Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reliability of preoperative assessment of cerebrospinal fluid pressure in the management of spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leaks and encephaloceles

The association of spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks with increased intracranial pressure (ICP) is well‐documented. Accurate assessment of CSF pressure is paramount to optimal long‐term outcomes, as failure of surgical repair or recurrent leaks may be associated with untreated intracranial hypertension. Many surgeons utilize a single opening pressure measured at the onset of the surgical procedure to determine if long‐term acetazolamide or shunt placement will be necessary. However, preoperative measurement of CSF pressure may be inaccurate secondary to active drainage. The purpose of this study is to determine the accuracy of preoperative CSF pressure measurement in the setting of active CSF rhinorrhea.
Walking Aids for Older Adults: Review of End-User Needs

Aged population of senior citizens is growing noticeably at different regions in the world. Consequently, there are great numbers of demands for healthcare services. One of the services is assistive walking devices which have important role in mobility, stability, walking, and independency of older adults. Although various type of walking devices are available for older adults, yet fall incidents with severe injuries take place. Therefore, it is critical to analyze fall incidents, find out fall factors, and assess walking devices to minimize fall. This paper mainly focuses on risk factors of fall, considerable role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in walking devices, and also analyzes fall incidents with the purpose of understanding how fall incidents take place. This paper assists to have a clear understanding about fall incidents and its associated injuries.peration and its successful implementation will be the guarantor of justice and prevent impunity and escape the Probable criminals and suspects to countries far away from the crime scene. In the last two centuries globally in many countries have enacted expanded domestic law in the area of extradition to many extradition treaties and international conventions in this field has joined. Palermo Convention, including the most recent documents that contain comprehensive provisions on extradition and numerous countries has come to join in. In Iran in 1960 Legislator comprehensive and modern law in the area of extradition imposed And many international laws in this area has been invoked and respected. So, we gathered to view the article Ferraro circuit analysis on the world of law and the Palermo Convention and international law in the field of extradition elaborated on. The present article deals with these issues on two separate levels.
Orthostatic intolerance and tachycardia associated with norepinephrine-transporter deficiency.

BACKGROUND Orthostatic intolerance is a syndrome characterized by lightheadedness, fatigue, altered mentation, and syncope and associated with postural tachycardia and plasma norepinephrine concentrations that are disproportionately high in relation to sympathetic outflow. We tested the hypothesis that impaired functioning of the norepinephrine transporter contributes to the pathophysiologic mechanism of orthostatic intolerance. METHODS In a patient with orthostatic intolerance and her relatives, we measured postural blood pressure, heart rate, plasma catecholamines, and systemic norepinephrine spillover and clearance, and we sequenced the norepinephrine-transporter gene and evaluated its function. RESULTS The patient had a high mean plasma norepinephrine concentration while standing, as compared with the mean (+/-SD) concentration in normal subjects (923 vs. 439+/-129 pg per milliliter [5.46 vs. 2.59+/-0.76 nmol per liter]), reduced systemic norepinephrine clearance (1.56 vs. 2.42+/-0.71 liters per minute), impairment in the increase in the plasma norepinephrine concentration after the administration of tyramine (12 vs. 56+/-63 pg per milliliter [0.07 vs. 0.33+/-0.37 pmol per liter]), and a disproportionate increase in the concentration of plasma norepinephrine relative to that of dihydroxyphenylglycol. Analysis of the norepinephrine-transporter gene revealed that the proband was heterozygous for a mutation in exon 9 (encoding a change from guanine to cytosine at position 237) that resulted in more than a 98 percent loss of function as compared with that of the wild-type gene. Impairment of synaptic norepinephrine clearance may result in a syndrome characterized by excessive sympathetic activation in response to physiologic stimuli. The mutant allele in the proband's family segregated with the postural heart rate and abnormal plasma catecholamine homeostasis. CONCLUSIONS Genetic or acquired deficits in norepinephrine inactivation may underlie hyperadrenergic states that lead to orthostatic intolerance.
Constructing Fama–French Factors from Style Indices: Evidence from the Islamic Equity Market

ABSTRACT This study has contributed to the analysis of the Fama–French three-factor model by proving the validity of model using the newly constructed Fama–French factors from Malaysian Islamic stock market. With generalized method of moments and robustness tests, our results compliment earlier studies by comparing the results over two sub-periods, before and after the financial crises and the fall of Lehman Bros. The results of the analysis suggest that the reversal of size effects exists after periods of financial crisis. This is the first attempt to create FF factors and test the model from Islamic equity style indices.
Iteratively Divide-and-Conquer Learning for Nonlinear Classification and Ranking

Nonlinear classifiers (i.e., kernel support vector machines (SVMs)) are effective for nonlinear data classification. However, nonlinear classifiers are usually prohibitively expensive when dealing with large nonlinear data. Ensembles of linear classifiers have been proposed to address this inefficiency, which is called the ensemble linear classifiers for nonlinear data problem. In this article, a new iterative learning approach is introduced that involves two steps at each iteration: partitioning the data into clusters according to Gaussian mixture models with local consistency and then training basic classifiers (i.e., linear SVMs) for each cluster. The two divide-and-conquer steps are combined into a graphical model. Meanwhile, with training, each classifier is regarded as a task; clustered multitask learning is employed to capture the relatedness among different tasks and avoid overfitting in each task. In addition, two novel extensions are introduced based on the proposed approach. First, the approach is extended for quality-aware web data classification. In this problem, the types of web data vary in terms of information quality. The ignorance of the variations of information quality of web data leads to poor classification models. The proposed approach can effectively integrate quality-aware factors into web data classification. Second, the approach is extended for listwise learning to rank to construct an ensemble of linear ranking models, whereas most existing listwise ranking methods construct a solely linear ranking model. Experimental results on benchmark datasets show that our approach outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms. During prediction for nonlinear classification, it also obtains comparable classification performance to kernel SVMs, with much higher efficiency.
Mechanisms contributing to fluid‐flow‐induced Ca2+ mobilization in articular chondrocytes

We previously showed that fluid flow, which chondrocytes experience in vivo and which results in a variety of morphological and metabolic changes in cultured articular chondrocytes, can also stimulate a rise in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i). However, the mechanism by which Ca2+ is mobilized in response to flow is unclear. In this study, we investigated the roles of intracellular Ca2+ stores, G‐proteins, and extracellular ATP in the flow‐induced Ca2+ response in bovine articular chondrocytes (BAC). Cells loaded with the Ca2+ sensitive dye Fura‐2 were exposed to steady flow at 34 ml/min (37 dynes/cm2) in a parallel plate flow chamber. Whereas ryanodine and caffeine had no effect, both neomycin and thapsigargin significantly decreased the Ca2+i response to flow, suggesting a role for Ca2+ store release, possibly through an inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate (IP3)‐dependent mechanism. Twenty‐four‐hour treatment with pertussis toxin also significantly decreased the response, suggesting that the mechanism may be G‐protein regulated. In addition, ATP release by chondrocytes does not appear to mediate the flow‐induced Ca2+ response because suramin, a P2 purinergic blocker, had no effect. These results suggest that BAC respond rapidly to changes in their mechanical environment, such as increased fluid flow, by a mechanism that involves IP3 stimulated Ca2+i release and G‐protein activation. J. Cell. Physiol. 180:402–408, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Network-based investigation of genetic modules associated with functional brain networks in schizophrenia

We developed a new sparse multivariate regression method, collaborative sparse reduced rank regression(C-sRRR) for detecting genetic networks associated with brain functional networks in schizophrenia (SZ). Our study: 1) introduced both genetic and brain network structure to group single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and voxels simultaneously for utilizing the interacting effects implied in both features; 2) used collaborative sparse group lasso to perform genetic variants selection and nuclear norm penalty to address the interrelationship among voxels; 3) developed an efficient algorithm for solving the non-smooth optimization. In real data analysis, we constructed 8605 genetic sub-networks (modules) from 722177 SNPs with a median module size of 9. A functional brain network was extracted which also showed significant discriminative characteristics between SZ and healthy controls. A sub sampling strategy was applied to identify 57 highly ranked genes from 14 high-ranking modules. 14 of them are SZ susceptibility genes and 6 genes were consistent with the findings in previous study.
Small open economy DSGE model with a banking industry modelled on the financial intermediation approach : evaluating the performance on UK data

This thesis proposes a new open economy DSGE RBC model with financial intermediation. The objective is to provide a general equilibrium model that can simultaneously account for the behaviour of output and interest rate spreads by solely focusing on the real side of the economy. The standard open economy model is extended to incorporate banking industry, modelled on the production approach, and foreign debt elastic interest rate, which removes the models nonsationary features. The models ability to replicate the data is tested using indirect inference method on both stationary and nonstationary UK data. The same algorithm is used to estimate the parameter values using both types of time series data. This thesis provides the first estimates for the labour share in loan production and elasticity of foreign interest rates with respect to foreign debt obligations for UK economy. The model was retested using the parameter estimates. The results indicate that the proposed framework is able to account for the joint behaviour of output, the interest rate spread and the interest on foreign debt but it was rejected on other endogenous variables.
Extension support for grain crop producers under climate variability scenario: implications for extension management in Limpopo province, South Africa

The paper examined how the farm management support provided by public extension to mitigate the eff ects of climate variability infl uences farmers’ production, and whether this support considers farmers’ capital assets. Both probability and non-probability sampling procedures were used to select districts, municipalities and farmers from 20 villages of Limpopo province, South Africa in January, 2014. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data from fi eld-level extension agents and smallholder grain farmers. The most common climate variability coping strategy promoted by many agents was climate-smart agriculture practices. This strategy was applied by most users and non-users of extension support. The most popular channel used by agents to communicate information to farmers was farm visits. There were indications that agents did not consider producers’ capital assets in their choice of channels to communicate information to producers. Results further indicate that extension support, including climate variability information, contributed to increased crop yields, albeit small. It is recommended that fi eld trials be done to ensure proper application of climate variability coping measures. More use of mass media and group methods to supplement farm visits is recommended.
Radical Oncological Surgery and Adjuvan Therapy in Non- Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients over 70 years of Age.

BACKGROUND The incidence of lung cancer increases with age. Approximately 50% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients are over 70 years old. Because of the increasing elderly population, treatment approaches in this age group continue to be studied similar to groups of young people. MATERIALS AND METHODS In the current study, 26 patients who underwent radical surgery and adjuvan chemoradiation at Ataturk Chest Diseases and Chest Surgery Training and Research Hospital were evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS Of 21 patients (81%) were male and the average age was 74.4. Lobectomy was performed in 18 cases, pneumonectomy in 3, sleeve lobectomy in 3 and bilobectomy in 2. There was no perioperative or early period mortality. Overall survival was 24.5 months. CONCLUSIONS From our study, lung cancer surgery and adjuvant therapy can be performed safely with low morbidity in the elderly.
Orexins (hypocretins) directly interact with neuropeptide Y, POMC and glucose‐responsive neurons to regulate Ca2+ signaling in a reciprocal manner to leptin: orexigenic neuronal pathways in the mediobasal hypothalamus

Orexin‐A and ‐B (hypocretin‐1 and ‐2) have been implicated in the stimulation of feeding. Here we show the effector neurons and signaling mechanisms for the orexigenic action of orexins in rats. Immunohistochemical methods showed that orexin axon terminals contact with neuropeptide Y (NPY)‐ and proopiomelanocortin (POMC)‐positive neurons in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the rats. Microinjection of orexins into the ARC markedly increased food intake. Orexins increased cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in the isolated neurons from the ARC, which were subsequently shown to be immunoreactive for NPY. The increases in [Ca2+]i were inhibited by blockers of phospholipase C (PLC), protein kinase C (PKC) and Ca2+ uptake into endoplasmic reticulum. The stimulation of food intake and increases in [Ca2+]i in NPY neurons were greater with orexin‐A than with orexin‐B, indicative of involvement of the orexin‐1 receptor (OX1R). In contrast, orexin‐A and ‐B equipotently attenuated [Ca2+]i oscillations and decreased [Ca2+]i levels in POMC‐containing neurons. These effects were counteracted by pertussis toxin, suggesting involvement of the orexin‐2 receptor and Gi/Go subtypes of GTP‐binding proteins. Orexins also decreased [Ca2+]i levels in glucose‐responsive neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), a satiety center. Leptin exerted opposite effects on these three classes of neurons. These results demonstrate that orexins directly regulate NPY, POMC and glucose‐responsive neurons in the ARC and VMH, in a manner reciprocal to leptin. Orexin‐A evokes Ca2+ signaling in NPY neurons via OX1R–PLC–PKC and IP3 pathways. These neural pathways and intracellular signaling mechanisms may play key roles in the orexigenic action of orexins.
Protein kinase A and calcium/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II regulate D‐[3H]aspartate release in auditory brain stem nuclei

We noted previously that after unilateral cochlear ablation (UCA) in young adult guinea pigs, plastic changes in glutamatergic transmitter release in several brain stem auditory nuclei depended on protein kinase C. In this study, we assessed whether such changes depended on protein kinase A (PKA) and calcium/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). The electrically‐evoked release of D‐[3H]aspartate (D‐[3H]Asp) was quantified in vitro as an index of glutamatergic transmitter release in the major subdivisions of the cochlear nucleus (CN) and the main nuclei of the superior olivary complex (SOC). In tissues from intact animals, dibutyryl‐cyclic adenosine monophosphate (DBcAMP), a PKA activator, elevated D‐[3H]Asp release by 1.9–3.7‐fold. The PKA inhibitor, H‐89 (2 μM), did not alter the evoked release but blocked the stimulatory effects of DBcAMP. These findings suggested that PKA could positively regulate glutamatergic transmitter release. Seven days after the ablation of one cochlea and its cochlear nerve, the stimulatory effect of DBcAMP remained evident. After 145 postablation days, H‐89 blocked the plastic elevations of D‐[3H]Asp release in the ipsilateral CN and lateral (LSO) and medial (MSO) superior olive. A CaMKII inhibitor, KN‐93, produced similar blocks, suggesting that the postablation plasticities in these nuclei depended on PKA or CaMKII. Both H‐89 and KN‐93 elevated release in the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB) and the contralateral MSO, suggesting that either kinase could be used by endogenous mechanisms in these nuclei to downregulate glutamatergic release. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
On Uncertain Sightings and Inference about Extinction

The extinction of many species can only be inferred from the record of sightings of individuals. Solow et al. (2012, Uncertain sightings and the extinction of the Ivory‐billed Woodpecker. Conservation Biology 26:180–184) describe a Bayesian approach to such inference and apply it to a sighting record of the Ivory‐billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis). A feature of this sighting record is that all uncertain sightings occurred after the most recent certain sighting. However, this appears to be an artifact. We extended this earlier work in 2 ways. First, we allowed for overlap in time between certain and uncertain sightings. Second, we considered 2 plausible statistical models of a sighting record. In one of these models, certain and uncertain sightings that are valid arise from the same process whereas in the other they arise from independent processes. We applied both models to the case of the Ivory‐billed Woodpecker. The result from the first model did not favor extinction, whereas the result for the second model did. This underscores the importance, in applying tests for extinction, of understanding what could be called the natural history of the sighting record.
Avoiding Liquidity Traps

Once the zero bound on nominal interest rates is taken into account, Taylor‐type interest rate feedback rules give rise to unintended self‐fulfilling decelerating inflation paths and aggregate fluctuations driven by arbitrary revisions in expectations. These undesirable equilibria exhibit the essential features of liquidity traps since monetary policy is ineffective in bringing about the government’s goals regarding the stability of output and prices. This paper proposes several fiscal and monetary policies that preserve the appealing features of Taylor rules, such as local uniqueness of equilibrium near the inflation target, and at the same time rule out the deflationary expectations that can lead an economy into a liquidity trap.
Associations between loneliness, depressive symptoms and perceived togetherness in older people

This study explores the associations of loneliness with depressive symptoms in a five-year follow-up and describes how the six dimensions of perceived togetherness explain loneliness and depressive symptoms at baseline. The data were collected on 207 residents of Jyväskylä, central Finland, who at baseline in 1990 were aged 80; and 133 residents who at follow-up in 1995 were aged 85. Loneliness was assessed using a questionnaire item with four preset response options, perceived togetherness using the Social Provisions Scale, and depressive symptoms using the CES-D scale. A recursive structural equation model showed that in women but not in men, depressive symptoms predicted more experiences of loneliness. Those who were lonely were more depressed (CES-D score 16 or over) and experienced less togetherness than those who were not. Loneliness was explained by reliable alliance, social integration and attachment; and depressive symptoms were explained by guidance, reassurance of worth, reliable alliance and attachment. A common feature in both loneliness and depressive symptoms was a lower level of perceived emotional togetherness in social interaction.
The management of Graves' disease by Indian thyroidologists.

BACKGROUND Although effective modes for treating Graves' disease are available, there is controversy over their choice. We conducted a nation-wide survey to determine trends in the diagnosis and management of Graves' disease in India. METHODS A proforma was mailed to 45 practising thyroidologists who were members of the Endocrine Society of India or the Thyroid Association of India. One index case and 5 variations were provided, and the members were asked to indicate the investigations of choice, therapeutic modality and details about its implementation. RESULTS The overall response rate was 71% (32). For diagnosis, serum T3, T4, TSH, sensitive TSH, free T3, and free T4 were asked for by 24, 25, 6, 13, 5, and 10 responders respectively. Radioactive iodine uptake with or without a scan was obtained by 19 of the responders. Antithyroid drugs were the choice of the majority in most situations (index case: 40-year-old female with first episode of typical Graves' disease--23; 40-year-old male--20; 16-year-old male--32; 40-year-old female without goitre--25), except for the patient with relapse and the 65-year-old female where radioiodine was the choice of the majority (20 and 23 respectively). CONCLUSION Antithyroid drugs are the mainstay of treatment of Graves' disease in India. The predominant use of these drugs was similar to European data, but different from the practice in the USA, where radioiodine is used much more liberally.
Disproportionate and Discriminatory: Reviewing the Evidence on Police Stop and Search

Eight years after the Lawrence Inquiry, the question of police powers to stop and search people in public places remains at the forefront of debate about police community relations. Police are empowered to stop and search citizens under a wide range of legislative acts and the power is employed daily across Britain. Far from laying the debate to rest, the Lawrence Inquiry prompted new research studies and fresh theories to explain the official statistics. We argue that the statistics show that the use of the powers against black people is disproportionate and that this is an indication of unlawful racial discrimination. If stop and search powers cannot be effectively regulated - and it seems that they cannot - then their continued use is unjustified and should be curtailed.