Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased Self-Diffusion of Brain Water in Hydrocephalus Measured MR Imaging

We used MR imaging to measure the apparent brain water self-diffusion in 5 patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), in 2 patients with high pressure hydrocephalus (HPH), and in 8 age-matched controls. In all patients with NPH significant elevations of the apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) of brain water were found within periventricular white matter, in the corpus callosum, in the internal capsule, within cortical gray matter, and in cerebrospinal fluid, whereas normal ADCs were found within the basal ganglia. In 2 patients with HPH elevated ADCs were found most prominently within white matter, and in one patient reexamined one year after surgery, ADCs were unchanged in nearly all brain regions. The increased ADC values in hydrocephalus patients may be caused by factors such as changes in myelin-associated bound water, increased Virchow-Robin spaces, and increased extracellular brain water fraction. For further studies of brain water diffusion in hydrocephalus patients, echo-planar imaging techniques with imaging times of a few seconds may be valuable.
Energy flows in thick accretion discs and their consequences for black hole feedback

We study energy flows in geometrically thick accretion discs, both optically thick and thin, using general relativistic, three-dimensional simulations of black hole accretion flows. We find that for non-rotating black holes the efficiency of the total feedback from thick accretion discs is $3\%$ - roughly half of the thin disc efficiency. This amount of energy is ultimately distributed between outflow and radiation, the latter scaling weakly with the accretion rate for super-critical accretion rates, and returned to the interstellar medium. Accretion on to rotating black holes is more efficient because of the additional extraction of rotational energy. However, the jet component is collimated and likely to interact only weakly with the environment, whereas the outflow and radiation components cover a wide solid angle.
Evaluation of the nitrate content in leaf vegetables produced through different agricultural systems

The nitrate content of leafy vegetables (watercress, lettuce and arugula) produced by different agricultural systems (conventional, organic and hydroponic) was determined. The daily nitrate intake from the consumption of these crop species by the average Brazilian consumer was also estimated. Sampling was carried out between June 2001 to February 2003 in Campinas, São Paulo State, Brazil. Nitrate was extracted from the samples using the procedure recommended by the AOAC. Flow injection analysis with spectrophotometric detection at 460 nm was used for nitrate determination through the ternary complex FeSCNNO+. For lettuce and arugula, the average nitrate content varied (p < 0.05) between the three agricultural systems with the nitrate level in the crops produced by the organic system being lower than in the conventional system that, in turn, was lower than in the hydroponic system. For watercress, no difference (p < 0.05) was found between the organic and hydroponic samples, both having higher nitrate contents (p < 0.05) than conventionally cultivated samples. The nitrate content for each crop species varied among producers, between different parts of the plant and in relation to the season. The estimated daily nitrate intake, calculated from the consumption of the crops produced by the hydroponic system, represented 29% of the acceptable daily intake established for this ion.
Involvement of Rho‐kinase and tyrosine kinase in hypotonic stress‐induced ATP release in bovine aortic endothelial cells

1 Hypotonic stress induces ATP release followed by Ca2+ oscillations in bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs). We have investigated the cellular mechanism of the hypotonic stress‐induced ATP release. 2 Hypotonic stress induced tyrosine phosphorylation of at least two proteins, of 110 and 150 kDa. Inhibition of tyrosine kinase by the tyrosine kinase inhibitors herbimycin A and tyrphostin 46 prevented ATP release and ATP‐mediated Ca2+ oscillations induced by hypotonic stress. 3 ATP release was also inhibited by the pretreatment of the cells with botulinum toxin C3, and augmented by lysophosphatidic acid. Furthermore, pre‐treating the cells with Y‐27632, a selective inhibitor of Rho‐kinase, also suppressed the hypotonic stress‐induced ATP release and Ca2+ oscillations, indicating that Rho‐mediated activation of Rho‐kinase may be involved in the hypotonic ATP release. 4 Hypotonic stress also induced a transient rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton, which was suppressed by the tyrosine kinase inhibitors Y‐27632 and cytochalasin B. However, pretreatment of the cell with cytochalasin B inhibited neither the hypotonic stress‐induced ATP release nor the Ca2+ oscillations. 5 These results indicate that tyrosine kinase and the Rho‐Rho‐kinase pathways are involved in hypotonic stress‐induced ATP release and actin rearrangement, but actin polymerization is not required for ATP release in BAECs.
A study of bilateral teleoperation with time delay using command governor

This paper considers the bilateral teleoperation with time delay. The stability of the bilateral teleoperation is compensated by the local controllers. However, the constraints violation occurs in the implementation of the real system. In this paper, the command governor is applied to the bilateral teleoperation, which modifies the command to avoid constraint violations. In the simulation, the performance of the proposed bilateral teleoperation system is verified using a single-degree of freedom master/slave system.
Regional Cerebral Blood Flow Patterns and Response to Donepezil Treatment in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

We attempted to identify the characteristic patterns in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) of patients with Alzheimer’s disease who responded to donepezil therapy. Sixty-one patients treated with donepezil were divided into two groups (responders and nonresponders) on the basis of changes in their Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores from baseline to study endpoint. We analyzed single-photon emission computed tomography data (SPECT) at baseline using three-dimensional stereotactic surface projections and compared differences in rCBF between the two groups. Statistical maps showed a significantly lower rCBF of the lateral and medial frontal lobes in the nonresponders than in the responders. There was a significant inverse correlation between the relative rCBF reduction in the frontal lobe and the MMSE change. These results suggest that frontal function, as assessed by SPECT, affects the patient’s response to treatment with donepezil. Measuring rCBF may aid in the selection of possible treatment responders.
Self-consistent modeling of beam instabilities in 980-nm fiber pump-lasers

Emission nonlinearities such as kinks in the L-I characteristic and beam steering have often been observed in semiconductor power lasers that were designed for single-mode operation. A physical model of these phenomena is presented in which they are attributed to effects of the lasing and coherent coupling of multiple lateral modes. This model has been implemented self-consistently in a finite-element scheme. Simulation results for a typical 980-nm fiber pump laser are described and are found to be in good qualitative agreement with experimental observations. This agreement includes bilateral steering of the peak field, nonsymmetric emission field intensity in a symmetric device, nonlinearity and kinks in the L-I characteristics, and beating patterns in the back plane image.
Homologous substitution of ACE C-domain regions with N-domain sequences: effect on processing, shedding, and catalytic properties

Abstract Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) exists as two isoforms: somatic ACE (sACE), comprised of two homologous N and C domains, and testis ACE (tACE), comprised of the C domain only. The N and C domains are both active, but show differences in substrate and inhibitor specificity. While both isoforms are shed from the cell surface via a sheddase-mediated cleavage, tACE is shed much more efficiently than sACE. To delineate the regions of tACE that are important in catalytic activity, intracellular processing, and regulated ectodomain shedding, regions of the tACE sequence were replaced with the corresponding N-domain sequence. The resultant chimeras C1–163Ndom-ACE, C417–579Ndom-ACE, and C583–623Ndom-ACE were processed to the cell surface of transfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, and were cleaved at the identical site as that of tACE. They also showed acquisition of N-domain-like catalytic properties. Homology modelling of the chimeric proteins revealed structural changes in regions required for tACE-specific catalytic activity. In contrast, C164–416Ndom-ACE and C191–214Ndom-ACE demonstrated defective intracellular processing and were neither enzymatically active nor shed. Therefore, critical elements within region D164–V416 and more specifically I191–T214 are required for the processing, cell-surface targeting, and enzyme activity of tACE, and cannot be substituted for by the homologous N-domain sequence.
A historical mortality study among bus drivers and bus maintenance workers exposed to urban air pollutants in the city of Genoa, Italy

Objective A historical mortality cohort study was conducted in Genoa, Italy among public transport workers ever employed between 1949 and 1980, to estimate overall and cause-specific mortality from January 1970 to December 2005 and to examine associations between exposure to urban air pollutants and overall and cause-specific mortality. Methods Causes of death for 9267 males (6510 bus drivers, 2073 maintenance workers and 601 white collar workers) were coded according to ICD-9. Standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) and 95% CIs were computed by applying Italian and regional male death rates to person-years of observation for the entire cohort and following stratification by longest held job title and length of and time since first employment using the Poisson regression model. Results There were 2916 deaths and 230 009 person-years of observation; 17 subjects were lost to follow-up. SMRs for all causes, diseases of the circulatory, respiratory, digestive and genitourinary systems, and for accidents were lower than expected. SMRs (95% CI) were increased for lung cancer (1.16, 1.05 to 1.28), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (1.23, 0.85 to 1.78), Hodgkin's lymphoma (2.14, 1.19 to 3.87) and diabetes mellitus (1.16, 1.05 to 1.28). The SMR for leukaemia was 0.77 (0.51 to 1.16). Hodgkin's lymphoma mortality was significantly increased among bus drivers (1.62, 1.37 to 5.04). Lung cancer risk was significantly increased among all workers after 30 years' employment and among maintenance workers. Conclusions The study failed to show any increased risk for leukaemias. The increased mortality from Hodgkin's lymphoma and lung cancer may be associated with long-term exposure to urban air pollution.
Selection Bias and Econometric Remedies in Accounting and Finance Research

While managers’ accounting and financial decisions are, for many, fascinating topics, selection bias poses a serious challenge to researchers estimating the decisions’ effects using non-experimental data. Selection bias potentially occurs because managers’ decisions are non-random and the outcomes of choices not made are never observable. “Selection bias due to observables” arises from sample differences that researchers can observe but fail to control. “Selection bias due to unobservables” arises from the unobservable and thus uncontrolled sample differences that affect managers’ decisions and their consequences. In this article I review two econometric tools developed to mitigate these biases – the propensity score matching (PSM) method to mitigate selection bias due to observables and the Heckman inverse-Mills-ratio (IMR) method to address selection bias due to unobservables – and discuss their applications in accounting and finance research. The article has four takeaways. First, researchers should select the correct method to alleviate potential selection bias: the PSM method mitigates selection bias due to observables, but does not alleviate selection bias due to unobservables. Second, in applying PSM researchers are advised to restrict their inferences to firms whose characteristics can be found in both the sample and control groups. Third, the IMR method, though popular, is limited to situations in which the choices are binary, the outcomes of choices are modeled in a linear regression, and the unobservables in the choice and outcome models follow a multivariate normal distribution. Researchers can overcome these constraints by using full information maximum likelihood estimation. Last, when the IMR method is used, special attention should be paid to the formulas in calculating IMRs. The article also calls for researchers’ attention to other approaches to evaluating the effects of managers’ decisions.
hMutSalpha- and hMutLalpha-dependent phosphorylation of p53 in response to DNA methylator damage.

hMSH2.hMSH6 heterodimer (hMutSalpha) and hMLH1.hPMS2 complex (hMutLalpha) have been implicated in the cytotoxic response of mammalian cells to a number of DNA-damaging compounds, including methylating agents that produce O(6)-methylguanine (O(6)MeG) adducts. This study demonstrates that O(6)MeG lesions, in which the damaged base is paired with either T or C, are subject to excision repair in a reaction that depends on a functional mismatch repair system. Furthermore, treatment of human cells with the S(N)1 DNA methylators N-methyl-N-nitrosourea or N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine results in p53 phosphorylation on serine residues 15 and 392, and these phosphorylation events depend on the presence of functional hMutSalpha and hMutLalpha. Coupled with the previous demonstration that O(6)MeG.T and O(6)MeG.C pairs are recognized by hMutSalpha, these results implicate action of the mismatch repair system in the initial step of a damage-signaling cascade that can lead to cell-cycle checkpoint activation or cell death in response to DNA methylator damage.
A Comparison of the Stability of Measures of Personality Traits, Self-esteem, Affective Well-being, and Cognitive Well-being

A variety of statistical models have been developed to examine longitudinal stability and change of individual differences. Kenny and Zautra’s (1995) trait-state-error (TSE) model models stability as a function of stable variance that does not change (trait), moderately stable variance that changes over time (state), and error variance. Applications of this model have been limited to panel studies with repeated observations of the same individual. The present study developed a non-linear regression model to apply the TSE model to retest correlations from different samples. This model was used to compare the stability of measures of personality traits, affective well-being (AWB), cognitive well-being (CWB), and self-esteem. After correcting for differences in reliability, age, gender, and scale length, the amount of trait (vs. state) variance was similar across constructs. Stability of the state component was highest for AWB and CWB, suggesting that situational influences have most enduring effects on these two constructs.
External validation of the biodegradability prediction model CATABOL using data sets of existing and new chemicals under the Japanese Chemical Substances Control Law

External validation of the biodegradability prediction model CATABOL was conducted using test data of 338 existing chemicals and 1123 new chemicals under the Japanese Chemical Substances Control Law. CATABOL predicts that 1089 chemicals will have a BOD < 60% while 925 (85%) actually have an observed BOD<60%. The percentage of chemicals with an observed BOD value <60% tends to increase as the predicted BOD values decrease. In contrast, 340 chemicals were predicted to have a BOD ≥ 60% and 234 (69%) actually had an observed BOD ≥ 60%. The prediction of poor biodegradability was more accurate than the predictions of high biodegradability. The features of chemical structures affecting CATABOL predictability were also investigated.
Chemopreventive effects of diosmin and hesperidin on N‐butyl‐N‐(4‐hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine‐induced urinary‐bladder carcinogenesis in male ICR mice

The chemopreventive effects of 2 flavonoids (diosmin and hesperidin) on N‐butyl‐N‐(4‐hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine (OH‐BBN)‐induced urinary‐bladder carcinogenesis were examined in male ICR mice. Animals were divided into 11 groups, and groups 1 to 7 were given OH‐BBN (500 ppm) in the drinking water for 6 weeks. Groups 2 to 4 were fed diets containing the test compounds (group 2, 1000 ppm diosmin; group 3, 1000 ppm hesperidin; group 4,900 ppm diosmin + 100 ppm hesperidin) for 8 weeks during the initiation phase, while groups 5 to 7 were fed these diets, respectively, for 24 weeks during the post‐initiation phase. Groups 8 to 11 were controls, given only the test compounds or untreated basal diets throughout the experiment (weeks 1 to 32). The incidence of bladder lesions and cell‐proliferation activity estimated by enumeration of silver‐stained nucleolar‐organizer‐region‐associated proteins (AgNORs) and by the 5‐bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR)‐labeling index was compared among the groups. Feeding of the test compounds, singly or in combination, during both phases caused a significant reduction in the frequency of bladder carcinoma and pre‐neoplasia. Dietary administration of these compounds significantly decreased the AgNOR count and the BUdR‐labeling index of various bladder lesions. These findings suggest that the flavonoids diosmin and hesperidin, individually and in combination, are effective in inhibiting chemical carcinogenesis of the bladder, and that such inhibition might be partly related to suppression of cell proliferation. Int. J. Cancer 73:719–724, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Neuromuscular and cardiovascular effects of mivacurium chloride (BW B1090U) during nitrous oxide-fentanyl-thiopentone and nitrous oxide-halothane anaesthesia.

Seventy-two adult surgical patients were studied to compare neuromuscular and cardiovascular effects of mivacurium chloride during nitrous oxide-fentanyl-thiopentone (BAL group) or nitrous oxide-halothane (HAL group) anaesthesia. Eighteen patients in the BAL group received an initial bolus of mivacurium, either the ED25 (n = 9) or the ED50 (n = 9) (0.03 and 0.05 mg kg-1). These doses were based on the assumption that the slope of the dose-response curve during nitrous oxide-opioid anaesthesia would be approximately the same as the slope of the neuromuscular response from the first human studies with mivacurium. Twenty-seven additional patients were allocated to subgroups of nine patients to receive mivacurium 0.04, 0.08 or 0.15 mg kg-1. Twenty-seven patients in the HAL group were allocated also to subgroups of nine patients to receive mivacurium 0.03, 0.04 or 0.15 mg kg-1. During stable anaesthesia, mean endtidal halothane concentrations were maintained at 0.49 +/- 0.01%. The estimated ED50, ED75 and ED95 for BAL and HAL groups were 0.039, 0.05 and 0.073 mg kg-1 and 0.040, 0.053 and 0.081 mg kg-1, respectively. Halothane did not potentiate maximum block or time to maximum block. Halothane did affect spontaneous recovery. With the 0.15-mg kg-1 dose, time to 95% recovery was prolonged significantly in the HAL group (30.0 (SEM 1.4) min) compared with the BAL group (24.1 (1.5) min). Recovery index from 25% to 75% recovery was also prolonged significantly in the HAL group (7.0 (0.4) min) compared with the BAL group (5.4 (0.4) min). There were no significant haemodynamic changes in groups given mivacurium doses up to and including 2 x ED95 by bolus i.v. administration.
Agreement on Target-Bidirectional LSTMs for Sequence-to-Sequence Learning

Recurrent neural networks, particularly the long short- term memory networks, are extremely appealing for sequence-to-sequence learning tasks. Despite their great success, they typically suffer from a fundamental short- coming: they are prone to generate unbalanced targets with good prefixes but bad suffixes, and thus perfor- mance suffers when dealing with long sequences. We propose a simple yet effective approach to overcome this shortcoming. Our approach relies on the agreement between a pair of target-directional LSTMs, which generates more balanced targets. In addition, we develop two efficient approximate search methods for agreement that are empirically shown to be almost optimal in terms of sequence-level losses. Extensive experiments were performed on two standard sequence-to-sequence trans- duction tasks: machine transliteration and grapheme-to- phoneme transformation. The results show that the proposed approach achieves consistent and substantial im- provements, compared to six state-of-the-art systems. In particular, our approach outperforms the best reported error rates by a margin (up to 9% relative gains) on the grapheme-to-phoneme task.
Comparative Visual Performance of Three Presbyopic Contact Lens Corrections

We compared the visual performance of a soft diffractive (DIFF) bifocal contact lens, a near center (CN) concentric bifocal design, and monovision (MV), using a comprehensive vision testing protocol. Fifteen presbyopic subjects who were successfully wearing DIFF bifocal contact lenses participated in the study. Of the three systems tested, MV provided best visual acuity at distance and near; less than one line of acuity was lost relative to best spectacle acuity under all lighting and contrast conditions, and there was less disturbance of a point source of light. Both bifocal corrections gave similar visual acuity performance, with more lines of acuity lost relative to spectacles at near compared to distance. However, the concentric bifocal induced more ghosting at near than the other two systems. Stereopsis was compromised at distance with MV correction, but all systems performed worse than spectacles at near. An understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of presbyopic contact lens options allows the clinician to improve management of the presbyope who wishes to wear contact lenses.
Staged Endovascular Balloon Occlusion versus Conventional Approach for Patients with Abnormal Placentation: A Literature Review

Abstract Objective: Abnormal placentation is a serious complication of pregnancy, and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. There has been recent debate regarding the deployment of occlusive balloons as an adjuvant to surgery to minimize blood loss in these patients. This article reviews the literature on the use of occlusive balloons for management of placenta accreta and outlines some proposals for future management that may improve outcomes. Design: This is a review of published literature regarding endovascular approaches to minimizing hemorrhage during cesarean,delivery in patients with placenta accreta, increta, and percreta. Materials and Methods: Articles published in the English language between 1995 and 2011 regarding the surgical extirpative or conservative approach to placenta accreta, increta, and percreta were reviewed using the search engine, MEDLINE®. Key words used were abnormal placentation, internal iliac occlusive balloons, placenta accreta, and uterine embolization.