Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A prospective randomized single-blind trial of patient comfort following vessel closure: extravascular synthetic sealant closure provides less pain than a self-tightening suture vascular compression device

Background and purpose The Mynx M5 (AccessClosure, Inc., Mountain View, California, USA), a novel vascular closure device (VCD) utilizing extravascular synthetic sealant, may effectively seal the arteriotomy while reducing the pain associated with arteriotomy closure seen with other VCDs. To date, no studies exist comparing the pain associated with deployment between differing VCDs as a primary end point. Methods A blinded, randomized controlled trial was performed comparing the Mynx and a popular VCD that utilizes a self-tightening suture, the Angio-Seal Evolution (St Jude Medical, St Paul, Minnesota, USA). Subjects were all adult patients undergoing diagnostic cerebral angiography via femoral access. Local anesthesia and intraprocedural intravenous pain medication were standardized. Pain was assessed using a horizontal visual analog scale both before and after VCD deployment. Results 64 patients were enrolled with 32 in each treatment arm. Both pain at closure and pain increase from baseline to closure were significantly higher in the Angio-Seal group (p=0.009 and 0.002, respectively). 88% of patients receiving an Angio-Seal reported closure as the most painful part of the procedure compared with only 34% of patients receiving the Mynx (p<0.001). No adverse events were detected in either treatment arm. Conclusions In a blinded, randomized trial comparing the Mynx with the Angio-Seal Evolution, pain with device deployment at arteriotomy closure was significantly lower with the Mynx. The reason for the large pain gradient between groups is likely due to the presence, and absence, of compression elements within the Angio-Seal and Mynx, respectively.
Possible environmental, occupational, and other etiologic factors for Parkinson's disease

In a case-control study, we investigated the possible etiologic relevance to Parkinson's disease (PD) of rural factors such as farming activity, pesticide exposures, well-water drinking, and animal contacts; toxicologic exposures such as wood preservatives, heavy metals, and solvents; general anesthesia; head trauma; and differences in the intrauterine environment. We recruited 380 patients in nine German clinics, 379 neighborhood control subjects, and 376 regional control subjects in the largest case-control study investigating such factors and collected data in structured personal interviews using conditional logistic regression to control for educational status and cigarette smoking. The latter was strongly inversely associated with PD. There were significantly elevated odds ratios (OR) for pesticide use, in particular, for organochlorines and alkylated phosphates, but no association was present between PD and other rural factors. A significantly elevated OR was present for exposure to wood preservatives. Subjective assessment by the probands indicated that exposure to some heavy metals, solvents, exhaust fumes, and carbon monoxide was significantly more frequent among patients than control subjects, but this was not confirmed by a parallel assessment of job histories according to a job exposure matrix. Patients had undergone general anesthesia and suffered severe head trauma more often than control subjects, but a dose-response gradient was not present. Patients reported a significantly larger number of amalgam-filled teeth before their illness than control subjects. The frequency of premature births and birth order did not differ between patients and control subjects. Patients reported significantly more relatives affected with PD than control subjects. These results support a role for environmental and genetic factors in the etiology of PD.
How does tele-mental health affect group therapy process? Secondary analysis of a noninferiority trial.

OBJECTIVE Video teleconferencing (VTC) is used for mental health treatment delivery to geographically remote, underserved populations. However, few studies have examined how VTC affects individual or group psychotherapy processes. This study compares process variables such as therapeutic alliance and attrition among participants receiving anger management group therapy either through traditional face-to-face delivery or by VTC. METHOD The current study represents secondary analyses of a randomized noninferiority trial (Morland et al., in press) in which clinical effectiveness of VTC delivery proved noninferior to in-person delivery. Participants were male veterans (N = 112) with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and moderate to severe anger problems. The present study examined potential differences in process variables, including therapeutic alliance, satisfaction, treatment credibility, attendance, homework completion, and attrition. RESULTS No significant differences were found between the two modalities on most process variables. However, individuals in the VTC condition exhibited lower alliance with the group leader than those in the in-person condition. Mean self-leader alliance scores were 4.2 (SD = 0.8) and 4.5 (SD = 0.4), respectively, where 5 represents strongly agree and 4 represents agree with positive statements about the relationship, suggesting that participants in both conditions felt reasonably strong alliance in absolute terms. Individuals who had stronger alliance tended to have better anger outcomes, yet the effect was not strong enough to result in the VTC condition producing inferior aggregate outcomes. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that even if group psychotherapy via VTC differs in subtle ways from in-person delivery, VTC is a viable and effective means of delivering psychotherapy.
ANC system with random noise injection control for online feedback path modeling

In active noise control (ANC) systems, an acoustic feedback signal may degrade the ANC performance and/or cause system instability. To solve such a problem, various online feedback path modeling (OFPM) methods using additive random noise have been reported. However, the additive random noise signal may contribute to the residual output noise. In this paper, a new random noise injection control is proposed for ANC systems with OFPM. For that purpose, the additive random noise being generated is scheduled to be stopped when the output error power of an OFPM filter is lower than the estimated steady-state mean square error (MSE) of the filter. Furthermore, a variable step-size normalized mean square (VSS-NLMS) algorithm is employed to achieve faster convergence of the OFPM filter. Finally, simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Nonlinear exercise training in advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is superior to traditional exercise training. A randomized trial.

RATIONALE The optimal exercise training intensity and strategy for individualized exercise training in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not clear. OBJECTIVES This study compares the effects of nonlinear periodized exercise (NLPE) training used in athletes to traditional endurance and progressive resistance (EPR) training in patients with severe COPD. METHODS A total of 110 patients with severe COPD (FEV1 32% predicted) were randomized to EPR or NLPE. Exercise training was performed three times per week for 10 weeks. The primary outcomes were cycling endurance time and health-related quality of life using the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire. The difference in change between EPR and NLPE was assessed using linear mixed-effects modeling. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS NLPE resulted in significantly greater improvements in cycling endurance time compared with EPR. The difference in change was +300.6 seconds (95% confidence interval [CI] = 197.2-404.2 s; P < 0.001). NLPE also resulted in significantly greater improvements in all domains of the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire compared with EPR, ranging from +0.48 (95% CI = 0.19-0.78) for the domain, emotions, to +0.96 (95% CI = 0.57-1.35) for dyspnea. CONCLUSIONS NLPE results in greater improvements in cycle endurance and health-related quality of life in patients with severe COPD than traditional training methods. Clinical trial registered with www.trialregister. nl (The Netherlands Trial Register; NTR 1045).
Genes of Importance in the Hormonal Regulation of Growth Plate Cartilage

Longitudinal bone growth occurs in the growth plate through a process in which resting zone chondrocytes are recruited to start active proliferation and then undergo differentiation, followed by apoptosis and later mineralization. Bone growth is controlled by a multitude of genes encoding for hormones and growth factors acting systemically and/or locally in the growth plate. From studies of individuals with a mutated aromatase gene and a male patient with defective oestrogen receptor (ER) α, it has become clear that the action of oestrogen is indispensable for normal pubertal growth and growth plate fusion. As new aromatase inhibitors and specific modulators of ERs are developed, these could offer more specific ways to modulate longitudinal growth and growth plate fusion. It is difficult to extrapolate data obtained in experimental animals, as clear species differences exist, emphasizing the need for new models that will allow studies in human growth plate cartilage.
Toward Green IS Adoption Behaviors: A Self-Determination Perspective

The objectives of this study were to examine the predictors of green technology adoption behavior and to establish its foundation from motivational perspective. We adopted Self-Determination Theory to develop our Green IS adoption model. The proposed research model was tested by partial least squares. The study provided some key findings. First, eco-technological knowledge had a positive and significant effect on intrinsic motivation (i.e. perceived pleasurability), integrated (i.e. perceived altruism), identified (i.e. perceived importance), and introjected regulation (ego-involvement). Second, intrinsic motivation (i.e. perceived pleasurability) had a positive effect on integrated (i.e. perceived altruism and perceived usefulness), identified (i.e. perceived importance), and introjected regulation (ego-involvement). Moreover, identified (i.e. perceived importance) and integrated regulation (i.e. perceived usefulness) had positive effects on attitude toward Green IS use behavior. Furthermore, attitude toward Green IS use behavior was the main predictor of Green IS use intention. Surprisingly, the results showed that there was no direct relationship between Green IS behavior intention and actual Green IS use, whereas there was a positive relationship between facilitating conditions and actual Green IS use.
A Comparison Between the Effect of Cholecystokinin Octapeptide and Apomorphine on Ingestion of Intraorally Administered Sucrose in Male Rats

The involvement of dopamine receptors in the inhibitory effect of Cholecystokinin octapeptide on ingestive behaviour was investigated. Male rats were infused intraorally with a 1 M solution of sucrose and the amount ingested after treatment with the dopamine receptor agonist apomorphine was compared with that after treatment with Cholecystokinin octapeptide. The test allows a distinction between the consummatory aspects of ingestive behaviour, i.e. responses used to ingest food, from the appetitive aspects, i.e. responses used to obtain food, because it ignores the latter aspects. Comparisons were also made between the effects of apomorphine and Cholecystokinin octapeptide on pellet intake, a test in which the rat has to display appetitive ingestive behaviour.
Creating inclusive schools for LGBTQ populations - A study exploring strategies elementary school leaders employ for LGBTQ inclusion

The purpose of this study is to explore specific strategies that inclusive-minded elementary principals use to create more inclusive school environments for LGBTQ populations, which continue to be underrepresented in different facets of school community life. Qualitative interview data was collected across different school districts from thirteen elementary principals who actively promote the inclusion of LGBTQ populations in Ontario schools. The data suggests that, despite the number of barriers that principals face in their efforts to create more inclusive school environments for LGBTQ populations, school leaders employ many strategies to strategically and intentionally facilitate school environments that are welcoming, respectful, and inclusive for individuals who identify as LGBTQ. The findings of this research have implications for the urgency for this work as well as the possibilities to realize school communities which are inclusive of LGBTQ communities. The findings also have implications for professional learning for leaders in the area of inclusion and social justice. In addition, supports and appropriate resources that are needed to enhance the work of LGBTQ inclusion in schools are highlighted.
An Overview of the Survey of Consumer Expectations

This report presents an overview of the Survey of Consumer Expectations, a new monthly online survey of a rotating panel of household heads. The survey collects timely information on consumers’ expectations and decisions on a broad variety of topics, including but not limited to inflation, household finance, the labor market, and the housing market. There are three main goals of the survey: (1) measuring consumer expectations at a high frequency, (2) understanding how these expectations are formed, and (3) investigating the link between expectations and behavior. This report discusses the origins of the survey, the questionnaire design, the implementation of the survey and the sample, and computation of various statistics that are released every month. We conclude with a discussion of how the results are disseminated, and how the (micro) data may be accessed.
Cutaneous Granulomas Associated With Interferon Therapy

Abstract:Treatment with interferon (IFN) could be associated with variable cutaneous adverse reactions. The aim of this study was to describe the clinicopathological spectrum of cutaneous granulomas associated with IFN therapy and identify the causal relation between IFN therapy and granulomatous reactions. The study included 18 patients (16 males and 2 females) with an average age of 48 years. Clinically, most of the lesions were solitary (83.3%) and located on the face (44.4%) and/or trunk (38.9%). The lesions were commonly presented as nodules (33.3%) or plaques (27.8%) with a common size of 5–10 cm. Granulomatous reactions were localized to the injection site in 4 cases, distributed on other body areas (remote granuloma) in 11 cases, and associated with lung involvement (systemic granuloma) in 3 cases. Histologically, injection site granuloma showed suppurative reaction in 75% and sarcoidal reaction in 25%. Remote granuloma showed tuberculoid reaction in 27.3%, interstitial in 27.3%, and sarcoidal in 45.4%. Systemic granuloma showed sarcoidal reaction in all cases. After withdrawal of IFN, only 3 lesions showed spontaneous complete clearance, whereas most of the lesions (83.3%) showed only partial improvement. Our results suggested that IFN is not a causal agent of all associated cutaneous granulomas but it mostly provokes the appearance of granulomatous reactions in susceptible individuals. Findings that prove this concept include the formation of granuloma in body sites away from the injection site, the heterogeneous pattern of granuloma both clinically and histologically, and incomplete clearance of most of the lesions after withdrawal of IFN.
Tolerance Thresholds for Aedes albopictus and Aedes caspius in Italian Urban Areas

ABSTRACT With nuisance mosquito species, the goal of integrated pest management is to keep mosquito density below a tolerance level that is often set by economic, ecological, and political factors. This study compares actual human annoyance, as measured by a phone survey, with several measures of mosquito abundance, in order to determine a threshold that is both relevant and practical. The efficiency of CO2-baited traps, container index (CI), and oviposition traps for monitoring Aedes albopictus, and CO2-baited traps for monitoring Aedes caspius, was evaluated. CO2-baited traps were confirmed to be of low efficiency in Ae. albopictus collection, while correlation matrices showed a good relationship between CI and the number of eggs collected (R = 0.91), and between number of eggs and phone-survey nuisance level estimates (R = 0.88). Correlation between CI and phone-survey nuisance levels was slightly lower (R = 0.78). We found a close relationship between the nuisance level declared by residents and mosquito captures obtained with CO2-baited traps (Ae. caspius) and ovitraps (Ae. albopictus). An equation is presented to estimate annoyance according to dwelling characteristics and to the presence of children in the family.
A demodulation complexity reduction method using M-algorithm for high compaction multi-carrier modulation systems

This paper proposes a demodulation method for high compaction multi-carrier modulation (HC-MCM) using the M-algorithm to reduce the calculation complexity for data recovering in the receiver. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated by the amount of Euclidean distance calculations in comparison with the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE). The bit-error rate (BER) characteristics of HC-MCM systems using proposed demodulation method are demonstrated by computer simulations in the presence of Gaussian noise. Performance of the HC-MCM using proposed demodulation method is also evaluated over a 2-path equal power Rayleigh fading channel. As a result, it is shown that the calculation complexity for 8 subcarriers is reduced to 0.6% in comparison with the MLE, and BER performance is not degraded even when the proposed system gives 64% increase of spectral efficiency in comparison with OFDM. In addition to those good properties, it is shown here that the proposed system is available over a wideband fading channel using a guard time interval.
Impact of hospital proportion and volume on primary percutaneous coronary intervention performance in England and Wales.

AIMS To quantify the determinants of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) performance in England and Wales between 2004 and 2007. METHODS AND RESULTS All 8653 primary PCI cases admitted to acute hospitals in England and Wales as recorded in the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP) 2004-2007. We studied the impact of the volume of primary PCI cases (hospital volume) on door-to-balloon (DTB) times and the proportion of patients treated with primary PCI (hospital proportion) on 30-day mortality and employed regression analysis to identify reasons for DTB time variations with a multilevel component to express hospital variation. The proportion of patients receiving primary PCI increased from 5% in 2004 to 20% in 2007. Median DTB times reduced from 84 min in 2004 to 61 min in 2007. Median DTB times decreased as the number of primary PCI procedures increased. The 30-day all-cause mortality rate for hospitals performing primary PCI on >25% of ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients [5.0%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.9-6.1%] was almost double that of hospitals performing primary PCI on more than 75% (2.7%; 95% CI: 2.0-3.5%). Time-of-day, year of admission, sex, and diabetes significantly influenced DTB times. Hospital variation was evident by a hospital-level DTB time standard deviation of 12 min. CONCLUSIONS There was a large variation in DTB times between the best and worst performing hospitals. Although patient-related factors impacted upon DTB times, the volume and proportion of patients undergoing primary PCI were significantly associated with delay and early mortality-hospitals with the highest proportion of primary PCI had the lowest mortality.
Multiple pathways of reversion in viroids for conservation of structural elements.

From site‐directed mutagenesis of potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) it had been concluded earlier that the formation of a thermodynamically metastable structure containing hairpin II (HP II) is critical for infectivity. In order to differentiate between structural and sequence effects, in the present work base pairs in HP II were exchanged by site‐directed double mutations without significant alterations in the native rod‐like structure of PSTVd. The mutants were viable and genetically stable in the first generation, but one of the two mutations reverted to the wild‐type nucleotide in the second generation. Single‐site mutations in the stem of HP II, which had been described as revertants to the wild‐type sequence earlier, were analysed with respect to the time course of reversion and the sequence variation during reversion. All replicating sequence variants were separated by gel electrophoretic techniques and the sequences and their relative frequencies were determined. From both types of studies it can be concluded (i) that HP II is a functional element in the (−)strand replication intermediate, generated due to sequential folding during synthesis, and that it is essential for template activity of (+)strand synthesis; (ii) that G:U pairs are tolerated transiently in (−)strand HP II; the lower stability of such a HP II is compensated by additional mutations outside HP II which suppress the competition of a rod‐like structure; and (iii) that the reversions are generated spontaneously during (−)strand synthesis. Furthermore, the double‐stranded structure of HP II is the essential element for short term replication of PSTVd but the exact sequence of the wild‐type proves to be superior with regard to fitness and replicability of PSTVd.
[A study on the correlation of body mass index with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and quality of life].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), based on a cross-sectional COPD survey conducted in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Liaoning, Tianjin, Chongqing and Shaanxi of China between 2002-2004. METHODS A multi-stage stratification cluster sampling strategy was used in this cross-sectional survey, and 20,245 subjects (8705 males and 11,540 females) aged 40 years or older were recruited, interviewed with a questionnaire, measured for height and weight, and tested with spirometry. 1668 subjects with post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC less than 70% were identified as having COPD after other known causes of airflow limitation were excluded. Analysis on relationship between COPD and BMI was performed in 1668 COPD and 18 577 non-COPD subjects. RESULTS Compared with non-COPD subjects, BMI was significantly lower in COPD patients [(22.7+/-3.5) vs (24.1+/-3.4) kg/m2, F=158.31, P<0.01]; BMI was also significantly lower in smokers than in non-smokers [(23.6+/-3.4) vs (24.2+/-3.5) kg/m2, F=49.10, P<0.01]. And an addictive interaction to BMI between COPD and smoking was observed (F=6.03, P<0.05). BMI decreased with the increase of the stage of COPD (F=45.6, P<0.01), with a negative relationship (r=-0.08, P<0.01). Lower BMI was significantly associated with increased risk of COPD (chi2=102.68, P<0.01). Compared with subjects with normal BMI (BMI=24.0-27.9 kg/m2), those with lower BMI (BMI<18.5 kg/m2) were more likely to have COPD [adjusted OR=2.12 (95% CI 1.73-2.59)], while those with higher BMI (BMI=24.0-27.9 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI>or=28.0 kg/m2) were less likely to have COPD [adjusted OR=0.67 (95% CI 0.59-0.76); and 0.60 [(95% CI 0.49-0.73), respectively]. Moreover, there was an interaction to COPD between smoking and BMI (chi2=4.73, P<0.05). Compared with COPD patients with normal BMI, the quality of life in those with lower BMI was impaired (55+/-8 vs 57+/-6 in mental scores of SF-12, F=2.96, P<0.05; 42+/-10 vs 46+/-9 in physical scores of SF-12, F=4.21, P<0.01), and their dyspnea scores were higher (1.4+/-1.5 vs 1.1+/-1.3, chi2=14.32, P<0.01). CONCLUSION Lower BMI was strongly associated with COPD, possibly as a risk factor for COPD independent of smoking, and a potential predictor for COPD severity.