Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inflammation in deep vein thrombosis and the development of post‐thrombotic syndrome: a prospective study

Summary. Background: The aim of this study was to investigate whether inflammatory markers (interleukin‐6 [IL‐6] and C‐reactive protein [CRP]) in the acute phase of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) are associated with elevated venous outflow resistance (VOR), thrombosis score (TS), reflux and the development of clinical post‐thrombotic syndrome (PTS). Methods: In 110 patients with a first DVT, plasma concentrations of IL‐6 and CRP were determined on the day of admission. VOR, TS and reflux were measured 7 days, 1 and 3 months after diagnosis. After 1 year patients were evaluated for PTS using the Clinical, Etiologic, Anatomic and Pathophysiologic (CEAP) classification and Villalta scale. Results: Median levels of IL‐6 and CRP were 7 pg mL−1 and 21 mg L−1, respectively. After 3 months, VOR was elevated in 33 patients (30%), TS in 33 (30%) and reflux in 57 (52%). Incidence of PTS was 36.7% using CEAP ≥ 3 and 35.4% using Villalta‐scale ≥ 5. Elevated levels of IL‐6 and CRP were related to higher outcomes of VOR after 3 months [relative risks (RR) 2.4 (95% CI 1.5–3.9) and 1.4 (1.1–3.3), respectively] and for IL‐6 to TS [1.5 (1.1–2.1)]. For reflux no relation was found. After 90 days, elevated outcomes of VOR, TS and reflux were related to PTS after 1 year. The association of IL‐6 and CRP with PTS was weak using the CEAP classification with a RR of 1.2 (0.7–2.2) and 1.8 (0.9–3.3) and absent according to the Villalta scale 0.6 (0.2–1.4) and 1.2 (0.6–2.5), respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that inflammation might play a role in incomplete thrombus clearance, venous outflow obstruction and the development of PTS after 1 year.
Evaluation of atracurium in anaesthetized man.

Atracurium is a potent competitive neuromuscular blocking agent in anesthetized man with no cardiovascular effects at doses required for paralysis. Endotracheal intubation can be accomplished after i.v. doses of 0.6 and 0.3 mg kg-1, within 1 and 2 min respectively. Paralysis is readily antagonized by neostigmine and is enhanced by halothane. The consistent response in terms of block and recovery which emerged when the drug was given as increments of 0.05 or 0.1 mg kg-1 indicates the absence of cumulative effects. The course of action of atracurium was appreciably shorter than that of other recognized competitive blocking agents. Doses of 0.3--0.6 mg kg-1 i.v. provided adequate relaxation during surgical intervention for 15--45 min; spontaneous recovery without the use of neostigmine was observed in some patients. In addition to the non-enzymic decomposition by "Hofmann Elimination", atracurium may also undergo an enzymic ester hydrolysis but, unlike suxamethonium, it may not be destroyed by pseudocholinesterase.
Theoretical Study of the Decrease in the Femoral Neck Anteversion during Growth

This theoretical analysis tries to explain the decrease of the femoral neck anteversion during growth according to well-established concepts. In the frontal plane, it was demonstrated that the capital epiphyseal plate inclination allows the plate to remain perpendicular to the resultant force applied to the hip during gait. In the transversal plane, the projection of this force varies from –24°, outwards and forwards (heel strike), to 20°, outwards and backwards (toe off). A mathematical formula calculates the instantaneous coordinates of the plate in this plane during gait. This kinematic study points out that the physiological value of the capital epiphyseal plate anteversion at the end of the growth is theoretically the ideal value to obtain in the transversal or horizontal plane a perpendicular relation between the orientation of this plate and the projection of the resultant force during walking.
Quantitative Assessment of Heart Rate Dynamics during Meditation: An ECG Based Study with Multi-Fractality and Visibility Graph

The cardiac dynamics during meditation is explored quantitatively with two chaos-based non-linear techniques viz. multi-fractal detrended fluctuation analysis and visibility network analysis techniques. The data used are the instantaneous heart rate (in beats/minute) of subjects performing Kundalini Yoga and Chi meditation from PhysioNet. The results show consistent differences between the quantitative parameters obtained by both the analysis techniques. This indicates an interesting phenomenon of change in the complexity of the cardiac dynamics during meditation supported with quantitative parameters. The results also produce a preliminary evidence that these techniques can be used as a measure of physiological impact on subjects performing meditation.
Potential roles of the RGMa-FAK-Ras pathway in hippocampal mossy fiber sprouting in the pentylenetetrazole kindling model

Mossy fiber sprouting (MFS) is a unique feature of chronic epilepsy. However, the molecular signals underlying MFS are still unclear. The repulsive guidance molecule A (RGMa) appears to contribute to axon growth and axonal guidance, and may exert its biological effects by dephosphorylating focal adhesion kinase (FAK) at Tyr397, then regulating the activation of Ras. The objective of this study was to explore the expression patterns of RGMa, FAK (Tyr397) and Ras in epileptogenesis, and their correlation with MFS. The epileptic models were established by intraperitoneal pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) injection of Sprague-Dawley rats. At 3 days and at 1, 2, 4 and 6 weeks after the first PTZ injection, Timm staining was scored at different time points in the CA3 region of the hippocampus and dentate gyrus. The protein levels of RGMa, FAK (Tyr397) and Ras were analyzed at different time points in the CA3 region of the hippocampus using immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis. Compared with the control (saline-injected) group, the expression of RGMa in the CA3 area was significantly downregulated (P<0.05) from 3 days and still maintained the low expression at 6 weeks in the PTZ group. The expression of FAK (Tyr397) and Ras was upregulated (P<0.05) in the PTZ groups. The Timm score in the CA3 region was significantly higher than that in the control group at different time points and reached a peak at 4 weeks. In the CA3 region, no obvious distinction was observed at the different time points in the control group. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first results to indicate that the RGMa-FAK-Ras pathway may be involved in MFS and the development of temporal lobe epilepsy.
Trunk repositioning errors are increased in balance-impaired older adults.

BACKGROUND Controlling the flexing trunk is critical in recovering from a loss of balance and avoiding a fall. To investigate the relationship between trunk control and balance in older adults, we measured trunk repositioning accuracy in young and balance-impaired and unimpaired older adults. METHODS Young adults (N = 8, mean age 24.3 years) and two groups of community-dwelling older adults defined by unipedal stance time (UST)-a balance-unimpaired group (UST > 30 seconds, N = 7, mean age 73.9 years) and a balance-impaired group (UST < 5 seconds, N = 8, mean age 79.6 years)-were tested in standing trunk control ability by reproducing a approximately 30 degrees trunk flexion angle under three visual-surface conditions: eyes opened and closed on the floor, and eyes opened on foam. Errors in reproducing the angle were defined as trunk repositioning errors (TREs). Clinical measures related to balance, trunk extensor strength, and self-reported disability were obtained. RESULTS TREs were significantly greater in the balance-impaired group than in the other groups, even when controlling for trunk extensor strength and body mass. In older adults, there were significant correlations between TREs and three clinical measures of balance and fall risk, UST and maximum step length (-0.65 to -0.75), and Timed Up & Go score (0.55), and between TREs and age (0.63-0.76). In each group TREs were similar under the three visual-surface conditions. Test-retest reliability for TREs was good to excellent (intraclass correlation coefficients > or =0.74). CONCLUSIONS Older balance-impaired adults have larger TREs, and thus poorer trunk control, than do balance-unimpaired older individuals. TREs are reliable and valid measures of underlying balance impairment in older adults, and may eventually prove to be useful in predicting the ability to recover from losses of balance and to avoid falls.
The relationship between self-regulated learning strategies and academic achievement in a Turkish EFL setting

Self-regulation has gained worldwide popularity in the field of language teaching research with the help of recent interest in the active role of learners in the classroom. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between self-regulated learning strategies of the students in an ELT program and their Grade Point Average (GPA) scores. 240 participants from a major public university in Turkey filled out a questionnaire of 41 items and interviews were conducted with twenty randomly selected successful (10) and unsuccessful participants (10). The questionnaire had four dimensions: (a) motivation and action to learning, (b) planning and goal setting, (c) strategies for learning and assessment, and (d) lack of self-directedness. The results of the study revealed that there were significant positive correlations between three dimensions of self-regulated learning strategies (that is, motivation and action to learning, planning and goal setting, strategies for learning and assessment) and Grade Point Average scores of the participants. Qualitative analysis revealed that the top two reasons of success, as perceived by successful participants, were high interest in the field and being sensitive about the grades. On the other hand, unsuccessful students stated that they did not like their fields and they had poor interest levels. This study adds to the literature that demonstrates the relationship between self-regulated learning strategies and academic achievement by providing data from university level students in Turkey. Key words: Achievement, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Self-Regulation, self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies.
Enjoyment mediates effects of a school-based physical-activity intervention.

PURPOSE The study evaluated whether targeted changes in factors influencing enjoyment of physical education (PE), physical activity enjoyment, and self-efficacy beliefs about participating in physical activity mediated the effect of the Lifestyle Education for Activity Program (LEAP) intervention on participation in physical activity. METHODS High schools (N=24) paired on enrollment size, racial composition, urban or rural location, and class structure were randomized into control (N=12) or experimental (N=12) groups. Of the 4044 girls enrolled and eligible, 2087 (51.6%) participated in the measurement component of the study. There were 1038 girls in the control group and 1049 girls in the experimental group. INTERVENTION LEAP was a comprehensive school-based intervention emphasizing changes in instruction and school environment designed to increase physical activity among black and white adolescent girls. It was organized according to the Coordinated School Health Program and included a PE component with core objectives of promoting enjoyment of PE, physical activity enjoyment, and self-efficacy. RESULTS Latent variable structural equation modeling indicated that: 1) the intervention had direct, positive effects on physical activity and factors influencing enjoyment of PE, which subsequently explained the effects of increased physical activity enjoyment and self-efficacy on increased physical activity; and 2) an additional, indirect effect of physical activity enjoyment on physical activity operated by an influence on self-efficacy. CONCLUSIONS Increases in enjoyment partially mediated the positive effect of the LEAP intervention. To our knowledge, we have provided the first experimental evidence from a randomized controlled trial linking increased enjoyment with increased physical activity among black and white adolescent girls.
The Wandering Signifier: Rhetoric of Jewishness in the Latin American Imaginary

While Jews figure in the work of many modern Latin American writers, the questions of how and to what end they are represented have received remarkably little critical attention. Helping to correct this imbalance, Erin Graff Zivin traces the symbolic presence of Jews and Jewishness in late-nineteenth- through late-twentieth-century literary works from Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Colombia, and Nicaragua. Ultimately, Graff Zivin’s investigation of representations of Jewishness reveals a broader, more complex anxiety surrounding difference in modern Latin American culture. In her readings of Spanish American and Brazilian fiction, Graff Zivin highlights inventions of Jewishness in which the concept is constructed as a rhetorical device. She argues that Jewishness functions as a wandering signifier that while not wholly empty, can be infused with meaning based on the demands of the textual project in question. Just as Jews in Latin America possess distinct histories relative to their European and North American counterparts, they also occupy different symbolic spaces in the cultural landscape. Graff Zivin suggests that in Latin American fiction, anxiety, desire, paranoia, attraction, and repulsion toward Jewishness are always either in tension with or representative of larger attitudes toward otherness, whether racial, sexual, religious, national, economic, or metaphysical. She concludes The Wandering Signifier with an inquiry into whether it is possible to ethically represent the other within the literary text, or whether the act of representation necessarily involves the objectification of the other.
THE SUBCELLULAR DISTRIBUTION OF β‐PHENYLETHYLAMINE, p‐TYRAMINE AND TRYPTAMINE IN RAT BRAIN

—The quantitative subcellular distribution of β‐phenylethylamine, p‐tyramine and tryptamine in rat brain was investigated using the mass spectrometric integrated ion current technique. More of the total cellular tryptamine was found to be associated with paniculate fractions than was the case for phenyiethylamine and p‐tyramine but a significant amount of this tryptamine was found to be labile. Analysis of the particulate fractions indicated that each of the amines was localized predominantly in the crude P2 pellet and that the bulk of this was associated with the synaptosomal (P2B) fraction. Inhibition of monoamine oxidase systems with pargyline caused an increase in the level of all three amines in all fractions, but the increase was greater in the supernatant than in the combined particulate fractions. This treatment produced changes in the distribution of β‐phenylethylamine and p‐tyramine between the various particulate subcellular fractions but did not markedly alter the distribution of tryptamine between the same fractions.
Supply of Private Acreage for Recreational Deer Hunting in Georgia

Understanding factors that influence the supply of private acreage for lease hunting has become increasingly important to sustaining hunting. Improving on existing studies that mostly utilized landowners' responses from contingent surveys, we adopted a different approach to this question by analyzing 2009 market data from Georgia counties. Results from multivariate regression indicate that supply of private lease hunting acres was influenced by: (a) site characteristics such as the relative proportion of certain habitat types; (b) market forces and access factors such as rural road networks and proximity to population centers; and (c) spillover effects of conservation programs such as wildlife management areas (WMAs), and government payments to landowners through a variety of habitat enhancement programs. The findings provide support for policies that increase public investment in habitat conservation on private and public lands or assist landowners with developing innovative marketing strategies to benefit from the recreational potential of their lands.
Ölçek Uyarlamada Metodoloji Sorunu: Yönetim ve Örgüt Alanında Uyarlanan Ölçekler Üzerinden Bir Araştırma

The purpose of the present study is to clarify the concepts of bias and equivalence as well as the procedures to be applied in the scale adaptation studies; to identify the current trends and practices in the adaptation of the scales to Turkish language; and to make some suggestions for scale adaptation procedures. Within this framework, the scale adaptation studies (n=45) conducted during 2010-2015 were content analyzed, and the current trends and practices in scale adaptation were identified. The study findings indicated that there were great differences in the scale adaptation procedures followed by researchers and that there was no commonly accepted methodology for scale adaptation. A series of suggestions were proposed to the researchers to ensure a uniform methodology and minimize inaccurate practices in the scale adaptation studies.
Composition of seed sequence is a major determinant of microRNA targeting patterns

MOTIVATION MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that are extensively involved in gene expression regulation. One major roadblock in functional miRNA studies is the reliable prediction of genes targeted by miRNAs, as rules defining miRNA target recognition have not been well-established to date. Availability of high-throughput experimental data from a recent CLASH (cross linking, ligation and sequencing of hybrids) study has presented an unprecedented opportunity to characterize miRNA target recognition patterns, which may provide guidance for improved miRNA target prediction. RESULTS The CLASH data were analysed to identify distinctive sequence features that characterize canonical and non-canonical miRNA target types. Most miRNA targets were of non-canonical type, i.e. without involving perfect pairing to canonical miRNA seed region. Different miRNAs have distinct targeting patterns, and this miRNA-to-miRNA variability was associated with seed sequence composition. Specifically, seed-based canonical target recognition was dependent on the GC content of the miRNA seed. For miRNAs with low GC content of the seed region, non-canonical targeting was the dominant mechanism for target recognition. In contrast to canonical targeting, non-canonical targeting did not lead to significant target downregulation at either the RNA or protein level. CONTACT xwang@radonc.wustl. edu.
Dietary Protein Restriction in Pregnancy Induces Hypertension and Vascular Defects in Rat Male Offspring

It is established that dietary protein restriction of pregnant rats results in their offspring developing hypertension. However, to date no studies have investigated peripheral vascular function of offspring using the low protein model. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess isolated resistance artery function from adult male offspring of control (C, 18% casein) and protein-restricted (PR, 9% casein) pregnant dams at two different ages. The birthweight of PR offspring did not significantly differ from that of C offspring. Systolic blood pressure was significantly elevated in PR compared with C (p < 0.05). Maximal vascular contraction to phenylephrine and the thromboxane analog U46619 were similar in C and PR offspring at postnatal d 87 and 164. Relaxation induced by the endothelium-dependent vasodilators acetylcholine or bradykinin was significantly reduced in the PR group (p < 0.05). Relaxation to the endothelium-independent vasodilator sodium nitroprusside and phosphodiesterase type 3 inhibitor cilostamide was less in the PR offspring compared with C (p < 0.01). Dietary protein restriction in pregnancy induces hypertension and vascular dysfunction in male offspring. Abnormalities in the nitric oxide-cGMP pathway may explain the defect in endothelium-dependent and -independent relaxation. Reduced vasodilation may be a potential mechanism underlying the elevated systolic blood pressure observed in this model.
Intracoronary &bgr;-Radiation Exacerbates Long-Term Neointima Formation in Balloon-Injured Pig Coronary Arteries

Background—Long-term biological effects of ionizing radiation on coronary arteries remain poorly defined. We examined late arterial responses 6 months after balloon angioplasty and &bgr;-radiation in normal pig coronary arteries. Methods and Results—Coronary arteries of 25 adult pigs were randomized to receive 20 Gy (n=8) or 30 Gy (n=9) of 186Re &bgr;-radiation or sham radiation (n=8) immediately after balloon angioplasty. Aspirin was given daily during follow-up. The study vessels were analyzed histopathologically at 6 months. &bgr;-Radiation decreased lumen area (20 Gy, 1.55±0.99 mm2; 30 Gy, 1.03±0.82 mm2; and 0 Gy, 2.05±0.80 mm2;P <0.05) but not overall vessel area. The neointimal area was significantly larger within the injured segment with &bgr;-radiation (20 Gy, 1.92±1.23 mm2; 30 Gy, 1.51±0.97 mm2; and 0 Gy, 0.89±0.31 mm2; 0 Gy versus 20 Gy, P <0.05), and a significant increase of edge stenosis was observed with &bgr;-radiation. Irradiated vessels also had larger thrombus areas within the neointima (30 Gy, 0.24±0.61 mm2; 20 Gy, 0.98±1.57 mm2; and 0 Gy, 0.00±0.01 mm2;P <0.05) and larger adventitial areas (20 Gy, 2.25±0.75 mm2; 30 Gy, 2.38±0.98 mm2; and 0 Gy, 1.23±0.29 mm2; 0 Gy versus 20 or 30 Gy, P <0.05) that showed substantial collagen accumulation. Conclusions—Intracoronary &bgr;-radiation did not inhibit neointima formation in balloon-injured normal pig coronary arteries 6 months after the interventional procedure. Unresorbed thrombus contributed to, but was not the sole component of, augmented neointima formation. Irradiated vessels demonstrated more adventitial thickening and fibrosis. These observations may have relevance for long-term clinical outcomes after intracoronary &bgr;-radiation.
Static-Arbitrage Bounds on the Prices of Basket Options via Linear Programming

We show that the problem of computing sharp upper and lower static-arbitrage bounds on the price of a European basket option, given the prices of other similar options, can be cast as a linear program (LP). The LP formulations readily yield super-replicating (subreplicating) strategies for the upper (lower) bound problem. The dual counterparts of the LP formulations in turn yield underlying asset price distributions that replicate the given option prices, and the bound on the new basket option’s price. In the special case when the given option prices are those of vanilla options on the underlying assets, we show that the LP formulations admit further simplifications. In particular, for the upper bound problem we derive closed-form formulas for the basket’s price bound, and for the corresponding superreplicating strategy. In addition, our LP approach admits efficient modeling of additional features such as basket options with negative weights, bid/ask spreads, transaction costs, and diversification constraints. We provide numerical experiments to illustrate some of our results.
Modeling the dynamics of user preferences in coupled tensor factorization

In several applications, user preferences can be fairly dynamic, since users tend to exploit a wide range of items and modify their tastes accordingly over time. In this paper, we model continuous user-item interactions over time using a tensor that has time as a dimension (mode). To account for the fact that user preferences are dynamic and change individually, we propose a new measure of user-preference dynamics (UPD) that captures the rate with which the current preferences of each user have been shifted. We generate recommendations based on factorizing the tensor, by weighting the importance of past user preferences according to their UPD values. We additionally exploit users' side data, such as demographics, which can help improving the accuracy of recommendations based on a coupled, tensor-matrix factorization scheme. Our empirical evaluation uses a real data set from last.fm, which allows us to demonstrate that user preferences can become very dynamic. Our experimental results show that the proposed method, by taking into account these dynamics, outperforms several baselines.