Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of single-dose nalbuphine versus tramadol for postoperative pain management in children: a randomized, controlled trial

Background Acute postoperative pain control in children is an essential component of postoperative care, particularly in daycare procedures. Giving patients continuous narcotic analgesics can be risky; however, a single dose may be sufficient. Methods This study used a prospective, randomized controlled design and was conducted at the Pediatric Surgery Unit, Services Hospital, Lahore. In total, 150 patients who underwent inguinal herniotomy (age range: 1–12 years) were randomly assigned to two groups: group A (nalbuphine) and group B (tramadol). Patients were given a single dose of either nalbuphine (0.2 mg/kg) or tramadol (2 mg/kg) immediately after surgery and pain was measured at 0, 1, 2, 4, and 8 h. Results The demographic characteristics were similar between the two groups. The mean pain score was lower in group A than in group B at 0 and 1 h (P < 0.05). However, at 4 h and 8 h, the pain scores in group A were still lower, but not significantly. In all, 9 patients (12.0%) required rescue analgesics in group A compared to 16 patients (21.3%) in group B (P = 0.051). The mean time for requirement of rescue analgesics was 6.5 ± 0.5 h in group A and 5.3 ± 1.7 h in group B (P = 0.06). Conclusions A single dose of nalbuphine is sufficient, and superior to tramadol, for postoperative pain management in children who have undergone daycare procedures.
The Relationship between BCMO1 Gene Variants and Macular Pigment Optical Density in Persons with and without Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Background Recent evidence indicates that gene variants related to carotenoid metabolism play a role in the uptake of macular pigments lutein (L) and zeaxanthin (Z). Moreover, these pigments are proposed to reduce the risk for advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This study provides the initial examination of the relationship between the gene variants related to carotenoid metabolism, macular pigment optical density (MPOD) and their combined expression in healthy humans and patients with AMD. Participants and Methods Forty-four participants were enrolled from a general population and a private practice including 20 healthy participants and 24 patients with advanced (neovascular) AMD. Participants were genotyped for the three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) upstream from BCMO1, rs11645428, rs6420424 and rs6564851 that have been shown to either up or down regulate beta-carotene conversion efficiency in the plasma. MPOD was determined by heterochromatic flicker photometry. Results Healthy participants with the rs11645428 GG genotype, rs6420424 AA genotype and rs6564851 GG genotype all had on average significantly lower MPOD compared to those with the other genotypes (p<0.01 for all three comparisons). When combining BCMO1 genotypes reported to have “high” (rs11645428 AA/rs6420424 GG/rs6564851 TT) and “low” (rs11645428 GG/rs6420424 AA/rs6564851 GG) beta-carotene conversion efficiency, we demonstrate clear differences in MPOD values (p<0.01). In patients with AMD there were no significant differences in MPOD for any of the three BCMO1 gene variants. Conclusion In healthy participants MPOD levels can be related to high and low beta-carotene conversion BCMO1 genotypes. Such relationships were not found in patients with advanced neovascular AMD, indicative of additional processes influencing carotenoid uptake, possibly related to other AMD susceptibility genes. Our findings indicate that specific BCMO1 SNPs should be determined when assessing the effects of carotenoid supplementation on macular pigment and that their expression may be influenced by retinal disease.
Women’s satisfaction in early versus delayed postcaesarean feeding: A one-blind randomized controlled trial study

Background: The early postoperative feeding after caesarean section (C- section) has remained controversial. This study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of early versus delayed postcaesarean section oral feeding regarding gastrointestinal complications and patients postoperative satisfaction after C- section. Methods: This clinical trial study was conducted on 200 pregnant women undergoing planned C-section under spinal anesthesia (Registration Number: IRCT: 138712211760N1). Women were randomly divided in two groups; group A (early feeding group) comprised of 101 patients who were encouraged to take oral ﬂuid. If they tolerated, they continue semi-solid and solid foods starting 2 h after caesarean section. Group B (delayed feeding group) comprised of 99 patients who were given oral ﬂuid 8 h after surgery. After beginning of feeding the patients’ tolerance, first flatus, first defecation, beginning of regular diet, the length of hospital stay and also patient satisfaction level were evaluated in each group by visual scale analog (VAS). Results: The mean time of the ﬁrst passage of ﬂatus was 10.2±1.7 hours for the early oral feeding group versus 10.7±1.6 hours for the delayed feeding group and the difference was significant (P=0.03). Duration to first defecation and length of hospital stay as well as patient satisfaction level did not differ significantly between the two groups. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest early postcaesarean feeding. It is well tolerated and helps return normal feeding habits.
Towards understanding spontaneous interaction on curved displays

Vertically curved displays feature a curved segment that seamlessly combines a horizontal with a vertical display segment. A potential application domain for such displays is their use in public settings. We created a quiz game on our curved display and exposed it to visitors of our open lab day to gather first insights into how people encounter such a device in a real world context. We report on our observations during the exhibition and present preliminary findings of a subsequent experiment comparing different variations of the game.
Do Capital Tax Incentives Attract New Businesses? Evidence Across Industries from the New Markets Tax Credit

All levels of government pursue policies to attract new businesses with the hope that these enterprises will create local economic growth. In this paper, we use the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) to determine the effect of a capital tax credit on where firms in different types of industries locate. When estimating the impact of the NMTC on business location, there are likely to be unobservable local characteristics that are correlated with where businesses choose to open that would cause OLS estimates to be biased. To control for the endogenous selection, we use a plausibly exogenous eligibility cutoff and compare census tracts that are just eligible for the tax credit to those that are just ineligible. Using data from the Dun and Bradstreet MarketPlace Files, we find that in Metropolitan Statistical Areas, the NMTC incentivized new businesses to locate in tracts that were eligible for the tax credit in 2002 and 2004. However, we find that in 2006 the tax credit deterred new establishments. When we stratify the 2006 sample by industry, we find that this capital tax credit attracted more capital intensive industries, such as manufacturing, while deterring more labor intensive industries, such as services. Our results are important to policy makers, as we find that the type of tax credit offered causes a sorting of different industries across locations.
Asymptotic normality of cyclic autocorrelation estimate with estimated cycle frequency

For an almost-cyclostationary signal, mean-square consistent and asymptotically complex normal estimators of the cyclic statistics exist, provided that the signal has finite or practically finite memory and the cycle frequency is perfectly known. In the paper, conditions are derived to obtain a mean-square consistent and asymptotically complex normal estimator of the cyclic autocorrelation function with estimated cycle frequency. For this purpose, a new lemma on conditioned cumulants of complex-valued random variables is derived. As an example of application, the problem of detecting a rapidly moving source emitting a cyclostationary signal is addressed and the case of a low Earth orbit satellite considered.
Coexpression of Actin-Related Protein 2 and Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Family Verproline-Homologous Protein 2 in Adenocarcinoma of the Lung

Purpose: Highly invasive and metastatic cancer cells, such as adenocarcinoma of the lung cells, form irregular protrusions by assembling a branched network of actin filaments. In mammalian cells, the actin-related protein 2 and 3 (Arp2/3) complex initiates actin assembly to form lamellipodial protrusions by binding to Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WASP)/WASP family verproline-homologous protein 2 (WAVE2). In this study, colocalization of Arp2 and WAVE2 in adenocarcinoma of the lung was investigated to elucidate its prognostic value. Experimental Design: Immunohistochemical staining of Arp2 and WAVE2 was done on mirror sections of 115 adenocarcinomas of the lung from pathologic stage IA to IIIA classes. Kaplan-Meier disease-free survival and overall survival curves were analyzed to determine the prognostic significance of the coexpression of Arp2 and WAVE2. Results: Immunoreactivity for both Arp2 and WAVE2 was detected in the same cancer cells in 78 (67.8%) of the 115 lung cancer specimens. The proportion of cancer cells expressing both Arp2 and WAVE2 was significantly higher in cases with lymph-node metastasis (P = 0.0046), and significantly lower in bronchioloalveolar carcinomas (P < 0.0001). The patients whose cancer cells coexpressed them had a shorter disease-free survival time (P < 0.0001) and overall survival time (P < 0.0001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that coexpression of Arp2 and WAVE2 is an independent risk factor for tumor recurrence. Conclusions: Coexpression of Arp2 and WAVE2 is correlated with poorer patient outcome, and may be involved in the mechanism of cancer metastasis.
Brain Network Adaptability across Task States

Activity in the human brain moves between diverse functional states to meet the demands of our dynamic environment, but fundamental principles guiding these transitions remain poorly understood. Here, we capitalize on recent advances in network science to analyze patterns of functional interactions between brain regions. We use dynamic network representations to probe the landscape of brain reconfigurations that accompany task performance both within and between four cognitive states: a task-free resting state, an attention-demanding state, and two memory-demanding states. Using the formalism of hypergraphs, we identify the presence of groups of functional interactions that fluctuate coherently in strength over time both within (task-specific) and across (task-general) brain states. In contrast to prior emphases on the complexity of many dyadic (region-to-region) relationships, these results demonstrate that brain adaptability can be described by common processes that drive the dynamic integration of cognitive systems. Moreover, our results establish the hypergraph as an effective measure for understanding functional brain dynamics, which may also prove useful in examining cross-task, cross-age, and cross-cohort functional change.
Role of protein kinase C family in the cerebellum‐dependent adaptive learning of horizontal optokinetic response eye movements in mice

Among the subtypes of the Ca2+‐dependent protein kinase C (PKC), which play a crucial role in long‐term depression (LTD), both α and γ are expressed in the cerebellar floccular Purkinje cells. To reveal the functional differences of PKC subtypes, we examined the adaptability of ocular reflexes of PKCγ mutant mice, which show mild ataxia and normal LTD. In mutant mice, gains of the horizontal optokinetic eye response (HOKR) were reduced. Adaptation of the HOKR was not affected but its retinal slip dependency was altered in mutant mice. Sustained 1‐h sinusoidal screen oscillation, which induced a relatively large amount of retinal slips in both mutant and wild‐type mice, increased the HOKR gain in wild‐type mice but not in mutant mice. In contrast, exposure to 1 h of sustained slower screen oscillations, which induced relatively small retinal slips in mutant and wild‐type mice, increased the HOKR gain in both mutant and wild‐type mice. Adaptation of the HOKR of the mutant mice to slow screen oscillation and those of wild‐type mice to fast and slow screen oscillations were all abolished by local applications of a PKC inhibitor (chelerythrine) within the flocculi. Electrophysiological and anatomical studies showed no appreciable changes in the sources and magnitudes of climbing fibre inputs, which mediate retinal slip signals to the flocculus in the mutant mice. These results suggest that PKCγ has a modulatory role in determining retinal slip dependency, and other PKC subtypes, e.g. PKCα, may play a crucial role in the adaptation of the HOKR.
Linear progression measurement and analysis of human gait for the development of a multifunctional robotic walker

The paper consist of the evaluation and analysis of single degree of freedom (DOF) human gait tracking interface by the use of inertial measurement units (IMU). The aim is in developing an indirect human gait control user interface system for a robotic walking aid. The function of the aiding device will provide the elderly, as well as persons with general walking debilitation, with enhanced daily assisted walking. This device may further be utilised in mobility rehabilitation practises. By analysing the kinematics of how a person walks certain information about gait pattern, speed and step length can be extracted. This information will be important to develop a robotic walker that will be commanded and controlled indirectly by the user. The walker may be seen as a robotic device that tracks the user's intended path that in turn gives assistance in balance and progression over difficult terrains.
Active Learning of Novel Sound-producing Objects: Motor Reactivation and Enhancement of Visuo-motor Connectivity

Our experience with the world commonly involves physical interaction with objects enabling us to learn associations between multisensory information perceived during an event and our actions that create an event. The interplay among active interactions during learning and multisensory integration of object properties is not well understood. To better understand how action might enhance multisensory associative recognition, we investigated the interplay among motor and perceptual systems after active learning. Fifteen participants were included in an fMRI study during which they learned visuo-auditory-motor associations between novel objects and the sounds they produce, either through self-generated actions on the objects (active learning) or by observing an experimenter produce the actions (passive learning). Immediately after learning, behavioral and BOLD fMRI measures were collected while perceiving the objects used during unisensory and multisensory training in associative perception and recognition tasks. Active learning was faster and led to more accurate recognition of audiovisual associations than passive learning. Functional ROI analyses showed that in motor, somatosensory, and cerebellar regions there was greater activation during both the perception and recognition of actively learned associations. Finally, functional connectivity between visual- and motor-related processing regions was enhanced during the presentation of actively learned audiovisual associations. Overall, the results of the current study clarify and extend our own previous work [Butler, A. J., James, T. W. , & Harman James, K. Enhanced multisensory integration and motor reactivation after active motor learning of audiovisual associations. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23, 3515–3528, 2011] by providing several novel findings and highlighting the task-based nature of motor reactivation and retrieval after active learning.
Synchronization via Pinning Control on General Complex Networks

This paper studies synchronization via pinning control on general complex dynamical networks, such as strongly connected networks, networks with a directed spanning tree, weakly connected networks, and directed forests. A criterion for ensuring network synchronization on strongly connected networks is given. It is found that the vertices with very small in-degrees should be pinned first. In addition, it is shown that the original condition with controllers can be reformulated such that it does not depend on the form of the chosen controllers, which implies that the vertices with very large out-degrees may be pinned. Then, a criterion for achieving synchronization on networks with a directed spanning tree, which can be composed of many strongly connected components, is derived. It is found that the strongly connected components with very few connections from other components should be controlled and the components with many connections from other components can achieve synchronization even without controls.
An Integrated Model of Goal‐Focused Coaching

There is a considerable body of literature on goals and goal setting in the psychological literature, but little of this has found its way into the scholarly coaching literature. This article draws on the goal-setting literature from the behavioural sciences. It discusses a range of approaches to understanding the goal construct, presents a definition of goals relevant to coaching, and details a new and comprehensive model of goal-focused coaching that can be helpful both in teaching and in applied coaching practice. It also outlines new empirical research that highlights the vital role that coaches’ goal-focused coaching skills play in determining successful coaching outcomes. This preliminary research suggests that the use of a goalfocused coaching style is more effective than a ‘common factors’ or person-centred coaching style in facilitating goal attainment in coaching. It is argued that, by understanding the different types of goals and their relationship to the process of change, professional coaches can work more efficiently with their clients, helping them to achieve insight and behavioural change that enhances their workplace performance, their professional working lives and, most importantly, their personal well-being and sense of self.
Age-Dependent ERP Correlates of Emotional Episodic Memory

The effect of aging was studied on emotional word recognition processes. In an episodic memory task young (18 - 26 years, N = 44) and elderly (60 - 71 years N = 47) adults were instructed to memorize a set of emotional words while EEG recording was performed. Memory performance was measured by a recognition test. The N400 and late positive complex (LPC) event-related potential components elicited by new and old words were analyzed. Decreased recognition accuracy and slower reaction time were found in the elderly irrespective of stimulus valence, except for correct rejection of neutral words, where the difference between age groups was not significant. The old/ new effect on the N400 was more robust in the young but for the LPC was more conspicuous in the elderly. The effect of valence observed for negative words was more pronounced in the young both in the earlier (N400) and later (LPC) latency ranges. The findings with respect to the old/new effect indicate prioritized processing of aversive stimuli in the young and may correspond to diminished capacity of adaptive behavior in the elderly.
OSv - Optimizing the Operating System for Virtual Machines

Virtual machines in the cloud typically run existing general-purpose operating systems such as Linux. We notice that the cloud's hypervisor already provides some features, such as isolation and hardware abstraction, which are duplicated by traditional operating systems, and that this duplication comes at a cost. We present the design and implementation of OSv, a new guest operating system designed specifically for running a single application on a virtual machine in the cloud. It addresses the duplication issues by using a low-overhead library-OS-like design. It runs existing applications written for Linux, as well as new applications written for OSv. We demonstrate that OSv is able to efficiently run a variety of existing applications. We demonstrate its sub-second boot time, small OS image and how it makes more memory available to the application. For unmodified network-intensive applications, we demonstrate up to 25% increase in throughput and 47% decrease in latency. By using non-POSIX network APIs, we can further improve performance and demonstrate a 290% increase in Memcached throughput.
LEDGF/p75-Independent HIV-1 Replication Demonstrates a Role for HRP-2 and Remains Sensitive to Inhibition by LEDGINs

Lens epithelium–derived growth factor (LEDGF/p75) is a cellular cofactor of HIV-1 integrase (IN) that interacts with IN through its IN binding domain (IBD) and tethers the viral pre-integration complex to the host cell chromatin. Here we report the generation of a human somatic LEDGF/p75 knockout cell line that allows the study of spreading HIV-1 infection in the absence of LEDGF/p75. By homologous recombination the exons encoding the LEDGF/p75 IBD (exons 11 to 14) were knocked out. In the absence of LEDGF/p75 replication of laboratory HIV-1 strains was severely delayed while clinical HIV-1 isolates were replication-defective. The residual replication was predominantly mediated by the Hepatoma-derived growth factor related protein 2 (HRP-2), the only cellular protein besides LEDGF/p75 that contains an IBD. Importantly, the recently described IN-LEDGF/p75 inhibitors (LEDGINs) remained active even in the absence of LEDGF/p75 by blocking the interaction with the IBD of HRP-2. These results further support the potential of LEDGINs as allosteric integrase inhibitors.
Is Unlevered Firm Volatility Asymmetric?

Asymmetric volatility refers to the stylized fact that stock volatility is negatively correlated to stock returns. Traditionally, this phenomenon has been explained by the financial leverage effect. This explanation has recently been challenged in favor of a risk premium based explanation. We develop a new, unlevering approach to document how well financial leverage, rather than size, beta, book-to-market, or operating leverage, explains volatility asymmetry on a firm-by-firm basis. Our results reveal that, at the firm level, financial leverage explains much of the volatility asymmetry. This result is robust to different unlevering methodologies, samples, and measurement intervals. However, we find that financial leverage does not explain index-level volatility asymmetry. We show that this difference between index-level asymmetry and firm-level asymmetry is driven by the asymmetry of the unlevered covariance component of index volatility.
Do "High-Impact" College Experiences Affect Early Career Outcomes?

Abstract:The study contributes new evidence on the associations between "high-impact" (AAC&U, 2007) college experiences and career outcomes in the years immediately following college. Drawing on a representative sample of college graduates who participated in the ELS:2002/12 study, results highlight that specific college experiences differentially influence early career outcomes, where major field of study, institutional quality, and major-job congruence exert the strongest influence. Results further indicate the importance of helping students select a college major and secure jobs related to their majors, over and above the importance of providing students with the kinds of "high-impact" college experiences often emphasized within institutions.