Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship Between Adherence to Hepatitis C Virus Therapy and Virologic Outcomes

BACKGROUND Adherence to therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been incompletely examined. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the relationship between adherence to HCV therapy and early and sustained virologic response, assess changes in adherence over time, and examine risk factors for nonadherence. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING National Veterans Affairs Hepatitis C Clinical Case Registry. PATIENTS 5706 HCV-infected patients (genotypes 1, 2, 3, or 4) with at least 1 prescription for both pegylated interferon and ribavirin between 2003 and 2006 and HCV RNA results before and after treatment initiation. MEASUREMENTS Adherence was calculated over 12-week intervals by using pharmacy refill data. End points included early virologic response (decrease of ≥2 log(10) HCV RNA at 12 weeks) and sustained virologic response (undetectable HCV RNA 24 weeks after the end of treatment). RESULTS Early virologic response increased with higher levels of adherence to ribavirin therapy over the initial 12 weeks (patients with HCV genotype 1 or 4, 25 of 68 [37%] with ≤40% adherence vs. 1367 of 2187 [63%] with 91% to 100% adherence [P < 0.001]; patients with HCV genotype 2 or 3, 12 of 18 [67%] with ≤40% adherence vs. 651 of 713 [91%] with 91% to 100% adherence [P < 0.001]). Among patients with HCV genotype 1 or 4, sustained response increased with higher adherence to ribavirin therapy over the second, third, and fourth 12-week intervals. Results were similar for adherence to interferon therapy. Mean adherence to therapy with interferon and ribavirin decreased by 3.4 and 6.6 percentage points per 12-week interval, respectively (P for trend < 0.001 for each drug). Patients who received growth factors or thyroid medications during treatment had higher mean adherence to antiviral therapy. LIMITATION This was an observational study without standardized timing for outcome measurements. CONCLUSION Early and sustained virologic responses increased with higher levels of adherence to interferon and ribavirin therapy. Adherence to therapy with both antivirals decreased over time, but more so for ribavirin.
Knowledge management and organizational learning: typologies of knowledge strategies in the Spanish manufacturing industry from 1995 to 1999

Investigates organizational knowledge strategies in Spanish industry; using survey questionnaire covering: organizational knowledge management, organizational learning and performance. Applies Bierly and Chakrabarty’s typology of generic knowledge strategies to perform cluster analysis and classify firms. Implications for strategy emerge: each firm owns a specific bundle of resources forming organizational capabilities; uniqueness nature is outcome of different organizational decisions. Knowledge strategies determine stocks and flows of organizational knowledge and competitive advantage of firms. Decisions involving trade‐offs between knowledge exploitation or exploration, internal or external knowledge, breadth of knowledge base, etc. should be made to configure the best strategy. Results show organizational performance varies across clusters. Knowledge strategy should be integrated among strategic decisions to get good organizational fit.
Repair of the Defect in Spondylolysis. Durable Fixation with Pedicle Screws and Laminar Hooks*

Direct repair of a defect in the pars interarticularis was performed with use of bone-grafting and internal fixation with a pedicle screw, rod, and laminar hook in order to achieve a higher prevalence of osseous union than that achieved with commonly used procedures. The configuration of the head of the screw, which is designed to allow it to connect with the rod at the necessary angle, simplified the placement of the rod. The procedure was performed in sixteen patients who had a bilateral defect of the pars interarticularis with or without grade-I or II spondylolisthesis, had had failure of non-operative treatment, and had had temporary relief of pain after the area of the defect in the pars interarticularis had been infiltrated with lidocaine. Concomitant degeneration of a disc was not a criterion for exclusion. The patients were followed for an average of twenty-five months (range, twenty-four to twenty-eight months). The average age at the time of the operation was thirty-two years (range, twelve to sixty years). Six patients had findings of nerve-root compression on myelography with computerized tomographic scanning, and the bone spurs overlying the affected nerve root around the defect in the pars interarticularis were removed with an ultrasonic osteotome through a small window. The implant was removed about one year after the operation. Oblique radiographs showed osseous union in the previous defect bilaterally in all sixteen patients. Thirteen patients were free of symptoms, and three had major improvement with occasional low-back pain. None had a complication, such as infection, breakage of the implant, or irritation of a nerve root. The method used for direct repair of the defect of the pars interarticularis in these patients proved to be simple and effective. Relief of symptoms appeared to depend on decompression of the affected nerve root, if one was involved, and on preoperative prediction of the locus of the symptoms by infiltration of the pars interarticularis with lidocaine.
Economic Surplus and Pension Asset Management

The popularity of the "surplus" framework for pension plan asset management reflects an understanding that the level and nature of the firm's pension liabilities should be an integral part of the investment decision. However, the value of the approach depends on whether economically meaningful liabilities are being employed. Surplus management is misleading and often dangerous if based on an incomplete or irrelevant understanding of pension liabilities.
On interference-aware precoding for multi-antenna channels with finite-alphabet inputs

This paper investigates the interference-aware linear precoder design with finite-alphabet inputs. It maximizes the mutual information between the transmitter and intended receiver while controlling the interference power caused to unintended receivers. For this nonconcave problem, this work proposes a global optimization approach, which is based on two key observations: 1) the interference-aware precoding problem can be reformulated to the problem minimizing a function with bilinear terms over the intersection of multiple co-centered ellipsoids; 2) these bilinear terms can be relaxed by their convex and concave envelopes. In this way, the global optimal solution is obtained by solving a sequence of relaxed problems over shrinking feasible regions. The proposed algorithm calculates the optimal precoder and the theoretical limit of the transmission rate with interference constraints. Thus, it offers an important benchmark for performance evaluation of interference constrained networks.
Massive bleeding following severe blunt trauma: the first minutes that can change everything

Abstract The first hour following a major trauma with massive bleeding is certainly the most decisive period in global trauma care. Most of it takes place during the prehospital care. Those prehospital minutes are thus determinant as they can be used to correctly identified patient’s clinical condition, initiate organization of the in-hospital needed resources and initiate specific therapies in the very early phase after trauma. Significant recent advances in this aspect of care have been made and but evidence to support some of those strategies is still lacking.
Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for the Treatment of Oligometastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma

Objectives:Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is considered radioresistant, but stereotactic radiosurgery can control intracranial metastases. Advances in radiotherapy, such as stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), allow high-dose radiation delivery to extracranial sites. Herein, we report our experience treating oligometastatic RCC with SBRT. Methods:Patients with RCC and limited metastases were treated on a 3-fraction dose-escalation protocol (8 to 14 Gy/fraction) or off protocol with 10 fractions (4 to 5 Gy/fraction). Disease control was evaluated with serial imaging, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate lesion control (LeC), distant control, and survival. Results:Eighteen consecutively treated patients with 39 metastases were treated using SBRT; 12 underwent treatment for all metastatic sites. Median follow-up was 16.2 months. Treatment was well tolerated; the most common acute toxicity was fatigue (61.1%) and late toxicity was limited. At 2 years, LeC was 91.4% and overall survival was 85%. Those who underwent treatment for all metastatic sites had a 2-year LeC of 100% and distant control of 35.7%. A shorter interval from diagnosis to SBRT predicted for distant progression. Freedom from any post-SBRT therapy was 64.2% at 1 year. Conclusions:In metastatic RCC, SBRT produces promising LeC with minimal toxicity. Further study should be expanded beyond that of managing intracranial disease. Its selected use may delay the requirement for systemic therapies.
Fault detection methods for reconfigurable manipulators via decentralized adaptive fuzzy nonlinear observer

In this paper, a decentralized adaptive fuzzy nonlinear observer is proposed for fault detection of reconfigurable manipulators. Estimation error is obtained from measured and observed velocity is used as the residual vector, the system is fault-free operation when residual vector is smaller than the selected threshold value. A fault is declared if the residual vector is greater than or equal to threshold, the threshold can be set based on the various trials conducted in absence of faults. The fuzzy logic systems are proposed for approximating unknown terms dynamic model of subsystem and interconnection term by using adaptive algorithm. With simulation, the effectiveness of the design technique is illustrated.
Cross-Border Trading as a Mechanism for Capital Flight: Adrs and the Argentine Crisis

This paper examines the surprising performance of the Argentine stock market in the midst of the country's most recent financial crisis and the role played by ADRs in Argentine capital flight. Although Argentine investors were subject to capital controls, they were able to purchase stocks with associated ADRs for pesos in Argentina, convert them into ADRs, re-sell them in New York for dollars and deposit the dollar proceeds in U.S. bank accounts. In the paper we show that: (1) ADR discounts went as high as 60% (indicating that Argentine investors were willing to pay significant amounts in order to legally move their funds abroad), (2) the market anticipated (correctly) a 40% devaluation, (3) local market factors in Argentina became more important in pricing peso denominated stocks with associated ADRs, while the same stocks in New York were mainly priced based on global factors, (4) capital outflow using the ADR market was substantial (our estimate is between $835 million and $3.4 billion)
Management Training and Development Needs Assessment Practices in the Jordanian Private and Public Sectors: Integrated or Isolated?

SUMMARY This paper aims to unveil the current plans, procedures and practices of management training and development (MTD) needs assessment in the Jordanian private and public organizations. Self-completion questionnaires were distributed to 64 training managers of whom 30 were from the private sector, and 34 were from the public sector. The major research findings include that only one-third of the investigated organizations report having a formal and systematic plan for the analysis of their managers' MTD needs; the majority of these organizations have conducted their MTD needs analysis for lower level management; and, even worse, the overwhelming majority of the respondents report assessing their managers training need in the absence of functional and organizational needs analysis. Also, the findings of the study show that in few of the organizations do training managers report having MTD needs assessment procedures linked with managers job description and management performance appraisal schemes. Finally, the author recommends that training managers should monitor effectively their MTD needs assessment plans and procedures. These plans should be related to the organization needs analysis and to the management appraisal scheme. Also, training managers are advised to make simultaneous analysis of the individual, functional and organizational needs before designing any training programme.
Empirical Generalizations about Advertising Campaign Success

ABSTRACT An analysis of 880 IPA Effectiveness Awards cases suggests that the following strategies increase advertising effectiveness in terms of sales and profit performance: focusing on “hard” objectives; focusing on price, not volume; focusing on penetration, not loyalty; influencing consumers on an emotional, rather than rational level; creating “talk value”; having a high SOV relative to market share; including TV in the media mix; using a small number of channels in concert. These results, which generalize across a variety of conditions, suggest that much common practice in advertising is suboptimal.
Low docosahexaenoic acid levels in rod outer segments of rats with P23H and S334ter rhodopsin mutations.

PURPOSE Previous studies have shown that the level of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3, DHA) is lower in the rod outer segment (ROS) membranes of dogs and mice with inherited retinal degeneration than in ROS from appropriate controls. In the present study, we analyzed the ROS fatty composition of several lines of transgenic rats with P23H and S334ter rhodopsin mutations. Lines were chosen that have different rates of retinal degeneration. METHODS At 21-22 days of age, animals were perfused and eyes fixed and sectioned for morphologic examination. Others were killed and retinas isolated for preparation of ROS by sucrose step-gradient centrifugation. Fatty acid composition of ROS phospholipids was determined by gas-liquid chromatography. Membrane purity was assessed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. RESULTS Retinas of the slow degenerating lines were indistinguishable from controls, whereas there was a 15-20% and 50-60% loss of photoreceptor cell nuclei in intermediate and fast degenerating lines, respectively. Except for the slow P23H line, all mutant lines had lower levels of 22:6n-3 and total n-3 fatty acids in ROS phospholipids, compared to wild-type controls, and the level of 22:6n-3 was lowest in those lines with the fastest rate of degeneration. The relative levels of the other fatty acid families (saturated, monoenoic, and n-6) increased proportionately. The n-6/n-3 ratio increased in the more rapidly degenerating lines, but the phospholipid/protein ratios did not change. The low levels of 22:6n-3 in the ROS membranes were not compensated for by an increase in 22:5n-6, which always occurs in the retina of animals where 22:6n-3 levels are reduced by dietary manipulation. CONCLUSIONS Rats that express mutant rhodopsins have lower levels of 22:6n-3 in their ROS phospholipids than wild-type animals. We propose that photoreceptor-specific mutations provoke a metabolic stress in rod photoreceptor cells that generates an oxidant stress in these cells. The retina responds to this stress by reducing the level of substrate for lipid peroxidation (22:6n-3).
Criterion for stability of Goldstone modes and Fermi liquid behavior in a metal with broken symmetry

Significance A remarkable feature of many particle systems is that although they are described by equations respecting various symmetries, they may spontaneously organize into a state that explicitly breaks symmetries. An example is a crystal that breaks the translation symmetry of space. In such cases, a celebrated theorem predicts an excitation, the Goldstone mode. In this paper we examine whether this continues to hold inside a metal, where electrons can collide with the Goldstone excitations. Our result is a one-equation criterion that specifies whether the interactions between electrons and Goldstone modes can be ignored or whether it completely changes their character. In the latter case, unusual phases of matter such as non-Fermi liquids or superconductors may arise. There are few general physical principles that protect the low-energy excitations of a quantum phase. Of these, Goldstone’s theorem and Landau–Fermi liquid theory are the most relevant to solids. We investigate the stability of the resulting gapless excitations—Nambu–Goldstone bosons (NGBs) and Landau quasiparticles—when coupled to one another, which is of direct relevance to metals with a broken continuous symmetry. Typically, the coupling between NGBs and Landau quasiparticles vanishes at low energies, leaving the gapless modes unaffected. If, however, the low-energy coupling is nonvanishing, non-Fermi liquid behavior and overdamped bosons are expected. Here we prove a general criterion that specifies when the coupling is nonvanishing. It is satisfied by the case of a nematic Fermi fluid, consistent with earlier microscopic calculations. In addition, the criterion identifies a new kind of symmetry breaking—of magnetic translations—where nonvanishing couplings should arise, opening a previously unidentified route to realizing non-Fermi liquid phases.
S100A8 and S100A9 in Human Arterial Wall

Atherogenesis is a complex process involving inflammation. S100A8 and S100A9, the Ca2+-binding neutrophil cytosolic proteins, are associated with innate immunity and regulate processes leading to leukocyte adhesion and transmigration. In neutrophils and monocytes the S100A8-S100A9 complex regulates phosphorylation, NADPH-oxidase activity, and fatty acid transport. The proteins have anti-microbial properties, and S100A8 may play a role in oxidant defense in inflammation. Murine S100A8 is regulated by inflammatory mediators and recruits macrophages with a proatherogenic phenotype. S100A9 but not S100A8 was found in macrophages in ApoE-/- murine atherosclerotic lesions, whereas both proteins are expressed in human giant cell arteritis. Here we demonstrate S100A8 and S100A9 protein and mRNA in macrophages, foam cells, and neovessels in human atheroma. Monomeric and complexed forms were detected in plaque extracts. S100A9 was strongly expressed in calcifying areas and the surrounding extracellular matrix. Vascular matrix vesicles contain high levels of Ca2+-binding proteins and phospholipids that regulate calcification. Matrix vesicles characterized by electron microscopy, x-ray microanalysis, nucleoside triphosphate pyrophosphohydrolase assay and cholesterol/phospholipid analysis contained predominantly S100A9. We propose that S100A9 associated with lipid structures in matrix vesicles may influence phospholipid-Ca2+ binding properties to promote dystrophic calcification. S100A8 and S100A9 were more sensitive to hypochlorite oxidation than albumin or low density lipoprotein and immunoaffinity confirmed S100A8-S100A9 complexes; some were resistant to reduction, suggesting that hypochlorite may contribute to protein cross-linking. S100A8 and S100A9 in atherosclerotic plaque and calcifying matrix vesicles may significantly influence redox- and Ca2+-dependent processes during atherogenesis and its chronic complications, particularly dystrophic calcification.
The faceless encounter: ethical dilemmas in telephone nursing.

AIM This paper aims to present the findings of a study designed to describe ethical dilemmas, in the form of conflicting values, norms and interests, which telenurses experience in their work. BACKGROUND Telephone nursing is an expanding part of health care. Telephone nurses in Sweden assess care needs, provide advice, support and information, and recommend and coordinate healthcare resources. Lately, ethical demands on healthcare professionals in general have increased. The reasons include new biomedical competence, an ageing population and constrained resources which have made priority setting a primary concern for doctors and nurses. When ethical problems arise, colleagues need open dialogue. Despite this, nurses lack such a dialogue. METHOD A purposeful sample of 12 female telenurses in Sweden was interviewed twice during 2004 and 2005. The transcribed interviews were analysed thematically. RESULTS Five themes were found: talking through a third party; discussing personal and sensitive problems over the phone; insufficient resources and the organization of health care; balancing callers' information needs with professional responsibility; and differences in judging the caller's credibility. CONCLUSION The present study has identified five different themes in which Swedish telenurses experience ethical dilemmas in their work. This shows how ethical dilemmas in various forms are present in telenursing. Questions of autonomy, integrity and prioritizing are particularly highlighted by the participating nurses. Telenurses in Sweden also experience new ethical demands due to a multicultural society. Although several of the identified dilemmas also occur in other areas of nursing we argue that these situations are particularly challenging in telenursing. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE The work organization should provide opportunities for ethical competence-building, where ethical dilemmas in telenursing are highlighted and discussed. Such a strategy might lead to decreased moral uncertainty and distress among telenurses, with positive consequences for callers.
Protecting Customers Online: Response from Pakistani Banks

Phishing is a phenomenon that is affecting the financial industry worldwide. An increasing number of financial institutions, especially banks, are being targeted annually by phishing attack perpetrators. The objective of this study is to investigate the preparedness of Pakistani banks against phishing attacks. For this purpose, websites of licensed Pakistani banks offering online banking services were analyzed. The analysis showed that few banks providing online banking services to their customers provided phishing-related information to their customers and adopted anti-phishing measures. For banks not providing online banking services it was found that most banks didn't provide any phishing-related information to their customers.
Taxonomy of Clathria (Thalysias) (Demospongiae: Poecilosclerida: Microcionidae) from the Colombian Caribbean, with description of three new species.

Thinly encrusting sponges are diverse and ecologically important, but their taxonomy is challenging. In the Greater Caribbean, the recognition of species of Clathria (Thalysias), most of which are encrusting, is still problematic. Here we describe and clarify the taxonomy of eight species, three new to science, from material collected mostly in Colombia. These are C. (T.) virgultosa, C. (T.) curacaoensis, C. (T.) venosa, C. (T.) minuta, C. (T.) oxeota, C. (T.) sulfocleistochela n. sp. , C. (T.) chelosigmoidea n. sp. , and C. (T.) opalina n. sp. Underwater color photographs are provided, together with drawings of spicules and skeleton, and SEM images of spicules. Two other well-established Caribbean species of the subgenus, vis. C. (T.) isodictyoides and C. (T.) collosclera (both from Curaçao) were not found in the studied material. A key for their identification is provided. Three more records, C. (T.) fascicularis Topsent, 1889, C. (T.) procera (Ridley, 1884) and C. (T.) basiarenacea (Boury-Esnault, 1973) are outlined for further study.