Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nefazodone versus sertraline in outpatients with major depression: focus on efficacy, tolerability, and effects on sexual function and satisfaction.

BACKGROUND The efficacy, tolerability, and effects on sexual function and satisfaction of nefazodone and sertraline were compared in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study in outpatients with major depression. METHOD One hundred sixty patients, 18 years of age or older, who met DSM-III-R criteria for single or recurrent nonpsychotic major depressive episodes were randomly assigned to 6 weeks of treatment with either nefazodone (100-600 mg/day) or sertraline (50-200 mg/day). Symptoms were assessed before and during treatment using the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D-17), Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) Improvement scale, the CGI Severity of Illness scale, and a sexual function questionnaire. RESULTS Of 143 patients evaluable for efficacy, 72 received sertraline and 71 received nefazodone. The mean modal daily dose at endpoint was 148 mg for sertraline and 456 mg for nefazodone. Analysis of efficacy measures (HAM-D-17 and CGI) showed consistent and comparable improvement in symptoms of depression for both treatment groups. Sertraline had negative effects on sexual function and satisfaction in both men and women, and nefazodone had no adverse effect on sexual well-being. Safety assessments based on adverse events, vital sign measurements, electrocardiographs, physical examinations, and clinical laboratory tests revealed no serious adverse events or organ toxicity associated with nefazodone or sertraline administration. CONCLUSION Nefazodone and sertraline are well tolerated, and there was no statistically significant difference in their antidepressant activity. Sertraline treatment has negative effects on sexual function and performance in both sexes, while nefazodone has none. These findings may have clinical implications when choosing antidepressant therapy.
RNA-Binding Proteins in the Regulation of miRNA Activity: A Focus on Neuronal Functions

Posttranscriptional modifications of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are key processes in the fine-tuning of cellular homeostasis. Two major actors in this scenario are RNA binding proteins (RBPs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) that together play important roles in the biogenesis, turnover, translation and localization of mRNAs. This review will highlight recent advances in the understanding of the role of RBPs in the regulation of the maturation and the function of miRNAs. The interplay between miRNAs and RBPs is discussed specifically in the context of neuronal development and function.
Taxation and Capital Structure: Evidence from a Transition Economy

We examine the effects of taxation on financing policy using the corporate tax reform in 2001 in Croatia as a quasi-natural experiment. Since the extant literature on tax effects on capital structure studies listed firms in developed countries, it is worth investigating whether the same results apply to privately-held small and medium enterprises in transition economies. The findings provide significant evidence that lower taxes have affected the capital structure of Croatian firms, resulting in increased equity levels. These findings are consistent with the trade-off theory of capital structure, which suggests that lower taxes increase the incentive to hold equity due to decreasing interest tax deductibility of debt.
Spherical codes on torus layers

A new class of spherical codes is constructed by selecting a finite subset of flat tori that foliate the unit sphere S2L−1 ⊂ ℝ2L and constructing a structured codebook on each torus in the finite subset. The codebook on each torus is the image of a lattice restricted to a specific hyperbox in ℝL. Group structure and homogeneity, useful for efficient decoding, are inherited from the underlying lattice codebook. Upper and lower bounds on performance are derived and a systematic search algorithm is presented for constructing optimal codebooks. The torus layer spherical codes presented here exhibit good performance when compared to the well known apple-peeling, wrapped and laminated codes.
Sex in Prison: Exploring the Myths and Realities

Prison narratives, mass media, and conclusions drawn from institutional research have fostered a perception of widespread “homosexual rape” in male penitentiaries. However, studies of sexual contact in prison have shown inmate involvement to vary greatly. To explore the nature and frequency of sexual contact between male inmates in a Delaware prison, the authors administered a survey of sexual behavior. Respondents were questioned extensively about sexual activities that they engaged in, directly observed, and heard about “through the grapevine” prior to their entry into a prison treatment program. Findings indicate that (a) although sexual contact is not wide-spread, it nevertheless occurs; (b) the preponderance of the activity is consensual rather than rape; and (c) inmates themselves perceive the myth of pervasive sex in prison, contradicting their own realities.
Identification of Virulence-Associated Characteristics in Clinical Isolates of Yersinia enterocolitica Lacking Classical Virulence Markers

ABSTRACT Yersinia enterocolitica is an important enteric pathogen which has well-defined virulence determinants that allow the bacteria to become established in their hosts and overcome host defenses. A number of strains obtained from patients with diarrhea, however, lack these genes. Accordingly, the mechanisms by which they cause disease are uncertain. Most of these isolates belong to biotype 1A. Strains of this biotype are also frequently isolated from a variety of nonclinical sources, such as food, soil, water, and healthy animals, and there is evidence that some of these strains are avirulent. In this study we investigated 111 strains of Y. enterocoliticabiotype 1A, 79 from symptomatic humans and 32 from nonclinical sources, for virulence-associated characteristics. DNA hybridization studies showed that none of the strains carried sequences homologous with pYV, the ∼70-kb Yersinia virulence plasmid. Some strains hybridized with DNA probes for one of the following chromosomal virulence-associated genes: ail (7.2%), myfA(11.7%), ystA (0.9%), and ystB (85%). In addition, 33 strains (29.7%) produced an enterotoxin that was reactive in infant mice. However, the frequencies of these virulence-associated properties in clinical and nonclinical isolates were similar. Clinical isolates invaded HEp-2 cells and Chinese hamster ovary cells to a significantly greater extent than nonclinical strains (P ≤ 0.002). In addition, clinical strains colonized the intestinal tracts of perorally inoculated mice for significantly longer periods than nonclinical isolates (P ≤ 0.01). Light and electron microscopic examination of tissue culture cells incubated with invasive yersiniae revealed that the bacteria invaded selected cells in large numbers but spared others, suggesting that biotype-1A strains of Y. enterocolitica may invade cells by a novel mechanism. These results indicate that some clinical isolates of Y. enterocolitica which lack classical virulence markers may be able to cause disease via virulence mechanisms which differ from those previously characterized in enteropathogenic Yersiniaspecies.
Cost-effectiveness analysis of six therapies for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia

Objective To conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis from payers’ perspectives of six treatments for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and to examine positioning of these modalities in the marketplace for the best use of health care funds and quality-of-life benefits for patients. Methods The economic analysis was conducted with a Markov model to compare combination prescription drug therapy (ComboRx), minimally invasive therapies (MITs) including convective radiofrequency (RF) water vapor thermal therapy (Rezūm®), conductive RF thermal therapy (Prostiva®), and prostatic urethral lift (UroLift®), and invasive surgical procedures including photovaporization of the prostate (Greenlight® PVP) and transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). Effects assessed with International Prostate Symptom Score, adverse events, and re-treatment rates were estimated from medical literature; treatments effects were modeled using a common baseline score. Starting with each therapy, patients’ transitions to more intensive therapies when symptoms returned were simulated in 6-month cycles over 2 years. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated for pairs of treatments; uncertainty in ICERs was estimated with probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Results ComboRx was least effective and provided one-third of the symptom relief achieved with MITs. UroLift was similar in effectiveness to Prostiva and Rezūm but costs more than twice as much. The cheaper MITs were ~$900 more expensive than the cost of ComboRx generic drugs over 2 years. TURP and PVP provided slightly greater relief of LUTS than MITs at approximately twice the cost over 2 years; typically, they are reserved for treatment of more severe LUTS. Conclusion The analysis evaluated the costs and symptom relief of six treatment options in the continuum of care from a common baseline of LUTS severity. Identification of treatments for LUTS/BPH that demonstrate cost-effectiveness and provide appreciable symptom relief is paramount as reimbursement for patient care moves from volume-based services to value-based services.
Examining students' retrospective memories of strategy development

Two studies were conducted to assess students' self-reported use of cognitive study strategies. Both studies used a written survey to assess where and when students were introduced to their preferred study strategies. The 1st study compared high school and university students. The 2nd study compared university students' recollections of strategy use in high school with their present study behaviors. Results from the 2 studies were consistent. All groups, at all times in their education, regardless of course difficulty, preferred repetition strategies. Students were aware of other more sophisticated strategies but used them to a lesser extent. What was most compelling was students' indication that strategy instruction was a late addition to their educational experience, with many indicating high school as their 1st encounter with strategy instruction. These reports suggest that students' dependence on repetition strategies may be a product of the lack of familiarity and flexibility in the execution of more sophisticated strategies.
Testing pointing device performance and user assessment with the ISO 9241, Part 9 standard

The IS0 9241, Part 9 Draft International Standard for testingcomputer pointing devices proposes an evaluation of performance andcomfort. In this paper we evaluate the scientific validity andpracticality of these dimensions for two pointing devices forlaptop computers, a finger-controlled isometric joystick and atouchpad. Using a between-subjects design, evaluation ofperformance using the measure of throughput was done forone-direction and multi-directional pointing and selecting. Resultsshow a significant difference in throughput for themulti-directional task, with the joystick 27% higher; results forthe one-direction task were non-significant. After the experiment,participants rated the device for comfort, including operation,fatigue, and usability. The questionnaire showed no overalldifference in the responses, and a significant statisticaldifference in only the question concerning force required tooperate the device - the joystick requiring slightly more force.The paper concludes with a discussion of problems in implementingthe IS0 standard and recommendations for improvement.
Distinctions between Implicit and Explicit Memory: Significance for Understanding Cognitive Development

This research was designed to explore developmental trends for implicit and explicit memory as well as relations between memory measures and other aspects of cognitive development for preschool and second-grade children, and adults. For one task, children and adults gradually clarified patterns of random dots until they could identify an emerging picture, in each of two testing sessions separated by one week. Reliable effects for testing session and age group were obtained for explicit memory (verbal recall as well as frequency and recognition ratings), but not for implicit memory. Typicality ratings, also obtained in this picture-clarification task, appeared more related to implicit than explicit memory. For other tasks, children and adults completed word stems (e.g. BR- - -) and provided examples of categories (e.g. animals). The absence of developmental differences for implicit memory contrasted with clear developmental improvement for recall (explicit memory). Other tasks—perceptual classification, and, for younger children, assessments of theories of mind—provided other measures of cognitive development. Measures of perceptual classification were generally unrelated to implicit or explicit memory; for preschoolers with poor explicit memory, naive theories of mind were associated with good implicit memory. Results were discussed primarily in terms of the significance of both implicit and explicit memory for understanding diverse areas of cognitive development.
The Diffusion Limit of Transport Equations Derived from Velocity-Jump Processes

In this paper we study the diffusion approximation to a transport equation that describes the motion of individuals whose velocity changes are governed by a Poisson process. We show that under an appropriate scaling of space and time the asymptotic behavior of solutions of such equations can be approximated by the solution of a diffusion equation obtained via a regular perturbation expansion. In general the resulting diffusion tensor is anisotropic, and we give necessary and sufficient conditions under which it is isotropic. We also give a method to construct approximations of arbitrary high order for large times. In a second paper (Part II) we use this approach to systematically derive the limiting equation under a variety of external biases imposed on the motion. Depending on the strength of the bias, it may lead to an anisotropic diffusion equation, to a drift term in the flux, or to both. Our analysis generalizes and simplifies previous derivations that lead to the classical Patlak--Keller--Segel--Alt.
Former welfare clients in prison: education and self-reported learning problems

The aim of this study is to investigate educational background, educational wishes, actual participation in prison education, and self-reported learning problems among former child welfare clients in prison. A significant concern is that prisoners' educational level is far lower than for the general population. The same concern has also been expressed regarding former child welfare clients. The question is whether prisoners with a background from the child welfare system are especially vulnerable. The survey reported in this paper addressed the entire Norwegian prison population. We distributed a questionnaire containing questions about whether the prisoner or their family had been in contact with the welfare system, educational issues such as educational background, whether they wanted to participate in prison education and actually participated, and to what extent the participants had self-reported learning problems. We also investigated whether such learning problems affected participation in prison education. The results showed that around one-third of the 2065 respondents were former child welfare clients. The mean age of the respondents in the child welfare group was 31 years and 7.9% were women. The results further revealed that those who had been child welfare clients had a lower educational level and more self-reported learning problems than the general prison population, but most of them still wished to start an education while incarcerated.
The metacognitive reading strategies of five early readers

The purpose of this study was to examine the metacognitive reading strategies of five children, four to six years of age, who were reading fluently prior to formal instruction in grade one. Fluency was judged on whether the children could conduct meaningful reading (Smith, 1988) with relative smoothness (Duffy and Roehler, 1989). Methods of this case study included semi-structured interviews, role playing, observations and informal miscue analyses of oral reading. The children's personal characteristics and home environments provided a context for their reading strategies, and particular attention was given to the caregiver-child interactions which may have facilitated the development of metacognitive reading strategies. Findings suggest that each of the children utilized a variety of metacognitive reading strategies and showed individual preferences for certain strategies, as indicated by the number of times these strategies were used. The children also responded differently to particular research methods, a finding which supports the employment of a variety of methods when studying young children. Findings from this study also draw a relationship between caregiver-child interactions and the development of particular metacognitive reading strategies.
Does rejection elicit hostility in rejection sensitive women

When women express hostility, the target is typically a significant other. Our efforts to account for this observation center on the role of rejection sensitivity—the disposition to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and overreact to rejection—in women's hostility. We have previously shown that dispositional anxious expectations about rejection by a significant other prompt women to readily perceive rejection and to react with hostility in situations that activate rejection expectations. These findings led us to propose that the hostility of women in such situations is a specific reaction to perceived rejection. Results from three studies support this proposition. Using a priming-pronunciation task paradigm, Study 1 revealed that rejection thoughts facilitated hostile thoughts to a greater extent in women high in rejection expectations (HRS) than in those low in rejection expectations (LRS). Chronic accessibility of hostile thoughts was unrelated to rejection expectations. Study 2 found that, following r.
Relay Selection Schemes and Performance Analysis Approximations for Two-Way Networks

This paper studies relay selection schemes for two-way amplify-and-forward (AF) relay networks. For a network with two users that exchange information via multiple AF relays, we first consider a single-relay selection (SRS) scheme based on the maximization of the worse signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the two end users. The cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the worse SNR of the two users and its approximations are obtained, based on which the block error rate (BLER), the diversity order, the outage probability, and the sum-rate of the two-way network are derived. Then, with the help of a relay ordering, a multiple-relay selection (MRS) scheme is developed. The training overhead and feedback requirement for the implementation of the relay selection schemes are discussed. Numerical and simulation results are provided to corroborate the analytical results.
Investigation of the relationship between social isolation, self-esteem, aggression and computer game play in Japanese adolescents.

Some support for expressed concern over the negative consequences of computer game play was obtained by Colwell and Payne (2000) in a questionnaire survey of UK adolescents. A second study was carried out in Tokyo, Japan, to test for generality of findings. There was strong evidence of similarity in relation to play patterns, but in contrast to the UK sample, number of good friends and self-esteem did not relate to game play. A principal components analysis of a scale to measure needs met by game play resulted in the same two previously obtained factors; 'companionship' and 'prefer to friends'. However, in contrast to the UK sample, 'companionship' did not relate to play. A positive relation between the 'prefer to friends' factor and play was obtained for both boys and girls (boys only in the UK), thus providing support for the 'electronic friendship' hypothesis. There was evidence of a positive relation between play and aggression, but a preference for aggressive games was associated with lower aggression scores, and this raises questions for the 'causal hypothesis'.
The pragmatics of the be + after + V-ing construction in Irish English

Abstract This paper looks at a well-documented form in Irish English, ‘be after + Verb-ing’ (e.g. ‘He's after forgetting to pay her’) which roughly equates to the present perfect aspect in Standard English. The structure, a calque on an Irish form, has been used in the past in literature and cartoons to both characterize and stigmatize Irish English. This paper tests the hypothesis that this structure is still widely used in Irish English today because it has acquired pragmatic specializations which do not have an equivalent in the Standard English form. This paper draws on one million words of Irish English recorded in different parts of Ireland to form the Limerick Corpus of Irish English, recorded between 2001 and 2005. All of the occurrences of the form in the corpus were isolated and analyzed in context. A number of pragmatically specialized functions were identified and discussed. The distribution of the form across gender and particularly across a range of age groups, especially among young adult speakers, suggests that the form is robustly placed within Irish English. It is concluded that because its pragmatically specialized functions do not have an adequate equivalent in Standard English, it has and will remain as part of the core grammar of Irish English.
Does Pain Cause the Perception of Fatigue in Patients with Chronic Pain? Findings from Studies for Management of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathic Pain with Duloxetine

A major issue in pain literature is whether an etiological association between pain, sleep, and vitality exists. We utilized data from clinical trials of duloxetine for management of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain (DPNP) to investigate these associations. Data were pooled from 3 double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled, 12‐week trials of patients without mood disorder (N = 1,139). After excluding 442 patients who reported maximum vitality at baseline, experienced treatment‐emergent somnolence, asthenia or fatigue, or were taking sedating concomitant medications or duloxetine 20 mg/day, 697 were included in the analysis. Efficacy measures included weekly mean scores for average daily and night pain, pain interference with sleep, and vitality. Baseline to end point mean improvements in daily and night pain, Brief Pain Inventory sleep interference, and vitality were significantly superior for duloxetine compared with placebo (P ≤ 0.001). Correlations between changes in daily and night pain, and sleep interference with vitality changes were −0.34, −0.32, and −0.28, respectively (P < 0.001). The direct effect of treatment on change in vitality was statistically significant (68%, P = 0.010) when assessed in an indirect manner through change in sleep interference alone but not in daily or night pain solely. Path analyses suggested vitality improvement in patients with chronic pain may be secondary to improvement in pain by duloxetine. Results do not prove pain causes fatigue, but indicate in DPNP patients with fatigue that treatment of pain can improve perception of improvement in fatigue. Thus, improvement of pain may be important in the context of trying to improve fatigue in DPNP patients.