Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Myocardial blood flow and FDG retention in acutely stunned porcine myocardium.

UNLABELLED This study assesses regional differences in myocardial blood flow and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) retention in acutely stunned porcine myocardium. METHODS Two groups of swine were used for these studies. In Group 1, 15 animals underwent stunning induced by 20 min of myocardial ischemia followed by reperfusion. Regional function was measured with ultrasonic crystals and myocardial blood flows were quantitated with radiolabeled microspheres. Within 2 hr postischemia, myocardial blood flow images were obtained with 15O-water, and FDG uptake was estimated with dynamic scanning. In a second group of five animals, PET scanning was performed 2 hr poststunning and repeated 24 hr later. RESULTS In Group 1 animals, postischemic reductions were noted in both regional shortening and myocardial oxygen consumption. Myocardial blood flows at baseline were 0.72 +/- 0.05 ml/min/g in the LAD region and 0.83 +/- 0.07 ml/min/g in the non-LAD region; following reperfusion they were 0.70 +/- 0.07 ml/min/g and 0.89 +/- 0.08 ml/min/g, respectively. Within 2 hr of reperfusion, FDG retention was significantly lower in the LAD region compared with remote myocardium. As with Group 1, Group 2 also showed a reduction in FDG uptake in acutely reperfused myocardium relative to remote regions. Twenty-four hours later, FDG uptake within reperfused regions increased to 0.31 +/- 0.04 mumole/min/g and did not differ from remote myocardium. CONCLUSION FDG uptake in acutely stunned swine myocardium is lower than remote regions at a time when regional myocardial blood flows are not dissimilar. This differs from 24 hr following reperfusion in which enhanced FDG uptake may be observed relative to perfusion. Therefore, the time course of metabolic changes following reperfusion needs to be considered in patients undergoing viability studies with PET.
Detection of Linkage Between Solar and Lunar Cycles and Runoff of the World's Large Rivers

It is an ongoing concern that global hydrological cycle can be likely intensified under context of climate change and anthropogenic actions. Here, our results show that the solar and lunar periodic motions (SLPMs) have substantial impact on the runoff of the world's large rivers. We estimate that SLPMs can produce a change of the world's large rivers runoff by as much as 6.7%. Although climate models suggest that the increased frequency of extreme events is attributed to anthropogenic activities, it is out of our expectation that as much as 73% and 85% of the extreme flood and drought events (based on runoff discharged to the ocean) appear in resonance with SLPMs, respectively. A reevaluation of impacts of SLPMs on changes in the world's river runoff is urgently needed, especially when extreme drought and flood events are on the rise.
Essays on equity prices and market structures

Essays on Equity Prices and Market Structures. (August 2007) Juan Wu, B.A., Xi’an Foreign Languages University; M.S., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Ekkehart Boehmer In the first essay, we provide new evidence on the relationship between order flow and prices, an issue that is central to asset pricing and market microstructure. We examine proprietary data on a broad panel of NYSE-listed stocks that reveal daily order imbalances by institutions, individuals, and market makers. We can further differentiate regular institutional trades from institutional program trades. Our results indicate that order imbalances from different trader types play distinctly different roles in price formation. Institutions and individuals are contrarians with respect to previous-day returns but differ in the effect their order imbalances have on contemporaneous returns. Institutional imbalances are positively related to contemporaneous returns, and crosssectional evidence suggests this relationship is likely to be the result of firm-specific information institutions have. Individuals, specialists, and other market makers appear to provide liquidity to these actively trading institutions. Our results also suggest a special role for institutional program trades. Institutions choose program trades when they have no firm-specific information and can afford to trade passively. As a result, program
Impact of Appointment-Based Medication Synchronization on Existing Users of Chronic Medications.

BACKGROUND Appointment-based medication synchronization (ABMS) has been associated with greater patient adherence and persistence when patients begin taking chronic medications. It is not known whether similar results will be seen for patients who have been taking chronic medications for 6 months or more. OBJECTIVE To compare the impact of a community pharmacy chain's ABMS program on medication adherence and persistence of existing users of chronic medications with individuals who are not enrolled in the program. METHODS A retrospective cohort study compared patients receiving ABMS with matched comparison groups receiving usual care. ABMS consisted of synchronizing a patient's medications to be dispensed on a single appointment day every month, a call to the patient prior to the appointment day to address any prescription changes and to remind the patient, and a patient visit to the pharmacy to pick up the medications. Outcomes were 1-year adherence rates using proportion of days covered (PDC) and 1-year nonpersistence rates. Data for this study came from prescription claims records of patients taking 1 of 6 chronic medication classes during the period of December 1, 2011, to February 28, 2014. ABMS patients were matched with comparison groups according to prior adherence behavior, medication class, age, gender, and geographic region. RESULTS Mean PDC scores ranged from 0.73 to 0.91 for ABMS patients (n = 205 to 716) and from 0.57 to 0.71 for usual care depending on the medication class. The percentage of adherent individuals (i.e., PDC ≥ 0.80) was 55% to 84% for ABMS participants and 37% to 62% for usual care. Odds of adherence was 2.3 to 3.6 times greater with ABMS. Usual care patients became nonpersistent (61% to 74%) more often than ABMS patients (33% to 44%) with hazard ratios of nonpersistence being 0.39 to 0.67 for individuals in the program. CONCLUSIONS An ABMS program in a community pharmacy setting was associated with higher rates of adherence and persistence for patients who had been taking chronic medications for at least 6 months. Approximately 18 to 35 additional ABMS participants were adherent for every 100 patients enrolled when compared with usual care. For every 100 patients receiving usual care, 17 to 40 additional patients in the ABMS group were persistent. This study shows that ABMS programs can improve medication adherence and persistence for patients who are newly prescribed or currently taking chronic medications.
Are Judges Leading Economic Theory? Sunk Costs, the Threat of Entry and the Competitive Process*

In this paper, we attempt to bring theoretical form to a particular entry argument that has found favor in the courts. We suggest that sunk costs may not be a major impediment to entry when a group of customers can commit to an entry enhancing strategy. Buyers have strong incentives to adopt such strategies, because they benefit directly from the resulting lower prices. The simplest example involves a large buyer that is able to guarantee an entrant a market for its product. Long term contracts or even informal purchase commitments (backed by customer reputation) may also allow the entrant to obtain a guarantee of sufficient business to make the entry profitable. Once entry is thought likely to occur, the existing competitors may be unwilling to attempt a price increase of any magnitude. Thus, the threat of entry can maintain competitive prices even in the presence of sunk costs. In section II, we motivate the analysis by discussing the current controversy over the role entry conditions play in an antitrust merger review. Then we discuss the necessary assumptions for a model of how the threat of entry can deter any price increase in the presence of sunk costs. We note that these conditions are different from those commonly used in the economic literature.
The Prevalence of ADHD Among Primary School Children in an Arabian Society

Objective: The aim of this study is to identify Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders among primary school children in the State of Qatar. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study is conducted from March 2004 to February 2005. A total of 2,000 primary school students, ages 6 to 12, are selected, and 1,541 students (77.1%) give consent to participate in this study. An Arabic questionnaire is used to collect the sociodemographic variables and a standardized Arabic version of the Conners’ Classroom Rating Scale for ADHD symptoms. Of the students surveyed, 51.7% are males and 48.3% females. Results: The data reveal that 112 boys (14.1%) and 33 girls (4.4%) scored above the cutoff for ADHD symptoms, thus giving an overall prevalence of 9.4%. Children who have a higher score for ADHD symptoms have school performance poorer than those with lower scores (p = .003). Conclusion: The study reveals that ADHD is found to be a common problem among school children in Qatar.
New body composition reference charts for preterm infants.

BACKGROUND The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended that nutritional management of the preterm infant should aim to achieve body composition that replicates the in utero fetus, but intrauterine body composition reference charts for preterm infants are lacking. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to create body composition reference curves for preterm infants that approximate the body composition of the in utero fetus from 30 to 36 wk of gestation. DESIGN A total of 223 ethnically diverse infants born at 30 + 0 to 36 + 6 wk of gestation were enrolled. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were specified so that the sample would represent healthy appropriately growing fetuses (e.g., singleton, birth weight appropriate for their gestational age, and medically stable). Cross-sectional reference values were generated for fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), and percentage body fat (PBF) by gestational age (GA), with the use of air-displacement plethysmography (ADP) and the lambda-mu-sigma method for percentile estimation. RESULTS GA-specific percentile values and a percentile and z score calculator for FFM, FM, and PBF are presented. These values aligned closely with ADP centile values published for term infants from 36 to 38 wk of gestation. The medians were also similar to the mean values for the reference fetus derived from chemical analysis previously. CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, these are the first body composition reference charts for total FM and FFM at birth in preterm infants to assist in following AAP guidelines. Future work will test the clinical utility of body composition monitoring for improving nutritional management in this population. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02855814.
Twenty‐four‐hour blood pressure profile and blood pressure responses to head‐up tilt tests in Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy

Objective To investigate the 24 h blood pressure profile in patients with Parkinson's disease with intact autonomic function or with autonomic failure and patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA), and to assess whether these patients exhibit posture-related variations in blood pressure. Patients and methods We studied 24 patients with Parkinson's disease (11 with autonomic failure) and 13 patients with MSA (all with autonomic failure). Autonomic failure was determined by autonomic tests. An oscillometric recorder was used for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Tilt-table tests were performed with a head-up tilt position of 60°. Results An alteration in the normal 24 h blood pressure profile was observed in 82% of Parkinson's disease patients with autonomic failure and in 85% of those with multiple system atrophy, but not in the patients with intact autonomic function. Head-up tilt tests revealed a significantly higher supine blood pressure in Parkinson's disease patients with autonomic failure and in those with MSA than in Parkinson's disease patients with intact autonomic function. Tilting resulted in a marked fall in blood pressure in patients with MSA; in Parkinson's disease patients with autonomic failure, the fall was comparatively slighter. Conclusions We conclude that autonomic failure contributes to the alterations in the day–night blood pressure profile that may possibly be ascribed to postural dysregulation of blood pressure. We hypothesize that nocturnal hypertension is a risk factor in the development of additional cerebrovascular disease in patients with Parkinson's disease or MSA who are affected by autonomic failure.
The Impact of Public Branding: An Experimental Study on the Effects of Branding Policy on Citizen Trust

Branding has become common in the public sector as brands are increasingly used to influence citizens’ associations with public organizations and public services. Using experimental research replicated in three European countries, this article investigates the effect of using the European Union (EU) brand on trust in polices. Experiments were conducted among economics students in Belgium, Poland, and the Netherlands to test the hypothesis that adding EU brand elements to policies positively affects trust in those policies. The results show a consistent positive and significant effect of applying the EU brand to trust in the policies in all countries and for both policies included in the experiment—even in the Netherlands, a country characterized by a negative overall EU sentiment. These findings provide some of the first empirical evidence of the effectiveness of branding for public policy
Cough and bronchial responsiveness in firefighters at the World Trade Center site.

BACKGROUND Workers from the Fire Department of New York City were exposed to a variety of inhaled materials during and after the collapse of the World Trade Center. We evaluated clinical features in a series of 332 firefighters in whom severe cough developed after exposure and the prevalence and severity of bronchial hyperreactivity in firefighters without severe cough classified according to the level of exposure. METHODS "World Trade Center cough" was defined as a persistent cough that developed after exposure to the site and was accompanied by respiratory symptoms severe enough to require medical leave for at least four weeks. Evaluation of exposed firefighters included completion of a standard questionnaire, spirometry, airway-responsiveness testing, and chest imaging. RESULTS In the first six months after September 11, 2001, World Trade Center cough occurred in 128 of 1636 firefighters with a high level of exposure (8 percent), 187 of 6958 with a moderate level of exposure (3 percent), and 17 of 1320 with a low level of exposure (1 percent). In addition, 95 percent had symptoms of dyspnea, 87 percent had gastroesophageal reflux disease, and 54 percent had nasal congestion. Of those tested before treatment of World Trade Center cough, 63 percent of firefighters (149 of 237) had a response to a bronchodilator and 24 percent (9 of 37) had bronchial hyperreactivity. Chest radiographs were unchanged from precollapse findings in 319 of the 332 with World Trade Center cough. Among the cohort without severe cough, bronchial hyperreactivity was present in 77 firefighters with a high level of exposure (23 percent) and 26 with a moderate level of exposure (8 percent). CONCLUSIONS Intense, short-term exposure to materials generated during the collapse of the World Trade Center was associated with bronchial responsiveness and the development of cough. Clinical and physiological severity was related to the intensity of exposure.
Nonspecific Hyper-reactivity and Localized Allergy

Objective Disagreement between results of skin prick test (SPT) and nasal provocation tests (NPT) causes difficulty in differential diagnosis of allergic rhinitis (AR) and nonallergic rhinitis (NAR). We hypothesized this discrepancy could be due to the nonspecific hyper-reactivity (NHR) and localized allergy of the nasal cavity. Study Design Prospective pilot. Setting Academic tertiary rhinologic practice. Subjects and Methods Sixty patients with AR and 62 with NAR were enrolled. We categorized patients according to results of SPT and NPT. We compared: (1) the clinical characteristics and severity of the disease, (2) change of minimal cross-sectional area (MCA) and total nasal volume (TNV) after normal saline (NS) challenge, and (3) change of nasal symptoms and acoustic parameters after intranasal house dust mite (HDM) challenge between groups. Results Patients in groups A (SPT[+]/NPT[+]) and C (SPT[–]/NPT[+]) complained of more persistent discomfort than those in groups B (SPT[+]/NPT[–]) and D (SPT[–]/NPT[–]). The proportion of moderate to severe symptoms was significantly higher in groups A, B, and C compared to group D. After NS challenge, MCA/TNV showed a significantly greater decrease in groups A (MCA: 27.6% ± 21.3%, TNV: 24.6% ± 16.4%) and C (MCA: 31.2% ± 24.0%, TNV: 24.1% ± 23.4%) compared to groups B (MCA: 0.1% ± 13.2%, TNV: 3.9% ± 13.5%) and D (MCA: 2.1% ± 12.1%, TNV: 2.0% ± 17.2%) (P < .05). After HDM challenge, groups A/B showed a greater decrease in MCA (Group A: 62.4% ± 16.1%, Group B: 6.4% ± 11.3%) compared to groups C/D (Group C: 45.5% ± 14.4%, Group D: –3.0% ± 9.5%). Conclusion NHR and/or localized allergy should be considered in patients with rhinitis whose SPT and NPT results are not in agreement.
An analysis of an inflammatory bowel disease practice in an urban community hospital.

OBJECTIVES To review an individual community gastroenterologist's experience with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aspects studied were distribution of disease, need for hospital admission, immunosuppressants, systemic steroids, and surgery and its indications. The incidence of cancer was also reviewed. PATIENTS AND METHODS The charts of all IBD patients (n=373) seen between 1993 and 1996 by an individual gastroenterologist in an urban community hospital were reviewed for the aforementioned information. Patients seen during this period may have been diagnosed with IBD before or during the period of 1993 to 1996. RESULTS Of the 373 patients, 219 had Crohn's disease (CD) and 154 had ulcerative colitis (UC). The most common age of onset for both groups was 20 to 29 years. Distal UC and distal Crohn's colitis patients rarely required surgery, hospitalization, systemic steroids or immunosuppressants. Eighty per cent of patients with small bowel CD and 51% of those with ileocolonic CD required at least one operation. Of the UC patients, 10.4% required surgery. Of the UC patients undergoing surveillance for cancer, none developed cancer but one developed significant dysplasia. CONCLUSIONS In both CD and UC the site of the inflammation plays a major role in determining the need for hospitalization, surgery, systemic steroids and immunosuppressants. Distal UC, the most common form of UC in this group of patients, is a very benign disease. Of all forms of IBD, small bowel CD had the greatest need for hospitalization, surgery and systemic steroids.
The Association between Asthma and Dental Caries in Children and Adolescents: A Population–Based Case–Control Study

This study explored the potential association between childhood asthma and caries using oral examination and health interview data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1988–1994 (NHANES III). We fitted GEE Poisson regression models with adjustment for parents’ income, gender, race, exposure to potentially xerostomic drugs, and the presence of pit and fissure sealants. There was no association between the use of drugs commonly used by asthmatics (antihistamines, corticosteroids, and antiasthmatic inhalers) and df/DMF scores. Asthmatic children 4–10 years of age at all severity levels had similar dfs scores to the controls, however, severely asthmatic children 4–10 years of age had significantly lower DMFS (p = 0.010) and DMFT (0.049) scores than controls. Similarly, severely asthmatic children 11–16 years of age had significantly lower DMFT scores than controls (p = 0.024) and DMFS scores approaching statistical significance (p = 0.053). While our analysis adjusted for covariates, potential confounders such as fluoride intake from water, diet, use of topical fluorides, and dose of antiasthmatic medication could not be addressed. Our results indicate that any association between asthma and dental caries may occur primarily in younger children with no evidence of an association between asthma and dental caries as children mature.
Duration of Dialysis Is a Significant Predictor of Prolonged Postoperative Mechanical Ventilation in Dialysis-Dependent Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery

Prolonged mechanical ventilation is reported to correlate with increased risk of mortality after cardiac surgery. We designed the present study to determine the preoperative and intraoperative risk factors that could predict postoperative prolonged mechanical ventilation in dialysis-dependent patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Forty-four dialysis-dependent patients were divided into two groups; patients of group E were tracheally extubated within 24 h after admission to the intensive care unit postoperatively (n = 19) and patients of group L (n = 25) required more than 24 h of mechanical ventilation. All patients received hemofiltration during cardiopulmonary bypass and continuous veno-venous hemodialysis postoperatively. A multiple logistic regression analysis showed that duration of dialysis (>10 yr) and duration of surgery (>8 h) were independent risk factors of prolonged mechanical ventilation (>24 h). On admission to the intensive care unit, Pao2/Fio2 of group L was significantly lower than that of group E (294 ± 135 versus 415 ± 99 mm Hg) and the circulatory status of group L was worse than that of group E. The median (interquartile range) duration of intensive care unit stay in group E was 3 (3.00) days, which was significantly shorter than that of group L (5 [2.75] days). It is possible that longer surgery increases the likelihood of cardiac dysfunction and poor oxygenation in patients with a long history of dialysis.
1/f noise in etched groove surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators

Measurements of 1/f (or flicker) frequency fluctuations in SAW resonators fabricated with etched groove reflectors on single crystal quartz have shown that the observed noise levels vary inversely with device size. These measurements were made on sixteen 450 MHz resonators of four different sizes. The 1/f noise levels were also evaluated on twenty-eight other SAW resonators ranging in frequency from 401 to 915 MHz. This additional data provides valuable information on the dependence of the flicker noise levels on resonator frequency. A model based an localized, independent velocity fluctuations in the quartz is proposed which correctly fits the observed size and frequency dependence of the measured 1/f noise levels. This model suggests that the velocity fluctuations originate in small regions (much less than /spl sim/5 /spl mu/m in diameter) randomly distributed throughout the quartz with an average separation of about 5 /spl mu/m between independent (incoherent) sources. The magnitude of the localized fractional velocity fluctuations, /spl Delta/v/v, averaged over a 5 micron cube is on the order of 1/spl times/10/sup -9/. <<ETX>>