Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early and mid-term outcomes of combined aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting in elderly patients.

OBJECTIVES Although the number of elderly patients undergoing combined aortic valve replacement (AVR) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is increasing, the early and mid-term outcomes of this combined procedure remain to be determined. We sought to elucidate the early and mid-term outcomes of elderly (≥75 years) vs non-elderly (<75 years) patients who underwent combined AVR and CABG. METHODS Between September 2004 and September 2011, 259 patients underwent combined AVR and CABG at our institute, including 155 elderly patients (59.8%; Elderly group) with a mean age of 79.8 ± 3.6 years and 104 non-elderly patients (40.2%; Non-elderly group) with a mean age of 67.3±5.8 years. Early and mid-term outcomes were compared, and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the risk factors for morbidity and mortality. The mean follow-up times were 33.1±21.7 and 37.4±22.2 months in the Elderly and Non-elderly groups, respectively. RESULTS The mean number of anastomoses and the frequency of use of the internal thoracic artery were similar between the two groups. The use of a mechanical valve was less frequent in the Elderly group than in the Non-elderly group (11.6 vs 60.6%, P<0.001). The Elderly and Non-elderly groups had similar rates of operative death (1.9 vs 1.0%, P=0.651), early stroke (2.6 vs 1.0%, P=0.651), 5-year overall survival (83.1±4.8 vs 87.2±5.2%, P=0.358), 5-year freedom from cardiac death (92.3±2.7 vs 94.8±3.4%, P=0.570) and 5-year freedom from stroke (94.0±2.6 vs 99.0±1.0%, P=0.097). Cox proportional hazards analyses identified diabetes, creatinine level and EuroSCORE II, but not age, as independent predictors of overall mortality rate. CONCLUSIONS Early and mid-term outcomes of combined AVR and CABG were similar between elderly and non-elderly patients. Older age was not a risk factor for mortality in patients undergoing combined AVR plus CABG, and this procedure should be recommended in properly selected elderly patients.
Neutralizing activity of human antibodies against the structural protein of human T‐cell lymphotropic virus type I

We have identified and mapped the regions responsible for neutralization in the human T‐cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV‐I) structural proteins by using region‐specific human antibodies derived from seropositive blood donors. We have obtained 18 kinds of region‐specific antibody (2 in the p 19 gag, 10 in the gp46 env and 6 in the gp21 env proteins) from seropositive human plasma by means of an affinity column coupled with the synthetic peptides corresponding to the antigenic regions of the HTLV‐I structural proteins. These antibodies were highly specific in ELISA using synthetic peptides as an antigen. Subsequently, we examined the neutralizing activity expressed by the inhibition of virion‐induced syncytium formation by region specific antibodies. Twelve of 16 antibodies derived from the env protein were able to inhibit syncytium formation induced by co‐cultivation of 8C cells with HTLV‐I antigen‐positive T cells. The antibodies derived from the p19 gag protein and the seronegative plasma used as the control showed no significant activity. The sequences recognized by the 10 neutralizing antibodies were sites corresponding to amino acids 20 to 49, 89 to 115, 136 to 160, 175 to 199, 213 to 236, 235 to 254, 277 to 292, 332 to 352, 350 to 386, 382 to 403, 426 to 448 and 458 to 488 from the amino terminal of the env protein. These observations suggest that the neutralizing epitopes were widely distributed in the env proteins of HTLV‐I. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Localization of lesions causing Horner's syndrome.

THE LESIONS which can cause the Horner syndrome are so numerous and widespread that they are important in every medical and surgical specialty. In many instances the signs and symptoms associated with the Horner syndrome give the physician and surgeon an exact insight into the nature and localization of the disease process. However, in far too many instances the etiologic process remains obscure because of a paucity of other helpful symptoms. An attempt is made in this paper to provide a system for localization of lesions causing the Horner syndrome. In addition, the numerous lesions responsible will be outlined. Considering the anatomic relations of the sympathetic chain involved, it is no wonder that so many systems may be implicated in association with interruption of the chain. There is increasing evidence that there exist autonomic centers in the cortex. Barris1demonstrated constriction of the pupil on stimulation of the peristriate
Speech and Oromotor Deficits of Epileptic Origin in Benign Partial Epilepsy of Childhood with Rolandic Spikes (BPERS)

The authors report three children who suffered temporary oromotor or speech disturbances as focal epileptic manifestations within the frame of benign partial epilepsy of childhood with rolandic spikes and review similar cases described in the literature. The deficit can occur as an initial symptom of the disorder without visible epileptic seizures and interferes in a variable way with simple voluntary oromotor functions or complex movements including speech production, depending on the exact location and spread of the discharging epileptic focus around the perisylvian region. The most severe deficit produces the anterior operculum syndrome. More subtle non-linguistic deficits such as intermittent drooling, oromotor apraxia or dysfluency, as well as linguistic ones involving phonologic production, can occur. The rapidity of onset, progression and recovery of the deficit is very variable as well as its duration and presumably reflects the degree of epileptic activity. In some cases, rapid improvement with antiepileptic medication occurs and coincidence between the paroxysmal EEG activity (which is usually bilateral) and the functional deficit is seen. The clinical and EEG profile of the seizures disorder and the dynamic of the deficit in these cases bear a strong resemblance to what is seen in the acquired epilepsy-aphasia syndrome (Landau and Kleffner). The variations in clinical symptoms appear more related to the main site, local extension and bilaterality of the epileptic foci rather than a basic difference in physiopathology.
Investigating Search Engine Optimization Factors in Media Websites

Rapidly evolving digital technologies across the last two decades have undeniably caused great changes in the field of journalism. The development of online journalism has affected the processes of journalistic work, creating at the same time new techniques and practices. On the internet, search engines still drive a great amount of traffic to news websites. For that reason, factors such as visibility and high ranking on search engines’ results pages remain crucially important for media organizations. Nowadays, journalists or Web editors should be able to write and create appropriate content for the Web. This paper discusses in detail the impact of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on digital journalism. Through a quantitative analysis, a survey concerning Greek media websites is presented. The aim was twofold: on the one hand, to find out to what extent the use of SEO affects the traffic of a media website whilst, on the other hand, to discover to what degree media professionals in Greece utilize the possibilities given through search engines in order to increase traffic. Finally, a number of SEO elements and practices often used in news content are noted.
Computational evolutionary genomics: phylogenomic models spanning domains, genes, individuals, and species

Computational techniques have long been applied to biological data to address a wide range of evolutionary questions. In phylogenetics, methods for reconstructing gene histories from sequence data have enabled researchers to better understand how evolution shapes gene content; for example, the identification of evolutionarily-related genes has allowed for the mapping of functions across species and the discovery of novel functions. Such predictions have become increasingly important over the last ten to fifteen years, as technology has reduced the cost of sequencing and increased processing power, leading to vast genomic datasets with little, if any, functional information. In turn, the growing availability of genomes has led to increased power for biological signal discovery and revealed insight into the core evolutionary forces that govern our existence. However, to realize the full potential in genomic and evolutionary studies, we require accurate, efficient, and scalable methods that are widely applicable. In this thesis, I address this need by developing novel computational approaches for reconstructing gene evolutionary histories. In particular, I consider models for gene family evolution that take into account (1) nucleotide or amino acid substitution, (2) genetic drift (leading to deep coalescence), (3) gene duplication and loss, (4) horizontal gene transfer, and (5) domain rearrangement, and I present new phylogenetic algorithms for (1) eukaryotic gene tree reconstruction, (2) prokaryotic gene tree reconstruction, (3) gene tree-species tree reconciliation, and (4) sub-gene-level reconstruction. Through extensive benchmarking, I show that these methods dramatically improve reconstructions compared to stateof-the-art programs; in addition, they are efficient and require few modeling assumptions or parameters, making them applicable to a broad range of species and large datasets. As evidence, I apply these methods to clades of 12 Drosophila, 16 fungi, 15 primates, and 11 cyanobacteria, as well as to simulated phylogenies with up to 200 taxa, and demonstrate the large impact of accurate phylogenetic inference on downstream evolutionary analyses. These results demonstrate the power of computational phylogenetics, and I believe that with the continued development and adoption of such methods, we can address fundamental biological questions with many important implications for future investigations of gene and genome evolution. Thesis Supervisor: Manolis Kellis Title: Professor of Computer Science
The Effect of Mobility and Emotion on Interactions in Multi-Agent Systems

Simulating emotions within a group of agents has been shown to support co-operation in the prisoner’s dilemma game. Most work on simulating these emotions has focused on environments where the agents do not move, that is, they are static and their neighbours are fixed. However, it has also been shown in other work that when an agent is given the ability to move, then the type of the environment affects how co-operation evolves in the group of agents. In this paper, we investigate the combination of these two ideas in an experimental study that explores the effects on co-operation when autonomous agents that can show emotions are given the ability to move within structured environments. We observe that once mobility is introduced, different strategies become successful. Successful strategies respond quickly to defection, while not immediately reciprocating co-operation, regardless of the environment type. The further an agent travels, the higher its average payoff in a small world environment. The slower an agent is to copy another agent by imitating its strategy, the higher its increase in average payoff.
Interstellar Interloper 1I/2017 U1: Observations from the NOT and WIYN Telescopes

We present observations of the interstellar interloper 1I/2017 U1 (’Oumuamua) taken during its 2017 October flyby of Earth. The optical colors B – V = 0.70 ± 0.06, V – R = 0.45 ± 0.05, overlap those of the D-type Jovian Trojan asteroids and are incompatible with the ultrared objects that are abundant in the Kuiper Belt. With a mean absolute magnitude HV = 22.95 and assuming a geometric albedo pV = 0.1, we find an average radius of 55 m. No coma is apparent; we deduce a limit to the dust mass production rate of only ∼2 × 10−4 kg s−1, ruling out the existence of exposed ice covering more than a few m2 of the surface. Volatiles in this body, if they exist, must lie beneath an involatile surface mantle ≳0.5 m thick, perhaps a product of prolonged cosmic-ray processing in the interstellar medium. The light curve range is unusually large at ∼2.0 ± 0.2 mag. Interpreted as a rotational light curve the body has axis ratio :1 and semi-axes ∼230 m × 35 m. A ≳6:1 axis ratio is extreme relative to most small solar system asteroids and suggests that albedo variations may additionally contribute to the variability. The light curve is consistent with a two-peaked period ∼8.26 hr, but the period is non-unique as a result of aliasing in the data. Except for its unusually elongated shape, 1I/2017 U1 is a physically unremarkable, sub-kilometer, slightly red, rotating object from another planetary system. The steady-state population of similar, ∼100 m scale interstellar objects inside the orbit of Neptune is ∼104, each with a residence time of ∼10 years.
Capital Flows and Exchange Rate Volatility: Singapore&Apos;S Experience

Singapore%u2019s experience with international capital flows over the past two decades or so has been a rather %u2013 although not completely %u2013 benign one, owing to strong fundamentals and generally well-conceived macro-economic policies. We begin by briefly discussing the experience in 1998 of Hong Kong, another city-state with a well-developed banking system and equities market, and operating on a Currency Board (CB) system (although with some differences from Singapore%u2019s CB system). The discussion serves to identify some %u2018areas of vulnerability%u2019 in the Hong Kong set-up at that time. We next discuss Singapore%u2019s policy background and early experience, and in the light of Hong Kong%u2019s experience are better able to appreciate how Singapore%u2019s policy framework served to circumvent or minimize important vulnerabilities. Particular attention is paid to Singapore%u2019s exchange-rate policy and its policy of non-internationalization of the Singapore dollar. Equity- and currency- market interactions are also considered. We next show how Singapore emerged relatively unscathed from the 1997 Asian Crisis. Lastly, we discuss Singapore%u2019s debt markets, and show how under the imperative of promoting the development of its bond markets the non-internationalization policy has been progressively relaxed, while retaining key safeguards.
Reports of “Satisfactory Relief” by IBS Patients Receiving Usual Medical Care Are Confounded by Baseline Symptom Severity and Do Not Accurately Reflect Symptom Improvement

BACKGROUND:Treatment trials for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) usually define a responder as a patient who reports satisfactory relief or adequate relief of symptoms at the end of the trial. However, these measures have not been adequately validated.AIMS:(1) Compare a binary satisfactory relief measure to alternative ways of defining a treatment responder. (2) Determine whether baseline IBS symptom severity or psychological distress influence the sensitivity of these outcome measures.METHODS:A total of 350 patients (81% females, average age 50 yr) who had a medical diagnosis of IBS and satisfied Rome II criteria, were recruited from Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound. At baseline the Irritable Bowel Severity Scale (IBSS) was used to assess symptom severity and to classify patients as mild, moderate, or severe. Psychological distress and IBS-specific quality of life (IBS-QOL) were also assessed. After 6 months treatment with standard medical care, IBSS and IBS-QOL were reassessed, and patients were asked whether they had experienced satisfactory relief and whether they were somewhat or markedly better.RESULTS:Initial severity of IBS significantly affected the proportion who reported satisfactory relief (mild, 72%; moderate, 53%; severe, 44%) and the proportion who were somewhat or markedly better (mild, 62%; moderate, 44%; severe, 38%), but did not affect the proportion with a 50% reduction in symptoms (mild, 26%; moderate, 25%; severe, 23%). Although mild patients were the most likely to report satisfactory relief, they showed no average decrease in symptom severity or improvement in IBS-QOL. Conversely, severe patients, who were the least likely to report satisfactory relief, had the largest reductions in IBS symptom severity and the largest improvements in IBS-QOL. Psychological distress had no significant effect on the responder rate after adjusting for IBS symptom severity.CONCLUSIONS:These data from a descriptive study suggest that satisfactory relief is confounded with initial IBS symptom severity and is poorly correlated with the amount of symptom improvement. Confirmation of these findings in a clinical trial is needed.
Intrinsically unstructured proteins evolve by repeat expansion

The proportion of the genome encoding intrinsically unstructured proteins increases with the complexity of organisms, which demands specific mechanism(s) for generating novel genetic material of this sort. Here it is suggested that one such mechanism is the expansion of internal repeat regions, i.e., coding micro‐ and minisatellites. An analysis of 126 known unstructured sequences shows the preponderance of repeats: the percentage of proteins with tandemly repeated short segments is much higher in this class (39%) than earlier reported for all Swiss‐Prot (14%), yeast (18%) or human (28%) proteins. Furthermore, prime examples, such as salivary proline‐rich proteins, titin, eukaryotic RNA polymerase II, the prion protein and several others, demonstrate that the repetitive segments carry fundamental function in these proteins. In addition, their repeat numbers show functionally significant interspecies variation and polymorphism, which underlines that these regions have been shaped by intense evolutionary activity. In all, the major point of this paper is that the genetic instability of repetitive regions combined with the structurally and functionally permissive nature of unstructured proteins has powered the extension and possible functional expansion of this newly recognized protein class. BioEssays 25:847–855, 2003. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The economic cost to households of childhood malaria in Papua New Guinea: a focus on intra-country variation.

BACKGROUND We compare direct and indirect household costs associated with malaria treatment for children<3 years in two provinces of Papua New Guinea. In particular, we explore the role of uncertainty around mean household costs and whether assuming a normal distribution for household costs limits the accuracy of any direct cost comparisons. METHODS Exit surveys were undertaken at inpatient and outpatient health facilities. In order to handle uncertainty and facilitate comparisons, parametric and non-parametric bootstrap methods were used to estimate direct and indirect costs at the individual data level. The inpatient and outpatient incremental costs from Madang and Maprik health facilities were compared and significant differences between provinces were identified. RESULTS Differences were noted between provinces for both inpatient and outpatient household costs. Total arithmetic mean costs for an outpatient malaria episode were US$7.54 in Madang and US$9.20 in Maprik. Total mean inpatient malaria episode costs were US$25.20 in Madang and US$14.08 in Maprik. As cost distributions were not normal, non-parametric bootstrap techniques were used for cost comparisons. Total household costs per outpatient episode of malaria were lower, although not significantly, in Maprik than in Madang (incremental cost of US$ -1.67; 95% CI -4.16, 0.31), while total household costs per inpatient episode were significantly higher in Madang than in Maprik (difference of US$11.16; 95% CI 5.47, 25.33). A difference was noted between provinces in the proportion of indirect costs in total household costs for an outpatient visit: 76% in Madang vs 94% in Maprik. The proportion for indirect costs associated with inpatient visits varied less: 63% in Madang vs 68% in Maprik. CONCLUSIONS Intra-country differences need to be considered in estimating household costs for both outpatient and inpatient malaria treatment. Our findings suggest that it is important to recognize the impact of both direct and indirect costs on individuals' capacity to afford treatment. Certain indirect costs are difficult to measure accurately, particularly respondents' interpretations of their productive versus non-productive time. Despite this, exploring intra-country cost variation can provide important information to health policy makers.
Ecology and Genetic Structure of Zoonotic Anisakis spp. from Adriatic Commercial Fish Species

ABSTRACT Consumption of raw or thermally inadequately treated fishery products represents a public health risk, with the possibility of propagation of live Anisakis larvae, the causative agent of the zoonotic disease anisakidosis, or anisakiasis. We investigated the population dynamics of Anisakis spp. in commercially important fish—anchovies (Anisakis), sardines (Sardina pilchardus), European hake (Merluccius merluccius), whiting (Merlangius merlangus), chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus), and Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus)—captured in the main Adriatic Sea fishing ground. We observed a significant difference in the numbers of parasite larvae (1 to 32) in individual hosts and between species, with most fish showing high or very high Anisakis population indices. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed that commercial fish in the Adriatic Sea are parasitized by Anisakis pegreffii (95.95%) and Anisakis simplex sensu stricto (4.05%). The genetic structure of A. pegreffii in demersal, pelagic, and top predator hosts was unstructured, and the highest frequency of haplotype sharing (n = 10) was between demersal and pelagic fish.
Business groups in developing capital markets: Towards a complementarity perspective

Prior research suggests that business groups (BGs) in developing economies have emerged as alternatives to poorly developed economic institutions in these countries. In this paper, we argue that this does not imply they are always substitutes. Specifically, we consider the case of capital markets, a key economic institution: while the absence of well-developed capital markets may indeed have stimulated the emergence of business groups, we propose that BG affiliation and the scrutiny that maturing capital markets impose on firms that participate actively in them nevertheless can play a complementary role in influencing a firm's performance. We find support for our predictions in a novel longitudinal data set of Indian firms that contain both listed and unlisted BG affiliated as well as unaffiliated firms
Investigating the firm life-cycle theory on Australian SMEs in the ICT sector

Four points of major criticism can be identified regarding the application of firm life-cycle theory on SMEs: inconsistency of empirical validation; descriptive nature of the model; regression in the cycle is neglected; and linear, sequential life-cycle model. Data was collected on Australian SMEs in the ICT sector, using an established quantitative methodology. Propositions were formulated based on critical literature, and were evaluated using the data. It was found, that the life-cycle classification was possible and meaningful. Progression along the life-cycle path was predominant, but regression could also be identified. An idle life-cycle stage could not be clearly identified using clustering. However, when investigating the shift between life-cycle stages, a substantial group of idle firms has been shown.