Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Management of patients with resistant hypertension: current treatment options

Resistant hypertension (RHTN) is an increasingly common clinical problem that is often heterogeneous in etiology, risk factors, and comorbidities. It is defined as uncontrolled blood pressure on optimal doses of three antihypertensive agents, ideally one being a diuretic. The definition also includes controlled hypertension with use of four or more antihypertensive agents. Recent observational studies have advanced the characterization of patients with RHTN. Patients with RHTN have higher rates of cardiovascular events and mortality compared with patients with more easily controlled hypertension. Secondary causes of hypertension, including obstructive sleep apnea, primary aldosteronism, renovascular disease, are common in patients with RHTN and often coexist in the same patient. In addition, RHTN is often complicated by metabolic abnormalities. Patients with RHTN require a thorough evaluation to confirm the diagnosis and optimize treatment, which typically includes a combination of lifestyle adjustments, and pharmacologic and interventional treatment. Combination therapy including a diuretic, a long-acting calcium channel blocker, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, a beta blocker, and a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist where warranted is the classic regimen for patients with treatment-resistant hypertension. Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists like spironolactone or eplerenone have been shown to be efficacious in patients with RHTN, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and primary aldosteronism. Novel interventional therapies, including baroreflex activation and renal denervation, have shown that both of these methods may be used to lower blood pressure safely, thereby providing exciting and promising new options to treat RHTN.
Lyman Break Galaxies, Lyα Emitters, and a Radio Galaxy in a Protocluster at z = 4.1

We present deep HST ACS observations in g475r625i775z850 toward the z = 4.1 radio galaxy TN J1338–1942 and its overdensity of >30 spectroscopically confirmed Lyα emitters (LAEs). We select 66 g475 band dropouts to z850,5 σ = 27, 6 of which are also LAEs. Although our color-color selection results in a relatively broad redshift range centered on z = 4.1, the field of TN J1338–1942 is richer than the average field at the >5 σ significance, based on a comparison with GOODS. The angular distribution is filamentary with about half of the objects clustered near the radio galaxy, and a small, excess signal (2 σ) in the projected pair counts at separations of θ < 10″ is interpreted as being due to physical pairs. The LAEs are young (a few times 107 yr), small (⟨ rhl⟩ = 0.13″) galaxies, and we derive a mean stellar mass of ~108-109 M☉ based on a stacked Ks band image. We determine star formation rates, sizes, morphologies, and color-magnitude relations of the g475-dropouts and find no evidence for a difference between galaxies near TN J1338–1942 and in the field. We conclude that environmental trends as observed in clusters at much lower redshift are either not yet present or washed out by the relatively broad selection in redshift. The large galaxy overdensity, its corresponding mass overdensity, and the subclustering at the approximate redshift of TN J1338–1942 suggest the assemblage of a >1014 M☉ structure, confirming that it is possible to find and study cluster progenitors in the linear regime at z≳ 4.
Hospital Usage of Early Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders and Outcome After Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Background and Purpose— Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders are commonly used after severe stroke. We hypothesized that there is significant variability in how these orders are applied after intracerebral hemorrhage and that this influences outcome. Methods— From a database of all admissions to nonfederal hospitals in California, discharge abstracts were obtained for all patients with a primary diagnosis of intracerebral hemorrhage who were admitted through the emergency department during 1999 and 2000. Characteristics included whether DNR orders were written within the first 24 hours of hospitalization. Case-mix–adjusted hospital DNR use was calculated for each hospital by comparing the actual number of DNR cases with the number predicted from a multivariable model. Outcome (in-hospital death) was evaluated in a separate multivariable model adjusted for individual and hospital characteristics. Results— A total of 8233 patients were treated in 234 hospitals. The percentage of patients with DNR orders varied from 0% to 70% across hospitals. Being treated in a hospital that used DNR orders 10% more often than another hospital with a similar case mix increased a patient’s odds of dying during hospitalization by 13% (P <0.001). Patients treated in the quartile of hospitals with the highest adjusted DNR use were more likely to die, and this was not just because of individual patient DNR status. Conclusions— In-hospital mortality after intracerebral hemorrhage is significantly influenced by the rate at which treating hospitals use DNR orders, even after adjusting for case mix. This is not due solely to individual patient DNR status, but rather some other aspect of overall care.
Working Papers in Economics and Statistics Confusion and Reinforcement Learning in Experimental Public Goods Games Confusion and Reinforcement Learning in Experimental Public Goods Games *

We use a limited information environment to mimic the state of confusion in an experimental, repeated public goods game. The results show that reinforcement learning leads to dynamics similar to those observed in standard public goods games. However, closer inspection shows that individual decay of contributions in standard public goods games cannot be fully explained by reinforcement learning. According to our estimates, learning only accounts for 41 percent of the decay in contributions in standard public goods games. The contribution dynamics of subjects, who are identified as conditional cooperators, differ strongly from the learning dynamics, while a learning model estimated from the limited information treatment tracks behavior for subjects, who cannot be classified as conditional cooperators, reasonably well.
THE EFFECTS of PRIVATIZATION on LABOR in TURKEY

The effect of privatization on labor has been one of the least addressed issues. This paper evaluates the impact of privatization on dismissed workers in Turkey. Earnings equations at state employment and after dismissal are estimated and compared to evaluate the changes in worker’s welfare. Dismissed workers experienced significant earnings losses upon reemployment. Earnings losses were smaller for the selfemployed than for the wage employed. Post-dismissal jobs were not only characterized by lower earnings but also by a lower quality of non-monetary attributes. The magnitude of the true welfare losses is inferred from the subjective evaluations provided by the workers themselves. Workers felt that what they had lost had not been fully compensated by the severance pay they received. JEL Codes: J45, J33
Diffusion in Complex Networks With Overlapping Community Structure

ABSTRACT In this work, we study di usion in networks with communitystructure. We rst replicate and extend work on networkswith non-overlapping community structure. Then we studydi usion on network models that have overlapping commu-nity structure. We study both contagions in the standardSIR model, and complex contagions which are thought tobe better approximations of some social di usion processes.Finally, we investigate di usion on empirical networks withknown overlapping community structure, by analysing thestructure of such networks, and by simulating contagion onthem. Our results show that simple and complex conta-gions can spread fast in networks with overlapping commu-nity structure. Categories and Subject Descriptors G.2. 2 [Graph Theory]: Network problems; I.5. 1 [Models]:Structural Keywords Di usion, Contagion, Networks, Overlapping Community 1. INTRODUCTION Di usion on complex networks is often of interest. Wemay be investigating how quickly a piece of news can travelthrough a social network; whether a virus can spread througha computer network; or if a disease will become a pandemic.All these di usion processes are inuenced by the topologyof the network on which they take place. Early work on theidea of ‘six degrees of separation’ by Milgram [23] and thelater analytical work of Watts and Strogatz [33] informedour intuition about the speed with which a contagion maymove across a large complex network.It has been established in the epidemiological literaturethat the structure of networks plays a role in the natureof di usion events that take place on them [3, 14]. Muchwork has been done on modelling and analysis of simple
Sometimes it Helps: The Evolving Predictive Power of Spreads on GDP Dynamics

We investigate the predictive content of credit and government interest spreads with respect to the Italian GDP growth. Our analysis with Dynamic Model Averaging identifies when interest spreads were more useful predictors of economic activity: these periods are not limited to the Great Recession. For credit spreads we gather information from both bank loans and corporate bonds and we compare their predictive role over time and over different forecasting horizons. JEL Classification: C52, E37
Characterizing and influencing differentiation of retinal progenitor cells

vii CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION INTRODCUTION 1 RETINAL DEVELOPMENT 1 ISOLATION AND EXPANSION OF NEURAL STEM CELLS 3 TRANSPLANTATION OF PROGENITOR CELLS 4 FACTORS THAT AFFECT DIFFERENTION OF RETINAL CELLS 7 EXPRESSION OF STRESS-RESPONSE PROTEINS 10 OXIDATIVE STRESS 13 PROTEOMICS 14 GENE ONTOLOGY 16 DISSERTATION ORGANIZATION 18 REFERENCES 18 CHAPTER 2. PROTEOMIC DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN MURINE RETINAL AND BRAIN DERIVED PROGENITOR CELLS ABSTRACT 24 INTRODUCTION 25 MATERIALS AND METHODS 27 RESULTS 31 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 33 REFERENCES 39 CHAPTER 3. CHARACTERIZATION OF STRESS-RESPONSE PROTEINS IN THE DEVELOPING MOUSE RETINA ABSTRACT 48 INTRODUCTION 48 MATERIALS AND METHODS 50 RESULTS 52 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 54 REFERENCES 58
The -45 region of the Escherichia coli lac promoter: CAP-dependent and CAP-independent transcription

The lactose (lac) operon promoter is positively regulated by the catabolite gene activator-cyclic AMP complex (CAP) that binds to the DNA located 61.5 bp upstream of the transcription start site. Between the CAP binding site and the core promoter sequence is a 13-bp sequence (from -38 to -50 [the -45 region]). The possible roles of the -45 region in determining the CAP-independent level of lac expression and in the CAP activation process were studied by isolating and characterizing random multisite mutations. Only a small percentage of mutants have dramatic effects on lac promoter activity. Among the mutations that did affect expression, a 26-fold range in lac promoter activity in vivo was observed in the CAP-independent activity. The highest level of CAP-independent lac expression (13-fold the level of the wild-type lac promoter) correlated with changes in the -40 to -45 sequence and required an intact RNA polymerase alpha subunit for in vitro expression, as expected for an upstream DNA recognition element. Mutant promoters varied in their ability to be stimulated by CAP in vivo, with levels ranging from 2-fold to the wild-type level of 22-fold. Only a change of twofold in responsiveness to CAP could be attributed to direct DNA sequence effects. The -40 to -45 sequence-dependent enhancement of promoter activity and CAP stimulation of promoter activity did not act additively. The mutant promoters also displayed other characteristics, such as the activation of nascent promoter-like activities overlapping lac P1 and, in one case, replicon-dependent changes in promoter activity.
Dignity of elderly adults from the perspective of nurses: a qualitative descriptive study

Aim: The aim of this descriptive qualitative study was to analyze dignity in nursing care in institutionalised elderly adults from the perspective of nurses, and to identify factors affecting dignity. Design: A descriptive qualitative study. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study employing individual in-depth interviews. The sample comprised ten general nurses working in health and social institutions with round-the-clock care for elderly adults. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: Six main themes have been identified in relation to dignity: Regarding elderly adults as unique human beings; Privacy and embarrassment; Quality of relationships; Communication; Quality of care; and Environment. The main themes were further broken down into 24 sub-themes and their mutual relationships. Among important determinants for dignity, nurses listed sufficient staff and funding, the necessity for health and social workers to cooperate, and family relationships. Conclusion: The resulting schema represents a description of nurses' experience of respecting dignity in primary nursing care for elderly adults. Nurses see dignity in open communication, room for privacy, securing quality individualised care, and preserving current family relationships. The schema may be used for a self-reflection by nurses in direct care for elderly adult, by the management of healthcare institutions and social care, and for students of nursing.
Caudal analgesia: a simple and safe technique in paediatric surgery.

SUMMARY A series of 170 infants and children were operated upon under caudal analgesia. Lignocaine was used in concentrations from 0.5 to 2 per cent. The average dose employed was 10 mg/kg body weight. Analgesia was satisfactory in 91.7 per cent of cases. Complete failure occurred in 5.2 per cent of patients. No serious accidents or complications were seen due to the anaesthetic method. In the author's experience this technique represents a safe, reliable and simple way to produce surgical analgesia in infants and children, especially in those needing emergency surgery who are in poor condition.
Hypertension, cognitive decline, and dementia: an epidemiological perspective

Hypertension is a known risk factor for stroke, and thus for vascular dementia. However, recent large observational studies have suggested that high blood pressure may also play a role in Alzheimer's disease. The mechanisms linking hypertension to Alzheimer's disease remain to be elucidated, but white matter lesions seen on cerebral magnetic resonance imaging appear to be a good marker of this association. It is not yet clearly established whether lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of white matter lesions and dementia, so large trials dealing with this question are eagerly awaited. These future trials could confirm the hope that, by lowering blood pressure, we may have a preventive treatment for dementia. This issue is of major importance, as the number of cases of dementia is expected to rise sharply in the near future.
The role of social capital and knowledge sharing in transformational leadership promoting value co-creation -A cross-level analysis

This study examines how transformational leadership influences value co-creation in virtual communities through various driving factors. Considering that participants of the same virtual community may experience a context effect resulting from perceived organizational consensus, this study employs a hierarchical linear model (HLM) for verification. This study proposes the following hypothesis: transformational leadership affects value co-creation by community members through social capital at the organizational level and knowledge sharing at the individual level. The results show that at the organizational level, transformational leadership positively affects social capital, which in turn positively affects value co-creation at the individual level. In addition, organizational-level transformational leadership positively influences knowledge sharing at the individual level, which in turn positively affects individual-level value co-creation. This study offers four contributions to the field of research: (a) contrary to previous studies that have emphasized commercial virtual communities, this study applies value co-creation to non-commercial virtual communities, investigating these communities to determine the source of innovation value, thereby advancing the exploration of value co-creation; (b) adopting the perspective of community leaders, this study compensates for the deficiencies of previous studies that adopted the perspective of customers; (c) concerning the overall framework, this study establishes organizational- and individual-level driving factors, investigating how transformational leadership influences value co-creation by community members; and (d) regarding methodology contribution, because virtual community composition exhibits nested characteristics, this study adopts the HLM for verification, increasing the accuracy of cross-level explanatory power that high-level explanatory variables possess for low-level dependent variables.
Attributing mental attitudes to normative systems

The role of norms in the formalization of multiagent sys-tems is to stabilize the behavior of a multiagent system,and thus they play the same role for such systems as in-tentions do for single agent systems. However, it is still anopen problem whether they should be represented explicitly,for example in a deontic logic, or they can also be repre-sented implicitly. Boella and Lesmo [1] propose a deﬁnitionof obligation in terms of beliefs, goals and desires, inspiredby Goﬀman’s game-theoretic interpretation of norms and byrecursive modelling. The aim of this deﬁnition is to distin-guish various reasons why agents fulﬁl or violate obligations.In this paper, we extend [1]’s deﬁnition of sanction basednorms by explicitly attributing beliefs, desires and goalsboth to the bearer of a norm and to the normative system.Boella and Lesmo [1] propose to attribute mental statesto normative systems such as legal or moral systems, as aninstance of Dennett’s
CEO outsiderness and firm performance in an emerging economy: The moderating role of managerial discretion

Abstract Inconsistent findings from prior research on the performance consequences of new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) origin led us to study the moderating effect of managerial discretion on the link between CEO outsiderness and firms’ post-succession performance. Data from 75 CEO succession events from an emerging economy show that new CEO outsiderness, without managerial discretion context influences, has no direct impact on post-succession performance. Further, our findings emphasise the moderating impacts of managerial discretion, stemming from factors in a company’s external and internal contingencies, which either strengthen or weaken the association between new CEO outsiderness and post-succession firm performance. It is found that market complexity, but not munificence, provides CEOs with more discretion in the Turkish context, thus strengthening the positive associations between CEO origin and firm performance. Firms inertia weakens both managerial discretion level and the association between CEO outsiderness and firm performance. The results show that internal corporate governance also matters. Finally, when a CEO assumes the dual role of both the chairman and the CEO, the link between CEO outsiderness and performance of the firm becomes stronger.
Analysis of Clinical Presentations of Bruton Disease: A Review of 20 Years of Accumulated Data from Pediatric Patients at Severance Hospital

Purpose X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) is a humoral immunodeficiency disease caused by a mutation in the Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) gene resulting in defective B cell differentiation. Because it is a relatively rare disorder, it is difficult for clinicians to have a comprehensive understanding of XLA due to a lack of exposure to the disease. Clinical presentations of patients with XLA were analyzed and discussed to improve care plans. Materials and Methods During a 20 year period, from January 1987 to June 2006, a total of 19 patients were diagnosed as XLA in the Department of Pediatrics at Severance Hospital, Seoul, Korea. A retrospective analysis of the clinical presentations of those patients was performed. Results The mean age of the XLA patients included in the study was 4.89 years, with a range of 6 months to 13 years. Twelve patients were diagnosed before age 5, while the other 7 patients were diagnosed after age 5. Recurrent infections observed in the patients included pneumonia, acute otitis media, septic arthritis, skin infection, sepsis, sinusitis, acute gastroenteritis, cervical lymphadenitis, epididymitis, meningitis, osteomyelitis, urinary tract infection and encephalitis. Frequency of admissions was variable from 0 to 12 times, depending on the time at which immunoglobulin therapy was started. Six cases had family histories positive for XLA. BTK gene mutations were found in 8 cases. Conclusion The overall prognosis of XLA is good as long as patients are diagnosed and treated early with regular intra venous gamma globulin therapy before the sequelae of recurrent infections appear.
Dynamical and gravitational lensing properties of a new phenomenological model of elliptical galaxies

Aims. Recent observations of the line of sight velocity profile of elliptical galaxies have furnished controversial results with some works favouring the presence of a large amount of dark matter in the outer regions and others arguing in favour of no dark matter at all. In order to shed new light on this controversy, we propose here a new phenomenological description of the total mass profile of galaxies. Methods. Under the hypothesis of spherical symmetry, we assume a double power-law expression for the global mass-to-light (hereafter $M/L$) ratio $\Upsilon(r) = M(r)/L(r) = \Upsilon_0 (r/r_0)^{\alpha} (1 + r/r_0)^{\beta}$ with $(\Upsilon_0, r_0)$ scaling parameters and $(\alpha, \beta)$ determining the inner and outer slope of the $M/L$ ratio. In particular, $\Upsilon \propto r^{\alpha}$ for $r/r_0 \ll 1$ so that $\alpha = 0$ mimics a constant $M/L$ ratio in the inner regions, while, for $(r/r_0 \gg 1)$, $\Upsilon \propto r^{\alpha + \beta}$ thus showing that models with $\alpha + \beta = 0$ have an asymptotically constant $M/L$ ratio. A wide range of possibilities is obtained by varying the slope parameters $(\alpha, \beta)$ in the range we determine on the basis of physical considerations. Choosing a general expression for the luminosity density profile $j(r)$, we work out an effective galaxy model that accounts for all the phenomenology observed in real elliptical galaxies. We derive the main dynamics and gravitational lensing properties of such an effective model. Results. We analyze a general class of models, able to take into account different dynamical trends. We are able to obtain analytical expressions for the main dynamical and lensing quantities. We show that constraining the values of $\alpha + \beta$ makes it possible to analyze the problem of the dark matter in elliptical galaxies. Indeed, positive values of $\alpha + \beta$ would be a strong evidence for dark matter. Conclusions. Finally we indicate possible future approaches in order to face the observational data, in particular using velocity dispersion profiles and lensed quasar events.