polyloge/01-2014-petzold-h-g-2014-wissenschaftliche-gesamtbibliographie-1958-2014/peerReviewedpublishedVersio
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