Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transradial approach for carotid artery stenting: A feasibility study

Background: Carotid artery stenting (CAS) has become accepted as an alternative to carotid endarterectomy for revascularization of the internal carotid artery (ICA) among high risk patients. CAS from the femoral approach can be problematic due to access site complications as well as technical difficulties related to peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and/or anatomical variations of the aortic arch. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the feasibility of the radial artery as an alternative approach for CAS. Methods: Forty‐two patients (mean age 71 ± 1, 26 male) underwent CAS. All had a CA stenosis greater than 80% and comorbid conditions increasing the risk of carotid endarterectomy. The target common carotid artery (CCA) was initially cannulated via the radial artery using a 5F Simmons 1 diagnostic catheter which was then advanced to the external CA (ECA) over an extrasupport 0.014” coronary guidewire. After removing the coronary guidewire, a 0.035” guidewire was advanced into the ECA, and the Simmons 1 was exchanged for a 5F or 6F shuttle sheath and positioned in the distal CCA. In four patients with a bovine aortic arch, the left CCA was accessed with a 5F Amplatz R2 catheter which was then exchanged for a shuttle sheath over a 0.035” guidewire. CAS was performed using standard techniques with weight‐based bivalirudin for anticoagulation. Results: CAS was successful in 35/42 (83%) patients, including 28/29 (97%) right CA, 4/5 (80%) bovine left CA, 7/13 (54%) left CA. Mean interventional time was 30 ± 3 minutes. The sheath was removed immediately after the procedure. There were no radial access site complications. One patient sustained a stroke 24 hrs after the procedure with complete resolution of symptoms (Mean NIH stroke scale 2.0 ± 0.3 before, 1.9 ± 0.3 after). Median hospital stay was 2 ± 0.6 days. Inadequate catheter support at the origin of the CCA was the technical cause of failure in the seven unsuccessful cases. Conclusion: CAS using the transradial approach appears to be safe and technically feasible. The technique may be particularly useful in patients with right ICA lesions and severe PVD or unfavorable arch anatomy, and among patients with a bovine aortic arch. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Urban Competitiveness, Marketing and the Need for Organising Capacity

Fundamental changes in the economy, technology, demography and politics are reshaping the environment for towns and cities in Europe. These changes have induced competition between towns and cities at regional, national and sometimes international scales. Increasingly, cities and towns behave in a logic of competition in a highly dynamic and complex environment (Bramezza, 1996). In such a competitive environment, the policies of local governments need to be more market-oriented with an eye to chances and threats, bearing in mind the city’ s strengths and weaknesses. Cities and towns are waking up to the fact that an entrepreneurial and anticipatory policy is called for to cope with urban and regional competition. In the past two decades, a growing number of European cities and towns have acknowledged that marketing could be a powerful instrument in such a new style of urban management. Cities aspire to become and remain attractive places for (potential) residents, businesses and visitors. In this process, cities `invent’ their own marketing strategies, discovering that the marketing of a city or region is not as straightforward as many people think. Our contribution considers one of the main challenges in this respect: the need for organising capacity. What lessons can be drawn up to now? The next section of the contribution describes some of the main features of the pattern of urban development and the increase in competition, setting the scene for a more strategic and entrepreneurial approach to the control of the development of metropolitan regions. The third section touches upon some of the consequences for urban management and discusses the speci® c role of urban place marketing in that setting in more detail. For any urban place marketing strategy to succeed, organising capacity has become indispensable, as argued in the fourth section of the contribution. The ® nal section concludes.
Effects of fat on gastric emptying of and the glycemic, insulin, and incretin responses to a carbohydrate meal in type 2 diabetes.

CONTEXT Gastric emptying (GE) is a major determinant of postprandial glycemia. Because the presence of fat in the small intestine inhibits GE, ingestion of fat may attenuate the glycemic response to carbohydrate. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of patterns of fat consumption on GE and glucose, insulin, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) concentrations after a carbohydrate meal in type 2 diabetes. DESIGN This was a randomized, cross-over study in which GE of a radioisotopically labeled potato meal was measured on 3 d. SETTING The study was performed at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. PATIENTS Six males with type 2 diabetes were studied. INTERVENTION Subjects ingested 1) 30 ml water 30 min before the mashed potato (water), 2) 30 ml olive oil 30 min before the mashed potato (oil), or 3) 30 ml water 30 min before the mashed potato meal that contained 30 ml olive oil (water and oil). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES GE, blood glucose, plasma insulin, GLP-1, and GIP concentrations were the main outcome measures. RESULTS GE was much slower with oil compared with both water (P < 0.0001) and water and oil (P < 0.05) and was slower after water and oil compared with water (P < 0.01). The postprandial rise in blood glucose was markedly delayed (P = 0.03), and peak glucose occurred later (P = 0.04) with oil compared with the two other meals. The rises in insulin and GIP were attenuated (P < 0.0001), whereas the GLP-1 response was greater (P = 0.0001), after oil. CONCLUSIONS Ingestion of fat before a carbohydrate meal markedly slows GE and attenuates the postprandial rises in glucose, insulin, and GIP, but stimulates GLP-1, in type 2 diabetes.
Enhanced Exopolymer Production and Chromium Stabilization in Pseudomonas putida Unsaturated Biofilms

ABSTRACT Chromium-contaminated soils threaten surface and groundwater quality at many industrial sites. In vadose zones, indigenous bacteria can reduce Cr(VI) to Cr(III), but the subsequent fate of Cr(III) and the roles of bacterial biofilms are relatively unknown. To investigate, we cultured Pseudomonas putida, a model organism for vadose zone bioremediation, as unsaturated biofilms on membranes overlaying iron-deficient solid media either containing molecular dichromate from potassium dichromate (Cr-only treatment) or with deposits of solid, dichromate-coated hematite (Fe+Cr treatment) to simulate vadose zone conditions. Controls included iron-deficient solid medium and an Fe-only treatment using solid hematite deposits. Under iron-deficient conditions, chromium exposure resulted in lower cell yield and lower amounts of cellular protein and carbohydrate, but providing iron in the form of hematite overcame these toxic effects of Cr. For the Cr and Fe+Cr treatments, Cr(VI) was completely reduced to Cr(III) that accumulated on biofilm cells and extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs). Chromium exposure resulted in elevated extracellular carbohydrates, protein, DNA, and EPS sugars that were relatively enriched in N-acetyl-glucosamine, rhamnose, glucose, and mannose. The proportions of EPS protein and carbohydrate relative to intracellular pools suggested Cr toxicity-mediated cell lysis as the origin. However, DNA accumulated extracellularly in amounts far greater than expected from cell lysis, and Cr was liberated when extracted EPS was treated with DNase. These results demonstrate that Cr accumulation in unsaturated biofilms occurs with enzymatic reduction of Cr(VI), cellular lysis, cellular association, and extracellular DNA binding of Cr(III), which altogether can facilitate localized biotic stabilization of Cr in contaminated vadose zones.
On the special role of macroprudential policy in the euro area

Policy-makers around the world have been engaged in recent years in a wide-ranging debate on the potential role of the new, as yet broadly untested, MAP regime and its connection with two other regimes that share similar features but have a much longer history, namely microprudential policy (MIP) and monetary policy (MP). The fact that MAP is or will soon be operational in many advanced economies does not diminish the importance of continuing this debate, especially in the euro area, which is in many ways a natural laboratory to study the challenges posed by MAP.
The Effect of Corporate Governance on Auditor-Client Realignments

SUMMARY: Events leading up to the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) increased the public's focus on corporate governance and increased regulatory scrutiny of corporate governance mechanisms. These events also contributed to a massive restructuring in the audit market that resulted in the transfer of a large number of clients from Big N to non-Big N audit firms. We extend prior research examining the determinants of auditor-client realignments by investigating the effect of corporate governance on downward (i.e., from Big N to non-Big N auditors) switching activity. We develop a corporate governance index comprised of governance characteristics that we expect auditors to find more desirable in their clients (specifically, board and audit committee independence, diligence, and expertise). The results suggest that Big N auditors consider client corporate governance mechanisms when making client portfolio decisions. Specifically, downward auditor-client realignments are more likely for cl.
The Happy Farmer: The Effect Of Non-Pecuniary Benefits On Farmers' Behavior

I test empirically the relationship between farmers' perceptions of the non- pecuniary benefits from farming with a variety of field behaviors such as disinvestment, production, diversification and off-farm labor market participation. Results suggest that non- pecuniary benefits have an important influence on a wide range of farmer activities. While costs and returns are clearly important, I suggest that non-pecuniary benefits may make some choices more attractive than others which may be more rewarding financially.
Differential Regulation of TNF-R1 Signaling: Lipid Raft Dependency of p42mapk/erk2 Activation, but Not NF-κB Activation1

The TNFR, TNF-R1, is localized to lipid raft and nonraft regions of the plasma membrane. Ligand binding sets in motion signaling cascades that promote the activation of p42mapk/erk2 and NF-κB. However, the role of receptor localization in the activation of downstream signaling events is poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the dynamics of TNF-R1 localization to lipid rafts and the consequences of raft localization on the activation of p42mapk/erk2 and NF-κB in primary cultures of mouse macrophages. Using sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation and a sensitive ELISA to detect TNF-R1, we show that TNF-R1 is rapidly and transiently recruited to lipid rafts in response to TNF-α. Disruption of lipid rafts by cholesterol depletion prevented the TNF-α-dependent recruitment of TNF-R1 to lipid rafts and inhibited the activation of p42mapk/erk2, while the activation of NF-κB was unaffected. In addition, phosphorylated p42mapk/erk2, but not receptor interacting protein, I-κB kinase-γ, or I-κBα was detected in raft-containing fractions following TNF-α stimulation. These findings suggest that TNF-R1 is localized to both lipid raft and nonraft regions of the plasma membrane and that each compartment is capable of initiating different signaling responses. We propose that segregation of TNF-R1 to raft and nonraft regions of the plasma membrane contributes to the diversity of signaling responses initiated by TNF-R1.
Bank Competition, Concentration and Efficiency in the Single European Market

The deregulation of financial services in the European Union (EU), together with the establishment of the Economic and Monetary Union, aimed at the creation of a level playing-field in the provision of banking services across the EU. The plan was to remove entry barriers and to foster both competition and efficiency in national banking markets. However, one of the effects of the regulatory changes was to spur a trend towards consolidation, resulting in the recent wave of mergers and acquisitions. To investigate the impact of increased consolidation on the competitive conditions of the EU banking markets, we employ both structural (concentration ratios) and non-structural (Panzar-Rosse statistic) concentration measures. Using bank-level balance sheet data for the major EU banking markets, in a period following the introduction of the Single Banking Licence (1997-2003), this paper also investigates the factors that may influence the competitive conditions. Specifically, we control for differences in efficiency estimates, structural conditions and institutional characteristics. The results seem to suggest that the degree of concentration is not necessarily related to the degree of competition. We also find little evidence that more efficient banking systems are also more competitive. The relationship between competition and efficiency is not a straightforward one: increased competition has forced banks to become more efficient but increased efficiency does not seem to be fostering more competitive EU banking systems. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd and The University of Manchester 2006.
Elastic, on-line and network aware Virtual Machine placement within a data center

This article presents a new model and a resolution algorithm, based on Tabu Search, for the assignment of Virtual Machines (VMs) to servers in a data center. We propose a Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) model that optimizes the Quality of Service (QoS) and power consumption of applications, taking into account their communication traffic and dynamic aspects. A hierarchic method and a Tabu Search heuristic that considers the network topology are developed to solve cases with realistic sizes—e.g., a data center with 1600 servers per pod, for up to 128,000 total servers—. The method specifically considers the optimal mapping of the application graph into the data center network. The proposed scheduler is compared with 1) a static method that does not consider workload variations, and 2) the first-fit policy as a sample of methods that do not consider communication traffic among VMs.
The Complete Amino Acid Sequence of Bovine Serum Amyloid Protein A (SAA) and of Subspecies of the Tissue‐Deposited Amyloid Fibril Protein A

Bovine serum amyloid A (SAA) was isolated from the acute phase high density lipoprotein (HDL) fraction of a cow suffering from acute mastitis. The elucidated primary structure revealed a protein consisting of 112 amino acid residues. Compared with SAA proteins from other species, the bovine protein was shown to have an insertion of nine amino acid residues between positions 69 and 70. No microheterogeneity could be observed in the protein.
Short-term and Long-term Outcomes Regarding Laparoscopic Versus Open Surgery for Low Rectal Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose: It is to disclose whether the laparoscopic technique is feasible or not in the treatment of low rectal cancer. Materials and Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Ovid, Web of Science, Science Direct, SpringerLink, EBSCO, and the Cochrane Library databases for the eligible studies. Review Manager 5.2 was used to test the heterogeneity and to evaluate the overall test performance. Results: Twelve studies met the final inclusion criteria (total n=2973). The pooled analyses showed, despite longer operation times, that there were significantly less blood loss, fewer transfusions, shorter times to bowel function recovery, resumed diet and hospital durations, and lower overall complication and wound infection rates. The compared results of the lymph node harvest number, distal resection margin, circumferential resection margin involvement, local and distant recurrences, disease-free survival, and overall survival were similar between both the groups. Conclusion: Laparoscopic surgery is safe and feasible for the treatment of low rectal cancer.
Diagnostic value of serum peptides of collagen synthesis and degradation in dialysis renal osteodystrophy.

The assay of serum peptides of bone collagen formation and degradation could potentially provide an indirect estimate of the rate of bone turnover. In our study we have measured serum levels of the carboxy-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP) as a marker of bone formation and serum levels of the pyridinoline cross-linked telopeptide domain of type I collagen (ICTP) as a marker of bone resorption in 53 patients (47.7 +/- 10 years, M +/- SD) on haemodialysis (for 9.5 +/- 3.8 years) and affected by renal osteodystrophy. Besides PICP and ICTP, patients were also sampled for serum intact and C-terminal PTH, osteocalcin (BGP) and alkaline phosphatase (AP). A transiliac bone biopsy for histomorphometry was also performed in all. As expected both PTH assays, BGP and AP, were correlated reciprocally and to histomorphometric parameters. As for serum levels of PICP, they were on average increased (268.5 +/- 104.9 ng/ml, M +/- SD) compared to normals (range 66-176), but not correlated to classical humoral markers of hyperparathyroidism (PTH and AP), with the exception of BGP (with a rather low r value: 0.365, P < 0.01), nor to histomorphometric indices of bone resorption and formation. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward Sex among Chinese Adolescents

This study was conducted to examine the knowledge of and attitudes toward sex of 178 Chinese secondary school students in Hong Kong. The data were collected using a questionnaire that comprised three parts: the Chinese version of the Mathtech Knowledge Test, the Chinese version of the Mathtech Attitude and Value Scale, and a demographic sheet seeking sociodemographic information. In general, students demonstrated a low level of sexual knowledge, especially in relation to adolescent marriage, the probability of pregnancy, and adolescent sexual activity. With regard to attitudes, students indicated positive attitudes toward importance of family and importance of birth control. Male students in comparison with their female counterparts had a higher level of agreement with premarital intercourse and the use of pressure and force in sexual activity.
Heme deficiency in erythroid lineage causes differentiation arrest and cytoplasmic iron overload

Erythroid 5‐aminolevulinate synthase (ALAS‐E) catalyzes the first step of heme biosynthesis in erythroid cells. Mutation of human ALAS‐E causes the disorder X‐linked sideroblastic anemia. To examine the roles of heme during hematopoiesis, we disrupted the mouse ALAS‐E gene. ALAS‐E‐null embryos showed no hemoglobinized cells and died by embryonic day 11.5, indicating that ALAS‐E is the principal isozyme contributing to erythroid heme biosynthesis. In the ALAS‐E‐null mutant embryos, erythroid differentiation was arrested, and an abnormal hematopoietic cell fraction emerged that accumulated a large amount of iron diffusely in the cytoplasm. In contrast, we found typical ring sideroblasts that accumulated iron mostly in mitochondria in adult mice chimeric for ALAS‐E‐null mutant cells, indicating that the mode of iron accumulation caused by the lack of ALAS‐E is different in primitive and definitive erythroid cells. These results demonstrate that ALAS‐E, and hence heme supply, is necessary for differentiation and iron metabolism of erythroid cells.
Film tourism and destination marketing: The case of Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Film tourism is a growing phenomenon worldwide. However, many tourism organizations have been slow to tap the potential benefits of film tourism, perhaps due to a lack of knowledge, research, or evidence that explains the potential of film tourism. This article presents a conceptual framework for understanding the film tourism phenomenon and, then, using a case study method, reports on the tourism impacts of Captain Corelli's Mandolin on the Island of Cephalonia in Greece. The case supports previous research claiming that films can have a powerful influence on travel decisions. It also shows that film tourism is not always directly related to the success of a film or the marketing activities of Destination Marketing Organizations. Implications for destination marketers are discussed.
The Influence of Institutional Constraints on Outsourcing

ABSTRACT Drawing on transaction cost economics and institutional theory we argue that the effects of institutional constraints on the transaction costs of outsourcing vary systematically with the type of service outsourced and the ownership structure of the outsourcing firm. Using data from hospitals, we demonstrate that these effects lead to a higher extent of outsourcing of nonclinical compared to clinical services, and larger outsourcing response of nonclinical services to cost pressures from managed care. Further, the effects of ownership structure and associated governance mechanisms on institutional constraints are reflected in the empirical results as cross-sectional variations in the extent to which outsourcing is invoked as a response to cost pressures by hospitals of different ownership. Copyright (c), University of Chicago on behalf of the Accounting Research Center, 2010.
In-sample and out-of-sample properties of international stock return dynamics conditional on equilibrium pricing factors

We conduct a comprehensive analysis of the in-sample and out-of-sample properties of stock return dynamics in 14 developed and 12 emerging markets. We start by formulating a theoretically founded asset-pricing model that decomposes log stock returns into equilibrium pricing factors (accounting and discount factors) and short-run (vector) autoregressive dynamics. Based on this model, we design both in-sample and out-of-sample panel modeling techniques to investigate international stock market returns at short and long horizons. Our findings show that (i) there is evidence of in-sample signaling from the equilibrium relations but this feature does not appear to translate into out-of-sample forecasting, (ii) a rolling window forecasting scheme can better approximate the distributional features of returns in comparison with a recursive method, (iii) forecasting with single-lagged equilibrium relationships does not play a uniformly significant role in anticipating returns, (iv) forecasting with a full model containing all lagged equilibrium relations can outperform both a random walk model and a VAR(1) model and (v) linear combinations of alternative forecasts reduce ex-ante uncertainty.