Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Results of Primary Treatment with Bromocriptine of Prolactinomas with Extrasellar Extension

ABSTRACT: Nineteen patients, seven women and twelve men, with macroprolactinomas characterized by extrasellar extension and basal prolactin levels above 6 U/I were treated with 10-20 mg bromocriptine daily in four divided doses for a mean period of 3.4 years (range 1.5-5.5 years). Plasma prolactin levels fell dramatically in all patients and values in the low normal range were obtained in sixteen patients. Tumor size was reduced by more than 75% in seventeen patients and by 50-75% in two patients. Tumor reduction was associated with the development of a partial empty sella in fourteen cases. In seventeen cases the pituitary became visible. Diminished visual acuity (six patients), bitemporal hemianopia (nine patients), unilateral and bilateral central scotomas (three patients) and oculomotor palsy (two patients) improved or normalized in all cases. Hypogonadism (all patients), hypothyroidism (nine patients) and hypocorticism (four patients) improved or normalized in most cases. It is concluded that in the medical treatment of macroprolactinomas 10-20 mg bromocriptine in four divided doses effectively reduces both plasma prolactin level and tumor size. The good results in this study may be related to the continued use of a fixed dose regimen of bromocriptine regardless of the plasma prolactin lowering effect.
Cardiac magnetic resonance feature tracking in Kawasaki disease convalescence

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether left ventricular (LV) myocardial deformation indices can detect subclinical abnormalities in Kawasaki disease convalescence. We hypothesized that subclinical myocardial abnormalities due to inflammation represent an early manifestation of the disease that persists in convalescence. Background: Myocardial inflammation has been described as a global finding in the acute phase of Kawasaki disease. Despite normal systolic function by routine functional measurements, reduced longitudinal strain and strain rate have been detected by echocardiography in the acute phase. Methods and Results: Peak systolic LV myocardial longitudinal, radial, and circumferential strain and strain rate were examined in 29 Kawasaki disease convalescent patients (15 males; mean [standard deviation] age: 11 [6.6] years; median interval from disease onset: 5.8 [5.4] years) and 10 healthy volunteers (5 males; mean age: 14 [3.8] years) with the use of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) feature tracking. Routine indices of LV systolic function were normal in both groups. Comparisons were made between normal controls and (i) the entire Kawasaki disease group, (ii) Kawasaki disease subgroup divided by coronary artery involvement. Average longitudinal and circumferential strain at all levels was lower in patients compared to normal controls. In subgroup analysis, both Kawasaki disease patients with and without a history of coronary involvement had similar longitudinal and circumferential strain at all levels and lower when compared to controls. There were lower circumferential and longitudinal values in Kawasaki disease patients with persisting coronary artery lesions when compared to those with regressed ones. Conclusion: In this CMR study in Kawasaki disease convalescent patients with preserved routine functional indices, we detected lower circumferential and longitudinal strain values compared to normal controls, irrespective of the coronary artery status.
Gain Equalization for Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers by the Synthesis of a Long-Period Fiber Grating

We present a method for the synthesis of long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) which is based on a genetic algorithm (GA). The method is applied in the design of LPFG-based gain equalizers for erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs). Differently from other works, gain equalizers designed by our method require only one nonuniform LPFG. The magnitude and phase profiles of the coupling coefficient of the LPFG are optimized by the GA. Also, unlike other designs, our synthesized LPFG couples the fundamental core mode to only one cladding mode across the whole EDFA bandwidth. Comparison with the results obtained in previous works shows that our gratings have a smaller range of variation of the coupling coefficient magnitude. This simplifies the fabrication of practical devices.
Aging and the Production Effect: a Test of the Distinctiveness Account

The production effect refers to the benefit in memory for items read aloud relative to items read silently during study. Previous research has explained this benefit as due to distinctiveness, attributable to the additional dimension of encoding for the aloud items that is later used during retrieval. We investigated the production effect in older adults, a population known to have difficulty using distinctiveness to assist remembering. Results showed a production benefit for both younger and older adults on both recall and recognition tests; however, this benefit was reliably smaller for older adults on both measures of memory. This pattern addresses both a theoretical issue and an applied issue: (1) that the role of distinctiveness is pivotal in the production effect, and (2) that production does assist older people in remembering. Saying thoughts aloud is often done with the goal of improving memory for those thoughts in the future. The prototypical illustration is that of students studying aloud for an upcoming test, believing that this will improve their memory for the material. But does reading aloud really improve remembering? Studies have, in fact, repeatedly found that saying words aloud is beneficial for remembering them later 1 This benefit for later remembering of having said words aloud at encoding has been labelled the production effect (MacLeod et al., 2010). We also know that the benefit is an enduring one and that it is not restricted to arbitrary word lists but occurs for meaningful material as well (Ozubko, Hourihan, & MacLeod, 2012). Recent research on the production effect has provided evidence for the critical role of distinctiveness both at encoding and at retrieval. have argued that the distinctiveness of aloud words relative to silent words at the time of encoding underlies the better memory for the aloud words at the time of test (see Conway & Gathercole, 1987, for the origin of this idea). Hunt (2006) describes distinctiveness as the processing of similarities and the processing of differences. Having said some words aloud makes those words distinctive by virtue of their having an additional dimension of encoding—that they were produced. At the time of test, participants can use retrieval of the fact that they produced a word during study to certify that it was indeed experienced before. Evidence for the role of distinctiveness comes from three main sources. First, Hopkins and Edwards (1972) and MacLeod et al. (2010) have shown that the production …
The Effect of Household Debt Deleveraging on Unemployment Evidence from Spanish Provinces

The Spanish economy is currently plagued by a deep recession with very high unemployment. We ask how much of the unemployment increase in Spain can be traced back to the debt deleveraging needs of Spanish households. We use provincial household debt and sectoral unemployment data and follow Mian and Sufi (2012) to isolate the effect of household debt on Spanish unemployment. We find that the level of household sector debt in Spanish provinces in 2007 is a highly significant determinant of the subsequent increase in provincial unemployment from 2007 to 2010. Our estimates indicate that approximately 1/3 of the increase in overall Spanish unemployment over that period can be traced back to high household debt levels.
A Meliorated Multi-Frequency Band Pyroelectric Sensor

This article proposes a meliorated multi-frequency band pyroelectric sensor for detecting subjects with various velocities, namely extending the sensing frequency under good performance from electrical signals. A tactic, gradually increasing thickness of the ZnO layers, is used for redeeming drawbacks of a thicker pyroelectric layer with a tardy response at a high-frequency band and a thinner pyroelectric layer with low voltage responsivity at a low-frequency band. The proposed sensor is built on a silicon substrate with a thermal isolation layer of a silicon nitride film, consisting of four pyroelectric layers with various thicknesses deposited by a sputtering or aerosol deposition (AD) method and top and bottom electrodes. The thinnest ZnO layer is deposited by sputtering, with a low thermal capacity and a rapid response shoulders a high-frequency sensing task, while the thicker ZnO layers are deposited by AD with a large thermal capacity and a tardy response shoulders a low-frequency sensing task. The fabricated device is effective in the range of 1 KHz~10 KHz with a rapid response and high voltage responsivity, while the ZnO layers with thicknesses of about 0.8 μm, 6 μm, 10 μm and 16 μm are used for fabricating the meliorated multi-frequency band pyroelectric sensor. The proposed sensor is successfully designed, analyzed, and fabricated in the present study, and can indeed extend the sensing range of the multi-frequency band.
Application of Empirical Green's Functions in Earthquake Source, Wave Propagation and Strong Ground Motion Studies

Over the last couple of decades, empirical Green’s functions [EGFs] have been increasingly used in earthquake source studies, crustal attenuation studies, strong ground-motion prediction, finite rupture modeling, and site-response studies. Theoretically, Green's functions are the impulse response of the medium, and EGFs are recordings used to provide this impulse response. In this chapter, we review the theoretical and observational basis for identifying and using small earthquakes as empirical Green's functions—and their application. We generally refer to analyses that use EGFs as “the EGF method”. The seismic record of an earthquake contains information on the earthquake source, the path the seismic waves propagated through, the site response of the geology beneath the recording site, and the response of the instrument that recorded the ground motion. In seismology, we are interested in isolating either source, path, or site information, depending on the study focus. The instrument response is usually known and easy to remove from recordings, but the same is not true for the other factors. Seismic waves propagate in the earth in a complex way. They are reflected and refracted at interfaces between rocks with different properties, attenuated throughout the path between the earthquake source and the station by scattering and anelastic effects, subjected to energy focusing and defocussing due to lateral changes in the refractive properties of the rock, and amplified and highly attenuated near the recording station as waves pass through unconsolidated near-surface material. These propagation complexities are not well captured by crustal models, which provide the basis for calculating Green's functions, especially for high frequencies (> 1 Hz). At higher frequencies, wave propagation is very sensitive to small crustal heterogeneities, which are generally not well known; at low frequencies (< 1 Hz), wave propagation can be modeled fairly accurately. EGFs can be used instead of mathematical calculations to more accurately represent seismic wave propagation in the geologically heterogeneous crust. The EGF method is the best available method because it empirically corrects for unknown path and site effects, for which a short wavelength resolution is needed. However, true EGFs contain the source rupture process of the small earthquakes in the recorded seismograms. No earthquake has a true impulsive source. Therefore, one must be careful using EGFs. There has not been uniformity in defining EGF’s. Recordings of earthquakes with magnitudes less than 1.0 to 7.0 have been used as EGFs. Here, we apply a strict
Battery current and voltage control system design with charging application

This paper presents the design of battery charging control system suitable for different battery types. A PI controller-based battery current control system is designed with the aim of achieving robust control system behavior over a wide range of battery internal resistance variations. In order to enhance the battery current control system performance, an adaptation mechanism comprising a Kalman filter-based battery internal resistance estimator has been designed and tested. The current control system is commanded by a superimposed battery voltage controller aimed at bringing the battery terminal voltage to the fully-charged state while also limiting the maximum battery charging current. The effectiveness of the proposed battery charging cascade control system has been verified experimentally on the battery test setup for a VRLA battery and LiFePO4 cell.
A telemedicine intervention to improve adherence to continuous positive airway pressure: a randomised controlled trial

Background Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most widely prescribed treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). Although it has been shown to improve the symptoms of OSAS, many patients have difficulty adhering to this treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an automated telemedicine intervention to improve adherence to CPAP. Methods A randomised clinical trial was undertaken in 250 patients being started on CPAP therapy for OSAS. Patients were randomly assigned to use a theory-driven interactive voice response system designed to improve CPAP adherence (telephone-linked communications for CPAP (TLC-CPAP), n=124) or to an attention placebo control (n=126) for 12 months. TLC-CPAP monitors patients' self-reported behaviour and CPAP-related symptoms and provides feedback and counselling through a structured dialogue to enhance motivation to use CPAP. A Sleep Symptoms Checklist, the Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and the Psychomotor Vigilance Task were administered at study entry and at 6-month and 12-month follow-up. Hours of CPAP usage at effective mask pressure were measured by the CPAP device stored in its memory and retrieved at each visit. Results Median observed CPAP use in patients randomised to TLC-CPAP was approximately 1 h/night higher than in the control subjects at 6 months and 2 h/night higher at 12 months. Using generalised estimating equation modelling, the intervention had a significant effect on CPAP adherence. For secondary analysis, the effect of CPAP adherence on the secondary outcomes was analysed. CPAP adherence was significantly associated with a greater reduction in sleep apnoea symptoms and depressive symptoms and a greater improvement in functional status. No significant association was observed between CPAP adherence and reaction time. Conclusions The TLC-CPAP intervention resulted in improved CPAP adherence, which was associated with improved functional status and fewer depressive symptoms. Clinical trial.gov NCT00232544.
Do Student-Produced Videos Enhance Engagement and Learning in the Online Environment

Student engagement in online learning remains a challenge for the design of effective coursework. Additionally, few analyses have focused on student-produced activities in the online mode nor upon how such class activity affect student sub-groups differently. We conducted a randomized design experiment with student video production at a large public university. Student background and behavior factors were measured in two online surveys, which were combined with course assessment data. Because of the small sample size, we observe few significant differences in learning outcomes across the experiment treatment and control sections, except as regards to a value-added measure. We suggest that student learning was likely most-concentrated on concepts around which they produced the video. We find three sub-groups (those with lower-incoming GPAs, Hispanic ethnicity, and not having English as a primary language) expressed lower preparation for the online environment, with mixed engagement patterns. Final learning outcomes and grades remained lower for these groups both with and without the video treatment
Should Banks Own Equity? A Corporate Finance Perspective

This paper examines the question whether banks should hold a share of their borrowing firms' equity. A bank's equity participation can help overcome a well documented agency problem: without the equity participation, the bank would use its informational advantage over other sources of finance (e.g. competing banks) to extract profits from the client firm whenever the firm needs additional investment funds. This, in turn, reduces the incentives of the borrowing firm to generate profits. It is shown that even a small, minority equity stake held by the bank significantly reduces the propensity of the bank to extract profits, which then improves the incentives of the firm. A small equity stake suffices, because the private information that the bank has about the firm makes the bank's profit extraction extremely sensitive to the nature of the bank's claim. The benefit of bank equity participation is related to firm characteristics (e.g. size, growth, capital needs, etc.), characteristics of the banking sector (e.g. competition), as well as information issues (e.g. the quality of the prevailing accounting practices). The paper addresses, from a corporate finance perspective, the current debate about whether banks should be allowed to own equity stakes, and if yes how large these should be.
On scaling latent semantic indexing for large peer-to-peer systems

The exponential growth of data demands scalable infrastructures capable of indexing and searching rich content such as text, music, and images. A promising direction is to combine information re-trieval with peer-to-peer technology for scalability, fault-tolerance, and low administration cost. One pioneering work along this di-rection is pSearch [32, 33]. pSearch places documents onto a peer-to- peer overlay network according to semantic vectors produced using Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI). The search cost for a query is reduced since documents related to the query are likely to be co-located on a small number of nodes. Unfortunately, because of its reliance on LSI, pSearch also inherits the limitations of LSI. (1) When the corpus is large and heterogeneous, LSI's retrieval quality is inferior to methods such as Okapi. (2) The Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) used in LSI is unscalable in terms of both memory consumption and computation time.This paper addresses the above limitations of LSI and makes the following contributions. (1) To reduce the cost of SVD, we reduce the size of its input matrix through document clustering and term selection. Our method retains the retrieval quality of LSI but is several orders of magnitude more efficient. (2) Through extensive experimentation, we found that proper normalization of semantic vectors for terms and documents improves recall by 76%. (3) To further improve retrieval quality, we use low-dimensional subvectors of semantic vectors to cluster documents in the overlay and then use Okapi to guide the search and document selection.
Peaks and persistence: modeling the shape of microblog conversations

A microblogged stream is delivered over time, providing an ongoing commentary of topics, trends, and issues. In this article, we present two methods of finding temporal topics within these Twitter streams. Using a normalized term frequency, we demonstrate how an effective table of contents can be extracted by finding localized "peaky topics". Second, we find "persistent conversations" which have a lower general salience but sustain and persist over the tweet corpus, in effect the whispering conversation that lingers in the background. These methods are demonstrated on a Twitter corpus of 53,000 tweets and a second Twitter corpus of 1.1 million tweets; the methods are generalizable to apply to any normalized scoring metric across a temporal corpus. We propose our method's implications on social media research and systems from a textual and social network analysis perpective.
Adhesion between liposomes mediated by the chlorophyll a/b light- harvesting complex isolated from chloroplast membranes

A highly purified chlorophyll a/b light-harvesting complex (chl a/b LHC; chl a/b ratio 1.2) was obtained from Triton-solubilized chloroplast membranes of pea and barley according to the method of Burke et al. (1978, Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 187: 252--263). Gel electrophoresis of the cation-precipitated chl a/b LHC from peas reveals the presence of four polypeptides in the 23- to 28-kdalton size range. Three of these peptides appear to be identical to those derived from re-electrophoresed CPII and CPII* bands. In freeze-fracture replicas, the cation-precipitated chl a/b LHC appears as a semicrystalline aggregate of membranous sheets containing closely spaced granules. Upon removal of the cations by dialysis, the aggregates break up into their constituent membranous sheets without changing their granular substructure. These membranous sheets can be resolubilized in 1.5% Triton X-100, and the chl a/b LHC particles then reconstituted into soybean lecithin liposomes. Freeze-fracture micrographs of the reconstituted chl a/b LHC vesicles suspended in a low salt medium reveal randomly dispersed approximately 80-A particles on both concave and convex fracture faces as well as some crystalline particle arrays, presumably resulting from incompletely solubilized fragments of the membranous sheets. Based on the approximately 80-A diameter of the particles, and on the assumption that one freeze- fracture particle represents the structural unit of one chl a/b LHC aggregate, a theoretical mol wt of approximately 200 kdalton has been calculated for the chl a/b LHC. Deep-etching and negative-staining techniques reveal that the chl a/b LHC particles are also exposed on the surface of the bilayer membranes. Addition of greater than or equal to 2 mM MgCl2 or greater than or equal to 60 mM NaCl to the reconstituted vesicles leads to their aggregation and, with divalent cations, to the formation of extensive membrane stacks. At the same time, the chl a/b LHC particles become clustered into the adhering membrane regions. Under these conditions the particles in adjacent membranes usually become precisely aligned. Evidence is presented to aupport the hypothesis that adhesion between the chl a/b LHC particles is mediated by hydrophobic interactions, and that the cations are needed to neutralize surface charges on the particles.
Yawning The yawn is primal , unstoppable and contagious , revealing the evolutionary and neural basis of empathy and unconscious behavior

Imagine a yawn. You stretch your jaws open in a wide gape, take a deep inward breath, followed by a shorter exhalation, and end by closing your jaws. Ahhh. You have just joined vertebrates everywhere in one of the animal kingdom's most ancient rites. Mammals and most other animals with backbones yawn; fish, turtles, crocodiles and birds do it. People start yawning very early, offering further evidence of its ancient origins. Yawning is present by the end of the first trimester of prenatal human development and is obvious in newborns.