Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trocar site hernia after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

AIM The aim of this study was to elucidate the influence of pre and perioperative factors on the development of trocar site hernia after a laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedure. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 776 patients who underwent a laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedure in our Department of General Surgery between 1999 and 2004 were assigned as the study group. The control group included patients without trocar site hernias after a cholecystectomy. The effect of five variables, including gender, age, body mass index (BMI), operation duration, and the type of cholecystitis on the development of a trocar site hernia after a laparoscopic cholecystectomy was assessed by univariable and multivariable models. RESULTS In the univariate analysis, female gender (P = 0.021), older age (P < 0.001), higher BMI at the time of surgery (P < 0.001), and an increased duration of surgery (P < 0.001) have been found to increase the likelihood of a trocar site hernia formation. However, in the multivariable model, the gender was not a significant variable to influence the development of this complication. CONCLUSIONS The development of a postoperative trocar site hernia may be prevented by the closure of 10-mm trocar sites in patients who are older than 60 years, obese, and who have a longer duration of operation.
Effects of airway calibre on lung delivery of nebulised salbutamol.

BACKGROUND: A study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that airway calibre may alter lung deposition and therefore lung bioavailability of inhaled drugs as a result of narrowed airways reducing peripheral drug delivery. This was evaluated using the early lung absorption profile of salbutamol over the first 30 minutes after inhalation. METHODS: Three groups were compared: (1) 10 normal subjects with mean forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) 109.5% predicted and mid forced expiratory flow (FEF25-75) 103.0%, (2) 10 mild asthmatic patients with FEV1 102.0% and FEF25-75 82.6%, and (3) 10 severe asthmatic patients with FEV1 49.2% and FEF25-75 27.5% predicted. Each subject had one study visit where a single dose of nebulised salbutamol was given (40 micrograms/kg) via a Ventstream nebuliser with mouthpiece followed by mouth rinsing. Plasma salbutamol levels were measured at five, 10, 20, and 30 minutes after the end of nebulisation with calculation of maximal (Cmax) and average (Cav) concentration over 0-30 minutes. Systemic beta 2 responses (plasma potassium, tremor and heart rate) and airway responses (FEV1, FEF25-75) were measured before and 30 minutes after nebulisation. RESULTS: For Cav over 0-30 minutes the severe asthmatic patients had a lower plasma salbutamol concentration (1.31 ng/ml) than either the normal subjects (2.40 ng/ml) or those with mild asthma (2.45 ng/ml): normal subjects versus severe asthmatics 95% CI 0.30 to 1.88, mild versus severe asthmatics 95% CI 0.07 to 2.21. Airway responses as delta FEF25-75 were lower in the severe asthmatic subjects (0.30 l/s) than in either the normal subjects (0.69 l/s) or those with mild asthma (0.74 l/s): normal subjects versus severe asthmatic subjects 95% CI 0.09 to 0.88, mild versus severe asthmatics 95% CI 0.04 to 0.93. Values for delta log tremor also showed attenuated responses in those with severe asthma (1.22 mg2/s) compared with normal subjects (2.00 mg2/s) or those with mild asthma (2.02 mg2/s): normal subjects versus those with severe asthma 95% CI -0.02 to 3.30, mild versus severe asthmatics 95% CI 0.02 to 3.30. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that baseline airway calibre significantly alters the early lung absorption profile of salbutamol in patients with severe asthma. This may have implications in terms of optimising dose and delivery of inhaled beta 2 agonists in these patients.
Global Interference: The Effect of Exposure Duration That is Substituted for Spatial Frequency

In this study, participants were required to identify hierarchically structured patterns that appeared at either global or local level. Paquet and Merikle (1984 Canadian Journal of Psychology 381 45–53) showed that global interference is affected by exposure duration in the processing of a hierarchical structure. They showed that only global-to-local interference occurred at short exposure durations. In contrast, global-to-local as well as local-to-global interference was observed at long exposure durations. They suggested that the effect of exposure duration with global interference depends on the high-spatial-frequency versus low-spatial-frequency channel. In the present study, exposure duration (short or long) was varied randomly from trial to trial (experiment 1), or held constant (experiment 2). In experiment 1, global-to-local interference occurred at both short and long exposure durations, even though the same physical properties existed as in experiment 2. In experiment 2, both global-to-local and local-to-global interference occurred at only long exposure durations, in line with the results reported by Paquet and Merikle. This suggests that the effect of exposure duration on global interference is explained not only by spatial-frequency channels, but also by attentional shift.
Intrinsic properties and evoked responses of guinea pig subicular neurons in vitro.

1. Intracellular recordings were used to examine the membrane properties and evoked responses of subicular neurons in horizontal and parasagittal slices from guinea pig brain as a step toward understanding excitatory transmission through the hippocampus. 2. Most cells (49/74) could fire a burst discharge, a portion of which was Ca2+ dependent, in response to direct depolarization or in response to orthodromic or antidromic activation. Other cells (23/74) could not be made to burst, but instead fired single repetitive spikes when directly depolarized or single spikes in response to orthodromic or antidromic activation. Two recorded cells appeared to be interneurons and differed from bursting and non-bursting cells in action-potential shape and response to extracellular stimulation. 3. Bursting cells differed from nonbursting cells in their membrane properties: 1) their time constants were typically shorter (averaging 7.4 ms for bursting cells and 11.5 ms for nonbursting cells), 2) they exhibited a pronounced "sag" in the potential response to hyperpolarizing current injection, and 3) they responded at the break of a hyperpolarizing stimulus with a depolarization (anodal break potential). The sag and the anodal break potential were not detected in recordings from nonbursting neurons. 4. A single-spiking mode could be induced in bursting cells by depolarization from resting potential to about -60 mV. Conversely, hyperpolarization of nonbursting cells did not convert them to bursting cells. 5. Both bursting and nonbursting cell types could be antidromically driven. Whereas both excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs and IPSPs) were prominent in nonbursting cells, IPSPs were observed at a lower stimulus intensities than EPSPs in most cells. EPSPs were evident in bursting cells and they triggered burst discharges. IPSPs in bursting cells were detected only when these cells were depolarized, eliminating burst responses. 6. Spontaneous firing rates were low (averaging < 1 spike/s) for both cell types. Addition of picrotoxin produced spontaneous burst or EPSP responses in bursting cells, synchronous with different patterns of picrotoxin-induced population bursts originating in CA3 and/or entorhinal cortex. Individual subicular cells followed CA3 or entorhinal cortex or both. No such activity was recorded in nonbursting cells. No increases in activity in either cell type were seen after picrotoxin application to isolated pieces of subicular cortex. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
The Effect of Image Scrambling on Visual Cortical BOLD Activity in the Anesthetized Monkey

We have investigated BOLD signal changes associated with scrambling natural images into different numbers of segments in visually modulated regions of the macaque monkey (macacca mulatta) brain. For 10 degrees x 10 degrees images, we observed that BOLD activity in primary visual cortex (V1) increased with scrambling, and then dramatically dropped for very highly scrambled images (128 x 128 segments). In extrastriate visual areas, BOLD signal levels did not distinguish between natural images and scrambled images, except that as in V1 very highly scrambled images led to a drop in BOLD activity. Finally in the superior temporal sulcus region and inferior temporal cortex, BOLD activity decreased systematically with scrambling. Our results are consistent with the view that the BOLD signal might reflect average activation of local orienation detectors in V1, and sensitivity to more global object representations in higher visual areas. In addition, we quantify the effects of scrambling on the Fourier amplitude spectrum of the images. This analysis shows that scrambling causes substantial changes to the spatial frequency content of images. This suggests that low-level accounts for reduced BOLD activation in higher visual areas cannot be completely ruled out based on scrambling data.
Validation of a Computerized Metabolic Measurement System (Oxycon-Pro®) During Low and High Intensity Exercise1

The aim of the study was to validate a new, fast metabolic measurement system (the Oxycon-Pro) during low and high exercise intensities against the Douglas bag method. For this purpose twelve highly trained subjects performed an incremental cycle ergometer test. In the third minute of each exercise step simultaneous measurements of the Douglas bag and the Oxycon-Pro were performed. No significant differences between the Oxycon-Pro and the Douglas bag measurements for minute ventilation (VE), oxygen uptake (VO2) and carbon dioxide expiration (VCO2) were found. Bland and Altman analysis of validity demonstrated minimal bias and low standard deviations. In conclusion, the results show that the Oxycon-Pro is a valid apparatus for determination of minute ventilation (VE), oxygen uptake (VO2) and carbon dioxide expiration (VCO2) during low as well as during maximal exercise intensities. Unlike with the Douglas bag method, this fast metabolic measurement system can be used for accurate and quick determination of ventilatory variables during exercise.
An Empirical and Modeling Approach to Knowledge Management Practices in South American Organizations

The following chapter explores Knowledge Management (KM) practices in some South American organizations operating in Spanish speaking countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. More specifically, empirical results are confronted to a functional KM guideline based on balanced scorecard architecture and used as a diagnosis tool. Some fundamental KM issues are previously discussed. A dominant trend within researchers and practitioners is to relate Knowledge Management (KM) with innovative organizations, their sustainable economic growth, and the development of information management systems (e.g., Maier and Hadrich, 2006, Salojarvi et al., 2005, Tedmori et al., 2006). Technological innovation has for example been cited as a major reason for the current interest in knowledge management (Bouthillier and Shearer, 2002). According to this dominant perspective, in the “knowledge era” in which we are, the ways intangible assets are managed and converted into actionable knowledge contribute to organizational learning, competitive advantage, and organization’s overall success (e.g., Dorey and Gobat, 1996, Roos et al., 1997, Senge, 2006). Based on well established cognitive psychology findings on learning and memory Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) described the two fundamental categories of knowledge found in organizations: on the one hand tacit knowledge that is distributed among the personnel and which is hard to articulate. On the other hand, explicit knowledge which can be codified and that will eventually contribute to feed technological systems such as data bases, and expert systems. Converting tacit into explicit actionable knowledge is one important challenge faced by any KM program (see Toledano O’Farrill, 2011); this being particularly true in the South American context. However, there are still many gaps for a global theoretical scheme on KM dynamics. This is currently reflected in the existence of a variety of concepts and methods surrounding KM research. For instance Andriessen (2008) showed that metaphors are largely used to conceptualize knowledge in a KM context (Andriessen, 2008). For example Andriessen (2006 cited by Andriessen, 2008) found a list of 22 metaphors used by researchers and practitioners to describe what knowledge is (for example “knowledge as capital” or “Knowledge inventory”). As Andriessen explains, the use of metaphors to describe
A sequential multiple hypotheses test for the unknown parameters of a Gaussian distribution (Corresp.)

A sequential multiple hypotheses test for the unknown parameters of a Gaussian distribution is developed. The case of a known variance but an unknown mean belonging to the set (00,01,''' ,Om_l} is considered as well as that of a known mean but an unknown variance belonging to the set \{\sigma^{2}_{0}, \sigma^{2}_{1},\cdots ,\sigma^{2}_{m-1}\} . Analytical expressions are developed for the algorithm performance, i.e., the average length of the test and the error probability. The results are compared with a Bayes algorithm and show that the new algorithm needs about half as many samples. As far as the authors are aware this is the first m ary sequential algorithm for which the performance has been found analytically. Because of the performance of this algorithm and the fact that it is a natural generalization of the binary sequential test, it is felt that the algorithm may be optimum or close to optimum.
Microbial Lineages in Sarcoidosis. A Metagenomic Analysis Tailored for Low‐Microbial Content Samples

Rationale: The etiology of sarcoidosis is unknown, but microbial agents are suspected as triggers. Objectives: We sought to identify bacterial, fungal, or viral lineages in specimens from patients with sarcoidosis enriched relative to control subjects using metagenomic DNA sequencing. Because DNA from environmental contamination contributes disproportionately to samples with low authentic microbial content, we developed improved methods for filtering environmental contamination. Methods: We analyzed specimens from subjects with sarcoidosis (n = 93), control subjects without sarcoidosis (n = 72), and various environmental controls (n = 150). Sarcoidosis specimens consisted of two independent sets of formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded lymph node biopsies, BAL, Kveim reagent, and fresh granulomatous spleen from a patient with sarcoidosis. All specimens were analyzed by bacterial 16S and fungal internal transcribed spacer ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. In addition, BAL was analyzed by shotgun sequencing of fractions enriched for viral particles, and Kveim and spleen were subjected to whole‐genome shotgun sequencing. Measurements and Main Results: In one tissue set, fungi in the Cladosporiaceae family were enriched in sarcoidosis compared with nonsarcoidosis tissues; in the other tissue set, we detected enrichment of several bacterial lineages in sarcoidosis but not Cladosporiaceae. BAL showed limited enrichment of Aspergillus fungi. Several microbial lineages were detected in Kveim and spleen, including Cladosporium. No microbial lineage was enriched in more than one sample type after correction for multiple comparisons. Conclusions: Metagenomic sequencing revealed enrichment of microbes in single types of sarcoidosis samples but limited concordance across sample types. Statistical analysis accounting for environmental contamination was essential to avoiding false positives.
Prevention of programmed cell death in burkitt lymphoma cell lines by bcl‐2‐dependent and ‐independent mechanisms

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) cell lines which retain the phenotypic characteristics of the freshly‐isolated tumour cells (group I cells) readily enter programmed cell death (apoptosis) in response to a variety of triggers. By contrast, isogenic BL cells which are phenotypically altered as a result of activation of their resident EBV genome (group‐III cells) are highly protected from apoptosis. Phenotypic changes in group‐III cells include the up‐regulation of the oncogene, bcl‐2. Expression of the 26‐kDa bcl‐2 protein in group‐1 BL cells following gene transfer was found to afford protection from apoptosis: the degree of protection was proportional to the amount of bcl‐2 protein expressed. When group‐1 bcl‐2 transfectants were compared with their group‐III counterparts it was found that, whilst bcl‐2 made a significant contribution in protecting from entry into apoptosis, hyper‐expression of bcl‐2 protein in group‐1 cells (well beyond that of group‐III cells) was necessary to attain the high levels of protection observed in group‐III cells. These results suggested that additional, bcl‐2‐independent, survival mechanisms could operate in BL cells. In support of this notion it was also found that: (I) prolonged culture of group‐1 lines in vitro resulted in enhanced survival in the absence of bcl‐2 up‐regulation, and (2) exposure of group‐1 cells to interferon‐α triggered a bcl‐2‐independent protective response. The molecular mechanisms of both the bcl‐2‐dependent and ‐independent survival pathways remain to be determined. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Teachers' Gender-Related Beliefs And Pedagogical Practices: Experiences In Single-Sex Classrooms

La investigacion muestra los resultados de un estudio cualitativo e interpretativo que indago acerca de la manera como las creencias acerca del genero de profesores de ingles moldearon sus practicas pedagogicas en salones diferenciados por el genero en un colegio mixto y privado de Bogota, Colombia. Como categorias emergentes, el estudio demostro que las practicas pedagogicas no cambiaron en razon del genero de los estudiantes. Sin embargo, el manejo de grupo fue mediado por el genero y se hizo necesario adoptar un sistema para el manejo de la disciplina en los grupos masculinos que demostraron actitudes de la cultura “machista”. De igual manera, ni el ambiente de clase, ni el grado de atencion fueron mediados por el genero. Sin embargo, las creencias de los docentes mostraron concepciones binarias de sus estudiantes desde una perspectiva de genero en tanto los concibieron como opuestos academicos y dichas concepciones se relacionaron con los legados historicos de los docentes y sus creencias culturales.
Interindividual variability and correlation among morphological parameters of knee joint cartilage plates: analysis with three-dimensional MR imaging.

OBJECTIVE To determine the range and variability of the cartilage volume, thickness, and articular surface areas in the knee joints of healthy male subjects, the association of these parameters within and between the knee joint cartilage plates, and their correlation with anthropometric variables. METHOD The right knees of 27 individuals (age 23 to 64 years) without cartilage damage were examined. Sagittal magnetic resonance imaging was with a fat-suppressed gradient echo sequence (resolution 2 x 0.31 x 0.31 mm(3)), quantitative parameters being computed for all cartilage plates. RESULTS The total knee joint cartilage volume ranged from 16.6 to 31.4 ml, the size of the articular surfaces from 102 to 163 cm(2), and the mean cartilage thickness from 1.57 to 2.43 mm. The mean and maximal cartilage thickness were highest in the patella (2.76 and 5.72 mm). There was a significant correlation of the cartilage volume with the mean thickness (R=0.80) and with the joint surface areas (R=0.56), but not between the thickness and surface area (R=0.37). The association among the patella, tibia, and femur was 0.16 to 0.72 for volumes, 0.08 to 0.78 for thickness, and 0.24 to 0.62 for surfaces. The knee joint cartilage volume and the surface areas were significantly associated with the body height (R=0.51 and 0.57), but not the cartilage thickness (R=0.22). CONCLUSION There is a surprisingly high variability of the quantitative distribution of cartilage within the knee joint, with only moderate correlations between knee joint cartilage plates, and this variability cannot be adequately predicted based on anthropometric variables.
Brief alcohol interventions for mandated college students: comparison of face-to-face counseling and computer-delivered interventions.

AIMS College students who violate alcohol policies are often mandated to participate in alcohol-related interventions. This study investigated (i) whether such interventions reduced drinking beyond the sanction alone, (ii) whether a brief motivational intervention (BMI) was more efficacious than two computer-delivered interventions (CDIs) and (iii) whether intervention response differed by gender. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial with four conditions [brief motivation interventions (BMI), Alcohol 101 Plus™, Alcohol Edu for Sanctions(®), delayed control] and four assessments (baseline, 1, 6 and 12 months). SETTING Private residential university in the United States. PARTICIPANTS Students (n = 677; 64% male) who had violated campus alcohol policies and were sanctioned to participate in a risk reduction program. MEASUREMENTS Consumption (drinks per heaviest and typical week, heavy drinking frequency, peak and typical blood alcohol concentration), alcohol problems and recidivism. FINDINGS Piecewise latent growth models characterized short-term (1-month) and longer-term (1-12 months) change. Female but not male students reduced drinking and problems in the control condition. Males reduced drinking and problems after all interventions relative to control, but did not maintain these gains. Females reduced drinking to a greater extent after a BMI than after either CDI, and maintained reductions relative to baseline across the follow-up year. No differences in recidivism were found. CONCLUSIONS Male and female students responded differently to sanctions for alcohol violations and to risk reduction interventions. BMIs optimized outcomes for both genders. Male students improved after all interventions, but female students improved less after CDIs than after BMI. Intervention effects decayed over time, especially for males.
Strategic alliances with competing firms and shareholder value

Competing effectively in dynamic environments requires innovation. Strategic alliances have been proposed as an efficient means to access the resources needed for innovation. Previous research has demonstrated significant positive effects of alliance formation on firm value. We propose, however, that increased transactions costs required to gain commitment to an alliance between direct competitors reduce the value created by such alliances. This results in smaller stock market reactions to the formation of these alliances than for alliances between non-competing firms. Using a sample of 89 high technology alliances, we provide evidence that gains to shareholders involved in alliances among competitors are significantly lower than those involved in non-competitor alliances. These results may suggest that direct-competitor alliances may be an inefficient means for innovating.