Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hydroxyethyl starch in sepsis.

BACKGROUND Hydroxyethyl starch (HES) is a colloid that has been widely used for fluid resuscitation for decades. The newest generation of HES, tetrastarch, was believed to provide an efficient volume expansion without causing the side effects observed with former HES solutions. However, this belief was based on physiological models and small studies rather than on firm clinical evidence. Our aim was to assess the safety and efficacy of tetrastarch in a randomised clinical trial and in a systematic review. METHODS We first conducted a blinded, clinical trial, in which we randomly assigned patients with severe sepsis in the intensive care unit to fluid resuscitation with either 6% HES 130/0.42 (Tetraspan) or Ringer's acetate. The primary outcome measure was death or dialysis-dependency at 90 days after randomisation. Secondary outcomes described kidney function and serious adverse reactions. Secondly, we systematically identified all randomised clinical trials comparing tetrastarch with either crystalloid or albumin in patients with sepsis and pooled their results in meta-analyses and trial sequential analyses. RESULTS Of the 804 patients who underwent randomisation, 798 were included in the modified-intention-to-treat population. At 90 days after randomisation, 201 of 398 patients (51%) assigned to HES 130/0.42 had died, as compared with 172 of 400 patients (43%) assigned to Ringer's acetate (relative risk 1.17, p=0.03); 1 patient in each group was dialysis-dependent at 90 days. In the 90 day observation period, 87 patients (22%) assigned to HES received renal replacement therapy vs. 65 patients (16%) assigned to Ringer's acetate (relative risk 1.35, p=0.04), and 38 patients (10%) vs. 25 patients (6%) had severe bleeding (relative risk 1.52, p=0.09). Post-hoc sensitivity analysis showed a strongly significant increased risk of any bleeding with HES vs. Ringer's acetate (relative risk 1.56, p=0.003). In the systematic review, we identified nine trials that randomised 3,456 patients with sepsis. In meta-analyses, tetrastarch vs. crystalloid or albumin lead to increased use of renal replacement therapy (relative risk 1.36, p=0.009) and red blood cells (relative risk 1.29, p=0.0002) and to more serious adverse events (relative risk 1.30, p=0.03). Trials with low risk of bias suggested 11% increased risk of death. After adjusting the results with trial sequential analysis signals for harm persisted. CONCLUSION Our randomised clinical trial is one of several high-quality trials in critically ill patients with and without sepsis that now provide evidence that the use of tetrastarch impairs kidney function and haemostasis and may even increase mortality. Whether the results can be extrapolated to other types of patients is unclear, but so far no group of patients with an overall benefit of HES beyond surrogate markers has been identified. In line with this, the European Medicines Agency's Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee now recommends that the marketing authorisations of all HES solutions are suspended in the European Union.
Supporting individual needs for intra-organisational knowledge sharing activities in pre-industry 4.0 SMEs

The complexity of modern manufacturing industry and the emergence of Industry 4.0 puts changing cognitive demands on human operators at work. Operators in this environment, Operator 4.0, will share knowledge through the use of new digital technologies that should be implemented in parallel with an organizational development towards Organization 4.0. On an individual level within the organization, people benefit from understanding their own knowledge needs and gain necessary knowledge through knowledge sharing activities. In pre-Industry 4.0 organizations, this is done primarily through meetings. Originally developed to create smart meetings in smart factories, an elaborated version of the MEET model (Gullander et al, 2014) is used in this paper to evaluate the needs for sharing of tacit and explicit knowledge, both in regards to how it affects the Information System and the Organization System. By adding a systematic process approach to mapping individual knowledge needs related to production activities, these needs can be identified for each process step. By using this systematic approach to apply the MEET model, two Swedish SMEs within the manufacturing industry have developed their knowledge sharing activities. This human-centred study, based on questionnaires and interviews, focuses on how shop-floor operators perceive changes in knowledge sharing activities due to the use of the MEET model. Novelty in this research lies in the attempt to link the technology-intensive Industry 4.0 development with an organizational emphasis. Results show that the applied method can be used to pragmatically improve knowledge sharing from certain aspects, but further research is required to determine the correlation between different areas and their effect on knowledge sharing. This paper suggests that knowledge sharing in organizations can be benefitted from Industry 4.0 enabling technologies, introducing this as Organization 4.0.
Apathy and depressed mood in acquired brain damage: relationship to lesion localization and psychophysiological reactivity

Background. Apathy is a frequent neurobehavioural sequel in patients with acquired brain damage and it may seriously affect outcome of rehabilitation. Methods. Patients with traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular insults and hypoxic brain injury, categorized into four lesion localization groups: left hemisphere damage (LHD); right hemisphere damage (RHD); bilateral hemispheric damage (BHD); and subcortical damage (SCD) were assessed with the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES) and Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Heart rate and electrodermal activity were recorded in an experimental situation that exposed the patients to mental stressors in order to measure psychophysiological reactivity. Results. Significant differences in level of apathy were found between diagnostic groups as well as between localization subgroups. SCD and RHD patients displayed most apathy. Factor analysis of MADRS revealed a three-factor solution; depressed mood, somatic symptoms and negative symptoms. Apathy was significantly correlated with negative symptoms in all localization subgroups, except among the BHD patients. Apathy was not correlated with depressed mood or somatic symptoms. Moreover, apathy was significantly correlated with heart rate reactivity, but not with electrodermal reactivity. Conclusion. Apathy is common, its severity depending on diagnosis and localization of lesion. Apathy and depression in brain damaged patients share common features, but may be differentiated. The significant relationship between apathy and heart rate may provide a psychophysiological correlation of the disengagement, lack of interest and absence of emotional responsivity typically seen in apathy. The results have implications for the theoretical understanding of apathy and related negative symptoms, and for rehabilitation practice.
Occupational risk factors for nasopharyngeal cancer among female textile workers in Shanghai, China

Aims: To investigate whether occupational exposure to dusts and chemicals in the Chinese textile industry are associated with risk of nasopharyngeal cancer. Methods: Sixty seven nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cases identified during 1989–98 and a random sample (n = 3188) of women were included in a case cohort study nested in a cohort of 267 400 women textile workers in Shanghai, China. A complete occupational history of work in the textile industry was obtained for each woman. A job exposure matrix developed by experienced industrial hygienists was used to assess exposures to specific dusts and chemicals. Results: Risk of NPC is associated with cumulative exposure to cotton dust. The hazard ratio for women cumulatively exposed to >143.4 mg/m3 × years of cotton dust was 3.6 (95% CI 1.8 to 7.2) compared with unexposed women. Trends of increasing risk were also found with increasing duration of exposure to acids and caustics (p = 0.05), and with years worked in dyeing processes (p = 0.06). Women who worked at least 10 years in dyeing processes had a 3.6-fold excess risk of NPC (95% CI 1.0 to 12.1). Conclusions: Occupational exposure to cotton dust, acids, and caustics, and work in dyeing and printing jobs in the textile industry may have increased risk of NPC in this cohort.
Regulation of Smart Grids

The market-driven implementation of smart grid solutions and technologies depends on many factors, such as their costs and benefits relative to the alternatives, and the regulatory frameworks that apply to the relevant actors. This chapter focuses on the latter by illustrating that some countries have already started to adapt their regulatory frameworks to better incentivize power grid companies and grid users to consider smart grid solutions and technologies in the transition toward a more sustainable power system. We introduce four innovative smart grid cases: the introduction of active distribution grid management in the Orkney Isles in the north of Scotland to increase the integration of wind power on the archipelago; the deployment of smart meters in Italy to enable demand response; the development of an offshore HVDC grid in Kriegers Flak area in the Baltic sea to connect offshore wind farms to shore and to enable cross-border trade among Denmark, Germany, and Sweden; and the demonstration of distributed system platform project in New York that integrates distributed energy resources securely and efficiently while maintaining interoperability. We discuss the main shortcomings of the conventional regulatory frameworks in relation to these cases: the bias toward cost reductions at the expense of innovation, the bias toward capital expenditures at the expense of operating expenditures; coordination issues between power grid companies; and disincentives for grid users to contribute to ongoing power grid innovation. Moreover, we provide an overview of smart regulations in other parts of the world, which are not covered in the four cases. We conclude by deriving lessons learned for other countries that still have to start adapting their regulatory frameworks to the context of smart grids. Keywords: smart grid; capex; energy; frameworks; costs; power system regulation
Use of Community Treatment Orders to Prevent Psychiatric Hospitalization

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to analyse how, for whom, under what circumstances, and with what consequences for a patient's treatment career the community treatment orders (CTOs) were used to prevent psychiatric hospitalization during the course of a decade in Victoria, Australia. Method: Records were obtained from the Victorian Psychiatric Case Register for 8579 patients who were exposed to CTOs. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used to determine the characteristics of patients solely selected for placement on orders directly from the community, in lieu of hospitalization, versus patients selected for placement on orders only from the hospital or for those who experienced both hospital- and community-initiated orders. Ordinary least squares regression was used to evaluate the relationship of sole reliance on community-initiated orders and experienced changes in future hospital utilization. Results: CTOs were infrequently issued directly from the community by comparison with outpatient orders issued at termination of inpatient episodes. Patients whose placements on orders were carried out only through direct community placement differed from those whose placement was primarily initiated from hospital or from both hospital and community. The former group, although largely consisting of people with schizophrenia, was less likely to include such patients than the comparison samples. It also included fewer male subjects and ‘never married’ individuals as well as more individuals with major affective disorders. Those served solely with community-initiated orders had significantly less use of subsequent inpatient care than individuals in the comparison samples, all other diagnostic and pre-morbid adjustment characteristics taken into account. Conclusion: For patients at risk of beginning a career of long-term psychiatric hospitalization, sole reliance on community-initiated orders appeared to prevent additional hospital involvement. The issuance of orders from hospital and the combined-order strategy were associated with protective oversight throughout extended inpatient careers. Sole reliance on community-initiated outpatient orders provided a ‘least restrictive’ alternative to hospitalization.
Damage Induced by 1–30 eV Electrons on Thymine- and Bromouracil-Substituted Oligonucleotides

Abstract Abdoul-Carime, H. , Dugal, P-C. and Sanche, L. Damage Induced by 1–30 eV Electrons on Thymine- and Bromouracil-Substituted Oligonucleotides. The impact of low-energy (1–30 eV) electrons on self-assembled monolayers of heterogeneous oligonucleotides chemisorbed on a gold surface has been investigated by mass spectrometry of desorbed neutral species in an attempt to understand the consequences of secondary electron damage in a short sequence of a DNA single strand. We demonstrate that the most intense observable neutral species (CN, OCN and/or H2NCN) desorbed from Cy6-Th3 and Cy6-(BrdU)3 oligos are related to primary fragmentation of the bases induced by electron impact. The dependence of the neutral species desorption on electron energy shows typical signatures of dissociative electron attachment initiated by the formation of shape- and core-excited resonances (i.e. single-electron and two-electron–one-hole transitory anions, respectively). Substitution of dTh by BrdU increases the production of neutral fragments by as much as a factor of about 3 for the entire electron energy range. When the distribution of secondary electrons along radiation tracks in H2O is taken into account, we show that the probability for electron damage to heterogeneous oligonucleotides is enhanced by a factor of 2.5–3 for electron energies below 20 eV for both sensitized and unsensitized strands.
Investor relations - are natural resources companies better? Evidence from South Africa.

This paper aims to determine whether natural resources companies have better investor relations practices than companies in other industries, and secondly, whether classification as a natural resources company is a significant predictor of the quality of companies? investor relations practices. The companies under investigation are listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) of South Africa. Output from natural resources companies is a significant contributor of GDP in South Africa, an emerging and developing economy. In order to attract foreign investors, improve stock pricing and trading liquidity, South African companies need to signal to the capital market at the level that they are used to from companies in developed economies. Communications with the capital market is proxied by investor relations activities on the companies? websites. I find that on average, natural resources companies have significantly better IR practices than companies in other industries. However, in the multivariate model, being a natural resource company is a weak and insignificant predictor of online investor relations quality. Results indicate that larger companies that were listed more recently, had a Big 4 Auditor and were listed on multiple exchanges had significantly better online investor relations practices. From a policy point of view, investor relations officers at natural resources companies can still do more to improve their capital market communication practices to reap the full benefits from increased transparency, especially in the face of political uncertainty and declining or stagnant commodity prices. This study contributes to the theories on signalling and legitimacy by testing its application to natural resource companies in a sub-Saharan country.
Analysis of Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Fish Marketing in Igbokoda Fish Market, Ondo State, Nigeria

The study analyzed the socio-economic factors affecting fish marketing in Igbokoda fish market, Ondo State, Nigeria. A purposive sampling technique was used in selection of the respondents. Sample size comprised eighty fish marketing households. Questionnaire was used for data collection. Results revealed that fish marketing in the area is dominated by females (88.7%). Majority (91.3%) were married with an average household size of 7 persons. Marketers earned an average income of N60, 000 per month. Majority (71.3%) do not belong to cooperative societies, 46.3% of the marketers have an average of 16.5 years of experience. Findings also revealed that fish marketing is efficient and lucrative in the area. However, constraints faced by the marketers include; inadequate storage facilities, price instability, inadequate capital, lack of access to credit, distance to market among others. It was therefore recommended that effective agricultural policies and programs should address marketers’ easy access to credits, infrastructural facilities such as good storage and processing facilities, electrification, good feeder roads should be provided in the area to reduce spoilage and unprofitable sales.
THE INFLUENCE OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER INDIVIDUAL FACTORS ON CAPITAL STRUCTURE

This study aims to analyze the effect of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) individual factor towards capital structure decision using Leverage as a dependend variable with Age (CEO Age), Tenure as independen variable amd Capex, ROA (Return on Asset), dan IO (Institutional Ownership) as control variable on LQ45 companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) in the period 2012-2016. This research uses quantitative approach with single regression analysis model. This study uses sample of firms which are listed on LQ45 in IDX on 2012 - 2016. The number of final samples used in this study were 66 business entities with 330 observations. The study findings suggest that Age and ROA variables have negative and significant effect towards Leverage, while Tenure and IO variable have positive and significant effect towards Leverage. On the other hand, Capex variables does not indicate significant effect towards Leverage in LQ45 companies on the period 2012-2016.
MRI findings in inflammatory muscle diseases and their noninflammatory mimics.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article is to provide a practical review of the spectrum of MRI findings in inflammatory muscle diseases and their noninflammatory mimics. CONCLUSION MRI is a highly sensitive tool for the diagnosis of muscle diseases. Although it has low specificity, awareness of the potential imaging findings in the various, sometimes rare, muscular disorders is helpful for accurate diagnosis.
Measuring resilience properties of household livelihoods and food security outcomes in the risky environments of Ethiopia

The purpose of this study is to contribute to efforts to measuring and assessing resilience properties of household livelihoods constructed in the risky environments. It provides new insights for assessing vulnerability of household livelihoods and designing resilience building programs in areas of protracted food crisis. Based on resilience theory as applied to social-ecological systems with an application of Modern Portfolio Theory, we adapted and measure the four properties of resilience to livelihood systems and tested the expected relationships between system properties as predicted by resilience theory. Household livelihood systems exhibited the expected pattern of increasing connectivity with increasing wealth (food income). Similarly, household resilience to food insecurity increases with increasing diversity of livelihood options and diversity declines with increasing connectivity of the system. This study confirms the key role of livelihood diversification for improving household resilience to food insecurity at both higher and lower wealth groups of households.
A novel EPID design for enhanced contrast and detective quantum efficiency

Beams-eye-view imaging applications such as real-time soft-tissue motion estimation are hindered by the inherently low image contrast of electronic portal imaging devices (EPID) currently available for clinical use. We introduce and characterize a novel EPID design that provides substantially increased detective quantum efficiency (DQE), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and sensitivity without degradation in spatial resolution. The prototype design features a stack of four conventional EPID layers combined with low noise integrated readout electronics. Each layer consists of a copper plate, a scintillator (Gd2O2S:Tb) and a photodiode/TFT-switch (aSi:H). We characterize the prototype’s signal response to a 6 MV photon beam in terms of modulation transfer function (MTF), DQE and CNR. The presampled MTF is estimated using a slanted slit technique, the DQE is calculated from measured normalized noise power spectra (nNPS) and the MTF and CNR is estimated using a Las Vegas contrast phantom. The prototype has been designed and built to be interchangeable with the current clinical EPID on the Varian TrueBeam platform (AS-1200) in terms of size and data output specifications. Performance evaluation is conducted in absolute values as well as in relative terms using the Varian AS-1200 EPID as a reference detector. A fivefold increase of DQE(0) to about 6.7% was observed by using the four-layered design versus the AS-1200 reference detector. No substantial differences are observed between each layer’s individual MTF and the one for all four layers operating combined indicating that defocusing due to beam divergence is negligible. Also, using four layers instead of one increases the signal to noise ratio by a factor of 1.7.
Preprocedural fractional flow reserve and microvascular resistance predict increased hyperaemic coronary flow after elective percutaneous coronary intervention

Epicardial focal coronary artery stenosis, diffuse coronary disease, and microvascular resistance (MR) may limit coronary flow. The purpose of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is to increase coronary flow by targeting epicardial lesions. After PCI, MR might change and affect coronary flow. We investigated whether PCI influences MR using the index of microcirculatory resistance (IMR) and if pre‐PCI fractional flow reserve (FFR) or MR predicts the post‐PCI change in hyperaemic coronary flow.
The Toll-Like Receptor 3-Mediated Antiviral Response Is Important for Protection against Poliovirus Infection in Poliovirus Receptor Transgenic Mice

ABSTRACT RIG-I-like receptors and Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play important roles in the recognition of viral infections. However, how these molecules contribute to the defense against poliovirus (PV) infection remains unclear. We characterized the roles of these sensors in PV infection in transgenic mice expressing the PV receptor. We observed that alpha/beta interferon (IFN-α/β) production in response to PV infection occurred in an MDA5-dependent but RIG-I-independent manner in primary cultured kidney cells in vitro. These results suggest that, similar to the RNA of other picornaviruses, PV RNA is recognized by MDA5. However, serum IFN-α levels, the viral load in nonneural tissues, and mortality rates did not differ significantly between MDA5-deficient mice and wild-type mice. In contrast, we observed that serum IFN production was abrogated and that the viral load in nonneural tissues and mortality rates were both markedly higher in TIR domain-containing adaptor-inducing IFN-β (TRIF)-deficient and TLR3-deficient mice than in wild-type mice. The mortality rate of MyD88-deficient mice was slightly higher than that of wild-type mice. These results suggest that multiple pathways are involved in the antiviral response in mice and that the TLR3-TRIF-mediated signaling pathway plays an essential role in the antiviral response against PV infection.