Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protocolized Intensive Care Unit Management of Analgesia, Sedation, and Delirium Improves Analgesia and Subsyndromal Delirium Rates

BACKGROUND: Sedatives and analgesics, in doses that alter consciousness in the intensive care unit (ICU), contribute to delirium and mortality. Pain, agitation, and delirium can be monitored in ICU patients. These symptoms were noted before (PRE) and after (POST) a protocol to alleviate undesirable symptoms. Analgesia and sedation levels, the incidence of coma, delirium, length of stay (LOS), discharge location, and mortality were then compared. We hypothesized that the likely reduction in iatrogenic coma would result in less delirium, because these 2 morbid conditions seem to be linked. METHODS: All patients were consecutively admitted to an ICU PRE-protocol (August 2003 to February 2004, 610 patients) and POST-protocol (April 2005 to November 2005, 604 patients). Between February 2004 and April 2005, we piloted and taught individualized nonpharmacologic strategies and titration of analgesics, sedatives, and antipsychotics based on sedation, analgesia, and delirium scores. We measured the following outcomes: coma, delirium, LOS, mortality, and discharge location. RESULTS: The POST group benefited from better analgesia, received less opiates (90.72 ± 207.45 vs 22.93 ± 40.36 morphine equivalents/d, P = <0.0001), and, despite comparable sedation, had shorter duration of mechanical ventilation. Medication-induced coma rates (18.1%vs 7.2%, P < 0.0001), ICU and hospital LOS, and dependency at discharge were lower in the POST-protocol group. Subsyndromal delirium was significantly reduced; delirium was similar. The 30-day mortality risk in the PRE cohort was 29.4% vs 22.9% in the POST cohort (log-rank test, P = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Educational initiatives incorporating systematic management protocols with nonpharmacologic measures and individualized titration of sedation, analgesia, and delirium therapies are associated with better outcomes.
Unilateral inner ear damage results in lasting changes in hippocampal CA1 field potentials in vitro

We investigated the effects of a surgical lesion of one vestibular inner ear (unilateral vestibular damage [UVD]) on the field potential responses of CA1 neurons in vitro. Hippocampal slices were removed from rats at 4–6 weeks or 5–6 months post‐UVD, and the field responses of CA1 neurons to electrical stimulation of the Schaffer collateral commissural pathway were analyzed. Compared with slices from sham and naive control animals, slices from UVD animals at 5–6 months post‐UVD exhibited decreases in the population spike amplitude, the somal field excitatory postsynaptic potential (sfEPSP) slope, and the field EPSP (fEPSP) slope. For the population spike amplitude and fEPSP slope, this effect was observed in both CA1 ipsilateral and contralateral to the UVD. On both the ipsilateral and contralateral sides, paired‐pulse testing showed increases in paired‐pulse inhibition at the shortest interstimulus intervals (ISIs), with increases in paired‐pulse facilitation at longer ISIs. This study provides the first evidence that peripheral vestibular damage can produce long‐term changes in hippocampal electrophysiological activity in vitro. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
M&A Maturity Index: Evidence from Seven Emerging Markets

This paper develops a useful, robust, and reliable scoring methodology to determine a country’s capability to develop and sustain mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity on the basis of publically available and continuously updated information. Due to the global economic downturn in 2008-2009, many Western companies are now looking to focus their business expansion in emerging markets where growth possibilities are perceived as better. The focus of this paper is therefore on emerging markets as illustrated by the seven countries selected as case studies (representing key emerging markets), however the scoring methodology could be applied to any country. This study analyses 31 factors in total which capture key legal, economic, financial, political, technological, and socio-cultural characteristics of countries. Each factor has been given a score of 1 to 5, where 1 represents fully open to M&A and 5 represents closed to M&A activity. The findings show an overall score of 2.70 for the seven countries compared to scores of 1.61 and 1.65 for the US and UK, respectively. The lower scores for the US and the UK signify the validity of the scoring methodology since these two countries are regarded as the most developed and open to M&A, and have the highest M&A activity. Interestingly, South Korea has the lowest score out of the seven selected case study countries (1.84), i.e., it is the country found to be best equipped to attract and sustain M&A, owing to the presence of a developed regulatory system, political stability, and high technical innovation. Russia has the worst score (3.26) mainly due to economic and political instability, making it a less attractive market.
Electoral Proximity and the Political Involvement of Bureaucrats: A Natural Experiment in Argentina, 1904

In this paper, I use a slightly modified version of the Becker–Stigler model of corrupt behavior to explain bureaucratic political involvement. Since bureaucrats prefer higher rewards and not to support losing candidates, we expect them to become politically involved near elections – when rewards are expected to be higher, and information more abundant. Taking advantage of a natural experiment, I employ differences-in-means and differences-in-differences techniques to estimate the effect of electoral proximity on the political involvement of justices of the peace in the city of Buenos Aires in 1904. I find a large, positive, and highly local effect of electoral proximity on their political involvement, with no appreciable impact in the months before or after elections.
Tourism, globalization and economic growth: a panel cointegration analysis for selected West African States

This study examined the tourism-led hypothesis for selected 11 countries of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Panel cointegration technique was employed to inspect long-run relationship between study variables. Results of fully modified ordinary least squares and dynamic ordinary least squares confirmed the positive effect of physical capital, tourism and economic globalization index on economic growth. Thus, tourism-led growth hypothesis exists in ECOWAS. Conversely, negative impact of foreign direct investment on growth was captured.
System Design for Opportunistic Networks

Opportunistic networking (a.k.a. device-to-device communication) is considered a feasible means for offloading mobile data traffic. Since mobile nodes are battery-powered, opportunistic networks must be expected to satisfy the user demand without greatly affecting battery lifetime. To address this requirement, this work introduces progressive selfishness, an adaptive and scalable energy-aware algorithm for opportunistic networks used in the context of mobile data offloading. The paper evaluates the performance of progressive selfishness in terms of both application throughput and energy consumption via extensive trace-driven simulations of realistic pedestrian behavior. The evaluation considers two modes of nodal cooperation: full and limited, with respect to the percentage of nodes in the system that adopt progressive selfishness. The paper demonstrates that under full cooperation the proposed algorithm is robust against the distributions of node density and initial content availability. The results show that in certain scenarios progressive selfishness achieves up to 85% energy savings during opportunistic downloads while sacrificing less than 1% in application throughput. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that in terms of total energy consumption (by both cellular and opportunistic downloads) in dense environments the performance of progressive selfishness is comparable to downloading contents directly from a mobile network. Finally, the paper shows that progressive selfishness is robust against the presence of non-cooperative nodes in the system, and that in certain scenarios the system-level performance does not deteriorate significantly under limited cooperation even when 50% of the nodes in the system do not adhere to the specifics of the algorithm.
Best single-slice location to measure visceral adipose tissue on paediatric CT scans and the relationship between anthropometric measurements, gender and VAT volume in children.

OBJECTIVE Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is a significant risk factor for obesity-related metabolic diseases. This study investigates (1) the best single CT slice location for predicting total abdominal VAT volume in paediatrics and (2) the relationship between waist circumference (WC), sagittal diameter (SD), gender and VAT volume. METHODS A random sample of 130 paediatric abdomen CT scans, stratified according to age and gender, was collected. Three readers measured VAT area at each intervertebral level between T12 and S1 using ImageJ analysis (National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD) software by thresholding -190 to -30 HU and manually segmenting VAT. Single-slice VAT measurements were correlated with total VAT volume to identify the most representative slice. WC and SD were measured at L3-L4 and L4-L5 slices, respectively. Regression analysis was used to evaluate WC, SD and gender as VAT volume predictors. RESULTS Interviewer and intraviewer reliability were excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.99). Although VAT measured at multiple slices correlated strongly with abdominal VAT, only one slice in females at L2-L3 and two slices in males at L1-L2 and L5-S1 were strongly correlated across all age groups. Linear regression analysis showed that WC was strongly correlated with VAT volume (beta = 0.970, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION Single-slice VAT measurements are highly reproducible. Measurements performed at L2-L3 in females and L1-L2 or L5-S1 in males were most representative of VAT. WC is indicative of VAT. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE VAT should be measured at L2-L3 in female children and at either L1-L2 or L5-S1 in males. WC is a strong indicator of VAT in children.
Increased Mucosal CD4+ T Cell Activation in Rhesus Macaques following Vaccination with an Adenoviral Vector

ABSTRACT The possibility that vaccination with adenovirus (AdV) vectors increased mucosal T cell activation remains a central hypothesis to explain the potential enhancement of HIV acquisition within the Step trial. Modeling this within rhesus macaques is complicated because human adenoviruses, including human adenovirus type 5 (HAdV-5), are not endogenous to macaques. Here, we tested whether vaccination with a rhesus macaque-derived adenoviral vector (simian adenovirus 7 [SAdV-7]) enhances mucosal T cell activation within rhesus macaques. Following intramuscular SAdV-7 vaccination, we observed a pronounced increase in SAdV-7-specific CD4+ T cell responses in peripheral blood and, more dramatically, in rectal mucosa tissue. Vaccination also induced a significant increase in the frequency of activated memory CD4+ T cells in SAdV-7- and HAdV-5-vaccinated animals in the rectal mucosa but not in peripheral blood. These fluctuations within the rectal mucosa were also associated with a pronounced decrease in the relative frequency of naive resting CD4+ T cells. Together, these results indicate that peripheral vaccination with an AdV vector can increase the activation of mucosal CD4+ T cells, potentially providing an experimental model to further evaluate the role of host-vector interactions in increased HIV acquisition after AdV vector vaccination. IMPORTANCE The possibility that vaccination with a human adenovirus 5 vector increased mucosal T cell activation remains a central hypothesis to explain the potential enhancement of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition within the Step trial. In this study, we tested whether vaccination with a rhesus macaque-derived adenoviral vector in rhesus macaques enhances mucosal CD4+ T cell activation, the main cell target of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)/HIV. The results showed that vaccination with an adenoviral vector indeed increases activation of mucosal CD4+ T cells and potentially increases susceptibility to SIV infection.
Phenotypic and functional characterization of mature dendritic cells from pediatric cancer patients

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen‐presenting cells of the immune system. Clinical trials have demonstrated that mature DCs loaded with tumor‐associated antigens can induce tumor‐specific immune responses. Theoretically, pediatric patients are excellent candidates for immunotherapy since their immune system is more potent compared to adults. We studied whether sufficient amounts of mature monocyte‐derived DCs can be cultured from peripheral blood of pediatric cancer patients.
A Pedicled Vascularized Ulnar Nerve Graft Based on the Epineurial Vascular Supply: A Case Report

V ascularized ulnar nerve transfer has been employed as a salvage procedure in reconstruction of brachial plexus injuries and of extensive defects of the median nerve. The earliest technique—two-stage pedicled ulnar nerve graft transfer 1 —has been replaced by microvascular methods, which involve harvesting a segment of the ulnar nerve as a ﬂap nourished directly either by the superior collateral ulnar artery 2–4 or by the ulnar artery. 5 Birch at al, 4 describing a large series of patients with brachial plexus injuries, mention an epineurium-based ulnar nerve graft proposed by Nar-akas. Few details of the technique and of the results were given. The following case report describes a technique of pedicled
Cause of portal or hepatic venous thrombosis in adults: The role of multiple concurrent factors

According to a recent hypothesis, venous thrombosis results from the concurrence of several factors. This hypothesis was assessed in patients with portal or hepatic venous thrombosis by simultaneously investigating most of the currently identified prothrombotic disorders, local precipitating factors, and other risk factors such as oral contraceptive use. Patients with a tumorous obstruction and patients with cirrhosis with portal vein thrombosis were excluded. The prothrombotic disorders that were investigated included classical and occult myeloproliferative disorders; antiphospholipid syndrome; protein C; protein S and antithrombin deficiency; factor V Leiden; factor II; and methylene‐tetrahydrofolate‐reductase gene mutations. We found 1 or several prothrombotic disorders and a local precipitating factor in 26 and 10 of the 36 patients with portal vein thrombosis, respectively; and in 28 and none of the 32 patients with hepatic vein thrombosis, respectively. We found a combination of prothrombotic disorders in 5 and 9 patients with portal and hepatic vein thrombosis, respectively, whereas such a combination is expected in less than 1% of asymptomatic subjects. Of the 10 patients with a local precipitating factor, 8 had a prothrombotic disorder. Of the 13 patients who use oral contraceptives, 10 had a prothrombotic disorder. We conclude that portal or hepatic venous thrombosis should be regarded as an index for 1 or several prothrombotic disorders, whether or not local precipitating factors or oral contraceptive use are found. Concurrence of prothrombotic disorders is more common than expected. Extensive investigation of prothrombotic disorders and anticoagulation should be considered in patients with portal or hepatic venous thrombosis.
Intracellular Modulation of Signaling Pathways by Annexin A6 Regulates Terminal Differentiation of Chondrocytes*

Background: Regulation of terminal chondrocyte differentiation is important for bone development and cartilage pathology. Results: Annexin A6 regulates terminal chondrocyte differentiation by modulating key signaling pathway activities. Conclusion: Annexin A6 acts an intracellular regulator of terminal chondrocyte differentiation. Significance: The understanding of the mechanisms that regulate terminal chondrocyte differentiation is crucial for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cartilage diseases. Annexin A6 (AnxA6) is highly expressed in hypertrophic and terminally differentiated growth plate chondrocytes. Rib chondrocytes isolated from newborn AnxA6−/− mice showed delayed terminal differentiation as indicated by reduced terminal differentiation markers, including alkaline phosphatase, matrix metalloproteases-13, osteocalcin, and runx2, and reduced mineralization. Lack of AnxA6 in chondrocytes led to a decreased intracellular Ca2+ concentration and protein kinase C α (PKCα) activity, ultimately resulting in reduced extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activities. The 45 C-terminal amino acids of AnxA6 (AnxA6(1–627)) were responsible for the direct binding of AnxA6 to PKCα. Consequently, transfection of AnxA6−/− chondrocytes with full-length AnxA6 rescued the reduced expression of terminal differentiation markers, whereas transfection of AnxA6−/− chondrocytes with AnxA6(1–627) did not or only partially rescued the decreased mRNA levels of terminal differentiation markers. In addition, lack of AnxA6 in matrix vesicles, which initiate the mineralization process in growth plate cartilage, resulted in reduced alkaline phosphatase activity and Ca2+ and inorganic phosphate (Pi) content and the inability to form hydroxyapatite-like crystals in vitro. Histological analysis of femoral, tibial, and rib growth plates from newborn mice revealed that the hypertrophic zone of growth plates from newborn AnxA6−/− mice was reduced in size. In addition, reduced mineralization was evident in the hypertrophic zone of AnxA6−/− growth plate cartilage, although apoptosis was not altered compared with wild type growth plates. In conclusion, AnxA6 via its stimulatory actions on PKCα and its role in mediating Ca2+ flux across membranes regulates terminal differentiation and mineralization events of chondrocytes.
Can Low-Tuition Policy Improve Education Fairness and Social Welfare?

This is a comparative study of the effects of different tuition policies on education fairness and social welfare.A traditional,theoretical view supposes that raising tuition will contradict the above aims.The article first discusses the theoretical relationships between higher education tuition and dropout probability.It concludes that depending on the circumstances,the same tuition level may bring different effects on educational fairness.The article then presents an empirical analysis: when there is significant income gaps,low-tuition policy alone can not effectively improve educational access and social welfare for the disadvantaged groups;on the contrary,high-tuition policy may have better effectiveness and efficiency.It is hoped that these findings may inform policy-making of higher education pricing in China.
Alterations of Pancreatic Beta-cell Mass and Islet Number due to Ins2-controlled Expression of Cre Recombinase: RIP-Cre Revisited; Part 2

Tissue-specific disruption of genes by targeted expression of Cre recombinase in insulin-producing cells has been widely used to explore pathways involved in regulation of pancreatic beta-cell mass. One particular line of transgenic mice [B6.Cg-Tg(Ins2-cre)25Mgn/J], commonly called RIP-Cre, in which the expression of Cre recombinase is controlled by a short fragment of the rat insulin II gene promoter has been used on at least 20 genes in at least 27 studies. In the majority of these studies (15 out of 27) inactivation of the gene of interest was associated with alterations in islet architecture, islet mass, or pancreatic insulin content. We have tested the hypothesis that genomic integration or expression of Cre recombinase alone causes alterations of beta-cell mass by quantifying islet number and mass in RIP-Cre mice. We have observed a significant hypoplasia of beta-cells in young RIP-Cre mice, and a significant hyperplasia of islets in older RIP-Cre animals. These findings suggest that glucose intolerance and impaired insulin secretion previously described for younger RIP-Cre mice might be caused by transgene-associated islet hypoplasia, and that hyperplasia in older mice might reflect a compensatory response to transgene-related glucose intolerance.
Effects of Dietary Fat on Virus-Induced Pancreatic Carcinogenesis in Guinea Fowl

The present study was performed to assess the effects of diets supplemented with low (5%) and high (20%) corn oil on a Pts 56 retrovirus-induced model of pancreatic carcinogenesis in guinea fowl. The early microscopic lesions appear after 3 mo after virus treatment and progress over time. Eight to 10 mo after initiation, up to 100% of virus-inoculated birds develop multiple hyperplastic and neoplastic pancreatic lesions of duct/ductular phenotype. Short-term (1-4 mo) feeding of low- or high-fat diets, beginning at Month 3, had no significant effects on body and pancreatic weight. However, the incidence, multiplicity, and areas of the pancreatic tissue occupied by intra- and interlobular aggregates of hyperplastic ducts with mucinous metaplasia of the lining cells were significantly increased compared with the birds fed the common diet. At the same time, development of ductular neoplasms, particularly carcinomas, was retarded compared with the common diet-fed controls. Long-term (5-7 mo) fat intake resulted in an increase in body weight gain, while absolute pancreatic weights remained relatively constant. Furthermore, the high- and low-fat diets caused a significant increase in areas of retrovirus-induced pancreatic lesions, as well as an increase in multiplicity of ductular neoplasms compared with short-term fat feeding. It is concluded that short-term feeding of diets supplemented with 5% or 20% corn oil delayed the development of the common virus-induced ductular neoplasms, particularly carcinomas, and had an enhancing effect on development of hyperplastic inter- and intralobular aggregates of ducts. This finding was not observed, however, during the long-term feeding period of the study.
Adolescents' health behaviours and its associations with psychological variables.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study was to investigate the prevalence of health risk behaviours among a random sample of Korean adolescents and the relationship of psychological variables with health risk behaviours. METHODS 885 students ranged from 7th to 9th grade were randomly selected from 3 junior high schools in Dobong-gu district, Seoul. Four Korean-version measures were used to assess the health risk behaviour and psychological variables of adolescents. Frequency analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were performed to accomplish the purpose of the study. RESULTS Korean adolescents showed high prevalence of physical inactivity (n = 67%), smoking (n = 54%), drinking alcohol (n = 69%), eating problem (n = 49%), mental health problem (n = 57%), and viewing pornography (n = 47%). In addition, this study revealed that the three psychological variables (multidimensional health locus of control, self-efficacy, and self-esteem) were significantly correlated with health risk behaviours, and had significant effect to account for health risk behaviours (R2 = 0.42 for physical inactivity, 0.33 for viewing pomography, 0.31 for smoking, 0.28 for mental health problems, 0.26 for illegal drug use, 0.19 for drinking alcohol, and 0.15 for eating problem). CONCLUSION The current study provides significant information on psychological variables related to adolescents' health risk behaviour. This study has the potential to influence the development of better health education and promotion programs for adolescents.