Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bladder Function Following Nerve-sparing Radical Hysterectomy : a Retrospective Cohort Study in Hong Kong

Objective: To compare radical hysterectomy with nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy in terms of bladder function and perioperative complications. Methods: The records of 56 patients having radical hysterectomy (n=30) and nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy (n=26) were reviewed. Postoperative bladder function assessment consisted of the time to: (a) achieve voiding with a residual urine volume of <100 ml, (b) feel bladder fullness after voiding, and (c) obtain satisfaction after micturition. Results: Those having nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy had a significantly shorter time to bladder function recovery in terms of voiding residual volume of <100 ml (median, 3; range, 1-51 days) than non–nerve-sparing group (median, 7; range, 2-138 days) [p=0.003]. There was significant difference between nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy and radical hysterectomy groups regarding the numbers of patients self-catheterizing (4 vs 12; p=0.042) and self-satisfactory micturition (median [range] days: 4 [1-51] vs 8 [3-138]; p=0.001). The groups did not differ significantly in terms of bladder sensation, operating time and other complications, but the nerve-sparing group had a less median blood loss (500 vs 800 ml; p=0.011). Conclusion: The nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy appeared superior to non–nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy in terms of bladder dysfunction, without increasing in operating time and complication, whilst their hospital stays were shorter. Hong Kong J Gynaecol Obstet Midwifery 2012; 12:43-9
Basigin interacts with both MCT1 and MCT2 in murine spermatozoa

Lactate is provided to spermatogenic cells by Sertoli cells as an energy substrate and its transport is regulated by H+‐monocarboxylate co‐transporters (MCTs). In the case of several cell types it is known that MCT1 is associated with basigin and MCT2 with embigin. Here we demonstrate co‐localization and co‐immunoprecipitation of basigin with both MCT1 and MCT2 in sperm, whereas no interaction with embigin was detectable. An investigation of the functional activity of MCT proteins revealed that it was mainly the application of L‐lactate which resulted in a decrease in pHi. The pHi changes were blocked with α‐cyano‐4‐OH cinnamate and the preference for L‐lactate—as opposed to D‐Lactate—was demonstrated by the determination of ATP after exposure to both lactate isomers. We propose that basigin interacts with MCT1 and MCT2 to locate them properly in the membrane of spermatogenic cells and that this may enable sperm to utilize lactate as an energy substrate contributing to cell survival. J. Cell. Physiol. 227: 2154–2162, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Deep Visual Attributes vs. Hand-Crafted Audio Features on Multidomain Speech Emotion Recognition

Emotion recognition from speech may play a crucial role in many applications related to human–computer interaction or understanding the affective state of users in certain tasks, where other modalities such as video or physiological parameters are unavailable. In general, a human’s emotions may be recognized using several modalities such as analyzing facial expressions, speech, physiological parameters (e.g., electroencephalograms, electrocardiograms) etc. However, measuring of these modalities may be difficult, obtrusive or require expensive hardware. In that context, speech may be the best alternative modality in many practical applications. In this work we present an approach that uses a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) functioning as a visual feature extractor and trained using raw speech information. In contrast to traditional machine learning approaches, CNNs are responsible for identifying the important features of the input thus, making the need of hand-crafted feature engineering optional in many tasks. In this paper no extra features are required other than the spectrogram representations and hand-crafted features were only extracted for validation purposes of our method. Moreover, it does not require any linguistic model and is not specific to any particular language. We compare the proposed approach using cross-language datasets and demonstrate that it is able to provide superior results vs. traditional ones that use hand-crafted features.
The WTO and India's Pharmaceuticals Industry: Patent Protection, TRIPS, and Developing Countries

INTRODUCTION NATIONAL PATENTS, INDUSTRIAL POLICY, AND RISE AND GROWTH OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IN INDIA GLOBALIZATION OF PATENT LAWS: FLEXIBILITIES UNDER TRIPS AND CHANGES IN PHARMACEUTICAL PATENTS IN INDIA PATENT REGIME AND ROLE OF MNCS IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IN INDIA TRIPS AND R&D FOR NEGLECTED DISEASES GROWTH AND PROSPECTS OF GENERIC PHARMACEUTICAL EXPORTS FROM INDIA TRIPS AND AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS DRUG PRICE CONTROL: INDIA'S EXPERIENCE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS SHOULD DEVELOPING COUNTRIES PROVIDE PATENT PROTECTION IN PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS? BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX
Ventilator-associated pneumonia due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

OBJECTIVE Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been associated with higher case fatality rates than VAP caused by other bacterial etiologies. The causes of this excess mortality are unclear. DESIGN Retrospective review of 38 consecutive ventilated patients with Pseudomonas pneumonia, documented by highly reliable methods. Charts of five additional patients were unavailable for review. SETTING Medical ICUs of a university-affiliated Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a university-affiliated municipal hospital. MEASUREMENTS Prospectively collected hospital admission acute physiologic and chronic health examination (APACHE) II scores and cause of ICU admission. Retrospectively calculated organ failure and APACHE scores, VAP score. Clinical and microbiologic variables. Antibiotic treatment and outcome. Direct cause of death by standard definitions. RESULTS Overall mortality was 69% (26/38), significantly higher than the APACHE II predicted mortality of 42.6% (p=0.037). At least 38% (10/26) of deaths were directly attributable to Pseudomonas VAP. Multivariate analysis of factors associated with death found infectious cause for ICU admission (odds ratio [OR]=8.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.86 to 85.94) and number of organ dysfunctions on the day of diagnosis (OR=1.73, 95% CI, 1.02 to 2.92) were significant. Septic shock from Pseudomonas VAP, septic shock from subsequent infection, and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome were the most common immediate causes of death. Mortality increased linearly with increasing APACHE III score on the day of diagnosis. Of initial antibiotic regimens, 67% (26/36) were considered failures. Persistent pneumonia occurred in 35% of patients while recurrent pneumonia was unusual (1/38). CONCLUSIONS Development of Pseudomonas pneumonia results in a mortality rate in excess of that due to the presenting illness. The attributable mortality determined by several means appears to approach 40%. The excess mortality appears to be related to the host defense response to the pneumonia rather than any characteristic of the pneumonia. Even standard antibiotic regimens fail frequently and do not prevent the excess mortality. Since at least 38% of deaths can be directly attributable to the Pseudomonas pneumonia, improvement in therapy is needed.
Political institutions and trade-evidence for the long-run relationship and causality

We examine the long-run effects of the political institutional framework, measured by the political risk component of the International Country Risk Guide, on trade. Our results suggest that an improved political institutional framework is both a cause and a consequence of increased trading activity. However, we find no significant relationship in case of exporting activity for the high-income countries and the countries that possess better political institutions.
Efficient Saliency-Based Object Detection in Remote Sensing Images Using Deep Belief Networks

Object detection has been one of the hottest issues in the field of remote sensing image analysis. In this letter, an efficient object detection framework is proposed, which combines the strength of the unsupervised feature learning of deep belief networks (DBNs) and visual saliency. In particular, we propose an efficient coarse object locating method based on a saliency mechanism. The method could avoid an exhaustive search across the image and generate a small number of bounding boxes, which can locate the object quickly and precisely. After that, the trained DBN is used for feature extraction and classification on subimages. The feature learning of the DBN is operated by pretraining each layer of restricted Boltzmann machines (RBMs) using the general layerwise training algorithm. An unsupervised blockwise pretraining strategy is introduced to train the first layer of RBMs, which combines the raw pixels with a saliency map as inputs. This makes an RBM generate local and edge filters. The precise edge position information and pixel value information are more efficient to build a good model of images. Comparative experiments are conducted on the data set acquired by QuickBird with a 60-cm resolution. The results demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of our method.
Direct and Indirect State Ownership on Banks in Russia

This paper uses the banking industry case to show that the boundaries of public property in Russia are blurred. A messy state withdrawal in 1990s left publicly funded assets beyond direct reach of official state bodies. While we identify no less than 50 state-owned banks in a broad sense, the federal government and regional authorities directly control just 4 and 12 institutions, respectively. 31 banks are indirectly state-owned, and their combined share of state-owned banks’ total assets grew from 11% to over a quarter between 2001 and 2010. The state continues to bear financial responsibility for indirectly owned banks, while it does not benefit properly from their activity through dividends nor capitalization nor policy lending. Such banks tend to act as quasi private institutions with weak corporate governance. Influential insiders (top-managers, current and former civil servants) and cronies extract their rent from control over financial flows and occasional appropriation of parts of bank equity.
Risk Factors in Klippel‐Feil Syndrome

Study Design This study kinematically evaluated radiographs of the cervical spine of patients with the Klippel-Feil syndrome in flexion and in extension to determine alterations from normal motion and potential risk. Objectives The results in the study group were compared with those of a control group and with published standards for expected motion of the cervical spine. Summary of Background Data The body of orthopedic and neurologic literature suggests a significant problem with neurologic deficit in patients with Klippel-Feil syndrome. No previous study has evaluated the kinematics of the cervical spine with a control group of normal individuals and published standards. Method Lateral flexion-extension radiographs of the cervical spine of 111 patients with Klippel-Feil syndrome were kinematically evaluated to determine the motion of each open interspace and to compare motion with that of a control group and published standards. Results A statistically significant difference of increased motion per open interspaces in the upper cervical segment was noted in individuals with Klippel-Feil syndrome when compared with the control population. Conversely, total motion of the lower cervical segment was significantly decreased in the Klippel-Feil population when compared with normal controls. Lower segment motion per open interspace was not significantly different when the two groups were compared. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that individuals with Klippel-Feil syndrome with hypermobility of the upper cervical segment are at risk for neurologic sequelae, whereas those with alteration in motion of the lower cervical segment are predisposed to degenerative disease.
CARTAN HOMOTOPY FORMULAS AND THE GAUSS-MANIN CONNECTION IN CYCLIC HOMOLOGY

such that m|ν=0 is the product on A. We will define a connection on the periodic cyclic bar complex of Aν for which the differential is covariant constant, thus inducing a connection on the periodic homology HP•(Aν), thought of as a module over k[[ν1, . , νn]]. This connection generalizes the classical Gauss-Manin connection, and indeed we will prove that it has curvature chain homotopic to zero. The Gauss-Manin connection is obtained by a generalization of Rinehart’s result: if D is a derivation on A, then the operator uL(D) on the cyclic bar complex C(A)[[u]] of A is chain homotopic to zero (see Rinehart [10], and also Goodwillie [8]). Inspired by the work of Nistor [9], we prove a more general result on the action of the cochains C•(A,A) on the cyclic bar complex C(A), where A is an A∞-algebra. (Recall that A∞-algebras are a generalization of differential graded algebras. It is shown in [6] that A∞-algebras form a natural setting for the study of cyclic homology.) The author would like to thank J. Block, V. Nistor, D. Quillen and B. Tsygan for helpful conversations on the subject of this article; in particular, the term Gauss-Manin connection is used at Quillen’s suggestion. Note that some similar formulas, in the setting of Hochschild homology, have been obtained by Gelfand, Daletskĭı and Tsygan [4].
Participation and Evaluation in the Design of Healthcare Work Systems: A participatory design approach to organisational implementation

Purpose: To investigate the circumstances as to why it is so difficult in the primary care sector to implement IT based infrastructures supporting shared care. The qualitative analysis includes two separate case studies of IT-supported shared care implemented in two different regions of Denmark throughout 2005. The study comprises 21 interviews and 35 hours of observations. The data were analysed through a coding process that led to the emergence of 3 main challenges impeding the organisational implementation of IT-supported shared care. The two cases faced the same challenges that led to the same problem: The secondary care sector quickly adopted the system while the primary sector was far more sceptical towards using it. In both cases, we observe a discrepancy of needs satisfied, especially with regard to the primary care sector and its general practitioners which hinder bridging the primary sector (general practitioners) and the secondary sector (hospitals and outpatient clinics). Especially the needs associated with the primary sector were not being satisfied. We discovered three main challenges related to bridging the gap between the two sectors: 1) Poor integration with the general practitioners’ existing IT systems; 2) low compatibility with general practitioners’ work ethic; 3) and discrepancy between the number of diabetes patients and the related need for shared care. We conclude that development of IT-supported shared care must recognise the underlying and significant differences between the primary and secondary care sectors: If IT-supported shared care does not meet the needs of the general practitioners as well as the needs of the secondary care sector the initiative will fail.
Vagal withdrawal during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

BACKGROUND Patients undergoing endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) are at risk of developing cardiorespiratory complications, but the mechanism is still unknown. Treatment with metoprolol 2 h before the endoscopy has been shown to decrease the incidence of myocardial ischaemia during ERCP. The present study evaluated whether the endoscopic stress would decrease vagal tone and whether metoprolol given before the procedure could prevent this defence-like reaction. METHODS Thirty-eight patients were randomized to receive either placebo or 100 mg metoprolol 2 h before ERCP. During ERCP the patients were monitored with a Holter tape recorder. Holter tapes from 31 patients (16 receiving metoprolol) were available to analyse the ratio of the standard deviations of the RR intervals (SDRR) to the mean RR intervals (measure of vagal tone) during ERCP. RESULTS A decreased vagal tone during the ERCP was found, but we observed no difference between the metoprolol and the placebo group. For both groups the lowest vagal tone occurred at maximum heart rate during endoscopy. The SDRR/meanRR ratio returned towards base line for the subsequent 60 min after endoscopy. CONCLUSIONS The existence of a defence-like reaction ('vagal withdrawal') during ERCP has been shown. Metoprolol given 2 h before the procedure did not affect the occurrence of this phenomenon. The interaction of other periendoscopic factors is still unclear and should be studied further.
Sialic acid transport in Haemophilus influenzae is essential for lipopolysaccharide sialylation and serum resistance and is dependent on a novel tripartite ATP‐independent periplasmic transporter

Sialylation of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an important mechanism used by the human pathogen Haemophilus influenzae to evade the innate immune response of the host. We have demonstrated that N‐acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac or sialic acid) uptake in H. influenzae is essential for the subsequent modification of the LPS and that this uptake is mediated through a single transport system which is a member of the tripartite ATP‐independent periplasmic (TRAP) transporter family. Disruption of either the siaP (HI0146) or siaQM (HI0147) genes, that encode the two subunits of this transporter, results in a complete loss of uptake of [14C]‐Neu5Ac. Mutant strains lack sialylated glycoforms in their LPS and are more sensitive to killing by human serum than the parent strain. The SiaP protein has been purified and demonstrated to bind a stoichiometric amount of Neu5Ac by electrospray mass spectrometry. This binding was of high affinity with a Kd of ∼0.1 µM as determined by protein fluorescence. The inactivation of the SiaPQM TRAP transporter also results in decreased growth of H. influenzae in a chemically defined medium containing Neu5Ac, supporting an additional nutritional role of sialic acid in H. influenzae physiology.
MLN4924, a First-in-Class NEDD8-Activating Enzyme Inhibitor, Attenuates IFN-β Production

Neddylation is a posttranslational protein modification that conjugates ubiquitin-like protein neural precursor cell–expressed developmentally downregulated protein 8 (NEDD8) to target proteins and regulates diverse cellular processes. MLN4924, a novel NEDD8 activating enzyme inhibitor, which has emerged as a promising anticancer drug, has a multifaceted function by inhibiting the process of neddylation. However, the potential roles of MLN4924 and neddylation in IFN-β production remain unknown. In this study, we show that MLN4924 inhibits TLR3/4- and retinoic acid–inducible gene-I–induced IFN-β expression in different cells, whereas NEDD8 knockdown had no effects on IFN-β expression. The ability of the MLN4924 to inhibit IFN-β production was confirmed in vivo, as mice treated with MLN4924 exhibited decreased levels of IFN-β upon LPS or polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid stimulation. Furthermore, we show that MLN4924 inhibits IFN regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) transcriptional activation and prevents IRF3 binding to IFN-β promoter. Our findings suggest that MLN4924 inhibits TLR3/4- and retinoic acid–inducible gene-I–induced IFN-β expression by preventing IRF3 binding to the IFN-β promoter, with a neddylation-independent manner. Therefore, our results provide new insight into the mechanism of MLN4924 and may have significant implications for the treatment of MLN4924.
Health Care Costs Among Individuals With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Within Several Large, Multi-State Employers

Objective: To estimate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-attributable medical resource utilization and health care costs among employed individuals and their covered dependents with COPD. Methods: Retrospective health care claims analysis. Employees and dependents 40 to 63 years old with a diagnosis of COPD between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2002 were matched to two separate control cohorts. Medical resource utilization and health care costs were compared between cohorts. Results: A total of 6445 individuals with COPD were matched to each control cohort. Mean age was 55.1 years, and cohorts were approximately 50% men. COPD subjects had significantly higher utilization and adjusted pharmacy, medical, and total health care costs than both control cohorts (P < 0.001). Conclusions: COPD subjects had significantly higher utilization and costs than individuals without COPD. Thus, the economic burden of COPD is present in younger, working individuals, as well as in the older, retired population.
Performance of ICT outsourcing : analyzing client-vendor value-drivers and relationship quality

This study seeks to understand how the performance of outsourced ICT projects can be measured, in an attempt to ascertain how the attributes of client-vendor relationships might affect project performance. Literature was consulted through a content analysis of 39 research articles. It is theorized that value drivers (knowledge-sharing and relative competence level) and relationship quality (relational governance) influence project performance outcome. However, an analysis based on a quantitative empirical study suggests that project performance, measured in terms of cost savings, is negatively influenced by relational attributes and knowledgesharing between client and vendor in terms of methodological capabilities, mediated by the vendor to client knowledge-sharing about HRM capabilities. Furthermore, time compliance was found to be negatively affected by relational attributes of the client-vendor relationship and vendor to client knowledge-sharing about technological capabilities. Finally, quality improvements was found to be negatively affected by vendor to client knowledge-sharing in terms of HRM. Limitations of the findings and the implications for research and IT outsourcing are then discussed.
The Venture Capital Cycle, 2nd Edition

In The Venture Capital Cycle, Paul Gompers and Josh Lerner correct widespread misperceptions about the nature and role of the venture capitalist and provide an accessible and comprehensive overview of the venture capital industry. Bringing together fifteen years of ground-breaking research into the form and function of venture capital firms, they examine the fund-raising, investing, and exit stages of venture capitalists. Three major themes run throughout the process: venture investors confront tremendous information and incentive problems; venture capital processes are inherently interrelated, and a complete understanding of the industry requires a full understanding of the venture cycle; and, unlike most financial markets, the venture capital industry adjusts very slowly to shifts in the demand for and the supply of investment capital. This second edition has been thoroughly revised in light of recent research findings, and includes six new chapters. The first part, on fund-raising, now includes a chapter that examines what determines the level of venture capital fund-raising and how tax policy influences the demand for venture capital. Three new chapters in the second part, on investing, examine what kind of distortions are introduced when the venture capital market goes dramatically up, a question prompted by the 1999-2000 market bubble; demonstrate that the venture capital industry does indeed spur innovation, an important determinant of economic growth; and examine whether and under what circumstances governments can be effective venture capitalists. Two new chapters in the third part, on exiting venture capital investments, discuss whether venture capital firms affiliated with investment-banks are prone to conflicts of interest with public offerings and how lockups on initial public offerings are used to limit conflicts of interest.