Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adeno-associated viral vector-encoding vascular endothelial growth factor gene: effect on cardiovascular MR perfusion and infarct resorption measurements in swine.

PURPOSE To prospectively determine in swine the effects of cardiac-specific and hypoxia-inducible vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression gene on angiogenesis and arteriogenesis by using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for evaluation of infarct resorption and left ventricular (LV) function. MATERIALS AND METHODS The investigation conformed to U.S. National Institutes of Health guidelines. Twelve pigs with reperfused infarcts were studied with cardiovascular MR 3 days and 8 weeks after surgery. In six pigs, adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector-encoding VEGF (AAV-VEGF) gene was injected at eight sites 1 hour after reperfusion. Six pigs served as controls. Cardiovascular MR measurements of perfusion, area at risk, infarct size, and LV function were used in evaluation of the therapy. Hematoxylin-eosin, Masson trichrome, and biotinylated isolectin B4 stains were used to assess regional vascular density. Two-way Student t test was used to determine significant differences between means. RESULTS AAV-VEGF had no effect on cardiovascular MR perfusion or infarct size measurements 3 days after infarction. At 8 weeks, the therapy increased infarct resorption, perfusion, and vascular density and prevented deterioration of ejection fraction in treated animals. These changes were associated with a significantly greater reduction in extent of enhanced region in treated (18.6% of LV surface area +/- 1.5 [standard error of mean] to 9.8% +/- 1.1) than in control animals (17.7% +/- 1.8 to 14.5% +/- 1.5, P = .028). Histopathologic findings in treated animals showed increased capillary and arterial density in infarct and periinfarct regions. These new vessels were active and thin-walled compared with thick-walled vessels of control animals. CONCLUSION AAV-VEGF improves cardiovascular MR measurement of regional myocardial perfusion and LV function.
Where are you looking? Pseudogaze in afterimages

How do we know where we are looking? A frequent assumption is that the subjective experience of our direction of gaze is assigned to the location in the world that falls on our fovea. However, we find that observers can shift their subjective direction of gaze among different nonfoveal points in an afterimage. Observers were asked to look directly at different corners of a diamond-shaped afterimage. When the requested corner was 3.5° in the periphery, the observer often reported that the image moved away in the direction of the attempted gaze shift. However, when the corner was at 1.75° eccentricity, most reported successfully fixating at the point. Eye-tracking data revealed systematic drift during the subjective fixations on peripheral locations. For example, when observers reported looking directly at a point above the fovea, their eyes were often drifting steadily upwards. We then asked observers to make a saccade from a subjectively fixated, nonfoveal point to another point in the afterimage, 7° directly below their fovea. The observers consistently reported making appropriately diagonal saccades, but the eye movement traces only occasionally followed the perceived oblique direction. These results suggest that the perceived direction of gaze can be assigned flexibly to an attended point near the fovea. This may be how the visual world acquires its stability during fixation of an object, despite the drifts and microsaccades that are normal characteristics of visual fixation.
An Analysis of the Investment Concentration of Equity Mutual Funds in China

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between the investment concentration and performance of equity mutual funds in China. The analysis of stock-picking abilities indicates that the industry concentration levels and the risk levels have significant positive effects on the stock picking abilities of Chinese mutual funds. The analysis of market-timing abilities reveals that the risk levels have significant positive effects on the market timing abilities of Chinese mutual funds. The test results of the performance persistence of Chinese mutual funds show that the positive performance persistence of concentrated equity is generally higher than that of diversified equity funds.
Differential proteomic analysis of highly purified placental cytotrophoblasts in pre‐eclampsia demonstrates a state of increased oxidative stress and reduced cytotrophoblast antioxidant defense

Proteomics were performed using highly (99.99%) purified cytotrophoblasts from six normal and six pre‐eclamptic placentas. Eleven proteins were found which decreased in pre‐eclampsia (actin, glutathione S‐transferase, peroxiredoxin 6, aldose reductase, heat shock protein 60 (Hsp60), two molecular forms of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) β‐tubulin, subunit proteasome, ezrin, protein disulfide isomerase, and phosphoglycerate mutase 1). Only one protein, α‐2‐HS‐glycoprotein (fetuin), was found to increase its expression. Western blots of actin, Hsp70, ezrin, and glutatione S‐transferase confirmed decrease in protein expression. Many of the proteins that decreased are consistent with a state of oxidative stress in the pre‐eclamptic placenta and a decreased cytotrophoblast defense against and response to oxidative stress.
Health Impact Assessment and the Inclusion of Migrants

This article reports the findings of a scoping review assessing the extent and ways in which migrants have been included in health impact assessments (HIAs) and HIA evaluations worldwide. A total of 117 HIAs and two HIA evaluations were included. Only 14% of hand-searched HIAs mentioned migrants, 5% analysed migrants and only 2% included them in their recommendations. Although it is possible for HIAs to mention migrants without needing to further analyse them separately, the reasons for which they were most commonly mentioned herein would lead to expect them to be part of the analysis more frequently. Although the majority of HIAs included in the review mentioned migrants in baseline conditions and impact analysis steps, migrants were seldom included in recommendations. The main barriers to including migrants in the HIA impact analysis were the lack of available data on migrants and the significant additional resources required to gather and analyse additional data on migrants. Although workshops and stakeholder engagement were a frequent way of including migrants in HIAs, this usually involved organizations representing migrants, and only seldom included members of the migrant community themselves. Furthermore, the use of frameworks or tools guiding the completion of an HIA was negatively associated with the inclusion of migrants in recommendations. Frameworks need to specifically include migrants to ensure their special needs are met. Guidance is needed on ways to optimally include migrants in HIAs and ensure recommendations for mitigation measures are optimal.
Dose requirements of continuous infusion of rocuronium and atracurium throughout orthotopic liver transplantation in humans.

OBJECTIVE To compare the dose requirements of continuous infusion of rocuronium and atracurium throughout orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in humans. METHODS Twenty male patients undergoing liver transplantation were randomly assigned to two comparable groups of 10 patients each to receive a continuous infusion of rocuronium or atracurium under intravenous balanced anesthesia. The response of adductor pollicis to train-of-four (TOF) stimulation of unlar nerve was monitored. The infusion rates of rocuronium and atracurium were adjusted to maintain T1/Tc ratio of 2%~10%. The total dose of each drug given during each of the three phases of OLT was recorded. RESULTS Rocuronium requirement, which were (0.468+/-0.167) mg/(kg.h) during the paleohepatic phase, decreased significantly during the anhepatic phase to (0.303+/-0.134) mg/(kg.h) and returned to the initial values at the neohepatic period ((0.429+/-0.130) mg/(kg.h)); whereas atracuruim requirements remained unchanged during orthotopic liver transplantation. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that the exclusion of the liver from the circulation results in the significantly reduced requirement of rocuronium while the requirement of atracurium was not changed, which suggests that the liver is of major importance in the clearance of rocuronium. A continuous infusion of atracurium with constant rate can provide stable neuromuscular blockade during the three stages of OLT.
Subacute metacarpal osteomyelitis in a child

Subacute osteomyelitis is a rare affection. Clinical presentation is often unclear and can lead to a delay in diagnosis. As a matter of fact, subactue metacarpal osteomyelitis is usually missed at the first time, so that some complications may occur like brachymetacarpia or loss of motion. We report a 10 year-old boy, with a subacute metaphyseal osteomyelitis of the second right metacarpal bone. The radiological features can mimic various benign or malignant bone tumours and non-pyogenic infections. Histological confirmation is necessary to avoid a delay in diagnosis. Treatment was based on antibiotics and surgical debridement. No infectious agent was found in bacteriological exams. At 1 year of follow-up, noncompliance was reported with a normal motion of the finger. X-ray views showed a bone reconstruction with a fibrosis of ulnar part of the metaphysis without length discrepancy.
Product Innovation Strategy and the Performance of New Technology Ventures in China

Investigating the effect of product innovation strategy on the performance of new technology ventures in China, we found the innovation-performance link was contingent on both environmental factors, including environmental turbulence and institutional support, and the relationship-based strategies of the ventures, such as strategic alliances for product development and political networking. Our results suggest the need for simultaneous consideration of environment- and relationship-based strategy factors as moderators in the discourse on product innovation strategy among new technology ventures.
Downlink Beamforming with Transmit-Side Channel Correlation: A Large System Analysis

In this paper, we consider a large system analysis of regularized channel inversion (RCI) beamforming for MISO broadcast channels (BC) with transmit-side channel correlation. In the analysis, we assume that both the number of users and transmit antennas grow unbounded with a constant ratio. We also assume that the channel correlation model is separable. Under this channel condition, we are particularly interested to find the optimal regularization parameter of RCI that maximizes the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR). First, we derive the large system limit of the SINR of each user by applying some results on large random matrices. Then, we determine the cor- responding optimal regularization parameter and show that this optimal regularization parameter is not affected by the transmit correlation. We verify this result through simulations where the channel has the exponential transmit-correlation model.
Adaptive emotion regulation mediates the relationship between self‐compassion and depression in individuals with unipolar depression

OBJECTIVES To identify the mechanisms involved in the association between self-compassion and depression, we examined whether adaptive emotion regulation would mediate the relationship between self-compassion and depression in individuals with unipolar depression. Furthermore, we explored which specific emotion regulation skills would be most important in this relationship. DESIGN AND METHOD Sixty-nine individuals with unipolar depression were assessed with the Self-Compassion Scale and the Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire at baseline and with the Beck Depression Inventory-II 1 week later. RESULTS The results showed that successful application of emotion regulation skills mediates the association between self-compassion and depression. Among eight specific emotion regulation skills, only the ability to tolerate negative emotions was identified as a significant mediator in the self-compassion-depression relationship. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide preliminary evidence that systematically fostering self-compassion might help depressed individuals cope with their symptoms by enhancing their abilities to tolerate undesired emotions. PRACTITIONER POINTS Systematically fostering self-compassion through specific compassion-focused interventions might facilitate a reduction in depressive symptoms by improving the person's emotion regulation abilities, especially by improving his or her ability to tolerate negative emotions. Hence, compassion-focused interventions might be particularly promising in depressed patients with a tendency to avoid negative emotions and deficits in tolerating them.
Lame Duck Presidency and Stock Returns

Recent studies highlight positive effect of political connections on firm performance and stock returns. This paper shows that the positive effect of political connections on the cross-sectional stock returns disappears in the lame duck presidency period, defined as the last two years before the Presidential party change. Additional tests suggest that the diminishing political effect in the lame duck period is more pronounced during the Republican presidency and the last two years of the first term presidency. The results are driven by the firms located in the states where residents more strongly support the president, by small firms, who typically do not have financial resources to hedge away political risks, and by firms in the consumer goods, sales, and manufacturing industries.
Gender and relationship differences in caregiving patterns and consequences among employed caregivers.

Gender and relationship differences in caregiving (i.e., for a spouse, parent, parent-in-law, other relative, or friend) are investigated among a sample of employed caregivers (N = 2,174). No gender differences were found in the provision of 7 of 13 caregiving tasks, but women devoted more time and were more likely to be primary caregivers. After controlling for other key variables, relationship added modestly to the ability to predict all five measures of caregiving consequences, and gender further added nominally to the ability to predict three of the measures. The findings lend support to the gender-role socialization hypothesis (Miller & Cafasso, 1992) and suggest the targeting of services to caregivers of spouses and parents, especially female caregivers.
Effect of Low Dose Dopamine on Hemodynamic and Renal Function in Children

ABSTRACT: The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of low doses of dopamine in children. Fourteen cases were studied after open heart surgery. Cardiac output and renal parameters were determined under baseline conditions and under continuous infusion of dopamine 2.5 and 5 Alt+0181g/kg/min. During the control period cardiac index was 2.62 ± 0.19 L/min/m2, renal plasma flow was decreased at 269 ± 41 mL/min/1.73 m2, GFR was 86.6 ± 9.2 mL/min/ 1.73 m2, and filtration fraction was elevated at 37.1 ± 1.9%. Plasma concentration of aldosterone correlated with the filtration fraction. At 5 Alt+0181g/kg/min dopamine increased significantly cardiac output, renal plasma flow, and to a lesser extent GFR, thus decreasing the filtration fraction. At 2.5 Alt+0181g/kg/min dopamine, increased renal plasma flow only in patients older than 5 y and had no effect on the other parameters. The increase of cardiac output in response to dopamine was abolished by propanolol pretreatment. By contrast, the hemodynamic renal response to dopamine was not altered by β-blockade. These results indicate that 5 Alt+0181g/kg/min of dopamine could prevent renal failure after open heart surgery in children by increasing renal blood flow and attenuating renal compensatory mechanisms.
A noise-based stabilizer for convolutional neural networks

ABSTRACT Overfitting occurs when one tries to train a large model on small amount of data. Regularizing a neural network using prior knowledge remains a topic of research as it is not concluded how much prior information can be given to the neural network. In this paper, a novel algorithm is introduced which uses regularization to train a neural network without increasing the dataset. A trivial prior information of a class label is supplied to the model while training. Laplace noise is introduced to the intermediate layer for more generalization. The results show significant improvement in accuracy on the standard datasets for a simple Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). While the proposed method outperforms previous regularization techniques like dropout and batch normalization, it can also be applied with them for further improvement in the performance. On the variants of MNIST, proposed algorithm achieved an average 48% increment in the test accuracy.
Effects of Treatment with Nauclea latifolia Root Decoction on Sexual Behavior and Reproductive Functions in Male Rabbits

ABSTRACT Nauclea latifolia is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of male reproductive diseases. Despite its vast uses, its effects on the male reproductive system have not been scientifically proven. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Nauclea latifolia root decoction on sexual behavior and functions in male rabbits. Twenty-four male rabbits were divided into four groups: The first group received daily distilled water orally. The second, third, and fourth groups were orally treated with 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg body weight of Nuclea latifolia root, respectively. Sexual behavior parameters were carried out on weeks 1, 2, and 3 of the study. Testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) were measured from the serum, while the testes tissue samples were used for antioxidant and histopathological examinations. Treatment with 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight resulted in significantly (p < .05) increased frequencies of mounting and intromission. In addition, the ejaculation latency was significantly prolonged (p < .05). The latencies of mounting and intromission were significantly decreased (p < .05), whereas ejaculation frequency increased. Serum testosterone, FSH, and LH increased significantly (p < .05) after treatment with Nuclea latifolia. There was an increase in epididymal sperm counts at 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight doses compared to the control. The extract also increased sperm motility and viability and improved testicular oxidative status. Histological examination revealed an increase in germinal layer thickness. The present study suggests that treatment with N. latifolia improves male sexual function and fertility and protects the testes from oxidative damage.
Early exposure to dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene, breastfeeding and asthma at age six

Our aims were to assess association of dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) with childhood asthma measured up to age 6 and the effect of DDE on the protective effect of breastfeeding on asthma. In addition, we attempted to assess the relevant time‐window of DDE exposure (i.e. at birth or at 4 years).
Conflicting Views: Neoclassical, Porterian, and Evolutionary Approaches to the Analysis of the Environmental Regulation of Industrial Activity

The current European Union approach to environmental regulation aims to ensure that firms achieve continuous improvement in environmental performance and explicitly encourages firms to integrate environmental concerns into production technology. Such approaches to minimizing pollution often lead to economic as well as environmental benefits. The possibility that regulation can generate a "win win" solution, achieving both environmental protection and economic gains, is rejected by neoclassical environmental economists. Using the neoclassical model of a profit-maximizing firm with perfect information, neoclassical environmental economists argue that profit-maximizing cleaner technology will be adopted by profit-maximizing firms without requiring a regulatory stimulus: regulation can only act as a constraint on firms. Both this argument and its underpinning theory of the firm have been challenged by Michael Porter and Claus van der Linde (Porter 1991; Porter and van der Linde 1995a, 1995b), who have argued that regulation can promote competitiveness-enhancing technical change. "Companies operate in the real world of dynamic competition, not in the static world of much economic theory. They are constantly finding innovative solutions to pressures of all sorts-from competitors, customers, and regulators" (1995a, 120). Porterian firms cannot pursue profit-maximizing behavior; they face problems of information, control, and organizational inertia. With this conception of the firm there is a role for regulation in directing the attention of firms: "strict product regulations can
Pembrolizumab for the Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Tumor-associated antigens are released by tumor cells and subsequently bound by major histocompatibility complex molecules on the surface of immune-presenting cells. Upon binding, these cells migrate to lymph nodes and present the antigens to T cell receptors on immature T cells. Activation of immature T cells requires not only antigenic stimulation (signal 1), but also a costimulatory signal (signal 2). B7 molecules (CD80/B7-1 and CD86/ B7-2 B2) expressed on antigen-presenting cells provide signal 2 by binding as ligands to CD28 on T cells. Then, T cells are activated and become CD8-positive activated T cells (priming Published online: April 29, 2019
Penetrating Wounds of the Torso

Penetrating trauma is on the increase as a result of interpersonal violence throughout the world. It is essential that military surgeons are familiar with such injuries and trained not only in the principles of their management, but also have first-hand operative experience before deployment in the field of conflict. More often than not, this experience is to be gained in the civilian urban setting in countries such as South Africa and the USA. The article addresses the first requirement - the principles of management - and outlines basic measures to enable those unfamiliar with penetrating wounds of the torso to make a reasonable and directed approach to dealing with these patients. It does not attempt to give definitive advice on specific injuries. It is organised according to anatomical regions, but emphasises that this is only in order to put shape to the article; penetrating injuries frequently having no respect for anatomical boundaries. Particular attention is drawn to difficult areas such as mediastinal injuries, and to modern concepts of ‘damage control’ surgery and the ‘abdominal compartment syndrome’. The emphasis throughout is on how to get out of trouble and where particular danger spots may be anticipated. Reference will be made to the differences that may be expected within the military environment as opposed to the civilian setting, where rapid and (usually) safe evacuation to a well-equipped secure facility may not be possible. The article aims to raise the awareness of those involved in the care of patients with penetrating wounds of the torso that a methodical approach with a practised team of experienced individuals can salvage injuries which at first sight may seem terrifying or hopeless.
The Information Content of Corporate Pension Funding Status in Japan

This paper tests if a firm's pension funding ratio (pension assets/PBO) reveals the management's private information about the firm's operation when the firm can exercise discretion in pension funding. The lax enforcement of pension funding rules and the prevalence of management forecasts make Japanese firms an ideal testing ground. We show that, among firms with large business uncertainty, large accruals, or high effective tax rates, the pension funding ratio predicts the firm's management forecast errors significantly beyond conventional control variable and the effects of pension accounting management. However, the stock market does not appear to incorporate this information immediately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]