Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Severe pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with congenital cardiac shunts: evolution under specific treatment

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of Sildenafil, Bosentan and combined therapy in patients with congenital cardiac shunts associated pulmonary artery hypertension (CCS-PAH). Design: Prospective observational study (February 2011 – January 2014) with a historical control group (January 2009 – January 2011). Setting: “CC Iliescu” Institute for Emergency Cardiovascular Diseases of Bucharest, a tertiary university-affiliated center. Patients: All cases with CCS-PAH. Interventions: Specific vasodilatory therapy: Sildenafil, Bosentan or combined therapy. Outcome Measures: The primary outcome was the overall survival at 24 months. Results: Out of 108 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, there were 79 patients with CCS-PAH, 55 presenting a severe form of the disease. The mean age of the patients was 34.42±21.15 years, with 37 (67,3%) female patients. 23 patients received specific vasodilatory treatment (thirteen Sildenafil, seven Bosentan, three combined treatment), with 32 patients in the control group, without specific vasodilatory therapy. The specific vasodilatory therapy was associated with improved WHO/ NYHA functional class (p=0.025), oxygen saturation at the end of the six-minute walk test (p=0.011), decreased pulmonary artery systolic (p=0.002) and diastolic (p=0.004) pressures, and an increased S’ wave in Tissue Doppler Imaging (p=0.008). Conclusions: Despite the complexity of CCS-PAH, with a complex constellation of underlying congenital heart defects, there are short-term benefits of a specific vasodilatory therapy.
State-building and the Origins of Disciplinary Specialization in Nineteenth Century Germany

Scholars have long debated why the sciences became organized into specialized disciplines during the nineteenth century. The Prussian university reforms and the institutionalization of research in the German universities have occupied a central position in these discussions. Using records of the appointments of full professors in the life sciences at German universities from 1770 to 1880, this paper investigates whether the Prussian and other reforms led professors to specialize into disciplines and universities to hire from an open academic labor market. The results show that the reforms did not encourage competition and disciplinary specialization across the German universities. Until the 1840s, reforms encouraged professors to pursue scientific research to the exclusion of traditional subjects, but not to specialize within single disciplines. Outside of Prussia, Baden, and Bavaria, university hiring practices also continued to favor the internal promotion of students until relatively late in the century. In contrast to theories of disciplinary specialization emphasizing the institutionalization of scientific autonomy through the Prussian university reforms, I argue that the political integration of German territories and the exploding university enrollments of the late nineteenth century were necessary conditions for the initial adoption of disciplinary organization. These changes did not directly follow from the university reforms, but rather we connected to the ongoing political and economic development of German states over the course of the nineteenth century.
CARING DIFFERENTLY: A TIME-USE ANALYSIS OF THE TYPE AND SOCIAL CONTEXT OF CHILD CARE PERFORMED BY FATHERS AND BY MOTHERS

This paper analyses the 1992 Time Use Survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in order to compare contextual aspects of time spent with children by mothers and by fathers. The research finds that when mothers are with children they are more likely to be in sole charge, to perform onerous or routine tasks, and to do other activities at the same time, than are fathers. The paper argues that these findings imply that the experience of child care is qualitatively different for men and women.
Adolescents' Psychological Functioning at School and in Sports: The Role of Future Time Perspective and Domain-Specific and Situation-Specific Self-Determined Motivation

In two short-term diary studies, conducted in an educational and a sport context, we investigated whether adolescents' domain-specific and situation-specific self-determined motivation, along with future time perspective, could explain intrapersonal variation of and interpersonal differences in psychological functioning. In both studies intrapersonal fluctuation of self-determined motivation related positively to desired outcomes, with perceived autonomy operating as a predictor of situation-specific self-determined motivation (Study 2). Moreover, in both Study 1 (N = 57 high-school students) and Study 2 (N = 63 athletes participating in a three-week basketball camp) we found interpersonal differences in domain-specific autonomous motivation and future time perspective to predict positively mean levels of most of the positive outcomes. These results underscore the key role of self-determined motivation and future time perspective in the prediction of psychological functioning and the importance of looking.
Association between essential hypertension and three vasoactive peptides, urotensin II, endothelin and adrenomedullin

Abstract Aim: The aim of the study is to measure the vasoactive peptides, urotensin II (UII), endothelin (ET) and adrenomedullin (ADM) in a well-characterized population of normal controls and patients with essential hypertension, and to study their association with this disease. Methods: The contents of plasma UII, ET and ADM were measured by radioimmunoassay in 40 normal controls and 120 patients with essential hypertension. Echocardiographic examinations were performed using an ultrasonic system, and the left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVEDd) along with the left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWT) and interventricular septal thickness (IST) were determined. The left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was calculated according to the method reported by Devereux et al. Results: Plasma UII, ET and ADM contents were increased in patients than healthy controls (3.28 ± 1.257 pmol/L vs. 1.80 ± 0.639 pmol/L, p < 0.01), and correlated with the severity of hypertension in patients. Besides, all the three vasoactive peptides in plasma had significant correlations with SBP, IST, LVPWT, LVMI (p ≤ 0.05), while they showed insignificant associations with LVEDd (p > 0.05). UII was remarkably associated with ADM content, while the association of UII level with LVEDd and ET content were not significant. Conclusion: The vasoactive peptides UII, ET and ADM may be involved in the pathophysiologic process of essential hypertension, and function as the indicators for severity of this disease.
Review article: Clinical impact of non‐cardiologist‐performed transthoracic echocardiography in emergency medicine, intensive care medicine and anaesthesia

There is increased realisation of the emerging role of point‐of‐care transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) as ‘ultrasound‐assisted examination’, given the low sensitivity of clinical examination for cardiovascular pathologies and the time‐critical nature of these pathologies. There is evidence that point‐of‐care TTE provides higher accuracy in patient assessment and management, with potential prognostic impact by assessing the severity of cardiac dysfunction and response to treatment. Point‐of‐care TTE is increasingly used by non‐cardiologists, as a diagnostic, screening or monitoring tool. The literature shows that TTE identifies new clinical findings, and conversely can accurately rule out clinically important pathologies. Recent reports have examined more advanced ultrasound devices and patients in the critical care settings of emergency medicine, intensive care and anaesthesia. The diagnostic capability of new portable devices is improving rapidly and outdating its predecessors, thereby improving confidence in echocardiography findings.
Long‐term remission in HIV‐negative patients with multicentric Castleman's disease using rituximab

Abstract: Multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD) is an indolent lymphoproliferative disorder. The pathogenesis of MCD has not been established, and its treatment remains uncertain. Several authors have described the relationship of human herpes virus type 8 (HHV‐8) to MCD in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)‐positive patients. Recently, anti‐CD20 monoclonal antibody (rituximab) is increasingly being used to treat HIV‐positive MCD; although it is uncertain whether rituximab is effective for HIV‐negative patients with MCD. To explore the benefit of rituximab for HIV‐negative patients with MCD, we describe the clinical and biologic course in three HIV‐negative patients with MCD, and examined the relationship of HHV‐8 infection to HIV‐negative MCD. Their polymerase chain reaction analyses for the HHV‐8 sequence in peripheral blood were negative, and there was no relationship between HHV‐8 infection and symptoms of HIV‐negative MCD. Two of three patients (66%) achieved a near complete remission with no clinical symptoms due to MCD with a follow‐up of 16–40 months after rituximab administration. One of the three patients presented no clinical remission of MCD after rituximab administration, although a significant decrease of inflammatory parameters was observed. These findings suggest that rituximab treatment may be an appropriate first‐line therapy for HIV‐negative MCD.
The Motivation for Creativity in Organizations

th century creative geniuses (Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi), Howard Gardner (1993) discovered that all were driven by an intense involvement in their work. A 1926 study of 301 geniuses found that intelligence alone did not assure distinction; it had to be accompanied by a “tenacity of purpose” (Cox, 1926). In other studies of eminent scientists, composers, and artists, using different methods, a work orientation of “driving absorption” has been discovered (Roe, 1952; Simonton, 1984). But the notable link between high motivation and creativity is found not only in studies of remarkable people. It also appears in studies of the “garden variety” creativity produced by ordinary people in their work. In other words, for both the great and the unknown, creative thinking requires the persistence and intensity that arises from strong motivation. Although people usually think of the arts (and perhaps the natural sciences) when they think of creativity, creative ideas are absolutely essential in business, as well. Because creativity is the production of novel and appropriate (or useful) ideas, 2 managers who wish to ensure the continued success of their businesses must find ways to encourage a continuing flow of creative ideas within their organizations. Those ideas will be needed not only for the development of new, valuable products and services, but also for the solution of ever-changing and ever more challenging business problems.
Measuring Illegal Activity and the Effects of Regulatory Innovation: A Study of Diesel Fuel Tax Evasion

This paper examines tax evasion in the context of the diesel fuel market and the response of evaders to regulatory innovation. Diesel fuel used for on-road purposes is taxed, while other uses are untaxed, creating an incentive for firms and individuals to evade on-road diesel taxes by purchasing untaxed diesel fuel and then using or reselling it for on-road use. We examine the effects of a federal regulatory innovation in October 1993, the addition of red dye to untaxed diesel fuel at the point of distribution, which significantly lowered the cost of regulatory enforcement. We propose a model of the evasion decision that predicts that evasion increases as taxes rise and monitoring costs fall. Testing the predictions of the model, we find that sales of diesel fuel rose 26 percent following the regulatory change while sales of heating oil, which is an untaxed perfect substitute, fell by a similar amount. The effect on sales was higher in states with higher tax rates and in states likely to have higher audit costs. Heating oil sales are also found to be much less responsive to demand factors such as temperature and season prior to the dye program, indicating that a significant fraction of sales prior to dyeing was illegitimate. In addition, we find evidence that tax evaders found new methods of evading fuel dye regulations. We find that sales of kerosene and jet fuel, two undyed alternatives to untaxed diesel fuel, rose following the introduction of fuel dye. Furthermore, we find a pattern of price and tax elasticities consistent with innovation in new evasion techniques subsequent to the regulatory change. Finally, we examine the extent to which tax increases are incorporated into tax revenues, using the estimated tax and price elasticities to describe how this is affected by evasion. We estimate that the elasticity of tax revenues with respect to the tax rate was 0.60 prior to the dye program, yet would have been 0.85 in the absence of evasion.
Screening, Monitoring, and Treatment of Stage 1 to 3 Chronic Kidney Disease

TO THE EDITOR: I do not agree with Qaseem and colleagues (1) recommendation not to screen asymptomatic persons for chronic kidney disease (CKD). Type 2 diabetes and hypertension are the most common conditions causing CKD. Patients with stage 3 CKD and most patients with stage 4 CKD are usually asymptomatic, and CKD can be named a silent killer. Chronic kidney disease in asymptomatic persons is detected earliest by measurement of the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urinary albumincreatinine ratio, preferably done twice on different dates. These simple and inexpensive tests do not harm patients; I believe that the only harm may be financial. Detection of the earlier stages of CKD is vital because this condition can progress to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) without any prior signals. Once CKD is diagnosed, physicians can take necessary steps to reduce progression to ESRD. Qaseem and colleagues guideline recommends screening for microvascular complications, including nephropathy, upon diagnosis of type 2 diabetes because these complications may develop at the stage of prediabetes and even a decade before diagnosis of overt type 2 diabetes. I have many patients with type 2 diabetes who already have an eGFR between 30 and 59 mL/min/1.73 m2 and an albumin excretion rate up to 300 mg/24 h at diagnosis. Nonadherence to treatment leads some of these patients to progress to an eGFR between 15 and 29 mL/min/1.73 m2 and an albumin excretion rate between 30 and 300 mg/24 h within 2 years. The eGFR can decrease in patients with type 2 diabetes even in the state of normoalbuminuria, which Lane and colleagues (2) first described in 1992. In 2002, NHANES III (Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) showed that the eGFR commonly decreases in normoalbuminuric patients. A decrease in the eGFR (even to 50 to 59 mL/min/1.73 m2) leads to an increase in fibroblast growth factor 23 and parathyroid hormone levels, reduced conversion of 25-hydroxyvitamin D to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, and hyperphosphatemia. All of these factors increase the risk for cardiovascular events. NHANES III showed that patients with type 2 diabetes with an eGFR less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 have a 4-fold higher risk for a cardiovascular event than those with an eGFR less than 90 mL/min/1.73 m2. This risk increases 10-fold in those with cardiovascular disease. I strongly believe that all asymptomatic patients with the cardiometabolic syndrome, specifically type 2 diabetes and hypertension, should be screened periodically for CKD by measurement of the eGFR and urinary albumincreatinine ratio.
“I’m Not Sure I Even Know”: Therapists’ Tentative Constructions of Autism

Autism has historically been constructed within and through biomedical discourses and practices. Therapeutic interventions have focused on “treating” and “curing” the individual diagnosed with autism, with therapists positioned as the “experts. ” In this paper, we report findings from a discourse analysis informed by discursive psychology of eight interviews with therapists of children with autism labels. While the therapists were frequently positioned as “experts” with presumed “stocks of knowledge,” they were reluctant to definitively name autism as something with clearly defined characteristics, thereby making evident the shifting nature of knowledge surrounding what autism “really is. ” We discuss implications for practitioners and others, as well as point to the importance of engaging in social constructionist studies of the discourses surrounding autism.
Students' Acceptance of Tablet PCs in the Classroom

Abstract In recent years digital technologies, such as tablet personal computers (TPCs), have become an integral part of a school's infrastructure and are seen as a promising way to facilitate students' learning processes. This study empirically tested a theoretical model derived from the technology acceptance model containing key constructs developed in previous research on the acceptance of technological innovations. On the basis of the research model, it was hypothesized that students' acceptance of tablet PCs could be explained by key constructs and could be distinguished in organizational, individual, and technological factors. The survey research was conducted in three German middle schools, involving a total of 120 students. Overall, participants' attitude toward the TPC positively predicted their behavioral intention to use the TPC and as such had the strongest direct influence. The findings emphasize the importance of understanding factors affecting students' attitudes in order to manage and influence the integration of TPCs in schools.
Fetal growth and congenital malformations

To ascertain whether the risk for congenital malformations is increased in pregnancies with deviating fetal growth, i.e. in those in which the estimated date of delivery (EDD) was postponed more than 1 week at the second‐trimester ultrasound fetometry scan, or those suspected of intrauterine growth restriction at routine ultrasound fetometry in the third trimester.
Voiceless ends: Melville’s Benito Cereno and the translator in narrative discourse

The first part of this article confronts the ways in which translation scholars have drawn on insights from narratology to make sense of the translator’s involvement in narrative texts. It first considers competing metaphors for conceptualizing the translator’s involvement, arguing for a clearer differentiation between modes of framing and telling. Next, it evaluates the ways in which translation scholars have attempted to integrate the translator as a separate textual agent in governing models of narrative communication, concluding that the conceptual gains to be reaped from positing the translator as a separate enunciator or agent in narrative transactions are limited. The second part of the article analyzes two Dutch translations of Herman Melville’s novella Benito Cereno, by Johan Palm (1950) and Jean Schalekamp (1977) respectively. Rather than striving to isolate the translators as separate tellers or co-producers of narrative structure, the analysis reveals that their agency shows foremost in the ways the ‘voiceless’ narrative of New World slavery is perspectivized in view of changing readerly expectations.
Nonlinearity Mitigation Using a Machine Learning Detector Based on  $k$ -Nearest Neighbors

A powerful machine learning detector based on the k-nearest neighbors (KNN) algorithm is proposed to overcome system impairments. The zero-dispersion link (ZDL), dispersion managed link (DML), and dispersion unmanaged link (DUL) are considered. Meanwhile, an improved algorithm, the distance-weight KNN, is introduced, which outperforms the conventional maximum likelihood-post compensation approach. The numerical results show that KNN is feasible for overcoming various impairments, especially for non-Gaussian symmetric noise, such as laser phase noise and nonlinear phase noise in the ZDL or DML.
Do supersymmetric anti-de Sitter black rings exist?

We determine the most general near-horizon geometry of a supersymmetric, asymptotically anti-de Sitter, black hole solution of five-dimensional minimal gauged supergravity that admits two rotational symmetries. The near-horizon geometry is that of the supersymmetric, topologically spherical, black hole solution of Chong et al. This proves that regular supersymmetric anti-de Sitter black rings with two rotational symmetries do not exist in minimal supergravity. However, we do find a solution corresponding to the near-horizon geometry of a supersymmetric black ring held in equilibrium by a conical singularity, which suggests that nonsupersymmetric anti-de Sitter black rings may exist but cannot be "balanced" in the supersymmetric limit.
Oligomeric and fibrillar amyloid beta 42 induce platelet aggregation partially through GPVI

Abstract The effects of the Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-associated Amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides on platelet aggregation have been previously assessed, but most of these studies focused on Aβ40 species. It also remains to be determined which distinct forms of Aβ peptides exert differential effects on platelets. In AD, oligomeric Aβ42 species is widely thought to be a major contributor to the disease pathogenesis. We, therefore, examine the ability of oligomeric and fibrillary Aβ42 to affect platelet aggregation. We show that both forms of Aβ42 induced significant platelet aggregation and that it is a novel ligand for the platelet receptor GPVI. Furthermore, a novel binding peptide that reduces the formation of soluble Aβ42 oligomers was effective at preventing Aβ42-dependent platelet aggregation. These results support a role for Aβ42 oligomers in platelet hyperactivity.
Children in Los Angeles Parks: A Study of Equity, Quality and Children's Satisfaction with Neighbourhood Parks

Is there an open space inequity in Los Angeles? Are the physical and qualitative characteristics of inner-city parks different from suburban parks? Are park uses and perceptions, and level of satisfaction with parks different for inner city and suburban children? This study addresses the above questions by examining the allocation of neighbourhood parks in Los Angeles. It compares the provision and quality of park facilities, as well as the level of satisfaction of children users in both the inner city and the suburban neighbourhoods of San Fernando Valley. More specifically, the study uses GIS technology to map the distribution and facilities of parks and the open space needs of neighbourhoods in which they are located. Observations, interviews and surveys are also employed to study in detail eight case studies of parks (four in each area) and the needs and preferences of children users.
Direct image alignment of projector-camera systems with planar surfaces

Projector-camera systems use computer vision to analyze their surroundings and display feedback directly onto real world objects, as embodied by spatial augmented reality. To be effective, the display must remain aligned even when the target object moves, but the added illumination causes problems for traditional algorithms. Current solutions consider the displayed content as interference and largely depend on channels orthogonal to visible light. They cannot directly align projector images with real world surfaces, even though this may be the actual goal. We propose instead to model the light emitted by projectors and reflected into cameras, and to consider the displayed content as additional information useful for direct alignment. We implemented in software an algorithm that successfully executes on planar surfaces of diffuse reflectance properties at almost two frames per second with subpixel accuracy. Although slow, our work proves the viability of the concept, paving the way for future optimization and generalization.