Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Indican Interference in Bilirubin Assays : A Classical Solution Still Applies

There was no difference in mean decay time in samples of controls and patients. We found a significant change in ACTH plasma concentrations with time, as in other studies (1, 5), but this change was much smaller than expected. Unlike another investigation (5 ), we studied samples not only from healthy volunteers but also from patients with high ACTH concentrations. Our study did not show a difference in the mean rate of hormone concentration change in highACTH samples vs normal samples. In our study, for up to 24 h the decline in the measured ACTH concentration was 10% even in whole blood stored at room temperature. Given the analytical imprecision of 15%, commonly accepted for immunoassays, a 10% change in the hormone concentration attributable to preanalytical factors seems not to be a major problem in a clinical setting. We therefore confirm stability of ACTH in EDTA plasma for 24 h as previously reported (5 ) for a manual radioactive version from the same assay from the same manufacturer. Sample temperature during the preanalytical phase appears to have less influence on measured ACTH concentrations than does time to centrifugation. We speculate that enzymes involved in EDTA degradation are not inhibited sufficiently at 4 °C. Although the mean decay in measured ACTH concentration after storage for 24 h at room temperature without centrifugation was only 10% [mean (SD), 9% (11%)], the decrease was 20% in samples from 3 healthy volunteers and was not prevented by storage at 4 °C. No relevant change occurred in any of the samples during the first 4 h, however. For clinical practice we therefore recommend that centrifugation and separation of plasma supernatant be performed within 4 h of sample collection. Cooling of samples seems to be much less effective. Thus, the preanalytical procedure can be simplified without risking clinically relevant changes in measured hormone concentrations. We acknowledge Brigitte Mauracher, Rita Schwaiger, Sarina Meurer, and Juliane Ramisch for excellent technical assistance.
Comparison of Short-Term Venlafaxine Versus Lithium Monotherapy for Bipolar II Major Depressive Episode: A Randomized Open-Label Study

Objective: Practice guidelines for the initial treatment of bipolar II (BP II) major depressive episode (MDE) recommend mood stabilizer (MS) monotherapy or combined MS plus antidepressant drug (AD) therapy. We hypothesized that initial AD monotherapy would be superior to MS monotherapy for BP II MDE with a low hypomanic switch rate. Methods: Bipolar II MDE patients were randomized to a 12-week open-label treatment with either venlafaxine monotherapy (n = 43) or lithium carbonate monotherapy (n = 40). The primary outcome measure was the 28-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D 28). The secondary outcome measures included the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), clinical global impressions severity and change ratings, and the proportion of patients classified as responder (with ≥50% reduction in baseline HAM-D score) or as remitter (final HAM-D score, ≤8). Results: Thirty-four venlafaxine-treated patients (79.1%) and 15 lithium-treated patients (37.5%) completed the trial (P < 0.0005). Venlafaxine monotherapy produced a greater reduction in HAM-D 28 scores, with a difference in change of −6.57 points (95% confidence interval, −11.97 to −1.18) (P = 0.017) between treatment conditions. There was a greater proportion of venlafaxine-treated (vs lithium-treated) patients classified either as treatment responder (58.1% vs 20.0%; P < 0.0005) or as treatment remitter (44.2% vs 7.5%; P < 0.0005) for the HAM-D 28 scores. There was no significant increase in mean YMRS scores over time in the venlafaxine (vs lithium) treatment condition, and no significant increase in mean YMRS scores at any study visit compared with baseline for either treatment. Conclusions: Results from this study suggest that AD monotherapy with venlafaxine may be an effective initial therapy for BP II MDE with a low hypomanic switch rate.
Postnatal development of the spatial contrast sensitivity of X- and Y- cells in the kitten retinogeniculate pathway

The sensitivity to spatial contrast patterns of single retinal ganglion cell axons and neurons in the A-layers of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd) was measured in 4 1/2- and 6 1/2-week-old kittens and adult cats. Drifting sinusoidal grating stimuli were presented at 6–12 spatial frequencies to obtain spatial contrast sensitivity functions (SCSFs). The SCSFs were normalized for the postnatal growth of the kitten eye and were interpreted using a difference of Gaussians model of the receptive field (RF). The average optimal spatial frequency, spatial frequency bandwidth, and the proportion of cells that were selective for spatial frequency did not differ significantly between the kittens and adults for ganglion cells belonging to the cluster 1 (X- ) or cluster 2 (Y-) functional types. The spatial resolution of kitten ganglion cells was also adultlike, except for that of Y-ganglion cells with peripheral RFs, which was significantly higher than in the adult. The spatial resolution of X-LGNd neurons with peripheral RFs was significantly poorer at 4 1/2 weeks than in the older animals. The proportion of X-LGNd neurons that were selective for spatial frequency increased between 4 1/2 and 6 1/2 weeks postnatally, but the spatial frequency bandwidth of selective cells did not change. The increased proportion of spatially selective LGNd neurons is probably due to the maturation of intrageniculate inhibitory circuits. Developmental changes in spatial resolution were interpreted as resulting from an increase (Y-retinal ganglion cells) or decrease (X-LGNd neurons) in RF center size. A model of retinogeniculate development is presented that attributes postnatal expansion of Y-retinal ganglion cell RF centers to increased functional convergence from more distal retinal neurons and reduction in LGNdX-cell RF center size to decreased convergence from X- retinal ganglion cells.
Who Rules America? The Triumph of the Corporate Rich

Preface Introduction 1. Power and Class in America What is Power? The Social Science View of Power Three Power Indicators What is a Social Class? Social Class According to Social Scientists 2. The Corporate Community The Unexpected Origins of the Corporate Community The Board of Directors The Corporate Community The Director Network as a Leadership Group The Corporate Lawyers From Small Farms to the Agrifood Business Small Business: Not a Counterweight Local Businesses Form Growth Coalitions Structural Power and Its Limits 3. The Corporate Community and the Upper Class Is There an American Upper Class? Prepping for Power Social Clubs The Feminine Half of the Upper Class Dropouts, Failures, and Change Agents Continuity and Upward Mobility Is the Upper Class an Economic Class? The Upper Class and Corporate Control Where Do Corporate Executives Come From? The Assimilation of Rising Corporate Executives Class Awareness 4. The Policy-Planning Network An Overview of the Policy-Planning Network Corporate Interlocks with Think Tanks and Policy Groups Foundations Think Tanks The Mixed Role of Universities in American Power Conflicts The Policy-Discussion Groups The Committee for Economic Development The Liberal-Labor Policy Network The Power Elite The Policy-Planning Network in Perspective 5. The Role of Public Opinion An Overview of the Opinion-Shaping Network Striving to Shape Opinion on Foreign Policy Trying to Shape Opinion on Economic Policies The Power Elite and Social Issues The Role of the Mass Media Attempts to "Enforce" Public Opinion When Public Opinion Can and Cannot be Ignored 6. Parties and Elections Electoral Rules as Containment Strategies Electoral Constraints and Voter Suppression in America How Growth Coalitions Changed Electoral Rules How Elections Nonetheless Matter Why Only Two Major Parties? Republicans and Democrats Party Primaries as Government Structures The Big, Not Determinative, Role of Campaign Finance The Obama Donor Network: A Case History Other Corporate Support for Candidates The Liberal-Labor Alliance in Electoral Politics The Results of the Candidate Selection Process But There's Still Uncertainty 7. How the Power Elite Dominate Government The Role of Governments The Special-Interest Process The Policy-Making Process Appointees to Government The First Obama Administration Supreme Court Appointments The Liberal-Labor Alliance and Congress Corporate Complaints of Impotence: Their Real Fears The Limits of Corporate Domination 8. The Big Picture Why Are the Corporate Rich So Powerful? The Transformation of the American Power Structure Power and Social Change 9. What Do Other Social Scientists Think? Pluralism Historical Institutionalism The Organizational State Perspective Elite Theory References Index
Dysarthria diagnosis via respiration and phonation

This report discusses the implementation of a computerized application - the Computerised Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment Procedure (CFDA) - which uses digital signal processing (DSP) techniques to objectively evaluate digitised speech recordings in order to detect any symptoms of dysarthria (a type of motor speech disorder). This investigation focuses specifically on two CFDA diagnostic sub-applications which assess a patient's ability to maintain a prolonged exhalation (the “Respiration at Rest” task) as well as execute a steady state phonation (i.e. the “Sustained Phonation” task). It is demonstrated that combining the functionality of these two sub-applications substantially increases their diagnostic effectiveness in the context of identifying a particular variety of dysarthria known as spastic dysarthria. It is further demonstrated that certain patterns of energy fluctuations are closely correlated with manifestations of spastic dysarthria. The CFDA is intended for use in real-world conditions to assist speech and language therapists when conducting clinical evaluations.
An Evaluation of the Reliability of Accounting Based Measures of Expected Returns: A Measurement Error Perspective

We develop and implement a method for comparing the measurement error in estimates of the expected rate of return on equity. We combine the Campbell [1991] and Vuolteenaho [2002] return decomposition with the econometric method described in Garber and Klepper [1980] and Barth [1991] to infer cross-sectional measurement error variances. We evaluate a variety of estimates of expected returns that are discussed in the extant accounting literature (e.g., Gebhardt, Lee, and Swaminathan [2001], Easton [2002], and Gode and Mohanram [2002]). Our results show that the estimate that is based on the simplest model (i.e., price-to-forward earnings) is as reliable as more sophisticated proxies. This result is also observed when the analyses are repeated for portfolios of observations. Predicted values based on instrumental variables that are, a priori, expected to be correlated with the true expected return but uncorrelated with the measurement error have considerably lower measurement error variances. Nonetheless, the crudest proxy still performs at least as well as more sophisticated proxies.
Role of the Na(+)/H(+) exchanger in short-term atrial electrophysiological remodeling.

BACKGROUND The pathophysiology underlying electrophysiological remodeling (ER) from rapid atrial rates is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that activation of the Na(+)/H(+) exchanger (NHE) by ischemia contributes to ER. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty-eight dogs were studied under autonomic blockade. In 15 closed-chest dogs, atrial fibrillation was simulated by right atrial pacing at 600 bpm over 5 hours. Of these, 9 (pace/NHEI) received HOE642, a selective inhibitor of the NHE, and 6 (pace/control) received saline. In pace/controls, atrial effective refractory period (AERP) at a drive cycle length (DCL) of 400 ms shortened from 143+/-7 to 118+/-5 ms (1 hour) and to 122+/-17 ms (5 hours). Shortening of AERP was prevented in the pace/NHEI group (P=0.02 compared with pace/controls). At baseline in all 15 dogs, pacing at shorter DCL resulted in shortening of AERP (physiological rate adaptation), which was lost at 5 hours in pace/controls. In pace/NHEI animals, rate adaptation was maintained despite 5 hours of pacing (P=0.02). In 13 other open-chest dogs, right atrial ERP was determined before and after occlusion of the right coronary artery. Five received HOE642 (ischemia/NHEI), 5 saline (ischemia/control), and 3 intravenous glibenclamide. In ischemia/controls, AERP(400) decreased (156+/-30 to 130+/-32 ms). Shortening of AERP was not prevented by glibenclamide (180+/-20 to 153+/-33 ms) but was prevented in ischemia/NHEI dogs (169+/-12 to 184+/-19 ms, P=0.001 compared with ischemia/controls and ischemia/glibenclamide). Rate adaptation was lost in ischemia/controls and preserved in ischemia/NHEI dogs (P=0. 02). CONCLUSIONS Activation of the NHE is one mechanism underlying short-term ER.
Magnetohydrodynamic waves in coronal polar plumes

Polar plumes are cool, dense, linear, magnetically open structures that arise from predominantly unipolar magnetic footpoints in the solar polar coronal holes. As the Alfvén speed is decreased in plumes in comparison with the surrounding medium, these structures are natural waveguides for fast and slow magnetoacoustic waves. The simplicity of the geometry of polar plumes makes them an ideal test ground for the study of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave interaction with solar coronal structures. The review covers recent observational findings of compressible and incompressible waves in polar plumes with imaging and spectral instruments, and interpretation of the waves in terms of MHD theory.
We Have Never-Forgetful Flowers In Our Garden: Girls'' Responses to Electronic Games

Electronic Games for Education in Math and Science (E-GEMS) is a large-scale research project designed to increase the proportion of children who enjoy learning and mastering mathematical concepts through the use of electronic games. This paper describes one piece of research that examines how girls interact within an electronic games environment. Three interrelated questions are addressed in this paper: What interest do girls show in electronic games when the games are presented in an informal learning environment? How do girls play and watch others play? How does the presence of others in the immediate vicinity influence the ways that girls play? The research described was conducted at an interactive science museum, Science World BC, during the summer of 1993. Children were observed while they played with various electronic games, both video and computer. In addition, interviews were conducted with the children and timed samplings were recorded. Our observations and interviews show that girls have an interest in electronic games and enjoy playing. Girls were particularly interested when given the opportunity to socially interact with others. In addition, they indicated a preference for playing on computers over video game systems.
Process and practicalities: mutual legal assistance and the investigation of transnational crime within the EU from a UK perspective, 1990-2004

Domestic criminal law helps define State sovereign identity. Over the past fifty years some criminality has become increasingly transnational in character. In the absence of a universal criminal code (as opposed to specified international crimes), States apply municipal law to prosecute offences of a transnational nature relying on mutual legal assistanceto secure evidence located outside the prosecuting State. A comparatively late contributor to the development of mutual legal assistance the UK now seeks to influence the work of the EU in developing a legal framework upon which to base mutual legal assistance and enhanced international law enforcement co-operation. The course of this developmentis outlined. This thesis examines through questionnaire and interview data, investigator and prosecutor experience of mutual legal assistance mechanisms in gathering of evidence from abroad for use at trial in England and Wales. Comparisons are made with data from an earlier survey of UK police (1996) and with an evaluation of mutual legal assistance administrative mechanisms within the EU (1999-2001) in order to identify changes in investigator experiences since the EU began to drive the strategic development of regional international law enforcement co-operation with the Treaty of Amsterdam and to assess whether politicians and administrators are delivering the solutions needed by investigators working across national borders. Set within the legislative context of the Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990, the data indicate that neither this regime nor the emerging EU framework were addressing all practitioner concerns. Political responsesto the New York terrorist attacks of September 2001, which occurred during data gathering for this thesis, accelerated legislative construction in the UK and the EU. Updated to include discussion of these changes (some still not yet entered into force), the thesis now provides a benchmark against which to assess their impact in due course.
Health big data analytics: current perspectives, challenges and potential solutions

Modern health information systems can generate several exabytes of patient data, the so called "Health Big Data", per year. Many health managers and experts believe that with the data, it is possible to easily discover useful knowledge to improve health policies, increase patient safety and eliminate redundancies and unnecessary costs. The objective of this paper is to discuss the characteristics of Health Big Data as well as the challenges and solutions for health Big Data Analytics (BDA) – the process of extracting knowledge from sets of Health Big Data – and to design and evaluate a pipelined framework for use as a guideline/reference in health BDA.
Renshaw Cells and Ia Inhibitory Interneurons Are Generated at Different Times from p1 Progenitors and Differentiate Shortly after Exiting the Cell Cycle

Spinal interneurons modulating motor output are highly diverse but surprisingly arise from just a few embryonic subgroups. The principles governing their development, diversification, and integration into spinal circuits are unknown. This study focuses on the differentiation of adult Renshaw cells (RCs) and Ia inhibitory interneurons (IaINs), two subclasses that respectively mediate recurrent and reciprocal inhibition of motoneurons from embryonic V1 interneurons (V1-INs). V1-INs originate from p1 progenitors and, after they become postmitotic, specifically express the transcription factor engrailed-1, a property that permits genetic labeling of V1 lineages from embryo to adult. RCs and IaINs are V1 derived, but differ in morphology, location, calcium-binding protein expression, synaptic connectivity, and function. These differences are already present in neonates, and in this study we show that their differentiation starts in the early embryo. Using 5′-bromodeoxyuridine birth dating we established that mouse V1-INs can be divided into early (E9.5-E10.5) and late (E11.5-E12.5) groups generated from the p1 domain (where E is embryonic day). The early group upregulates calbindin expression soon after becoming postmitotic and includes RCs, which express the transcription factor MafB during early differentiation and maintain calbindin expression throughout life. The late group includes IaINs, are calbindin-negative, and express FoxP2 at the start of differentiation. Moreover, developing RCs follow a characteristic circumferential migratory route that places them in unique relationship with motor axons with whom they later synaptically interact. We conclude that the fate of these V1-IN subclasses is determined before synaptogenesis and circuit formation by a process that includes differences in neurogenesis time, transcription factor expression, and migratory pathways.
Loss of p53 Ser18 and Atm Results in Embryonic Lethality without Cooperation in Tumorigenesis

Phosphorylation at murine Serine 18 (human Serine 15) is a critical regulatory process for the tumor suppressor function of p53. p53Ser18 residue is a substrate for ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and ATM-related (ATR) protein kinases. Studies of mice with a germ-line mutation that replaces Ser18 with Ala (p53S18A mice) have demonstrated that loss of phosphorylation of p53Ser18 leads to the development of tumors, including lymphomas, fibrosarcomas, leukemia and leiomyosarcomas. The predominant lymphoma is B-cell lymphoma, which is in contrast to the lymphomas observed in Atm−/− animals. This observation and the fact that multiple kinases phosphorylate p53Ser18 suggest Atm-independent tumor suppressive functions of p53Ser18. Therefore, in order to examine p53Ser18 function in relationship to ATM, we analyzed the lifespan and tumorigenesis of mice with combined mutations in p53Ser18 and Atm. Surprisingly, we observed no cooperation in survival and tumorigenesis in compound p53S18A and Atm−/− animals. However, we observed embryonic lethality in the compound mutant animals. In addition, the homozygous p53Ser18 mutant allele impacted the weight of Atm−/− animals. These studies examine the genetic interaction of p53Ser18 and Atm in vivo. Furthermore, these studies demonstrate a role of p53Ser18 in regulating embryonic survival and motor coordination.
Valence bond dynamical mean-field theory of doped Mott insulators with nodal/antinodal differentiation

We introduce a valence bond dynamical mean-field theory of doped Mott insulators. It is based on a minimal cluster of two orbitals, each associated with a different region of momentum space and hybridized to a self-consistent bath. The low-doping regime is characterized by singlet formation and the suppression of quasiparticles in the antinodal regions, leading to the formation of Fermi arcs. This is described in terms of an orbital-selective transition in reciprocal space. The calculated tunneling and photoemission spectra are consistent with the phenomenology of the normal state of cuprates. We derive a low-energy description of these effects using a generalization of the slave-boson method.
Education Vouchers, Growth and Income Inequality

This paper uses a growth model with public and private education alternatives to investigate the implications of education voucher for economic growth and the evolution of income inequality. The results indicate that introducing education vouchers can increase economic growth. families that switch from public to private education due to vouchers experience higher incomes, leading to growth in the tax base which in turn raises public education expenditures and increases the growth of the whole economy. Vouchers have an ambiguous effect on income inequality. Gini coefficients indicate increasing inequality while other measures indicate decreased inequality. Comparing income distributions using generalised Lorenz curves, the distribution under a voucher scheme dominates the distribution without voucher. This implies that in the long run, vouchers offer a welfare improvement. In short run welfare comparisons however, more than half the population is worse off with vouchers, which is consistent with the repeated failures if voucher referenda in the US. The results add a new dimension on which vouchers can be evaluated in the continuing policy debate.