Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is the placebo powerless? An analysis of clinical trials comparing placebo with no treatment.

BACKGROUND Placebo treatments have been reported to help patients with many diseases, but the quality of the evidence supporting this finding has not been rigorously evaluated. METHODS We conducted a systematic review of clinical trials in which patients were randomly assigned to either placebo or no treatment. A placebo could be pharmacologic (e.g., a tablet), physical (e.g., a manipulation), or psychological (e.g., a conversation). RESULTS We identified 130 trials that met our inclusion criteria. After the exclusion of 16 trials without relevant data on outcomes, there were 32 with binary outcomes (involving 3795 patients, with a median of 51 patients per trial) and 82 with continuous outcomes (involving 4730 patients, with a median of 27 patients per trial). As compared with no treatment, placebo had no significant effect on binary outcomes (pooled relative risk of an unwanted outcome with placebo, 0.95; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.88 to 1.02), regardless of whether these outcomes were subjective or objective. For the trials with continuous outcomes, placebo had a beneficial effect (pooled standardized mean difference in the value for an unwanted outcome between the placebo and untreated groups, -0.28; 95 percent confidence interval, -0.38 to -0.19), but the effect decreased with increasing sample size, indicating a possible bias related to the effects of small trials. The pooled standardized mean difference was significant for the trials with subjective outcomes (-0.36; 95 percent confidence interval, -0.47 to -0.25) but not for those with objective outcomes. In 27 trials involving the treatment of pain, placebo had a beneficial effect (-0.27; 95 percent confidence interval, -0.40 to -0.15). This corresponded to a reduction in the intensity of pain of 6.5 mm on a 100-mm visual-analogue scale. CONCLUSIONS We found little evidence in general that placebos had powerful clinical effects. Although placebos had no significant effects on objective or binary outcomes, they had possible small benefits in studies with continuous subjective outcomes and for the treatment of pain. Outside the setting of clinical trials, there is no justification for the use of placebos.
M3 money demand and excess liquidity in the euro area

Recent empirical studies have found evidence of unstable long run money demand functions if recent data are used. If the link between money balances and the macroeconomy is fragile, the rationale of monetary aggregates in the ECB strategy has to be doubted. In contrast we present a “stable” long run money demand relationship for M3 for the period 1983–2006. To obtain the result, the short run homogeneity restriction between money and prices is relaxed and a break in the income elasticity of money demand after 2001 is taken into account. Measures of excess liquidity do not show significant inflation pressures.
Communication complexity lower bounds by polynomials

The quantum version of communication complexity allows the two communicating parties to exchange qubits and/or to make use of prior entanglement (shared EPR-pairs). Some lower bound techniques are available for qubit communication complexity, but except for the inner product function, no bounds are known for the model with unlimited prior entanglement. We show that the "log rank" lower bound extends to the strongest variant of quantum communication complexity (qubit communication+unlimited prior entanglement). By relating the rank of the communication matrix to properties of polynomials, we are able to derive some strong bounds for exact protocols. In particular, we prove both the "log rank conjecture" and the polynomial equivalence of quantum and classical communication complexity for various classes of functions. We also derive some weaker bounds for bounded-error quantum protocols.
Effects of Nonuniform Fiber Sensitivity, Innervation Geometry, and Noise on Information Relayed by a Population of Slowly Adapting Type I Primary Afferents from the Fingerpad

The capacity of a population of primary afferent fibers to signal information about a sphere indenting the fingerpad is limited by factors such as the inhomogeneity of sensitivity among the afferents, the pattern and density of innervation, and the effects of noise (response variability). Using experimental data recorded from single slowly adapting type I afferents (SAIs), we simulated the response of the SAI population to such a stimulus. The human ability to discriminate stimulus curvature, location, and force has been quantified previously. We devised three neural measures, treating them as surrogates for the real neural measures underlying human performance, and explored how population parameters usually overlooked in neural coding studies affect such measures. Variation in sensitivity among SAIs is large; this distorts population response profiles markedly but has no significant impact on the neural measures. Two classes of noise were introduced, one dependent on and the other independent of the level of neural activity. Resolution of the model was compared with discrimination in humans. Correlation of noise among neurons had different effects for the different measures. An increase in correlation decreased resolution in the measure for force but improved resolution in the measure for position. Increasing innervation density (1) always increased resolution for position and (2) increased resolution for force if noise was uncorrelated but had diminishing effects as correlation increased. Correlation and innervation density had complex effects on the measure for curvature, depending on the class of noise. Nonuniformity in the pattern of innervation had negligible effects on resolution.
HIV‐1 protease molecular dynamics of a wild‐type and of the V82F/I84V mutant: Possible contributions to drug resistance and a potential new target site for drugs

The protease from type 1 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV‐1) is a critical drug target against which many therapeutically useful inhibitors have been developed; however, the set of viral strains in the population has been shifting to become more drug‐resistant. Because indirect effects are contributing to drug resistance, an examination of the dynamic structures of a wild‐type and a mutant could be insightful. Consequently, this study examined structural properties sampled during 22 nsec, all atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations (in explicit water) of both a wild‐type and the drug‐resistant V82F/I84V mutant of HIV‐1 protease. The V82F/I84V mutation significantly decreases the binding affinity of all HIV‐1 protease inhibitors currently used clinically. Simulations have shown that the curling of the tips of the active site flaps immediately results in flap opening. In the 22‐nsec MD simulations presented here, more frequent and more rapid curling of the mutant's active site flap tips was observed. The mutant protease's flaps also opened farther than the wild‐type's flaps did and displayed more flexibility. This suggests that the effect of the mutations on the equilibrium between the semiopen and closed conformations could be one aspect of the mechanism of drug resistance for this mutant. In addition, correlated fluctuations in the active site and periphery were noted that point to a possible binding site for allosteric inhibitors.
Fluorine-18-FDG PET imaging is negative in bronchioloalveolar lung carcinoma.

UNLABELLED The goals of our study were to establish PET accuracy with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in finding localized formations of bronchioloalveolar lung carcinoma (BAC) and to investigate the correlation between FDG uptake and the degree of cell differentiation in adenocarcinoma of the lung. MATERIALS Twenty-nine patients with 30 adenocarcinomas of the lung (7 bronchioloalveolar lung carcinomas, 9 well differentiated, 2 well-moderately differentiated, 11 moderately differentiated and 1 poorly differentiated) were studied. All patients underwent thoracotomies within 4 wk after the FDG PET study. For qualitative analysis, the degree of FDG activity in the tumors was visually scored using a five-point grading system: 0 = same to background activity, 1 = less than mediastinal blood-pool activity, 2 = same to mediastinal blood-pool activity, 3 = slightly greater than mediastinal blood-pool activity and 4 = substantially greater than mediastinal blood-pool activity. Foci of activity with Grades 2-4 were considered tumors. For semiquantitative analysis, standardized uptake values (SUV) were calculated. RESULTS In 7 BACs, 4 lesions (57%) showed negative results on FDG PET, while in 23 non-BACs, only 1 lesion (4%), which was a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma showed a negative result. BACs' mean visual score (1.43 +/- 1.27) was significantly lower than that of non-BACs (3.17 +/- 1.03) (p = 0.001). The BACs' mean SUV (1.36 +/- 0.821) was significantly lower than that of well-differentiated adenocarcinomas (2.92 +/- 1.28) (p = 0.014); the mean SUV of well-differentiated adenocarcinomas was significantly lower than that of moderately differentiated adenocarcinomas (4.63 +/- 1.86) (p = 0.031). No significant differences were apparent in average size among these three histologic types. CONCLUSION A correlation was observed between FDG uptake and the degree of cell differentiation in adenocarcinoma of the lung. FDG PET may show negative results for BAC.
Pulmonary 99mTc-DTPA aerosol clearance and survival in usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP)

BACKGROUND Clearance of inhaled technetium 99m-labelled diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid (99mTc-DTPA) from the lungs is a potential indicator of disease progression in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). METHODS We prospectively analysed the usefulness of this technique for predicting survival in 106 non-smoking patients with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern IPF diagnosed by high resolution CT (HRCT) scanning or histological examination (M/F 65/41, mean (SD) age 61 (11) years). DTPA clearance was analysed according to both mono-exponential and bi-exponential models. Half times for the fast (t 0.5 F) and slow (t 0.5 S) components of clearance, the percentage contribution of the fast component (f F ), and half time for mono-exponential approximation to the early part of the clearance curve (t 0.5) were calculated. RESULTS The patients had substantially faster t 0.5(mean 23.9 (9.6) minutes) than normal values (>45 minutes). Thirty seven patients (35%) died during follow up (median 15 months). Univariate Cox regression analysis identified significant predictors of survival as age, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), total lung capacity (TLC), % predicted TLC, carbon monoxide transfer factor (Tlco), % predicted Tlco, arterial oxygen tension (Pao 2), oxygen saturation,t 0.5 F, and HRCT fibrosis score. Multiple stepwise Cox regression analysis identifiedt 0.5 F(p=0.03, hazard ratio 0.747, 95% CI 0.578 to 0.964), % predicted TLC (p=0.02, hazard ratio 0.976, 95% CI 0.956 to 0.995), % predicted Tlco (p=0.003, hazard ratio 0.960, 95% CI 0.935 to 0.986), and age (p=0.003, hazard ratio 1.062, 95% CI 1.021 to 1.104) as independent predictors of survival. CONCLUSION These data suggest that 99mTc-DTPA clearancet 0.5 Fmeasurement may predict survival in patients with UIP pattern IPF.
A RECEPTOR FOR ANTIBODY ON B LYMPHOCYTES

Binding of antibody to the surface of B lymphocytes was shown to involve the Fc piece of the immunoglobulin molecule. This property was not shared equally by all immunoglobulin classes as revealed by direct binding and inhibition studies. Total IgG globulin was found to label cells more heavily than IgM, and IgG1-containing fractions more heavily than IgG2 fractions lacking IgG1. The ability of various purified myeloma proteins to inhibit attachment of antibody to B cells was examined. Pretreatment of B cells with excess IgG2a, IgA, or light chain proteins failed to inhibit, whereas IgG1 proteins and to a lesser extent Ig2b and IgM proteins at the same concentrations did so. At lower protein concentrations, IgG1 myeloma protein alone retained the capacity to inhibit binding. The conclusion was reached that the receptor on B cells for antibody has a marked predilection for the IgG1 class. Although IgM and IgG2b antibody may bind, they do so with lower avidity and probably in insignificant amounts if IgG1 antibody is present in excess. No evidence was found to implicate complement in the binding process. For example, heat-inactivated sera at high dilution retained the ability to label B cells, while the use of purified low molecular weight anticomplementary factor, a potent inhibitor of C'3, did not interfere with the formation of the bond between antibody and cell surface. The failure of anti-mouse immunoglobulin F(ab)'2 fragments to prevent access of antibody to B cells implied that the antibody-binding receptor and antigen-binding (immunoglobulin) receptor are discrete entities on the B cell membrane. Despite this, a marked similarity between their surface distribution was observed on electron microscopy. The antibody-binding receptor was shown to be a marker for mature B cells. It did not appear to be present on hematopoietic precursor stem cells and was lost during differentiation to antibody-forming cells.
Reduced-Rank Detection for Hybrid Direct-Sequence Time- Hopping UWB Systems in Nakagami-m Fading Channels

This paper investigates and compares the performance of hybrid direct-sequence time-hopping (DS-TH) ultrawide bandwidth (UWB) systems using full-rank and various reduced-rank detections when minimum mean-square error (MMSE) principles are applied, while communicating over Nakagami-m fading channels. In addition to the full- rank MMSE detection, three classes of reduced-rank MMSE techniques are investigated, which are derived based on the principles of principal components (PC), cross-spectral metric (CSM) and Taylor polynomial approximation (TPA), respectively. Our study and simulation results show that the reduced-rank techniques constitute a family of promising detection techniques for UWB systems, which are capable of achieving similar bit error rate (BER) performance as the full-rank detection, while with a detection complexity that is significantly lower than that of the full-rank detection.
Interactions between T helper cells and dendritic cells during the rat mixed lymphocyte reaction

This paper describes the interactions between dendritic cells (DC) and T helper (Th) cells in the rat mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR). Th blasts that are actively proliferating were generated in a 5 d primary MLR; resting Th memory cells were derived from a 10-12 d MLR. The DC were purified from thoracic duct lymph derived from rats whose mesenteric lymph nodes had been removed. The results show that DC are the major stimulators in the primary MLR and also for the restimulation of Th blasts and Th memory cells. Th blasts rapidly formed large clusters when cultured with DC but not with Ia+ macrophages or B cells. This interaction was not dependent on a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) difference between the T blasts and the DC. Con A- activated T and B blasts also formed clusters when cultured with DC. Th memory cells formed small clusters with DC, but, in a different assay in which clusters are dispersed, we detected an antigen-specific interaction between Th memory cells and DC. The monoclonal antibodies W3/25 (anti-rat CD4) and MRC OX-6 (anti-MHC class II) blocked proliferation in the primary MLR and also inhibited the restimulation of Th memory cells. However, the restimulation of Th blasts in a secondary MLR was only blocked by MRC OX-6. These results suggest that there are different requirements for the restimulation of T blasts than for the activation of primary or memory Th cells. W3/25 and MRC OX-6 did not affect the clustering of T blasts with DC but they both inhibited the antigen-specific binding of Th memory cells to DC. The data suggest that the CD4 (W3/25) antigen is involved in antigen- specific interactions between Th cells and DC.
Identification of the Wax Ester Synthase/Acyl-Coenzyme A:Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase WSD1 Required for Stem Wax Ester Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis12[W][OA]

Wax esters are neutral lipids composed of aliphatic alcohols and acids, with both moieties usually long-chain (C16 and C18) or very-long-chain (C20 and longer) carbon structures. They have diverse biological functions in bacteria, insects, mammals, and terrestrial plants and are also important substrates for a variety of industrial applications. In plants, wax esters are mostly found in the cuticles coating the primary shoot surfaces, but they also accumulate to high concentrations in the seed oils of a few plant species, including jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis), a desert shrub that is the major commercial source of these compounds. Here, we report the identification and characterization of WSD1, a member of the bifunctional wax ester synthase/diacylglycerol acyltransferase gene family, which plays a key role in wax ester synthesis in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) stems, as first evidenced by severely reduced wax ester levels of in the stem wax of wsd1 mutants. In vitro assays using protein extracts from Escherichia coli expressing WSD1 showed that this enzyme has a high level of wax synthase activity and approximately 10-fold lower level of diacylglycerol acyltransferase activity. Expression of the WSD1 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae resulted in the accumulation of wax esters, but not triacylglycerol, indicating that WSD1 predominantly functions as a wax synthase. Analyses of WSD1 expression revealed that this gene is transcribed in flowers, top parts of stems, and leaves. Fully functional yellow fluorescent protein-tagged WSD1 protein was localized to the endoplasmic reticulum, demonstrating that biosynthesis of wax esters, the final products of the alcohol-forming pathway, occurs in this subcellular compartment.
A prospective comparison of chronic primary angle-closure glaucoma versus primary open-angle glaucoma in Singapore.

INTRODUCTION To describe the optic disc, visual field and ocular characteristics of a consecutive cohort of Asian patients with chronic primary angle-closure glaucoma (CPACG), and compare them with those having primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). METHODS In a prospective comparative case series of new patients with POAG or CPACG in Singapore, all patients underwent visual acuity assessment, slit-lamp examination, tonometry, gonioscopy, refraction, Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT) and Humphrey visual field (HVF) assessment. RESULTS 98 patients were enrolled (POAG n = 48; CPACG n = 50). CPACG patients were significantly older (66.5 ± 9.2 years vs. 64.1 ± 13.5 years; p = 0.027) and mostly female (p = 0.004). CPACG eyes had significantly higher intraocular pressure (26.9 ± 6.9 mmHg vs. 24.5 ± 3.3 mmHg; p = 0.03), shorter axial length (22.89 ± 0.97 mm vs. 24.26 ± 1.79 mm; p < 0.001) and shallower anterior chamber depth (2.60 ± 0.25 mm vs. 3.16 ± 0.48 mm; p < 0.001). HVF mean deviation or pattern standard deviation (PSD) did not differ significantly between POAG and CPACG eyes, but the latter had a lower PSD for a given mean deviation. HRT parameters between the two groups were not significantly different. CONCLUSION In this study, CPACG eyes had significantly higher presenting intraocular pressure than POAG eyes, but there were no significant differences in optic disc topography. A majority of the patients in both groups had moderate field defects at the time of presentation, followed by severe and then mild defects. The field loss in CPACG eyes was more diffuse than that in POAG eyes.
Factors Affecting Performance of Stock Market : Evidence from South Asian Countries

This study identifies the factor affecting performance of stock market in South Asia. The data used in this study were collected from the period of 1997 to 2010 of 3 South Asian countries namely, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. Regression results indicate that foreign direct investment and exchange rate have significant positive impact on performance of stock market in South Asian countries while; interest rate has negative and significant impact on performance of stock market in South Asia. Results also indicate the negative but insignificant impact of inflation on stock market performance in South Asia. It is recommended that in order to take the full advantage of stock market and carry on with the international markets well managed macroeconomic policies are necessary in which interest rates and inflation rate are thoroughly monitor and try to reduce the value as much possible. It gives the confidence to the investors as well as the industries. It is also recommended that some extra benefits were given to the foreign investors because we observed that the influence of foreign investors is strong in this region.
Soft-constrained ℓasso-MPC for robust LTI tracking: Enlarged feasible region and an ISS gain estimate

This paper investigates the robustness of a soft constrained LTI MPC for set-point tracking, using an ℓ1-regularised cost. The MPC using this type of cost (informally dubbed ℓasso-MPC) is suitable, for instance, for redundantly-actuated systems. This is because of its ability to select a set of preferred actuators, leaving the other ones at rest for most of the time. The proposed approach aims to recover from state constraint violation and to track a changing set-point. Nominal stability is guaranteed for all feasible references and robustness to additive uncertainties is formally characterised, under certain assumptions. In particular, sufficient conditions are given for the feasible region to be robustly invariant, this region being larger than the MPC for regulation. The closed-loop system is input-to-state stable (ISS), and a local ISS gain is computed. All results apply to stabilisable LTI systems. Results hold as well for the more common quadratic MPC, a special case of the proposed controller.
Long-term treatment with antihypertensive drugs in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Effects on blood pressure, survival rate and cardiovascular design.

Three age groups of SHR were treated orally with hydralazine and guanethidine. The first “prehypertensive” group was treated from 2.5 until 8 months of age, and thereafter pressure was followed for another 6 months. A delayed and quite modest pressure increase then occurred and average life span was prolonged compared with untreated SHR or SHR treated only from 12 months of age. - The second, 8 months old group, representing “established” hypertension, was treated for 5, 10 or 20 weeks, the last subgroup being followed for another 2 weeks without treatment. Arterial pressure, left ventricular weight and design of the resistance vessels as explored by quantitative hemodynamic analyses, were studied at these intervals. After 5 weeks pressure was normalized with some regression of hypertrophic vascular changes, particularly in females, though the increased wall/lumen ratio appeared to remain and heart weight was only slightly reduced. After 20 weeks with and 2 weeks without treatment, cardiac and vascular design were still the same as during treatment but pressure had now risen considerably. - The third, 14 months old group with “advanced” hypertension was treated for 13 weeks, causing only modest pressure reduction and vascular regression. - This suggests that early treatment has great advantages, that females exhibit more regression of vascular structural changes than males and that late treatment gives less regression, presumably due to addition of less reversible wall components like collagen.