Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serum levels of second-generation antipsychotics are associated with cognitive function in psychotic disorders

Abstract Objectives: Antipsychotics are effective in treating psychosis and mood episodes; however, the effect on cognition is less known. We investigated the association between serum levels of second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) and cognitive performance in psychosis spectrum disorders in a naturalistic setting. Methods: A total of 495 patients with a DSM-IV Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders (SCZ, n = 373) or Bipolar Disorder (BD, n = 122) diagnosis treated with olanzapine, quetiapine, aripiprazole or risperidone were tested neuropsychologically with concurrent measurement of the serum concentration of the drug. Linear regression was used for association analyses. Results: Attention was positively associated with the olanzapine concentration (standardised beta (β) coefficient = 0.19, P = . 006), and short-term verbal memory and verbal fluency were negatively associated with the quetiapine (β = –0.24, P = .004) and risperidone (β = –0.37, P = .007) concentrations respectively. Conclusions: The present results suggest that SGA serum concentration is associated with better attention (small effect size), and worse verbal memory (small effect size) and verbal fluency (medium effect size). These findings are in line with the notion that SGAs affect aspects of cognitive function, and suggest careful dosing in patients with severe memory and executive problems.
Insertion angle impact on primary stability of orthodontic mini-implants.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the impact of the insertion angle on the primary stability of mini-implants. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 28 ilium bone segments of pigs were embedded in resin. Two different mini-implant sizes (Dual-Top Screw 1.6 x 8 mm and 2.0 x 10 mm) were inserted at seven different angles (30 degrees , 40 degrees , 50 degrees , 60 degrees , 70 degrees , 80 degrees , and 90 degrees ). The insertion torque was recorded to assess primary stability. In each bone, five Dual-Top Screws were used to compensate for differences in local bone quality. RESULTS The angle of mini-implant insertion had a significant impact on primary stability. The highest insertion torque values were measured at angles between 60 degrees and 70 degrees (63.8 degrees for Dual-Top 1.6 mm and 66.7 degrees for Dual-Top 2.0 mm). Very oblique insertion angles (30 degrees ) resulted in reduced primary stability. CONCLUSIONS To achieve the best primary stability, an insertion angle ranging from 60 degrees to 70 degrees is advisable. If the available space between two adjacent roots is small, a more oblique direction of insertion seems to be favorable to minimize the risk of root contact.
Risk Factors for Gallstone Disease in a Hospital-Based Study

Background. We investigated the risk factors for gallstone disease in Taiwan. Methods. We retrospectively analyzed medical records of patients receiving periodic health examination at China Medical College Hospital from January to December 2000. A detailed history, physical examination, biochemical measurements, and abdominal ultrasonography were done. Results. The 602 men (58.6%) and 426 women (41.4%) had a mean age of 49.2 ± 12.8 years (range, 18 to 87). The prevalence of gallstone disease was 7.8% in women and 6.5% in men. After controlling for other covariates, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that with a reference group aged less than 40 years as a comparison, both men and women aged 65 or older were more likely to have gallstone disease. Conclusions. Age in both sexes and hepatitis C virus infection in women were found to be risk factors for gallstone disease in our study population.
Bridging the Divide between Evidence and Policy in Public Sector Decision Making: A Practitioner's Perspective

While policy advocates can help bridge the divide between evidence and policy in decision making by focusing on ambiguity and uncertainty, policy makers must also play a role by promoting and preserving deliberative processes that value evidence as a core element in leveling raw constituent opinion, ultimately resulting in a better-informed electorate. Building on existing research and analytic capability, state legislatures can increase the demand for and delivery of relevant information, giving the institution the capacity to keep abreast of research in critical public policy areas. By implementing data and time-conscious evaluative frameworks that emphasize evidence-based decision making and longitudinal cost–benefit analytics at critical policy-making junctures, the institutional culture can become less unpredictable and the “rules of the game” can be more transparent. In 2015, Mississippi's legislative leaders created a system to review requests for new programs and funding using such an evidence screen.
Origins of profitability through JIT processes in the supply chain

Purpose – To develop a conceptual model that links specific antecedent improvements in supply chain processes to improved financial performance indicators.Design/methodology/approach – A case study was conducted to document one electronics manufacturing company's evolving integration of JIT‐driven processes in the supply chain. Data were collected by interviewing key members of the senior management team, site visits, and analysis and review of company documents.Findings – Point‐of‐use systems, assemble‐to‐order systems, elimination of physical inventory counts, and the online supplier program are linked to improved processes such as physical plan layout and use, material handling, quality control and manufacturing efficiency, that resulted in improvements in financial performance.Research limitations/implications – A single site case study limits the generalizability of the findings. Additional research is necessary to replicate the findings in other firms/industries.Practical implications – By disaggreg.
Communicating the Experience of Chronic Pain and Illness Through Blogging

Background Although more individuals are sharing their experiences with chronic pain or illness through blogging (writing an Internet web log), research on the psychosocial effects and motivating factors for initiating and maintaining a blog is lacking. Objective The objective was to examine via online questionnaire the perceived psychosocial and health benefits of blogging among patients who use this media to communicate their experience of chronic pain or illness. Methods A 34-item online questionnaire was created, tested, and promoted through online health/disease forums. The survey employed convenience sampling and was open from May 5 to July 2, 2011. Respondents provided information regarding demographics, health condition, initiation and upkeep of blogs, and dynamics of online communication. Qualitative data regarding respondents’ blogging experiences, expectations for blogging, and the perceived effects from blogging on the blogger’s health, interpersonal relationships, and quality of life were collected in the form of written narrative. Results Out of 372 respondents who started the survey, 230 completed the entire questionnaire. Demographic data showed survey respondents to be predominantly female (81.8%) and highly educated (97.2% > high school education and 39.6% with graduate school or professional degrees). A wide spectrum of chronic pain and illness diagnoses and comorbidities were represented. Respondents reported that initiating and maintaining an illness blog resulted in increased connection with others, decreased isolation, and provided an opportunity to tell their illness story. Blogging promoted accountability (to self and others) and created opportunities for making meaning and gaining insights from the experience of illness, which nurtured a sense of purpose and furthered their understanding of their illness. Conclusions Results suggest that blogging about chronic pain and illness may decrease a sense of isolation through the establishment of online connections with others and increases a sense of purpose to help others in similar situations. Further study involving a larger sample size, a wider range of education levels, and respondents with different types and magnitudes of illnesses will be needed to better elucidate the mechanism of the observed associations in this understudied area.
Pediatric Heart Transplantation in Human Leukocyte Antigen–Sensitized Patients: Evolving Management and Assessment of Intermediate-Term Outcomes in a High-Risk Population

Background— There is an elevated risk for poor outcomes after heart transplant (HTx) in patients sensitized to human leukocyte antigens including graft dysfunction, acute cellular and antibody-mediated (AMR) rejection, and cardiac allograft vasculopathy. We report our experience with human leukocyte antigens–sensitized pediatric HTx recipients. Methods and Results— We identified pediatric HTx patients with elevated pre-HTx Panel Reactive Antibody (Class I/II; >10%), or a positive T- or B-cell crossmatch. Thirteen patients met criteria (5 female, 39%). The median age at HTx was 7 months (3.5 months to 15.5 years). Nine were infants who had prior palliation for congenital heart disease. Four were older patients (median 7.3 years; 4.8 to 15.5 years): 2 had congenital heart disease (Fontan), 2 were re-HTx. B-cell therapies were used in all patients, guided by assessment of CD19+ and CD20+ cells. Immunosuppression included thymoglobulin induction, and tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, and steroids. Daily plasmapheresis ± intravenous immunoglobulin G was used if there was a positive crossmatch on day 1, with a gradual, biopsy-guided weaning schedule. Rituximab was used when AMR was detected on biopsy: more recently (n=3), used empirically perioperatively. AMR was confirmed in 9 patients within median 0.9 months post-HTx. Seven had early acute cellular rejection (≥ ISHLT Grade 2 R) with no hemodynamic compromise or graft dysfunction. There were 4 deaths post-HTx (range, 11 days to 9 months). The median follow-up of 9 survivors was 1.7 years (0.3 to 3.7 years). Of 7 patients >6 months post-HTx, no AMR or cardiac allograft vasculopathy was observed at a mean of 1.9+1.1 years post-HTx and no cardiac allograft vasculopathy. Conclusions— Despite aggressive management, acute cellular rejection and AMR occurred frequently early post-HTx. An algorithm of B cell–directed strategies can be effective in managing these patients with reasonable intermediate-term outcomes.
Family Feud: Succession Tournaments and Risk-taking in Family Firms

We study the impact of succession tournaments on risk-taking in family firms. More sons (less daughters) in controlling families are associated with higher income volatility and lower performance – especially, in opaque private firms with pyramidal ownership structure. Contestants exhibit managerial myopia such as higher dividend payouts and less R&D investments. Overall, succession tournaments induce risk-taking and managerial myopia among sons, but positive externalities through marriages (sons-in-law) mitigate these concerns. Using the sudden death of a chairman as an exogenous shock to a succession tournament, we confirm a causal link between increased competition among succession contestants and corporate risk-taking.
A Full-Rate Full-Diversity 2x2 Space-Time Block Code with Linear Complexity for the Maximum Likelihood Receiver

From engineering point of view, the simplicity of the decoder is a very important factor in designing different space-time block codes (STBCs) in wireless communications systems. On the other hand, full-diversity is an important factor which causes STBCs to have valid performance in terms of bit error rate (BER). High symbol transmission rate is also a significant factor in designing STBCs. Regarding these three characters, this paper proposes a full-rate STBC which benefits from a linear complexity for the optimum receiver and full-diversity properties. This code is designed for two transmit antennas and the complexity of its optimum receiver is linear for any arbitrary number of receive antennas. Simulation results also show that the performance of the proposed code is close to the performance of the Golden code when 4-QAM constellation is considered, and it effectively outperforms the Golden code when BPSK constellation is employed.
Electroconvulsive therapy augmentation in clozapine-resistant schizophrenia: a prospective, randomized study.

OBJECTIVE Up to 70% of patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia do not respond to clozapine. Pharmacological augmentation to clozapine has been studied with unimpressive results. The authors examined the use of ECT as an augmentation to clozapine for treatment-refractory schizophrenia. METHOD In a randomized single-blind 8-week study, patients with clozapine-resistant schizophrenia were assigned to treatment as usual (clozapine group) or a course of bilateral ECT plus clozapine (ECT plus clozapine group). Nonresponders from the clozapine group received an 8-week open trial of ECT (crossover phase). ECT was performed three times per week for the first 4 weeks and twice weekly for the last 4 weeks. Clozapine dosages remained constant. Response was defined as ≥40% reduction in symptoms based on the psychotic symptom subscale of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, a Clinical Global Impressions (CGI)-severity rating <3, and a CGI-improvement rating ≤2. RESULTS The intent-to-treat sample included 39 participants (ECT plus clozapine group, N=20; clozapine group, N=19). All 19 patients from the clozapine group received ECT in the crossover phase. Fifty percent of the ECT plus clozapine patients met the response criterion. None of the patients in the clozapine group met the criterion. In the crossover phase, response was 47%. There were no discernible differences between groups on global cognition. Two patients required the postponement of an ECT session because of mild confusion. CONCLUSIONS The augmentation of clozapine with ECT is a safe and effective treatment option. Further research is required to determine the persistence of the improvement and the potential need for maintenance treatments.
In place — out of place? Focus strategies in Hausa

Accent languages mark focus consistently on all syntactic constituents. The hypothesis that focus marking is obligatory is therefore not far-fetched. Language variation with respect to focus marking would then only concern the way in which focus is grammatically marked. We argue that this conclusion is incorrect. Rather, focus marking appears to be obligatory in accent languages but not necessarily so in tone languages. The paper presents an empirical investigation of the focus strategies in Hausa, where focus marking with non-subjects is not obligatory. In addition, focus marking is not driven by the information-structural category focus directly, but relies on the pragmatic notion of emphasis, which in turn implies focus status.
Adaptive dynamic programming for H∞ control of constrained-input nonlinear systems

This paper presents a novel adaptive/approximate dynamic programming algorithm to solve the H∞ control problem of constrained-input continuous-time nonlinear systems. The developed algorithm employs a single critic neural network (NN) to derive the approximate solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs equation. With two additional terms introduced, namely, the stabilizing term and the robustifying term to update the critic NN, no initial stabilizing control is required. Meanwhile, the developed critic tuning rule not only ensures that the optimal saddle point can be obtained but also guarantees stability of the closed-loop system. In addition, all signals in the closed-loop system are proved to be uniformly ultimately bounded via Lyapunov's direct method. Finally, an illustrate example is provided to verify the effectiveness of the developed approach.
Robust control of uncertain nonlinear systems via measurement feedback

The authors consider the problem of robust control via measurement feedback for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems. Usual assumptions like triangularity conditions and global Lipschitzness used in previous work on this topic are not imposed. The key tool employed in the constructive control design procedure is the recent small (nonlinear) gain theorem which has already proved very powerful in solving diverse control problems.
Effect of Structured Touch and Guided Imagery for Pain and Anxiety in Elective Joint Replacement Patients--A Randomized Controlled Trial: M-TIJRP.

CONTEXT Postoperative management of pain after total joint arthroplasty remains a challenge despite advancements in analgesics. Evidence shows that complementary modalities with mind-body and tactile-based approaches are valid and effective adjuncts to reduce pain and anxiety postoperatively. OBJECTIVE To investigate the effectiveness of the "M" Technique (M), a registered method of structured touch using a set sequence and number of strokes, and a consistent level of pressure on hands and feet, compared with guided imagery and usual care, for the reduction of pain and anxiety in patients undergoing elective total knee or hip replacement surgery. METHODS Randomized controlled trial: M-TIJRP (MiTechnique and guided Imagery in Joint Replacement Patients [Mighty Junior P]). At a community hospital, 225 male and female patients, aged 38 to 90 years, undergoing elective total hip or knee replacement were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups (75 patients in each): M, guided imagery, or usual care. They were blinded to their assignment until the intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Reduction of pain and anxiety postoperatively. Secondary outcomes measured use of pain medication and patient satisfaction. RESULTS This study yielded positive findings for the management of pain and anxiety in patients undergoing elective joint replacement using M and guided imagery for 18 to 20 minutes compared with usual care. M showed the largest predicted decreases in both pain and anxiety between groups. There was no significant difference in narcotic pain medication use between groups. Patient satisfaction survey ratings were highest for M, followed by guided imagery. CONCLUSION The benefit of M may be because of the specifically structured sequence of touch by competent caring, trained providers.
Defining hepatocellular chimerism in a liver failure patient bridged with hepatocyte infusion.

BACKGROUND A practical method of monitoring engraftment by transplanted hepatocytes for the purpose of bridging human liver failure to native regeneration is described. METHODS A previously healthy 37-year-old female with a 2-week history of a febrile illness presented with fulminant liver failure. Findings on admission included the following: illicit drug use, serum hepatitis B surface antigen positive, grade 1 encephalopathy, prothrombin time (pt) >100 sec, F7<1%, NH3 150 micromol/L, alanine aminotransferase 4079 U/L, total bilirubin level 11.4 mg/dl, and glucose 70 mg/dl (on IV D10). With immunosuppression, 8.8x10(8), 96% viable human hepatocytes were intraportally infused. Clinical chemistries, total sHLA class I, and ELISA to measure donor-specific sHLA-A1 and -B8 were recorded. Serial transjugular liver biopsies were performed and pooled for histological examination, DNA extraction, and HLA DNA typing. RESULTS The patient fully recovered. At months 3 and 4 with donor biopsy specimen class I HLA DNA no longer detectable, immunosuppression was tapered off. The patient is clinically normal, serum hepatitis B surface antigen negative at 10 months of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS Bridging liver failure with donor hepatocytes with HLA class I antigen disparate from recipients is clinically feasible, and allows for a marker, combined with serial graft histology, to safely wean immunosuppression when native liver regeneration succeeds.
Colonization history of the Swiss Rhine basin by the bullhead (Cottus gobio): inference under a Bayesian spatially explicit framework

The present distribution of freshwater fish in the Alpine region has been strongly affected by colonization events occurring after the last glacial maximum (LGM), some 20 000 years ago. We use here a spatially explicit simulation framework to model and better understand their colonization dynamics in the Swiss Rhine basin. This approach is applied to the European bullhead (Cottus gobio), which is an ideal model organism to study fish past demographic processes since it has not been managed by humans. The molecular diversity of eight sampled populations is simulated and compared to observed data at six microsatellite loci under an approximate Bayesian computation framework to estimate the parameters of the colonization process. Our demographic estimates fit well with current knowledge about the biology of this species, but they suggest that the Swiss Rhine basin was colonized very recently, after the Younger Dryas some 6600 years ago. We discuss the implication of this result, as well as the strengths and limits of the spatially explicit approach coupled to the approximate Bayesian computation framework.
Development, significance, and heterogeneity of mast cells with particular regard to the mast cell‐specific proteases chymase and tryptase

Mast cells are one of the major effector cells in the pathogenesis of the immediate‐type hypersensitivity reaction in a number of non‐allergic immune disorders as well as in normal physiological processes. In addition, it has been shown recently that mast cells also play a significant role in a life‐saving host response to bacterial reactions. But as much as the immunopathological role of mast cells has been acknowledged, these cells have also aroused much controversy and confusion. By now it is clear that one explanation for the sometimes even contradictory opinions on mast cell function arise from mast cell heterogeneity. This heterogeneity can express itself as differences in histochemical, biochemical, and functional characteristics. In vitro systems provided a powerful tool for the investigation of the basic mechanisms for mast cell development and differentiation and helped to demonstrate that mast cell heterogeneity can be traced back to certain cytokine patterns that are present in different microenvironments. In this context it has also been shown that the growth factors required for human mast cell differentiation are somewhat different than those for rodents. In rodents, the atypical, T cell‐dependent mucosal type mast cell can be distinguished from the T cell‐independent connective tissue‐type mast cell. In humans, the strict classification into mucosal and connective tissue‐type mast cells is not possible and the content of mast cell‐specific proteases chymase and tryptase is the main criterion for mast cell subtypes in humans. The large quantities of tryptase and chymase that are synthesized by mast cells suggest and emphasize the significance of these proteinases in mast cell function and stimulate d investigations about the biological properties of these mast cell‐specific proteases. Comparing their biological activities it becomes clear that they share some activities. On the other hand, tryptase seems to participate in proinflammatory mast cell function, whereas chymase seems to be more involved in inflammatory reactions. This review provides a short overview of the discovery, origin, development, and biological significance of mast cells and will then concentrate on mast cell heterogeneity in rodents and humans with respect to the mast cell proteases tryptase and chymase and their function. J. Leukoc. Biol. 61: 233–245; 1997.