Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The evidence for laryngeal manual therapies in the treatment of muscle tension dysphonia

Purpose of reviewClinicians involved in treating patients with voice disorders are showing an increasing interest in manual therapies aimed at reducing excessive tension in the perilaryngeal area. Studies investigating the effects of this treatment have been appearing in the literature since the early 1990s, but the evidence base remains extremely small. The purpose of this review is to provide the reader with current information about the types of laryngeal manual therapy in clinical use internationally and the evidence base for their use. Recent findingsThe results of studies undertaken recently reinforce the results of earlier studies, most of which have been conducted using individuals with muscle tension dysphonia. The various types of laryngeal manual therapy have all been shown to have positive effects. SummaryThere is evidence that laryngeal manual therapy, in various forms, can be a useful primary intervention in cases of muscle tension dysphonia, although this is based on very few studies. A higher level of evidence is required, including randomized controlled trials, to investigate its role in comparison with other interventions. Studies are also needed to verify or refute the clinical observation that it is also an effective treatment for all voice disorders, including those of organic aetiology, when phonatory hyperfunction is a feature.
Pension Valuation Under Uncertainties: Implementation of a Stochastic and Dynamic Monitoring System

Financial soundness and funding stability are two critical issues in pension fund management. First, we construct a generalized stochastic model to monitor the solvency risk and cash flow dynamics of the defined benefit pension plan. A semi-Markov process proposed by Dominicis et al. (1991) and Janssen and Manca (1997) is employed in structuring the transition pattern of the plan's population, and the economic-based factors are generated through plausible stochastic processes. Modifications according to classification and movements of the plan member and the plan's turnover pattern are also employed to improve its practical usefulness. Then the actuarial valuations, cash flow analyses, and workforce projection are performed and investigated. Second, we explicitly formulate the plan dynamics and implement the proposed mechanism into a risk management framework for pension management. By employing the stochastic and dynamic approach, the cost factors can be monitored throughout the valuation process. Third, we outline the procedure of implementing the proposed methodology into a monitoring system. Finally, the Taiwan Public Employees Retirement System is simplified to illustrate techniques in achieving risk management goals.
Verapamil versus amlodipine in proteinuric non-diabetic nephropathies treated with trandolapril (VVANNTT study): design of a prospective randomized multicenter trial.

Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) are the most effective antiproteinuric agents and should be used as first-line drugs in both diabetic and non-diabetic proteinuric nephropathies. The role of calcium channel blockers (CCB) is much more controversial. In diabetic patients verapamil and diltiazem seem more effective than dihydropyridines in reducing urinary protein excretion, and have additive effects with ACEI, but little is available on chronic treatment of non-diabetic nephropathies for non-dihydropyridine CCBs. To test whether the combination of verapamil 180 mg or amlodipine 5 mg with trandolapril 2 mg reduces urinary protein excretion more than trandolapril 2 mg alone, we planned a prospective, randomized, double-blind, multicenter trial. The secondary aims are to evaluate the effects of both treatments on the selectivity of proteinuria and check their safety. Consecutive patients aged between 18 and 70 years with non-diabetic proteinuria > or =2 g/24 h and plasma creatinine < 3 mg/dl or creatinine clearance > or = 20 ml/min are asked to participate. After a four-week run-in during which previous antihypertensive therapy is withdrawn, a single dose of trandolapril 2 mg is given once a day in open conditions for four weeks. At the end of this period patients are randomly assigned to receive once a day, in a double blind fashion, either trandolapril 2 mg and verapamil 180 mg [plus a placebo], or trandolapril 2 mg plus amlodipine 5 mg. They are monitored after one, two, five and eight months.
Establishment of safety paradigms and trust in emerging adult relationships

Abstract There is a critical need to understand the interplay between relationship trust and public health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of emerging adult women’s processes of establishing trust in sexual relationships. Twenty-five women aged 18–24 years participated in semi-structured interviews. Throughout the interviews, women compared and contrasted experiences in which they felt comfortable engaging in sexual intercourse with a partner versus times in which they did not feel comfortable. Analysis was based on a critical qualitative research orientation. When asked to speak to instances when they felt comfortable having sex, most women spoke about relationship trust. Many participants conceptualised trust based on past experiences with bad relationships or sexual violence. Based on their previous experiences of feeling unsafe or undervalued, emotional and physical security became prioritised in relationship development. Trust was developed through friendship, communication over time, and through shared life experiences. This research is among the first to qualitatively investigate trust formation and other impersonal dynamics related to sexual health decision-making. Insights from this study should be translated into future action by public health practitioners to promote healthy sexual relationships and communication about sexual health topics as a form of trust building.
Effectiveness of general practice-based health checks: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND A recent review concluded that general health checks fail to reduce mortality in adults. AIM This review focuses on general practice-based health checks and their effects on both surrogate and final outcomes. DESIGN AND SETTING Systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. METHOD Relevant data were extracted from randomised trials comparing the health outcomes of general practice-based health checks versus usual care in middle-aged populations. RESULTS Six trials were included. The end-point differences between the intervention and control arms in total cholesterol (TC), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), and body mass index (BMI) were -0.13 mmol/l (95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.19 to -0.07), -3.65 mmHg (95% CI = -6.50 to -0.81), -1.79 mmHg (95% CI = -2.93 to -0.64), and -0.45 kg/m(2) (95% CI = -0.66 to -0.24), respectively. The odds of a patient remaining at 'high risk' with elevated TC, SBP, DBP, BMI or continuing smoking were 0.63 (95% CI = 0.50 to 0.79), 0.59 (95% CI = 0.28 to 1.23), 0.63 (95% CI = 0.53 to 0.74), 0.89 (95% CI = 0.81 to 0.98), and 0.91 (95% CI = 0.82 to 1.02), respectively. There was little evidence of a difference in total mortality (OR 1.03, 95% CI = 0.90 to 1.18). Higher CVD mortality was observed in the intervention group (OR 1.30, 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.66). CONCLUSION General practice-based health checks are associated with statistically significant, albeit clinically small, improvements in surrogate outcome control, especially among high-risk patients. Most studies were not originally designed to assess mortality.
The Ex-Day Price Behavior of REITs: Taxes or Ticks?

Taxes and microstructure constraints are often cited as possible explanations for why stock prices drop by less than the dividend on their ex-dates. Using a sample of real estate investment trusts, which have no significant correlation between dividend size and yield, we find that close-to-open ex-dividend price drops are related to dividend size as suggested by the microstructure models, but close-to-close price drops are related to dividend yield as predicted by the tax theory. These results imply that overnight price drops are primarily determined by microstructure, but that trading during the ex-day causes prices to adjust to reflect individual tax preferences.
A concept for G protein activation by G protein-coupled receptor dimers: the transducin/rhodopsin interface

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are ubiquitous and essential in modulating virtually all physiological processes. These receptors share a similar structural design consisting of the seven-transmembrane α-helical segments. The active conformations of the receptors are stabilized by an agonist and couple to structurally highly conserved heterotrimeric G proteins. One of the most important unanswered questions is how GPCRs couple to their cognate G proteins. Phototransduction represents an excellent model system for understanding G protein signaling, owing to the high expression of rhodopsin in rod photoreceptors and the multidisciplinary experimental approaches used to study this GPCR. Here, we describe how a G protein (transducin) docks on to an oligomeric GPCR (rhodopsin), revealing structural details of this critical interface in the signal transduction process. This conceptual model takes into account recent structural information on the receptor and G protein, as well as oligomeric states of GPCRs.
Foreign direct investment and growth in East Asia: lessons for Indonesia

Abstract Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been important in the growth and global integration of developing economies. Both Northeast and Southeast Asia, especially the latter, have been part of this development, with increasing inflows of FDI and greater foreign participation in local economies. However, Indonesia has been an outlier within the region. Inflows of FDI have been lower to Indonesia than to other countries, especially in manufacturing, and they have been lower than could be expected from Indonesia's size, population and other country characteristics. We show that the inflows that have occurred have benefited Indonesia, and use the East Asian experience to identify measures that are likely to increase these flows. A relatively poor business environment, inefficient government institutions, low levels of education and poor infrastructure all seem to be important explanations for the low inflows of FDI to Indonesia.
ALTERATIONS IN RAT PULMONARY MACROPHAGE FUNCTION BY THE IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE AGENTS CYCLOSPORINE, AZATHIOPRINE, AND PREDNISOLONE

Disturbances of the immune response of the lung induced by the action of immunosuppressive agents on the functional abilities of rat pulmonary alveolar macrophages (PAM) were analyzed following in vitro incubation or in vivo administration (for 30 days) of cyclosporinea, (CsA) azathioprine (Az) or prednisolone (Pr). Two major parameters were analyzed: oxygen consumption and superoxide release as indices of the overall state of oxygen metabolism of these cells reflecting the integrity of PAM oxidative mechanisms of microbicidal activity, and chemotaxis, an event clinically important for normal defense to infection. In vitro incubation with cyclosporine at concentrations as low as 10-9 M caused a 52% inhibition of PAM superoxide release, but Az had no effect at concentrations up to 10-6 M. Prednisolone caused a 38% inhibition of superoxide release; comparable levels of inhibition with Pr required concentrations at least 10-fold greater than with cyclosporine. Further experiments indicated that cyclosporine induced a 40% inhibition after contact with PAM for only 30 min. In vivo experiments indicated that cyclosporine (5 mg/kg), Az (20 mg/kg), or Pr (2 or 0.5 mg/kg) administered intraperitoneally had no effect on the number of PAM available for host defense, PAM oxygen consumption, or PAM superoxide release. However, PAM from cyclosporine-treated animals demonstrated complete inhibition of active migration or chemotaxis in modified Boyden chambers upon incubation with formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP). The effect was apparently dampened by simultaneous administration of Pr with cyclosporine. These experiments suggest that with the exception of a marked effect on chemotaxis the in vivo effects of physiologic amounts of cyclosporine on PAM function are modest compared with the marked depression after in vitro addition.
Reduction of Mononuclear Cytokine Production in Hemodialysis Patients Treated with Steam-Sterilized Low-Flux Polysulphone Membranes

An increased cytokine production, correlated with long term complications of uremic disease, has been described during hemodialysis. To identify possible differences in the cytokine release of differently sterilized membranes, we enrolled six uremic patients on chronic hemodialysis. The patients underwent dialysis with ETO-sterilized low-flux polysulphone membranes (F6, Fresenius AG) for at least three months (At), they were then switched to steam-sterilized polysulphone membranes (F6-HPS Fresenius AG) and further evaluations after one (B1) and two months (B2) were carried out. A final evaluation (A2) was made one month after switching back to F6 dialyzers. At each time period, samples were drawn to measure IL-1B released by cultured mononuclear cells (MN). Moreover, dialysate samples were collected to test endotoxin levels. C3a and C5a levels were assessed at 0, 5, 15 and 60 min from starting hemodialysis. Anti-ETO IgE levels were also assayed at A1, B1 and A2. The LAL test revealed a good quality dialysate. The mean pre-dialysis IL-1B levels were 215 pg/million cells at A1; falling to 49 at B1, and 54 at B2 (p≤0.01); there was then a sharp rebound at A2:284, p≤0.01. Post-dialysis levels followed the same pattern. No correlation between the dialysate endotoxin level and cytokine release was found. Complement activation did not change and in all the phases of the study no anti-ETO IgE was detected in any of the subjects. Our data suggest that the steam sterilized polysulphone membrane induces a lower cytokine release than the ETO sterilized membrane, although the mechanism by which it does so remains to be clarified.
Family Background and the Propensity for Self-Employment

Empirical analysis shows that men with self-employed fathers and higher parental incomes are more likely to be self-employed, the impact of paternal self-employment is leveraged by higher family income, and self-employment is more likely when the father worked in an occupation with task requirements similar to those of an independent business. The idea that the paternal self-employment effect is attributable to sons following their fathers into occupations inherently more or less conducive to self-employment is not supported.
Long-Run Return Reversal Effect: A Re-Examination in the Indian Stock Market

The study evaluates the long-run reversal effect in stock returns for the Indian stock market over the sample period from January 1997 to March 2013. The empirical findings from the study provide support in favor of long-run return reversal effect wherein past long-run loser stocks outperform past long-run winner stocks over longer investment period, suggesting profitability of long-run contrarian strategy. However, unlike US stock market, no strong January anomaly was observed in long-run Indian contrarian profits. Further, using the multivariate risk approach, no statistical significant long-run contrarian profits were observed. The long-run reversal profits were driven by risk differential among past long-run winner and loser portfolios and can be explained by simultaneously controlling for beta, size, value, and liquidity risk in the Indian stock market. In nutshell, the long-run reversal anomaly is not robust under multifactor asset pricing framework and the excess profits from long-run loser portfolio are nothing but compensation for the risk held.
Reducing jitter in embedded systems employing a time-triggered software architecture and dynamic voltage scaling

We have previously demonstrated that use of an appropriate dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) algorithm can lead to a substantial reduction in CPU power consumption in systems employing a time-triggered cooperative (TTC) scheduler. In this paper, we consider the impact that the use of DVS has on the levels of both clock and task jitter in TTC applications. We go on to describe a modified DVS algorithm (TTC-jDVS) which can be used where low jitter is an important design consideration. We then demonstrate the effectiveness of the modified algorithm on a data set made up of artificial tasks and in a realistic case study.
Synaptic effects of cannabinoids

The discovery of (−)-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9 THC) as the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis (marijuana), the cloning of the cannabinoid receptors CB1R and CB2R, and the identification of the endocannabinoids as their endogenous ligands has stimulated extensive research on the role of the cannabinoid system in synaptic regulation in the CNS. The 2 major endocannabinoids in the nervous system are 2-arachydonoyl glycerol (2-AG) and N-arachidonoyl ethanolamide (also known as anandamide). They are lipid mediators that are released from neurons on demand in response to excitatory synaptic activity. Endocannabinoids function primarily as retrograde messengers that inhibit neurotransmitter release via presynaptic CB1Rs, which are distributed primarily in γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic and to a lesser extent glutamatergic and other presynaptic terminals. Retrograde endocannabinoid signaling participates in several mechanisms of short- and long-term plasticity (depression) of inhibitory and excitatory synapses. Endocannabinoids may also act via postsynaptic CB1Rs and, in the case of anandamide, also transient receptor potential, vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) channels. Endocannabinoids also mediate interactions among neurons and different types of glial cells, regulating not only synaptic plasticity but also inflammatory responses in the CNS. By all these mechanisms, endocannabinoids affect the activity of neuronal networks involved in cognition, emotion, addiction and feeding behavior, motor control, and pain processing and participate in the mechanism of neuroprotection. The cannabinoid system thus provides a potential therapeutic target, with consequent increased interest in the use of cannabis for management of selected neurologic conditions. All these topics have been the subject of several comprehensive reviews.1–8
Complementary and alternative medicine use among long‐term lymphoma survivors: A pilot study

No published survey has specifically addressed the beliefs, knowledge, and usage of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in long‐term (5–20 years) lymphoma survivors alone. In this pilot project, 95 subjects were randomly selected from a population of 2,475 long‐term lymphoma survivors and mailed a questionnaire. The median time from lymphoma diagnosis to completion of the questionnaire was 11 years (range 6–20). Overall, 68% (95% CI: 54–80%) of the long‐term lymphoma survivors reported that they have used CAM, a rate higher than the estimated usage rate reported for the general population The most commonly used modalities were chiropractic (39%, 95% CI: 27–53%) and massage therapy (21%, 95% CI: 12–34%). Less than 10% used meditation (5%, 95% CI: 1–15%) and relaxation (7%, 95% CI: 2–17%). In terms of common herbal usage, 5% (95% CI: 1–15%) had used St. John's Wort and 7% (95% CI: 2–17%) had used shark cartilage. Although none of the patients reported that CAM usage was directed specifically towards treating their lymphoma, 4% (95% CI: 0–12%) of patients reported that CAM could cure cancer, and 14% (95% CI: 6–26%) reported that CAM could increase their feeling of control over their health. This pilot study suggests that long‐term lymphoma survivors appear to use CAM at a rate higher than the general population. The use of potential agents of risk by the survivors and the lack of access to potentially beneficial modalities highlights the need for further study of CAM in this population. Am. J. Hematol. , 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Financial Development and Income Inequality at Different Levels of Institutional Quality

We examine whether the relationship between financial development and income inequality varies with levels of institutional quality. The empirical evidence based on the threshold regression approach shows that there indeed exists an institutional quality threshold effect in the relationship between financial development and income inequality. Financial development tends to reduce income inequality only after a certain threshold level of institutional quality has been achieved. Until then, the effect of financial development on income inequality is nonexistent. This finding suggests that institutional quality affects the link between financial development and income inequality, reflecting the notion that better quality finance results in more equal income distribution.
Italian foreign policy after the end of the cold war: the issue of continuity and change in Italian–US relations

A number of academics have argued that the last two governments headed by Silvio Berlusconi have attempted to strengthen the relationship with the USA on a bilateral basis and, in so doing, have weakened Italy’s traditional support for the process of European integration. Thus, Roberto Aliboni has contended that Berlusconi has pursued a foreign policy ‘solidly linked to a priority and preferential relationship with the US’. Piero Ignazi has characterized what he has described as Berlusconi’s ‘progressive and growing alignment with the international choices of the Republican administration’ as ‘extreme Americaphilism’. Filippo Andreatta and Elisabetta Brighi have written that the Berlusconi government has embraced an ‘increasingly Americanophile position’ while exhibiting ‘a lack of enthusiasm in European affairs’. Even stronger claims have appeared in the daily and weekly press linked with, or sympathetic to, the centreleft. Thus, Ezio Mauro has written that Italy ended up in the Iraqi quagmire because of Berlusconi’s ‘fanciful ambition of turning himself into Bush’s privileged partner and Italy into a . support rider of the US’. Left-wing public intellectual Massimo Cacciari has charged that, under Berlusconi, Italian foreign policy ‘has simply been delegated to the US’. The new centre-left government headed by Romano Prodi, immediately upon taking office, announced that it would embark upon a new course in foreign policy. As the new Minister of Foreign Affairs Massimo D’Alema put it, the new government would revive Europeanism and reinvigorate multilateralism. As it was preparing to ask Parliament for its approval to extend the Italian mission in Afghanistan, President of the Council of Ministers Prodi affirmed that ‘in eight months, his government had led Italy to change pace in foreign policy’. At the same time,