Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Smoking cessation in pain patients.

BACKGROUND Chronic pain patients often have comorbidities, including social habits such as tobacco abuse, they use to cope with pain states. This study tested the hypothesis that physician activism, communication, and interest in smoking cessation can reduce or eliminate tobacco use. METHODS We developed a survey to evaluate patients' smoking habits and to determine if active physician participation changed these habits. RESULTS We surveyed a total of 112 patients. Of the 56 smokers, 59% reported they had previously tried to stop. Smokers initially reported smoking 25.5 cigarettes per day for an average of 18.4 years. After receiving monthly physician messages regarding smoking, 51 of the smokers (91%) reported a reduction. These patients reported an average of 7.2 cigarettes smoked per day. Of the smoking patients, 79% indicated that they were influenced to reduce or stop smoking at the clinic, and 86% recalled that they heard specific statements from their doctor in the clinic. After reducing the number of cigarettes smoked, patients reported breathing better (68%), feeling better (66%), and experiencing less pain (34%). CONCLUSION Physician influence correlated with smoking reduction in this study.
The performance of international organizations: a policy output approach

ABSTRACT Many problems confronting today’s societies are transnational in character, leading states to increasingly rely on international organizations (IOs) for policy solutions. Yet, the performance of IOs varies extensively. This contribution suggests that systematic, comparative research is required to advance our understanding of IO performance, and that a policy output approach offers particular advantages for that purpose. This approach privileges the results IOs produce in terms of policies, and is distinct from the main alternative approaches to IO performance, emphasizing either behavioural change by targets (policy outcome) or problem-solving effectiveness (policy impact). The contribution introduces a typology that captures five generic features of policy – volume, orientation, type, instrument and target – and explains how these dimensions may be used to map the output and assess the performance of IOs. The contribution concludes by discussing what methods and theories may be most useful in explaining policy output, as the research agenda on IO performance advances.
Surveying the Literature and the People: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Civic Pride

Public funds to build sports stadiums are commonly justified by the perceived economic impacts and civic pride they create for the community. Since the 1980s, there have been many studies looking at the economic impact and civic pride created by professional sports teams. Most of the literature supports the idea that economic impacts are not created, but there are mixed results on the magnitude of civic pride. Overall, most of the economic literature suggests that the benefits created by sports teams or events do not outweigh the cost of public subsidies provided. We further the research by reviewing the economic impact and civic pride literature and matching it to survey results on the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics to see if economic research has informed public opinion. We find that the survey results match the findings in the literature suggesting that economics profession has indeed informed public opinion. Key Words: Economic Impact, Civic Pride, Sport Stadiums
Toward Contingency Theory of performance measurement

Performance measurement, although extensively studied in the last two decades, has been given relatively little consideration in terms of the factors that influence the design of performance measurement systems. Few organisations appear to have systematic processes in place for managing the evolution of their measurement systems and few researchers appear to have explored the question, what determines the design of an organisation’s measurement system? The paper addresses this gap by providing empirical evidence on performance measurement contingencies based on a sample of large Slovenian companies. In den letzten Jahren sind in der Entwicklung von Performance-Messung als einer wissenschaftlichen Disziplin grosse Fortschritte erzielt worden, aber mangelhaft aus der Perspektive von Faktoren, die auf die Bildung von Performance-Messungsystemen Einfluss ausuben. Wenige Unternehmen entwickeln systematische Prozesse, um die Evolution der PerformancemessungSystemen zu leiten und auch wenige Forscher setzen sich mit der Frage auseinander, wodurch das Design eines Performance-Messungsystems determiniert wird. In diesem Artikel werden die empirischen Daten aufgrund einiger slowenischen Mustergro3unternehmen ermittelt.
Experimental Perspectives on Intergenerational Altruism: A Study on Public Good Dilemmas

Humans evolved over millennia into agents that invest heavily, both directly and indirectly, in their children. Part of the investment into children is represented by contributions to long-run public goods, including the educational system, the health-care system, major infrastructures and environmental protection. Moreover, the production of some of these public goods has wide-ranging externalities to local or global communities (think of vaccination programs, for example). This Doctoral Thesis is a collection of three essays on the topic of long-run, across-the-border public goods, from the vantage point of Experimental and Behavioral Economics. The first Chapter reviews the literature up to date, re-organizing previous works on Public Good games for the benefit of explaining why intergenerational and international public goods are different from standard ones. The second and third Chapters provide empirical evidence on matters such as heterogeneity linked to seniority and dynastic membership in the provision of public goods.
Caregivers' Experience: Bimonthly Participation in a Year-Long Research Interview Process

New caregivers of stroke survivors participated in a bimonthly research interview process for a year-long intervention study. The purpose of this current project was to describe the telephone interview experience for those in the study's control group. We purposively selected 14 participants to answer a telephone survey. The following themes emerged: (a) looking forward to talking with someone, (b) feeling helped and staying connected, (c) being busy caregiving and taking care of business, (d) helping others, and (e) being ambivalent or negative about the interview process. Orem's self-care deficit nursing theory was then applied to reflect upon these themes. It is important for nurse researchers to remember that interviews used for data collection are not neutral or noninteractive.
Is There Asymmetric Volatility in New Zealand During the Global Financial Crisis?

The recent Global Financial Crisis resulted to significant decline of stock markets around the world and increasing price volatility. Based on Black (1976) where he found that bad news had a greater impact on stock market volatility compared to good news of similar magnitude, the purpose of this study is to examine the asymmetric volatility in the New Zealand stock market during the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis. We employ the EGARCH model proposed by Nelson (1991) and the TGARCH model proposed by Glosten, Jagannathan and Runkle (1993) to capture asymmetric effects on NZX50 index from January 2004 to March 2012. Our results provide evidences of the presence of asymmetric volatility in the New Zealand stock market during the whole period of study. In addition, both models indicated a significant increase in asymmetric volatility during the Global Financial Crisis.
Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of the Cell Envelopes and Native Membrane Vesicles Derived from Gram‐Negative Bacteria

Proteins localized to the cell envelope and naturally released membrane vesicles (MVs) play diverse functions in physiology and pathogenesis of Gram‐negative bacteria. Study of these proteome fractions is essential for better understanding the basic physiological processes, development of vaccines, and identification of potential drug targets. This unit presents gel‐free quantitative proteomic methods for comprehensive proteomic profiling of the cell envelopes and MVs. The procedure starts with the precipitation of the isolated proteome fractions to remove any potential compounds that may interfere with downstream experimental steps. Subsequently, the proteins are reduced, alkylated, and subjected to trypsin digestion. The trypsinized peptides are labeled using isobaric tagging for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ), and analyzed samples are pooled and subjected to rigorous prefractionations by strong cation exchange (SCX) and reversed‐phase (RP) liquid chromatography (LC). Finally, the tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) fragmentation enables peptides identification and quantification. Curr. Protoc. Microbiol. 34:1F.3. 1‐1F.3. 16. © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Chemoembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients who undergo liver transplantation.

PURPOSE To determine the efficacy of chemoembolization (CHE) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with a cirrhotic liver. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-one patients with cirrhosis and 33 HCC nodules received a mean of 2.4 cycles of CHE before orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Iodized oil plus doxorubicin (13 patients) or mitoxantrone (eight patients) was injected into the hepatic artery. Twelve (57%) of the patients underwent terminal embolization with gelatin sponge pledgets. After OLT, the percentage of tumor necrosis was assessed in each HCC nodule. RESULTS Twelve (36%) of 33 HCC nodules responded completely to CHE (necrosis > 90%). Successful treatment was statistically significantly related to nodular diameter greater than 2 cm (P = .03), solitariness (P = .0009), hypervascularity (P = .001), and good retention of iodized oil (P = .05). Seven (33%) of the patients had major complications; no death occurred in association with CHE. All patients survived OLT; in three patients (14%), HCC recurred a median of 21 months after OLT. CONCLUSION CHE seems to be an effective treatment for HCC in patients with liver cirrhosis who await OLT.
Effects of Fluorescein on Tear Breakup Time and on Tear Thinning Time

ABSTRACT A simple, noninvasive method of in vivo precorneal tear film stability analysis is described. The method involves observing the first catoptric (first Purkinje) image. The effect of fluorescein on the results and the relation with standard tear breakup time (BUT) are presented.
Chirality in Anesthesia II: Stereoselective Modulation of Ion Channel Function by Secondary Alcohol Enantiomers

Chirality has been proposed as a means for distinguishing relevant from irrelevant molecular targets of action, but the sensitivity and specificity of this test is unknown for volatile anesthetics. We applied enantiomers of two chiral anesthetic alcohols (2-butanol and 2-pentanol) that are enantioselective for the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) preventing movement in 50% of animals and one (2-hexanol) that was not to frog oocytes. Each oocyte expressed one of three anesthetic-sensitive ion channels: a Twik-related-spinal cord K+ (TRESK) channel, a &ggr;-amino butyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor and an N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. Using voltage-clamp techniques, we found that 2-butanol was not enantioselective for any channel (e.g., 16 mM 2-butanol R(−) and S(−) enantiomers decreased current through an NMDA receptors by 44% ± 3% [mean ± se] and 37% ± 4%, respectively); 2-pentanol was enantioselective for one channel (the GABAA receptor, the enantiomers increasing current by 277% ± 20% and 141% ± 30%); 2-hexanol was enantioselective for both GABAA and NMDA receptors (e.g., decreasing current through the NMDA receptor by 19% ± 3% and 43% ± 5%). We calculated the sensitivity and specificity of chirality as a test of anesthetic relevance under two scenarios: 1) all three channels were relevant mediators of MAC and 2) no channel was a mediator of MAC. These sensitivities and specificities were poor because there is no consistent correspondence between receptor and whole animal results. We recommend that enantioselectivity not be used as a test of relevance for inhaled anesthetic targets.
Results of Decompression With Middle Cranial Fossa Approach or Traumatic Intratemporal Fascial Nerve Injury

Objective To present the results of the traumatic intratemporal facial nerve injury that have undergone facial nerve decompression by using middle cranial fossa (MCF) approach. Study Design A retrospective study Setting Tertiary referral center Patients and Methods In this study, 13 patients who developed facial paralysis due to temporal bone trauma and undergone decompression by using MCF approach in Department of Otorhinolaryngology of İzmir Katip Celebi University Research and Training Hospital between January 1993 and December 2012 were presented retrospectively. Patients were assessed in terms of side, etiology, fracture type, House-Brackmann (HB) grade, electroneuronography (ENOG), electromyography (EMG), hearing loss, operation time, and the region of the injury. Results The fracture was at the right side in 7 (53.8%) and at the left side in 6 patients (46.1%). The type of temporal bone fracture was longitudinal in 6 (46.1%), transverse in 2 (15.3%), and mixed in 5 patients (38.4%). Total axonal degeneration in EMG and ENOG were seen in all patients, who were HB grade 6 at preoperative assessment. Mean operation time was 30 days. The lesion in all patients was at the region of geniculate ganglion. There was conductive hearing loss in 7 patients (53.8%), sensorineural in 4 (30.7%), and mixed in 1 patient (7.6%); hearing was normal in 1 patient (7.6%). Seven patients (53.8%) improved to HB grade 2. Conclusion In the light of the information obtained from HRCT, ENOG, and EMG, we believe that better results can be achieved with facial nerve decompression that is performed before 1 month, and geniculate ganglion region may be better controlled by MCF approach.
Irritant effects of a detergent in wash and chamber tests

Irritant properties of detergents can be tested by using patch and chamber tests and various kinds of use tests. The aim of the present study was to compare the results of use and 12 mm Finn Chamber® tests. Study subjects (10 atopic and 11 non‐atopic medical students) washed the outer aspect of 1 upper arm with liquid detergent for 1 minute 2x daily for 1 week. 48‐h chamber test with 5 concentrations of the same detergent in water were concurrently applied to upper back skin. Transepidermal water loss (TEWL), electrical capacitance and skin blood flow were measured to quantify reactions on days 0, 2, 5 and 7. Irritant contact dermatitis developed equally in atopics and non‐atopies in the wash test, whereas in the chamber test with a 10% aq. solution of the detergent, increase in TEWL was significantly higher in atopies than in non‐atopies. The chamber test results thus predicted poorly the result of the wash test. This might indicate that the wash test and the chamber test measure different aspects of skin barrier function.
Experimental Research on Very-Fast Transient Overvoltage in 1100-kV Gas-Insulated Switchgear

Very-fast transient overvoltage (VFTO) generated during switching of the disconnector in gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) may threaten the safety operation of electrical equipment. As the rated voltage of GIS increases, the difference between the level of VFTO and its lightning impulse withstand voltage gradually decreases. Hence, VFTO becomes the main dielectric stress to switchgear optimization and insulation coordination for ultra-high voltage (UHV) systems. To obtain the characteristics of VFTO in UHV GIS, two full-scale 1100-kV GIS test circuits were established in China. Two types of capacitive sensors were developed to measure VFTO generated in two test circuits. The measurement systems based on both types of the sensors were calibrated by a special calibration device in laboratories and onsite. The measurable frequency range of the systems is 0.1 Hz ~ 100 MHz and their division ratios are stable. More than 2000 tests by switching the disconnector in GIS had been carried out in the test circuits, and VFTO waveforms were captured by the measurement systems. From the test results, the waveform properties, the striking number, the predominant frequency, and distribution of the trapped charge voltage for full-voltage waveforms, the typical characteristics and oscillation coefficient of single-strike waveform, the distribution of VFTO magnitude was analyzed. The mitigation of VFTO by a damping resistor in the disconnector was illustrated. The maximum magnitude of VFTO was 2.27 p.u. , and it was mitigated to 1.33 p.u. by a damping resistor of 500 Ω. The achieved characteristics of VFTO in the UHV GIS have become the basis of VFTO simulation and insulation coordination for engineering design.
The genetics of the myelodysplastic syndromes: Classical cytogenetics and recent molecular insights

Abstract Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a complex group of clonal hematopoietic disorders with an attendant diverse array of associated genetic changes. Conventional cytogenetics plays a prominent and well-established role in determining the contemporary diagnosis and prognosis of these disorders. More recently, molecular approaches have been useful in further characterizing this group of diseases, albeit in a largely experimental context, with the detection of changes at the single gene level including mutations, amplification and epigenetic phenomena. Nevertheless, we remain largely ignorant of the genetic underpinnings of MDS. Here we briefly review the established role of cytogenetics in MDS, and emphasize recent advances in unraveling the genetics of MDS, with a view towards how such findings might facilitate our ability to understand, diagnose and treat these disorders in a more rational manner.
Implications of new labour legislation for commercial agriculture in KwaZulu-Natal.

New labour legislation was introduced to agriculture in September 1993. This study examines the effects of the new legislation on agriculture, mainly in terms of increased farmers' transaction costs when dealing with labourers. The new legislation introduced to agriculture includes the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), Unemployment Insurance Act (UlA) and Agricultural Labour Act (ALA). Data were collected via a postal survey of 450 commercial farmers in KwaZulu-Natal (including 150 sugar-cane farmers, 150 dairy farmers and 150 beef farmers), of whom 135 returned usable questionnaires. The questionnaire dealt with the financial and labour structures on the farm, implementation of the new legislation, use of contractors, impact of minimum wages, education and trade unions. The supply of labour to agriculture in South Africa is relatively elastic, due to the high percentage of unemployed people. An increase in the cost of labour may cause farmers to use more substitutes, such as machinery, new technologies and contractors. The study examines machinery and labour contracting in commercial agriculture in KwaZuluNatal and to what extent new labour legislation may affect farmers' attitudes towards the use of contractors. Descriptive statistics show employment of contractors, impact of enterprise type on use of contractors, and farming activities which are contracted out. Logistic regression suggests that on-farm implementation of new labour legislation, enterprise type, age of the respondent and turnover (farm size) influence a farmer's decision whether or not to contract in machinery ii i
Treatment of Plaque-Type Psoriasis With Oral CF101: Data from a Phase II/III Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND CF101, an adenosine A3 receptor agonist, is an orally bioavailable small molecule drug presenting an anti-psoriatic effect demonstrated in a Phase 2 clinical trial in psoriasis patients. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the safety and efficacy of CF101 treatment in a Phase 2/3 study in patients with moderate to severe plaque-type psoriasis. METHODS This multicenter, double-blind, 2-segment, placebo-controlled study randomized subjects with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis to CF101 1 or 2 mg, or placebo twice daily. At either week 12 (Segment 1) or 16 (Segment 2), the placebo group crossed over to CF101 BID through week 32 in an open-label fashion. At week 12, following an interim analysis, the CF101 1mg group was discontinued due to futility. The primary endpoint was proportion of patients achieving ≥75% improvement in Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI 75). Efficacy testing was performed using the Cochran-Mantel Haenszel test, the primary analysis of PASI 75 was performed at the 0.035 significance level. RESULTS CF101 had an excellent safety profile at all tested dosages with a profile similar to the placebo group. The most common adverse events were infections and gastrointestinal events, and there was no cumulative intolerance over the 32-week dosing period. The study did not meet the primary endpoint of PASI 75 at week 12 (2 mg: 8.5% vs. placebo: 6.9%, P=0.621). However, at week 32, PASI mean percent improvement with CF101 2 mg was 57% (P<0.001) compared to baseline, with linear improvement in PASI 50 (63.5%), 75 (35.5%), 90 (24.7%), and 100 (10.6%). CONCLUSIONS Oral CF101 was found to be safe and very well tolerated, demonstrating evidence of efficacy in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis through 32 weeks of treatment. J Drugs Dermatol. 2016;15(8):931-938.
Computerized analysis of behavioural states in asymmetrical growth retarded fetuses

The fetal behaviour of 15 asymmetrical intrauterine growth retarded (IUGR) fetuses was compared to that of a control group of healthy fetuses. Fetuses underwent simultaneous cardiotocographic and ultrasonographic examinations for 2 consecutive hours at 36-38 weeks' gestation. Behavioural states analysis was carried out by means of a computerized system (Digital PDP 11) that allowed the recording of several fetal variables including heart rate (FHR), gross body movements (FM), eye movements (FEM) and breathing movements (FBM). FHR was classified in four different patterns (FHRP) according to Nijhuis et al.; fetal movements were automatically synchronized with FHR and grouped for each FHRP. Several quantitative parameters (i.e. incidence, mean duration, lag time, % time spent moving) were then computed for each movement. There were no statistical differences in the distribution of FHRP between healthy and IUGR fetuses. On the other hand quantitative differences were found when the movements investigated were related to FHRP. In IUGR fetuses FEM were mainly represented by low frequency movements (IEM) during both low (FHRP A) and high variability (FHRP B) FHRP, whereas healthy fetuses exhibited mostly rapid eye movements (REM) during FHRP B and absent type of FEM during FHRP A. Moreover IUGR fetuses showed a reduction of state 1F (quiet sleep) and an increase of periods of no coincidence between behavioural state variable when compared to the control group fetuses. These findings, therefore suggest the existence of quantitative differences in fetal behaviour in asymmetrical IUGR fetuses when compared to healthy fetuses.
Accuracy decomposition and team decision making: Testing theoretical boundary conditions.

The purpose of this study was to examine the implications of accuracy decomposition (D. Gigone & R. Hastie, 1997) for team decision making. Specifically, the authors tested the generalizability of the multilevel theory of team decision making (J. R. Hollenbeck et al., 1995), across various components of accuracy. The authors also tested the generalizability of this theory across different levels of staff-member specialization. Results from a study with 420 individuals in 105 teams demonstrate that the validity of the multilevel theory generalizes across specialization levels but fails to generalize across different components of decision accuracy. The authors concluded that this theory is best conceptualized as a theory of achievement accuracy, rather than mean bias or variability bias.