Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Dutch Functional Performance Inventory: Validity and Reliability in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease

BackgroundPerforming activities of daily living (ADLs) is an important outcome measure in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The functional performance inventory (FPI) can be used to measure ADL performance in people with COPD. ObjectiveThe aims are to report translation of the FPI into the Dutch language and evaluate the validity and reliability of the translated version in a Dutch COPD population. MethodsThe FPI was translated, after which validation and test–retest reliability studies were conducted. The Consensus-Based Standards for Selection of Health Status Measurement Instruments checklist was used. The Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ), the self-administered Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire-Standardized, and the Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale were used in the validation study. Test–retest reliability was estimated across 2 weeks in patients with stable COPD. ResultsParticipants were patients with COPD from the Netherlands who took part in either the validation (n = 90) or reliability study (n = 60). The validity analyses showed that, as hypothesized, the household maintenance and physical exercise subscales of the Dutch version of the FPI had high correlations with the CCQ functional status domain; the total FPI had a correlation of −. 44, with CCQ functional status domain. Across the subscales, score reliability estimated with Cronbach’s alpha ranged from . 55 (Body Care) to . 97 (Household Maintenance); total score alpha was . 98. Intraclass correlations (ICCs) ranged from . 84 (Social Activities) to . 97 (Body Care and Household Maintenance); total scale ICC was . 98. Recreation and Spiritual Activity subscales varied significantly on retesting at 2 weeks. DiscussionScores on the Dutch FPI were reliable and reproducible. Evidence for validity was reasonable, but less strong than that reported in studies from other populations.
Arhgef1 is required by T cells for the development of airway hyperreactivity and inflammation.

RATIONALE Arhgef1 is an intracellular protein, expressed by hematopoietic cells, that regulates signaling by both G protein-coupled receptors and RhoA, and, consequently, is required for appropriate migration and adhesion of diverse leukocyte populations. OBJECTIVES To evaluate a possible contribution for Arhgef1 in the development of airway inflammation and airway hyperreactivity. METHODS Arhgef1-deficient (Arhgef1-/-) and wild-type (WT) mice were sensitized and airway challenged, followed by measurement of airway responsiveness to inhaled methacholine. Inflammation was assessed by several parameters that included flow cytometric analysis and histology. Arhgef1-deficient recipients were reconstituted with WT T lymphocytes before sensitization and challenge, and again measured for airway responsiveness and inflammation. Cytokine production in response to specific antigen was measured in cultures of isolated leukocytes from lung and spleen and compared with the levels generated in lung and spleen explant cultures. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Arhgef1-/- mice display significantly reduced airway hyperreactivity, Th2 cytokine production, and lung inflammation, despite intact systemic immunity. After airway challenge of Arhgef1-/- mice, antigen-specific T cells were present in mutant lungs, but were found to interact with CD11c+ cells at a significantly reduced frequency. Adoptive transfer of WT T cells into Arhgef1-/- mice restored airway hyperreactivity and inflammation. CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate that T cells depend on Arhgef1 to promote lung inflammation. Moreover, a deficiency in Arhgef1 results in reduced T cell-CD11c+ antigen-presenting cell interaction, and likely underscores the inability of Arhgef1-/- mice to mount an adaptive immune response to airway challenge.
Antidiabetic Activity of Polyherbal Formulation in Streptozotocin – Nicotinamide Induced Diabetic Wistar Rats

Glycosmis pentaphylla , Tridax procumbens, and Mangifera indica are well-known plants available throughout India and they are commonly used for the treatment of various diseases including diabetes mellitus. The antidiabetic activity of the individual plant parts is well known, but the synergistic or combined effects are unclear. The concept of polyherbalism has been highlighted in Sharangdhar Samhita, an Ayurvedic literature dating back to 1300 AD. Polyherbal formulations enhance the therapeutic action and reduce the concentrations of single herbs, thereby reducing adverse events. The aim of the present study is to formulate a polyherbal formulation and evaluate its antidiabetic potential in animals. The polyherbal formulation was formulated using the ethanol extracts of the stem bark of G. pentaphylla, whole plant of T. procumbens, and leaves of M. indica. The polyherbal formulation contains the ethanol extracts of G. pentaphylla, T. procumbens, and M. indica in the ratio of 2:2:1. The quality of the finished product was evaluated as per the World Health Organization′s guidelines for the quality control of herbal materials. The quality testing parameters of the polyherbal formulation were within the limits. Fingerprint analysis of the polyherbal formulation showed effective separation at 366 nm, and it revealed that the active compound present in the polyherbal formulation and the active compounds present in all the three extracts were the same. The acute toxicity studies of the polyherbal formulation did not show any toxic symptoms in doses up to 2000 mg/kg over 14 days. The oral antidiabetic activity of the polyherbal formulation (250 and 500 mg/kg) was screened against streptozotocin (50 mg/kg; i.p.) + nicotinamide (120 mg/kg; i.p.) induced diabetes mellitus in rats. The investigational drug was administered for 21 consecutive days, and the effect of the polyherbal formulation on blood glucose levels was studied at regular intervals. At the end of the study, the blood samples were collected from all the animals for biochemical estimation, and the animals were sacrificed and the liver and pancreatic tissues were collected for histopathologic analysis. Polyherbal formulation showed significant antidiabetic activity at 250 and 500 mg/kg, respectively, and this effect was comparable with that of glibenclamide. The antidiabetic activity of polyherbal formulation is supported by biochemical and histopathologic analysis.
The modular augmented staged electromagnetic launcher operated in the energy storage mode

Railguns use electrical energy to accelerate projectiles to large velocities. The electrical energy for the launching process is provided by a pulsed power unit. A pulsed power unit usually consists of a capacitor, a switching device, a crowbar diode and a pulse forming inductance. The pulse forming inductance is necessary to generate an appropriate current pulse length and amplitude. The idea of the energy storage augmented electromagnetic launcher is to use the magnetic field produced by the pulse forming inductance to augment the magnetic field between the rails of the launcher. To maximize the augmentation of the magnetic field, it is necessary to place the pulse forming inductance as close as possible to the rails of the railgun. The additional magnetic field causes not only an increased acceleration of the projectile, but also a larger mechanical load of the railgun structure. This requires a reinforced housing compared to conventional railgun housings. In this paper the design and the experimental setup of a railgun using an energy storage augmentation scheme are presented as well as the results of experiments. The results are compared with previous results of a non-augmented railgun configuration. The comparison shows an improvement of the energy efficiency.
Coherence in consciousness: Paralimbic gamma synchrony of self‐reference links conscious experiences

A coherent and meaningful percept of the world is essential for human nature. Consequently, much speculation has focused on how this is achieved in the brain. It is thought that all conscious experiences have reference to the self. Self‐reference may either be minimal or extended, i.e., autonoetic. In minimal self‐reference subjective experiences are self‐aware in the weak sense that there is something it feels like for the subject to experience something. In autonoetic consciousness, consciousness emerges, by definition, by retrieval of memories of personally experienced events (episodic memory). It has been shown with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) that a medial paralimbic circuitry is critical for self‐reference. This circuitry includes anterior cingulate/medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate/medial parietal cortices, connected directly and via thalamus. We here hypothesized that interaction in the circuitry may bind conscious experiences with widely different degrees of self‐reference through synchrony of high frequency oscillations as a common neural event. This hypothesis was confirmed with magneto‐encephalography (MEG). The observed coupling between the neural events in conscious experience may explain the sense of unity of consciousness and the severe symptoms associated with paralimbic dysfunction. Hum Brain Mapp, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Immigrant employee effects in international strategy

Purpose – This exploratory study aims to examine the influence of immigrant employee effects within a sample of small New Zealand‐based international service providers.Design/methodology/approach – Seven immigrant employees from six firms were interviewed. The interviews examined immigrant effects on four areas: knowledge transfer and application; customer relationships; marketing strategy and market entry mode. Propositions derived from the literature were tentatively tested.Findings – The findings, consistent with other literature on immigrant effects, indicated that immigrant employees play an important role in shaping these areas within small international service firms. Of particular importance was knowledge of local culture and market conditions. Immigrant employees enjoyed considerable discretion in the creation and management of customer relationships.Originality/value – There appeared to be strong interactions between the value of immigrant knowledge, relationships and the characteristics of serv.
Strong convergence of Krasnoselski-Mann iteration for a countable family of asymptotically nonexpansive mappings in CAT(0) spaces

Based on a specific way of choosing the indices and a new concept, namely, an analogue of inner product, a modified Krasnoselski-Mann iteration scheme is proposed for approximating common fixed points of a countable family of asymptotically nonexpansive mappings; and a strong convergence theorem is established in the framework of CAT(0) spaces. Our results greatly improve and extend those of the authors whose related researches just involve a single mapping and the weaker ∆-convergence. c ©2017 All rights reserved.
Prevalence of Byssinosis in Spinning and Textile Workers of Karachi, Pakistan

The authors measured prevalence of byssinosis in spinning and textile workers of Karachi, Pakistan, and examined association of the disease with demographic and environmental factors. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 3 spinning and textile mills and 3 colonies inhabited by spinning and textile workers. A precoded questionnaire was administered to the workers and followed by physical and clinical examination. Among 362 textile workers, the authors found the prevalence of byssinosis to be 35.6%. Educational status of the workers and section of the mill were significantly associated with prevalence of the disease. The authors conclude that there is a high prevalence of byssinosis in spinning and textile workers of Karachi. Furthermore, low education level and work in the spinning section of the mill appear to contribute significantly to the high prevalence of the disease in Pakistan.
The Importance of Accounting Information in Portfolio Optimization

We study the economic importance of accounting information as defined by the value that a sophisticated investor can extract from publicly available financial statements when optimizing a portfolio of U.S. equities. Our approach applies the elegant new parametric portfolio policy method of Brandt, Santa-Clara, and Valkanov (2009) to three simple and firm-specific annual accounting characteristics-accruals, change in earnings, and asset growth. We find that the set of optimal portfolio weights generated by accounting characteristics yield an out-of-sample, pre-transact ions-costs annual information ratio of 1.9 as compared to 1.5 for the standard price-based characteristics of firm size, book-to-market, and momentum. We also find that the delevered hedge portion of the accounting-based optimal portfolio was especially valuable during the severe bear market of 2008 because unlike many hedge finds it delivered a hedged return in 2008 of 12 percent versus only 3 percent for price-based strategies and −38 percent for the value-weighted market.
Racial influence on the prevalence of prostate carcinoma in Brazilian volunteers.

PURPOSE To investigate the prevalence of prostate carcinoma in a sample of volunteers known to have a large proportion of Bantu African ancestors, and the performance of total PSA (tPSA), PSA density (PSAD) and free-to-total PSA ratio (f/tPSA) on the diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 473 volunteers (range: 40 - 79 years) were screened for prostate carcinoma. Those with tPSA >2 ng/ml and/or abnormal digital rectal examination were submitted to a transrectal ultrasound-directed biopsy (10 cores). The volunteers were classified as White, Mulatto or Black according to physical characteristics and to ancestors race reference. The following variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) were analyzed in the blood of 120 volunteers without cancer and in 27 patients with prostate cancer: D4S43, PAH, F13A1, APOB and vW-1. RESULTS The biopsies performed in 121 volunteers revealed cancer in 27 (5.7% of 473). The proportions of cancer in White, Mulatto and Black were respectively: 0.6% (1/148), 6.7% (6/90) and 8.5% (20/235) (p = 0.006). The VNTRs analysis revealed heterogeneity in White, Mulatto and Black anthropologic phenotypes with the following admixture of Caucasian, African and Amerindian gene lineages: 67.5 +/- 8%, 20.8 +/- 8%, 11.7 +/- 7%; 54.8 +/- 9%, 36.3 +/- 5%, 8.9 +/- 7%; and, 45.3 +/- 3%, 45.9 +/- 4%, 8.8 +/-7%. Such a mixture was 50.5 +/- 9%, 49 +/- 8% and 0.5 +/- 4% in volunteers bearing cancer, and 59.1 +/- 7%, 31.7 +/- 8% and 9.2 +/- 5% in those without cancer. The sensitivity and specificity of tPSA at cut-off levels of 2, 2.5 and 4 ng/ml for volunteers with tPSA </= 10 ng/ml were respectively: 100% and 6,6%, 100% and 36,6%, 69,2% and 62,2%. PSAD at a cut-off level of 0.08 or 0.10, and f/tPSA at a cut-off level of 20% were able to increase significantly tPSA specificity without loss on sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS The tumor prevalence was higher in Non-White than in White phenotype. The association of tPSA at a cut-off level of 2.5 ng/ml with a PSAD of 0.08 or a f/tPSA of 20% for biopsy indication deserves further investigations as an alternative to tPSA cut-off level of 4 ng/ml.
Efficacy and safety of paliperidone palmitate three-monthly formulation in East Asian patients with schizophrenia: subgroup analysis of a global, randomized, double-blind, Phase III, noninferiority study

Objective To demonstrate the efficacy and safety of paliperidone palmitate three-monthly (PP3M) formulation in an East Asian population with schizophrenia by subgroup analysis of a double-blind (DB), multicenter, noninferiority study. Patients and methods Of 1,429 patients who entered the open-label (OL) phase, 510 were East Asian (China: 296 [58%], Japan: 175 [34%], South Korea: 19 [4%] and Taiwan: 20 [4%]). In the 17-week OL phase, patients received paliperidone palmitate once-monthly (PP1M) formulation on day 1 (150 mg eq.), day 8 (100 mg eq.) and once-monthly thereafter (50–150 mg eq., flexible). Following the OL phase, patients (n=344 East Asian) entered DB phase and were randomized (1:1) to PP1M (n=174) or PP3M (n=170). Primary efficacy endpoint was the percentage of patients who remained relapse free at the end of the 48-week DB phase, using Kaplan–Meier cumulative survival estimate. Secondary efficacy endpoints included change from DB baseline to endpoint in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Clinical Global Impression Severity, Personal and Social Performance scores and symptomatic remission. Additional assessments included caregiver burden and safety. Results A total of 285/344 (83%) randomized East Asian patients completed the DB phase. The percentage of patients who had a relapse event was similar on comparing PP3M (17 [10.2%]) to PP1M (20 [11.8%]), and also for Japan (PP3M: 9 [17.6%], PP1M: 13 [23.2%]) and China (PP3M: 6 [5.9%], PP1M: 7 [6.9%]). Mean change from baseline in secondary efficacy parameters was similar to the global population, regardless of treatment. Symptomatic remission was attained by 50% of the treated patients. Caregiver burden was significantly reduced (P<0.001) following treatment with PP3M/PP1M. Frequency of treatment-emergent adverse events in PP3M group during DB phase was greater in the East Asian subgroup (81%) than the global population (68%) and was higher in Japan (92%) than China (75%). Conclusion Results suggest that PP3M is efficacious in the East Asian subgroup. Although treatment-emergent adverse events were slightly higher in the East Asian subgroup versus the global population, no new safety signals were identified.
Forward-backward SDE games and stochastic control under model uncertainty

We study optimal stochastic control problems with jumps under model uncertainty. We rewrite such problems as (zero-sum) stochastic differential games of forward-backward stochastic differential equations. We prove general stochastic maximum principles for such games, both in the zero-sum case (finding conditions for saddle points) and for the non-zero sum games (finding conditions for Nash equilibria). We then apply these results to study optimal portfolio and consumption problems under model uncertainty. We combine the optimality conditions given by the stochastic maximum principles with Malliavin calculus to obtain a set of equations which determine the optimal strategies.
Effect of cortisone on oncogenesis by murine sarcoma virus (Moloney).

The role of cortisone in viral carcinogenesis was investigated by inoculating murine sarcoma virus (Moloney) into normal BALB/c and C57BL/6 weanling mice and into mice of the same strains pretreated with 2.5 mg of cortisone acetate. The two strains were equally susceptible to tumor induction. Pretreatment with cortisone increased their susceptibility to oncogenesis. Fifty-four out of eighty normal mice developed tumors in contrast to 78/79 cortisone-treated mice. All tumors induced in normal mice ultimately regressed. However, only 26/78 tumors induced in cortisone-treated mice regressed. All mice were bled 21 days after virus inoculation and their sera were tested against Moloney lymphoma cells by the indirect fluorescent antibody test. Cortisone did not significantly alter the production of the antibody. Tumors induced in normal and cortisone-treated BALB/c mice were assayed for viral activity by tumor induction in vivo and focus formation in vitro . The results obtained from both assay systems indicated that more virus was present in tumors induced in cortisone-treated animals.
Detection of oil spills with the second stokes parameter of the hybird polarimetric SAR

Hybrid-polarimetric SAR (synthetic aperture radar) is a new sensor, with relatively simple architecture, low cost and wide swath, which will be carried by several Earth-observing systems in the near future. Here, we show how the second Stokes parameter of hybrid-polarimetric SAR can be employed to detect oil on the ocean surface, in relation to contributions from different polarizations and dampening effects on backscatter intensity, neglecting the scattering mechanism. The detection methodology is demonstrated to be reliable in two example cases: natural oil seeps from the Gulf of Mexico, and observations from the Deep Water Horizon oil spill disaster in 2010.
COMPARISON OF THE EFFICACY AND CARDIORESPIRATORY EFFECTS OF MEDETOMIDINE-BASED ANESTHETIC PROTOCOLS IN RING-TAILED LEMURS (LEMUR CATTA)

Abstract The relative efficacies and cardiorespiratory effects of three injectable anesthetic combinations containing medetomidine were evaluated in ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). In addition, the direct effects of medetomidine on heart rate and blood pressure were evaluated in lemurs anesthetized with isoflurane. For injectable anesthesia, captive adult ring-tailed lemurs were anesthetized with medetomidine and ketamine (0.04–0.06 mg/kg, i.m. and 3 mg/kg, i.m., respectively), medetomidine, butorphanol, and ketamine (0.04 mg/kg, i.m., 0.4 mg/kg, i.m., and 3 mg/kg, i.m., respectively), or medetomidine, butorphanol, and midazolam (0.04 mg/kg, i.m., 0.4 mg/kg, i.m., and 0.3 mg/kg, i.m., respectively). For inhalation anesthesia, lemurs were mask-induced and maintained with isoflurane for 30 min before receiving medetomidine (0.04 mg/kg, i.m.). Sedation produced by medetomidine–ketamine was unpredictable and of short duration. Both medetomidine–butorphanol–ketamine (MBK) and medetomidine–butorphanol–midazolam (MBMz) provided adequate anesthesia for routine physical exams; however, the effects of MBMz lasted longer than those of MBK. Heart rates and respiratory rates were within clinically normal ranges for all groups, and lemurs remained normotensive throughout the study. Common side effects such as hypertension and bradycardia associated with the use of α2-adrenergic receptor agonist combinations in other species were not observed. Likewise, medetomidine administration had no effect on HR in lemurs receiving isoflurane. Lemurs in all groups were well ventilated and remained well oxygenated throughout the procedures, though arterial partial pressure of O2 was lowest in the MBMz group. All three injectable medetomidine combinations were effective in ring-tailed lemurs but only MBK and MBMz provided adequate depth and duration of anesthesia for use as sole regimes. For many clinical procedures in lemurs, MBMz offers advantages over MBK because of its longer duration of action and its rapid and more complete reversibility with specific antagonists.