Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Allopurinol Is an Independent Determinant of Improved Arterial Stiffness in Chronic Kidney Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background Arterial stiffness is increased in patients with CKD and is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Use of the xanthine oxidase inhibitor allopurinol has been shown to improve endothelial function, reduce left ventricular hypertrophy and possibly improve cardiovascular outcome. We explored the relationship between use of allopurinol and arterial stiffness in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods Cross-sectional observational study of 422 patients with CKD with evidence of, or at high risk of, renal disease progression. Arterial stiffness was determined by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV). Results The mean age was 63±16 years, median estimated glomerular filtration rate was 25 (interquartile range: 19–31) ml/min/1.73 m2 and mean PWV was 10.2±2.4 m/s. Seventy-seven patients (18%) were receiving regular allopurinol, 61% at a dose of 100 mg/day (range: 50–400 mg/day). Patients receiving allopurinol had significantly lower peripheral pulse pressure, central pulse pressure, central systolic blood pressure, serum uric acid level tissue advanced glycation end product levels but comparable high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels. Use of allopurinol was associated with lower PWV. After adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, tissue advanced glycation end product level, peripheral pulse pressure, smoking pack years, presence of diabetes mellitus and use of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin II receptor blocker, the use of allopurinol remained a significant independent determinant of PWV (mean difference: −0.63 m/s; 95% CI, −0.09 to −1.17 m/s, p = 0.02). Conclusion In patients with CKD, use of allopurinol is independently associated with lower arterial stiffness. This study provides further justification for a large definitive randomised controlled trial examining the therapeutic potential of allopurinol to reduce cardiovascular risk in people with CKD.
Agency Models with Frequent Actions : A Quadratic Approximation Method

The paper analyzes dynamic principal-agent models with short period lengths. The two main contributions are: (i) an analytic characterization of the values of optimal contracts in the limit as the period length goes to 0, and (ii) the construction of relatively simple (almost) optimal contracts for fixed period lengths. Our setting is flexible and includes the pure hidden action or pure hidden information models as special cases. We show how such details of the underlying information structure affect the optimal provision of incentives and the value of the contracts. The dependence is very tractable and we obtain sharp comparative statics results. The results are derived with a novel method that uses a quadratic approximation of the Pareto boundary of the equilibrium value set.
First‐Trimester Sonographic Findings Associated With a Dandy‐Walker Malformation and Inferior Vermian Hypoplasia

We report 2 cases in which first‐trimester measurements of the intracranial translucency and the brain stem‐to‐occipital bone diameter were markedly enlarged. This finding was thought to represent an abnormal fourth ventricle‐cisterna magna complex. Subsequently, the diagnoses of a Dandy‐Walker malformation with partial vermian agenesis in 1 case and inferior vermian hypoplasia in the other were established and confirmed by either postmortem autopsy or postnatal magnetic resonance imaging. These cases suggest that evaluation of the fourth ventricle‐cisterna magna complex, by measuring the intracranial translucency or brain stem‐to‐occipital bone diameter may identify some cases with structural malformations of the cerebellum as early as the first trimester.
Using Gender to Undo Gender

Women’s status in the Western world has improved enormously, but the revolution that would make women and men truly equal has not yet occurred. I argue that the reason is that gender divisions still deeply bifurcate the structure of modern society. Feminists want women and men to be equal, but few talk about doing away with gender divisions altogether. From a social constructionist structural gender perspective, it is the ubiquitous division of people into two unequally valued categories that undergirds the continually reappearing instances of gender inequality. I argue that it is this gendering that needs to be challenged by feminists, with the long-term goal of doing away with binary gender divisions altogether. To this end, I call for a feminist degendering movement.
Priority Weight Intervals Derived From Intuitionistic Multiplicative Preference Relations

An intuitionistic multiplicative preference relation was recently introduced by Xia et al. to characterize the preference information that is given by a decision maker over a set of objects. All the elements of the intuitionistic multiplicative preference relation are the 2-tuples, which can simultaneously depict the degree that one object is prior to another, and the degree that the object is not prior to another. Each part of the 2-tuples takes its value from the closed interval [1/9, 9], and thus can describe the decision maker's preferences over objects more comprehensively than the traditional multiplicative preference relation. How to derive the priority weights of the objects from an intuitionistic multiplicative preference relation is an important research topic for decision making with intuitionistic multiplicative preference information. In this paper, we shall focus on solving this issue. We first define the concepts of expected intuitionistic multiplicative preference relation, left and right error matrices, etc. Then based on the geometric aggregation operator and the error propagation formula, we derive the priority weight intervals from an intuitionistic multiplicative preference relation. After that, some approaches to decision making based on intuitionistic multiplicative preference relations are developed, and furthermore, two practical examples are given to illustrate our approaches.
The perceptual and acoustic characteristics of Korean idiomatic and literal sentences

Abstract Previous studies have suggested that formulaic and literal expressions are stored and processed according to differing characteristics, and that certain auditory–acoustic cues serve to distinguish formulaic from literal meanings. This study took these observations a step further by investigating listeners' ability to discriminate between literal or idiomatic exemplars of ambiguous utterances and determining the acoustic features underlying this distinction in a non-Indo-European language. ‘Ditropically ambiguous' sentences, those with either a plausible literal or an idiomatic meaning, were audio-recorded by native speakers of Korean, once with an intended literal and once with an idiomatic meaning. Native Korean listeners were highly successful in discriminating the intended idiomatic or literal meanings. Acoustic analysis revealed that idiomatic utterances were characterized by significantly greater mean intensity, intensity variation, shorter duration, and greater variation in syllable duration; these cues differ from those shown to differentiate American English and French ditropic sentences. The findings suggest that acoustic cues serving to consistently distinguish the two utterance types, although different for different languages, may have universal status.
A preliminary study on the insect fauna of Al-Baha Province, Saudi Arabia, with descriptions of two new species

Abstract A preliminary study was carried out on the insect fauna of Al-Baha Province, south-western part of Saudi Arabia. A total number of 582 species and subspecies (few identified only to the genus level) belonging to 129 families and representing 17 orders were recorded. Two of these species are described as new, namely: Monomorium sarawatensis Sharaf & Aldawood, sp. n. [Formicidae, Hymenoptera] and Anthrax alruqibi El-Hawagry sp. n. [Bombyliidae, Diptera]. Another eight species are recorded for the first time in Saudi Arabia, namely: Xiphoceriana arabica (Uvarov, 1922) [Pamphagidae, Orthoptera], Pyrgomorpha conica (Olivier, 1791) [Pyrgomorphidae, Orthoptera], Catopsilia florella (Fabricius, 1775) [Pieridae, Lepidoptera], Anthrax chionanthrax (Bezzi, 1926) [Bombyliidae, Diptera], Spogostylum near tripunctatum Pallas in Wiedemann, 1818 [Bombyliidae, Diptera], Cononedys dichromatopa (Bezzi, 1925) [Bombyliidae, Diptera], Mydas sp. [Mydidae, Diptera], and Hippobosca equina Linnaeus, 1758 [Hippoboscidae, Diptera]. Al-Baha Province is divided by huge and steep Rocky Mountains into two main sectors, a lowland coastal plain at the west, known as “Tihama”, and a mountainous area with an elevation of 1500 to 2450 m above sea level at the east, known as “Al-Sarat or Al-Sarah” which form a part of Al-Sarawat Mountains range. Insect species richness in the two sectors (Tihama and Al-Sarah) was compared, and the results showed that each of the two sectors of Al-Baha Province has a unique insect community. The study generally concluded that the insect faunal composition in Al-Baha Province has an Afrotropical flavor, with the Afrotropical elements predominant, and a closer affiliation to the Afrotropical region than to the Palearctic region or the Eremic zone. Consequently, we tend to agree with those biogeographers who consider that parts of the Arabian Peninsula, including Al-Baha Province, should be included in the Afrotropical region rather than in the Palaearctic region or the Eremic zone.
Incivility from patients and their families: can organisational justice protect nurses from burnout?

AIM To determine whether interpersonal and informational justice influence the association between daily experiences of incivility and burnout among nurses. BACKGROUND Research has suggested that incivility is a concern for managers. Nurses regularly experience incivility, particularly from their patients and patients' families. Incivility, in turn, can increase symptoms of burnout. METHOD Seventy-five nurses provided data on interpersonal and informational justice within their organisation. During five working days, nurses completed a twice-daily survey assessing incivility and burnout. Hierarchical linear modelling analyses examined the main effects and interaction effects of the three variables on burnout. RESULT Incivility was positively associated with burnout. In addition, interpersonal justice strengthened the incivility-burnout relationship. Informational justice did not significantly affect the incivility-burnout relationship. CONCLUSION Incivility is associated with more burnout. The work environment also influences burnout; when organisations provide informational justice, nurses experience less burnout. In organisations where interpersonal justice is high, nurses are more likely to experience burnout. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT Nursing managers can help employees by ensuring that management's decisions are transparent. In addition, managers should be aware that in organisations with higher interpersonal justice, nurses might be more likely to experience symptoms of burnout as a result of incivility from patients and their families.
Consensus and Ideology in American Politics

The belief that consensus is a prerequisite of democracy has, since deTocqueville, so often been taken for granted that it is refreshing to find the notion now being challenged. Prothro and Grigg, for example, have questioned whether agreement on “fundamentals” actually exists among the electorate, and have furnished data which indicate that it may not. Dahl, reviewing his study of community decision-makers, has inferred that political stability does not depend upon widespread belief in the superiority of democratic norms and procedures, but only upon their acceptance. From the findings turned up by Stouffer, and by Prothro and Grigg, he further conjectures that agreement on democratic norms is greater among the politically active and aware—the “political stratum” as he calls them—than among the voters in general.
Sentinel node dissection is safe in the treatment of early-stage vulvar cancer.

PURPOSE To investigate the safety and clinical utility of the sentinel node procedure in early-stage vulvar cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS A multicenter observational study on sentinel node detection using radioactive tracer and blue dye was performed in patients with T1/2 (< 4 cm) squamous cell cancer of the vulva. When the sentinel node was found to be negative at pathologic ultrastaging, inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy was omitted, and the patient was observed with follow-up for 2 years at intervals of every 2 months. Stopping rules were defined for the occurrence of groin recurrences. RESULTS From March 2000 until June 2006, a sentinel node procedure was performed in 623 groins of 403 assessable patients. In 259 patients with unifocal vulvar disease and a negative sentinel node (median follow-up time, 35 months), six groin recurrences were diagnosed (2.3%; 95% CI, 0.6% to 5%), and 3-year survival rate was 97% (95% CI, 91% to 99%). Short-term morbidity was decreased in patients after sentinel node dissection only when compared with patients with a positive sentinel node who underwent inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy (wound breakdown in groin: 11.7% v 34.0%, respectively; P < .0001; and cellulitis: 4.5% v 21.3%, respectively; P < .0001). Long-term morbidity also was less frequently observed after removal of only the sentinel node compared with sentinel node removal and inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy (recurrent erysipelas: 0.4% v 16.2%, respectively; P < .0001; and lymphedema of the legs: 1.9% v 25.2%, respectively; P < .0001). CONCLUSION In early-stage vulvar cancer patients with a negative sentinel node, the groin recurrence rate is low, survival is excellent, and treatment-related morbidity is minimal. We suggest that sentinel node dissection, performed by a quality-controlled multidisciplinary team, should be part of the standard treatment in selected patients with early-stage vulvar cancer.
Identification of Two Disease-causing Genes TJP2 and GJB2 in a Chinese Family with Unconditional Autosomal Dominant Nonsyndromic Hereditary Hearing Impairment

Background: There are more than 300 genetic loci that have been found to be related to hereditary hearing impairment (HHI), including 92 causative genes for nonsyndromic hearing loss, among which 34 genes are related to autosomal dominant nonsyndromic HHI (ADNSHHI). Traditional linkage analysis and candidate gene sequencing are not effective at detecting the ADNSHHI, especially for the unconditional families that may have more than one pathogenic cause. This study identified two disease-causing genes TJP2 and GJB2 in a Chinese family with unconditional ADNSHHI. Methods: To decipher the genetic code of a Chinese family (family 686) with ADNSHHI, different gene screening techniques have been performed, including linkage analysis, candidate genes screening, high-throughput sequencing and Sanger sequencing. These techniques were done on samples obtained from this family over a period of 10 years. Results: We identified a pathogenic missense mutation, c. 2081G>A (p.G694E), in TJP2, a gene that plays a crucial role in apoptosis and age-related hearing loss (ARHL). The mutation was co-segregated in this pedigree in all, but not in the two patients who presented with different phenotypes from the other affected family members. In one of the two patients, we confirmed that the compound heterozygosity for p. Y136* and p.G45E in the GJB2 gene may account for the phenotype shown in this patient. Conclusions: We identified the co-occurrence of two genetic causes in family 686. The possible disease-causing missense mutation of TJP2 in family 686 presents an opportunity for further investigation into ARHL. It is necessary to combine various genes screening methods, especially for some unconventional cases.
Exploring the Potential of Semantic Relatedness in Information Retrieval

Employing lexical-semantic knowledge in information retrieval (IR) is recognised as a promising way to go beyond bag-of-words approaches to IR. However, it has not yet become a standard component of IR systems due to many difficulties which arise when knowledge-based methods are applied in IR. In this paper, we explore the use of semantic relatedness in IR computed on the basis of GermaNet, a German wordnet [Kunze, 2004]. In particular, we present several experiments on the German IR benchmarks GIRT’2005 (training set) and GIRT’2004 (test set) aimed at investigating the potential of semantic relatedness in IR as opposed to bag-of-words models, as implemented e.g. in Lucene [Gospodnetic and Hatcher, 2005]. These experiments shed some light upon how to combine the strengths of both models in our future work. Our evaluation results show some improvement in IR performance over the bag-of-words model, i.e. a significant increase in mean average precision of about 5 percent points for the training set, but only 1 percent increase for our test set.
The Alkaline Diet: Is There Evidence That an Alkaline pH Diet Benefits Health?

This review looks at the role of an alkaline diet in health. Pubmed was searched looking for articles on pH, potential renal acid loads, bone health, muscle, growth hormone, back pain, vitamin D and chemotherapy. Many books written in the lay literature on the alkaline diet were also reviewed and evaluated in light of the published medical literature. There may be some value in considering an alkaline diet in reducing morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases and further studies are warranted in this area of medicine.
Student Preferences for Small and Large Class Sizes

This study was conducted to examine class size preferences of college students as well as reasons behind these preferences. A survey was distributed to 162 students asking about their preference for enrolling in a large (75 students) or small (35 students) section for different courses. Subjects were also asked additional questions about why they preferred a large or small section and about their assumptions about large and small classes. It was found that students preferred smaller classes more for major-related courses than for general education and noninteresting required courses, although the strength of the preference changed depending on the order of the questions. The open-ended questions revealed that students liked small classes because of the professor-student interaction and the better learning environment but enjoyed large classes for reasons related to having more students in class and having decreased responsibility. The implications of these preferences were discussed.
Investigation of Low Temperature Cracking in Asphalt Pavements: A Transportation Pooled Fund Study

Good fracture properties are an essential requirement for asphalt pavements built in the northern part of the US and in Canada for which the predominant failure mode is cracking due to high thermal stresses that develop at low temperatures. Currently, there is no agreement with respect to what experimental methods and analyses approaches to use to investigate the fracture resistance of asphalt materials and the fracture performance of asphalt pavements. This report presents a comprehensive research effort in which both traditional and new experimental protocols and analyses were applied to a statistically designed set of laboratory prepared specimens and to field samples from pavements with well documented performance to determine the best combination of experimental work and analyses to improve the low temperature fracture resistance of asphalt pavements. The two sets of materials were evaluated using current testing protocols, such as creep and strength for asphalt binders and mixtures as well as newly developed testing protocols, such as the disk compact tension test, single edge notched beam test, and semi circular bend test. Dilatometric measurements were performed on both asphalt binders and mixtures to determine the coefficient of thermal contraction. Discrete fracture and damage tools were utilized to model crack initiation and propagation in pavement systems using the finite element method and TCMODEL was used with the experimental data from the field samples to predict performance and compare it to the field performance data.
Communication, Love and Relationship Satisfaction

The present research explored the importance of several communication-related variables, including perspective-taking, self-disclosure, conflict tactics and relational competence, as well as love attitudes, in the prediction of relationship satisfaction. Some 140 dating couples completed several measures, including assessments of self as well as the romantic partner. Findings revealed that self and partner communication variables, and love orientations were significant predictors of relationship satisfaction. Implications for the importance of communication in relationships are discussed.
Fatty Infiltration and Rotator Cuff Atrophy

Abstract Moderate to severe fatty infiltration and rotator cuff atrophy are commonly associated with poor clinical outcomes and failed rotator cuff repair. Numerous animal and human studies have attempted to elucidate the etiology of fatty infiltration and rotator cuff atrophy. Mechanical detachment of the tendon in rotator cuff tears is primarily responsible. Suprascapular nerve injury may also play a role. CT, MRI, and ultrasonography are used to evaluate severity. The Goutallier staging system is most commonly used to evaluate fatty infiltration, and rotator cuff atrophy is measured using multiple techniques. The presence and severity of fatty infiltration have been associated with increasing age, tear size, degree of tendon retraction, number of tendons involved (ie, massive tears), suprascapular neuropathy, and traumatic tears. Fatty infiltration is irreversible and progressive if left untreated. Slight reversal of muscle atrophy has been noted after repair in some studies. Novel therapies are currently being evaluated that may eventually allow clinicians to alter the natural history and improve patient outcomes.
The Clash of Civilizations Thesis and Religious Responses

The article describes key aspects of Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" thesis. It acknowledges the way in which that thesis has picked up on some key changes in relation to the role of religion in public life and, especially, in international relations. But it also critiques the thesis for its "essentializing" and "bloc" approach to cultures and societies, arguing that such an approach does not take sufficient account of the differences and sometimes fault-lines and conflicts within societies and cultural groups. For what might characterise appropriate religiously informed responses to Huntington's thesis, the article proposes an approach based on four "keynotes" of "modesty", "integrity", "realism" and "distinctiveness".