Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Native aortic coarctation stenting in patients ≥ 46 years old

Introduction Stent implantation is an effective therapy for aortic coarctation (CoA) in adolescents and adults. Aim To present a unique group of patients with native coarctation of the aorta older than or equal to 46 years treated with bare metal or covered stents. Material and methods Since 2002 we have performed stent implantations by applying bare metal stents or covered stents using femoral access in 24 patients aged 46 and older. Results We used the Mullins technique in all cases, implanting different stents: Palmaz, Cheatham-Platinum (CP), covered CP or Andrastents XL/XXL. Twenty-one procedures were elective and 3 were urgent. Eighteen bare metal stents (2 stents in one patient) and 7 covered stents were used. All procedures were effective (CoA gradient reduced < 20 mm Hg), despite 2 migrations of bare metal stents. Mean gradient was reduced from 50.6 ±15.3 to 6.8 ±6.5 mm Hg (p < 0.001) and mean lumen diameter of stenosed aorta increased from 5.5 ±2.5 to 14.9 ±5.2 mm (p < 0.001). One special case is discussed – a 49-year-old man with end staged heart failure and severe CoA, who underwent a rescue procedure with a bare metal stent. One serious complication – stroke of the central nervous system – was observed in a 53-year-old woman during covered stent implantation (symptoms resolved during rehabilitation process). Conclusions Stent implantation of native coarctation of the aorta is also a safe procedure in the eldest patients and is associated with persistent relief of aortic obstruction.
Antifungal drug susceptibility of Candida albicans.

OBJECTIVE To determine the susceptibility of clinical isolates of Candida albicans and to establish the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) to commonly used antifungal drugs. DESIGN Laboratory based experiment. SETTING Mbagathi District Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya. SUBJECTS Candida albicans isolated between 1998 and 2000 from the sputa of HIV/AIDS patients and throat swabs of children with acute respiratory infections (ARI). METHODS Susceptibility to amphotericin B, clotrimazole, nystatin, and 5-fluorocytosine was done using agar dilution method (NCCLS 1997). RESULTS Among the ARI isolates 29.3% and among HIV isolates 22.4% had MIC>0.5 microg/ml to amphotericin B. Over 80% of the ARI isolates had MICs > 1 microg/ml to clotrimazole. The MIC range of most isolates to nystatin was 4-16 microg/ml while most isolates were susceptible to 5-fluorocytosine. There were no significant differences in susceptibility between ARI and HIV isolates to commonly used antifungal drugs. CONCLUSION Although fungal resistance has not been extensively studied, susceptibility tests showed some Candida albicans have increased MICs to commonly used antifungal drugs. The results call for further investigations on fungal resistance especially in the context of opportunistic infections in HIV/AIDS.
'The real stuff': implications for nursing of assessing and measuring a terminally ill person's quality of life.

Two quality of life (QoL) assessment and measurement tools, the Client Generated Index (CGI) and the McGill Quality of Life (MQOL) questionnaires, were trialled within district nursing palliative care to test usefulness and feasibility for holistic intervention selection, individualized palliative care planning, and measurement of the quality of dying. The specific focus of this paper is to discuss the less tangible outcomes of the trial, which illuminate the partly 'hidden' value and nature of clinical nursing. These outcomes include awareness that the use of such tools may: by actual administration of the tool be, in and of itself, a therapeutic nursing action; focus on 'the real stuff from the client's perspective, that which matters most to the terminally ill client, but may not be classically considered as prompting nursing intervention; and facilitate 'the real stuff' of nursing, perhaps known but not usually articulated by nurses, and which usually does not feature on care plans nor in time allocation schedules.
Fiscal Competition versus Fiscal Harmonization: A Review of the Arguments

A substantial theoretical and empirical literature has developed to addresses the advantages and perils of tax competition and how far it may be desirable to advance tax harmonization. The basic idea of the early literature was that internationally mobile capital moves from countries with higher rates of corporate taxation to lower rate countries. This limits the ability of the governments to tax capital and tend to reduce tax revenue of the government. Subsequent research has extended the basic model of tax competition by incorporating several important facets and qualifications to better reflect the real world. These studies have reached conclusions which are either starkly different from the early literature or have added important qualification to those. The principle theme of these new conclusions is that tax competition need not be as harmful as portrayed earlier. In the article we survey the extant theoretical literature on tax competition and tax harmonization and try to understand what lessons policy makers can learn from it.
Stylish Hard Bodies: Branded Masculinity in Men's Health Magazine

This article examines a postmodern construct of masculinity in which male identity is based on consumption, a traditional role for women, rather than production. Data for this qualitative content analysis were drawn from a sample of Men's Health magazine. Analysis of the front covers, stories and features, an advice column, and advertisements reveals a construct that I identify as “branded masculinity. ” Branded masculinity is rooted in consumer capitalism wherein corporate profit can be enhanced by generating insecurity about one's body and one's consumer choices and then offering a solution through a particular corporate brand. The form of branded masculinity found in Men's Health constructs muscles combined with a fashion sense and the appearance of financial success as the necessary characteristics for a real man today.
Genome-Wide Epigenetic Alterations in Cloned Bovine Fetuses1

Abstract To gain a better understanding of global methylation differences associated with development of nuclear transfer (NT)-generated cattle, we analyzed the genome-wide methylation status of spontaneously aborted cloned fetuses, cloned fetuses, and adult clones that were derived from transgenic and nontransgenic cumulus, genital ridge, and body cell lines. Cloned fetuses were recovered from ongoing normal pregnancies and were morphologically normal. Fetuses generated by artificial insemination (AI) were used as controls. In vitro fertilization (IVF) fetuses were compared with AI controls to assess effects of in vitro culture on the 5-methylcytosine content of fetal genomes. All of the fetuses were female. Skin biopsies were obtained from cloned and AI-generated adult cows. All of the adult clones were phenotypically normal and lactating and had no history of health or reproductive disorders. Genome-wide cytosine methylation levels were monitored by reverse-phase HPLC, and results indicated reduced levels of methylated cytosine in NT-generated fetuses. In contrast, no differences were observed between adult, lactating clones and similarly aged lactating cows produced by AI. These data imply that survivability of cloned cattle may be closely related to the global DNA methylation status. This is the first report to indicate that global methylation losses may contribute to the developmental failure of cloned bovine fetuses.
The Information Technology Professional: A Two-wave Study of Factors Impacting Commitment and Satisfaction

In this paper, we present a two-wave study that examined the relationships between three independent variables (professional identification, psychological contract violation, and fairness) and three dependent variables (general satisfaction, satisfaction with the information technology (IT) profession, and affective commitment to the IT profession). The constructs analyzed pertain to the IT workforce and represent areas where the literature has provided conflicting results with regard to the nature of the relationships. Due to the lack of consistency related to causality among these variables, we used 10 separate canonical correlation models to analyze the responses from two surveys distributed across three years. Results consistently revealed a significant relationship between perceived psychological contract violation and fairness with the dependent constructs related to satisfaction (general, and with the IT profession). Both gender and tenure in the IT profession played a role in the identification process for this group of individuals. We present and discuss additional findings along with limitations and directions for future research.
Adapting Prospect Theory to the Study of Foreign Policy Decision Making: A Series of Experimental Explorations

The use of prospect theory to develop explanations of risk behavior in foreign policy decision making is by now well established. Unfortunately, the original empirical work that serves as the foundation for this research involved gambling or medical decisions with forced dichotomous choices between prospects that included only a single value dimension. This paper reports the results of an experiment where subjects responded to foreign policy scenarios involving monetary outcomes or human lives; were allowed to choose "none of the above"; choices were made between two, four or six options; and prospects included one, two or three value dimensions. The results of this experiment illuminate the difficulties experienced when attempting to adapt a theory developed in a particular domain to a new milieu.
Increasing Hazard Functions and Monetary Transmission Mechanism of Sticky Price Models

This paper studies implications of the price reset hazard function for the monetary transmission mechanism of sticky price models. I first document some general analytical results that highlight the central role of the price (accumulative) distribution in linking the hazard function at the micro level and the impulse response function at the macro level. In addition, I investigate how increasing hazard functions interact with other important features of modern monetary models, such as strategic complementarity in price-setting, non-zero steady-state inflation and monetary policy rules. I find that nominal rigidity underlying increasing hazard functions is more successful than real rigidity in generating realistic macro persistence. Nevertheless, the interaction between the increasing hazard function and real rigidity provides a powerful propagation mechanism for monetary shocks.
AC Loss Characteristics of YBCO Coated Conductors With Varying Magnitude of Critical Current

Three YBCO coated conductors with various critical currents, up to 189 A, were prepared. The magnetization losses without transport current and the total AC losses of the conductors carrying various transport currents in transverse magnetic fields with various orientations were measured electromagnetically to study the AC loss characteristics systematically. The measured total AC losses were compared with the numerical values using a one-dimensional FEM model
A Calibration-Free 800 MHz Fractional-N Digital PLL With Embedded TDC

A digital PLL (DPLL) with a time-to-digital converter (TDC) embedded within a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) has been implemented in 65 nm CMOS occupying an active area of 0.027 mm . The quantization step of the TDC naturally tracks the DCO period over corners, and therefore requires no calibration. By utilizing an interpolation flip flop, the timing resolution provided by DCO is further enhanced. The DPLL achieves fractional-N operation without a multi-modulus feedback divider, thereby avoiding its complexity and quantization noise. To improve the TDC linearity, a mismatch filtering technique that incorporates cross-coupled resistor network is proposed to achieve a DNL less than 0.04 LSB of the TDC quantization level. The prototype consumes 3.2 mW with an operation frequency ranging from 600 to 800 MHz. The measured DPLL output phase noise at 800 MHz frequency (after a divide-by-two) achieves and dBc/Hz at 1 kHz and 1 MHz offset, respectively.
Continuous versus bolus thermodilution cardiac output measurements--a comparative study.

OBJECTIVE To compare the methods for continuous and bolus thermodilution cardiac output measurements. DESIGN In vivo and in vitro experimental studies. SETTING Surgical research division in a university hospital. SUBJECTS Eight calves and flow bench model. INTERVENTIONS Data were collected in vivo from eight calves instrumented with pulmonary artery catheters, which allowed both continuous and bolus thermodilution measurements. The pulmonary artery catheter was placed through the external jugular vein. All in vitro measurements were performed using a flow bench model. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS A total of 232 bolus and continuous thermodilution measurements were analysed in vivo to determine the degree of agreement between the two methods. The absolute measurement bias was 0.14 L/min with 95% confidence limits ranging from -0.83 to 1.15 L/min. In vitro analysis of 576 measurements at six different temperature points (range 31 degrees to 41 degrees C), using clinically relevant flows (2 to 9 L/min), showed overestimation of flow values using continuous and bolus thermodilution methods. However, the continuous method showed better accuracy by a lower degree of overestimation. Systematic error was 9.7 +/- 8.4 (SD) % for continuous and 11.1 +/- 6.3% for the bolus method (p < .001). This effect was especially evident at lower flow rates. The influence of various temperatures on the accuracy and reproducibility of both methods of measurement was statistically significant but not clinically relevant. The infusion of lactated Ringer's lactate solution (infusion rates 100 to 1000 mL/hr) affects both methods at a low flow rate of 2 L/min, without causing a significant effect on continuous measurement at a higher flow rate (4 L/min). Shunting of 50% of circulating volume to the distal part of the thermal filament of the pulmonary catheter impaired the accuracy of continuous measurement without affecting results from bolus measurements (systematic error -26.8 +/- 8.2% for continuous and -5.2 +/- 4.1% for bolus thermodilution). CONCLUSIONS Continuous thermodilution cardiac output measurement provided higher accuracy and greater resistance to thermal noise than standard bolus measurements. The correct placement of the catheter is essential for precise measurements.
Mothers, Intrinsic Math Motivation, Arithmetic Skills, and Math Anxiety in Elementary School

Math anxiety is influenced by environmental, cognitive, and personal factors. Yet, the concurrent relationships between these factors have not been examined. To this end, the current study investigated how the math anxiety of 30 sixth graders is affected by: (a) mother’s math anxiety and maternal behaviors (environmental factors); (b) children’s arithmetic skills (cognitive factors); and (c) intrinsic math motivation (personal factor). A rigorous assessment of children’s math anxiety was made by using both explicit and implicit measures. The results indicated that accessible self-representations of math anxiety, as reflected by the explicit self-report questionnaire, were strongly affected by arithmetic skills. However, unconscious cognitive constructs of math anxiety, as reflected by the numerical dot-probe task, were strongly affected by environmental factors, such as maternal behaviors and mothers’ attitudes toward math. Furthermore, the present study provided preliminary evidence of intergenerational transmission of math anxiety. The conclusions are that in order to better understand the etiology of math anxiety, multiple facets of parenting and children’s skills should be taken into consideration. Implications for researchers, parents, and educators are discussed.
Osmotic Dehydration Kinetics of Elephant Foot Yam Cubes ( Amorphophallus Spp . ) in Sucrose Solution

Among tubers, Amorphophallus companulatus known as elephant foot yam is a highly potential tropical tuber crop containing a good amount of protein as well as starch, fiber, minerals and vitamins. Fresh yams are perishable in nature and deteriorate in quality on storage. The shelf life of Elephant foot yam can be increased if processed properly. The quality of the dehydrated product can be enhanced if the product is pretreated osmotically in sucrose or salt solution prior to convective dehydration. In the present study cubes of uniform size (1 cm x 1cm x 1cm) were osmotically pretreated in hypertonic sucrose solution having 45, 55 and 65 °Bx concentrations at 40, 50 and 60 °C osmotic solution temperature for different intervals of time. The sample to solution ratio was kept as 1:4. Mass transfer kinetics for water loss and solute gain were studied and the data was fitted to various empirical models (Magee, penetration and Peleg models). Out of the applied models, the Magee’s model was appropriate for predicting water loss and solute gain. The highest values of water loss and solute gain were 58.8 g water/100 g of fresh sample and 25.5 g solute/100 g of fresh sample, respectively for osmotic solution having 65 Bx. concentration and 60 °C osmotic solution temperature after 240 minutes. In first 60 minutes, water loss and solute gain were maximum i.e. 65.96% and 58.57% of total values and become almost constant after 180 minutes of osmotic dehydration. The osmotic solution concentration, temperature and time have most pronounced affect on water loss as compared to solute gain during osmotic dehydration. Both water loss and solid gain increased with increasing the concentration and temperature of osmotic agent solution. Sangeeta & Bahadur Singh Hathan 482
The Interdependency of Asset pricing on Prices of Its Substitutes: Application to Cocoa, Coffee and Tea

In this paper we examine the behaviour of the prices, of Cocoa, Coffee and Tea as beverages (substitutes). We also investigate if the pricing of one asset is influenced by the prices of any of the other assets. Using Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Schwarz Information Criterion (SIC) for selecting the best model out of all the competing models, the best models fitted were, Cocoa prices being ARIMA (0, 1, 2), Coffee prices ARIMA (1, 1, 1) and Tea prices ARIMA (0, 1, 0) respectively. Thus, all the three variables were integrated of order I (1), Using Johansen cointegration test, we observed that there was at most one cointegration equation, among these assets, indicating that there is a long-run equilibrium among the pricing of the prices of Cocoa, Coffee and Tea. Analysis of the Granger causality test shows that there is Granger causality between all the three variables; hence there is a long run association among prices of cocoa, coffee and tea. Also from the cross correlation matrix it was observed that all the three variables were positively correlated with cocoa and coffee having a very high correlation of 0.8. This indicates a probable higher dependency of the pricing of these two assets on the price of the other. Due to the cointegration, Vector Error Correction model (VECM) was used to estimate the equation relating the prices of Cocoa, Coffee and Tea.
Increased lymphoproliferative response to human herpesvirus type 6A variant in multiple sclerosis patients

Several reports have suggested an association of human herpevirus 6 (HHV‐6) and multiple sclerosis (MS) based on immunohistochemical demonstration of HHV‐6 DNA from sera and cerebrospinal fluid of MS patients but not in controls. Characterization of the cellular immune response of MS patients to HHV‐6 may further clarify the role of HHV‐6 in MS and provide insight into the pathogenesis of this immune‐mediated disease. We have compared lymphoproliferative responses to HHV‐6A (U1102)‐, and HHV‐7 (H7SB) ‐infected cell lysates in healthy controls and patients with MS. Most healthy controls (71%) proliferated to HHV‐6B lysate, and fewer (33%) responded to the HHV‐6A lysate. In contrast, 67% of MS patients had a lymphoproliferative response to HHV‐6A, which is a significant increase in comparison with healthy controls. A similar frequency of lymphoproliferative response (78%) to HHV‐6B was demonstrated in MS patients. These results indicate that the lymphoproliferative response to the HHV‐6A variant, which was recently reported to have greater neurotropism, is increased in MS patients. Ann Neurol 2000;47:306–313
Staphylococcus aureus ClpC ATPase is a late growth phase effector of metabolism and persistence

Staphylococcus aureus Clp ATPases (molecular chaperones) alter normal physiological functions including an aconitase‐mediated effect on post‐stationary growth, acetate catabolism, and entry into death phase (Chatterjee et al., J. Bacteriol. 2005, 187, 4488–4496). In the present study, the global function of ClpC in physiology, metabolism, and late‐stationary phase survival was examined using DNA microarrays and 2‐D PAGE followed by MALDI‐TOF MS. The results suggest that ClpC is involved in regulating the expression of genes and/or proteins of gluconeogenesis, the pentose‐phosphate pathway, pyruvate metabolism, the electron transport chain, nucleotide metabolism, oxidative stress, metal ion homeostasis, stringent response, and programmed cell death. Thus, one major function of ClpC is balancing late growth phase carbon metabolism. Furthermore, these changes in carbon metabolism result in alterations of the intracellular concentration of free NADH, the amount of cell‐associated iron, and fatty acid metabolism. This study provides strong evidence for ClpC as a critical factor in staphylococcal energy metabolism, stress regulation, and late‐stationary phase survival; therefore, these data provide important insight into the adaptation of S. aureus toward a persister state in chronic infections.
The Role of Audiometry prior to High-Dose Cisplatin in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer

Objectives: To analyze the role of audiometry in considering change to a less ototoxic treatment in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. Methods: Consecutive patients prescribed high-dose cisplatin (100 mg/m2) between January 2013 and February 2015 were enrolled. Audiometry was performed at baseline and before cisplatin. Change to a less ototoxic agent or reduced cisplatin dose was considered with audiometric decreases >25 dB. Results: A total of 103 patients were included; the median age of the patients was 59 years (range 18−75). Cisplatin was intended curative (58%), adjuvant (32%), or palliative (10%). Forty-two participants (41%) did not commence high-dose cisplatin because of baseline audiometric alterations. Of 61 patients treated with high-dose cisplatin, 40 (66%) showed marked ototoxicity at the end of treatment. The mean hearing loss between initial and final audiometries showed a hearing loss at 4 and 8 kHz in both ears (p = 0.002). Thirteen patients switched to carboplatin and 15 to a lower dose of cisplatin. The outcome was not significantly altered when cisplatin was replaced with carboplatin or cetuximab. Conclusions: Audiometric alterations are common in HNC with high-dose cisplatin, and switching to a less ototoxic regimen does not adversely affect outcome. Audiometric examination could help to prevent hearing loss in this population.
An Efficient Approximate Markovian Model for Optical Packet Switches Employing Partial Buffer Sharing Mechanism under Self-Similar Traffic Input

In this paper, we propose an efficient approximate Markovian model for optical packet switch (OPS) employing partial buffer sharing (PBS) mechanism under self-similar traffic input The computation complexity could be greatly reduced while retaining satisfactory accuracy. Accordingly, we investigate and analyze both the short term and long term performance measures. Our model is useful in performing the optimal buffer control for OPS employing PBS to provide differentiated services (DiffServ) under self-similar traffic input.