Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical study of Duogastrone in the treatment of duodenal ulcers

This study confirms the preliminary reports that Duogastrone effectively controls the symptoms of duodenal ulceration and appears to hasten healing. In a double-blind trial, 14 patients with active duodenal ulcers were treated with Duogastrone capsules, one four times daily, half-an-hour before meals, while a comparable control group of 14 patients was treated similarly with a placebo containing magnesium trisilicate. Treatment continued for 12 weeks with clinical assessments fortnightly and a radiological assessment at the start and at the end of treatment. Only one of the 14 patients receiving Duogastrone did not respond. The remaining 13 showed marked clinical improvement with complete relief of pain and ceased to require supplementary antacids. Radiological evidence of healing or marked improvement was seen in eight of the 14 patients. None of the patients in the control group showed any marked improvement either of pain or tenderness and no changes were detectable by radiology. Patients in this group showed no reduction in their demand for supplementary antacids to relieve symptoms. No significant side effects were encountered. It is concluded that Duogastrone accelerates the healing of duodenal ulcer in ambulant patients and affords a much greater and more rapid relief of symptoms than does magnesium trisilicate.
Online customization for apparel: The roles of involvement and innovativeness

Online customization is one of powerful marketing strategies. However, customers' attitudes toward acceptance and their behavioral intentions to use play a critical success factor. Based on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) this study examined the relationships among consumer's beliefs, attitudes and behavioral intentions toward online customization of apparel. In this specific context we also explored the moderating effects of involvement and innovativeness. We found that the higher degree of involvement the more positive relationship between customers' perceived usefulness and their attitudes toward acceptance of online customization would be. And we also found that the higher degree of innovativeness the more positive relationship between customers' attitudes toward acceptance of online customization and their behavioral intentions to use would be. In practice this study could provide firms to plan and adjust their market segmentation and e-commerce strategies.
Determination of low-molecular mass phenols in red wines: The influence of chips, staves and micro-oxygenation aging tank

The aim of this study is to assess the use of polymeric cartridges with diode array detection to extract the main low-molecular mass phenolic compounds from red wine samples. This method expanded and improved permitted to quantify 20 compounds in red wines made and aged under different conditions. These conditions included aging in barrels and in tanks with chips or staves as well as micro-oxygenation. The study of wine development during its wood storage period and the compounds transferred from the wood to the wine during this period provide useful important information concerning the impact of wine aging methods on the chemical makeup of the resulting wines. The main compounds that differentiated wine aging systems were identified to be 5-hydroxymethyl-2 furaldehyde, gallic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic aldehyde, syringic acid and sinapic acid.
A compilation technique for software pipelining of loops with conditional jumps

We describe a compilation algorithm for efficient software pipelining of general inner loops, where the number of iterations and the time taken by each iteration may be unpredictable, due to arbitrary if-then-else statements and conditional exit statements within the loop. As our target machine, we assume a wide instruction word architecture that allows multi-way branching in the form of if-then-else trees, and that allows conditional register transfers depending on where the microinstruction branches to (a hardware implementation proposal for such a machine is briefly described in the paper). Our compilation algorithm, which we call the pipeline scheduling technique, produces a software-pipelined version of a given inner loop, which allows a new iteration of the loop to begin on every cycle whenever dependences and resources permit. The correctness and termination properties of the algorithm are studied in the paper.
The Intracranial Aneurysm Susceptibility Genes HSPG2 and CSPG2 Are Not Associated With Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

Background: A genetic variant on chromosome 9p21 associates with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and intracranial aneurysm (IA), indicating that despite the differences in pathology there are shared genetic risk factors. We investigated whether the IA susceptibility genes heparan sulfate proteoglycan 2 (HSPG2) and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 2 (CSPG2) associate with AAA as well. Methods: Using tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), all common variants were analyzed in a Dutch AAA case-control population in a 2-stage genotyping approach. In stage 1, 12 tag SNPs in HSPG2 and 22 tag SNPs in CSPG2 were genotyped in 376 patients and 648 controls. Genotyping of significantly associated SNPs was replicated in a second independent cohort of 360 cases and 376 controls. Results: In stage 1, no HSPG2 SNPs and 1 CSPG2 SNP associated with AAA (rs2652106, P = .019). Association of this SNP was not replicated (P = .342). Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that, in contrast to IA, HSPG2 and CSPG2 do not associate with AAA.
Enhancing recognition of early Parkinsonism in the community

Because Parkinsonism is underdiagnosed in the community, we have validated screening modalities in the field setting and developed a screening procedure to enhance recognition of undiagnosed patients. In a first survey, we identified suspect cases among patients consulting 9 general practitioners (GPs) over a 3‐week period using in parallel: (1) a published questionnaire; (2) a standardized examination by the GPs; (3) clinical impression of the GPs; or (4) pre‐established diagnoses. Parkinsonism was ascertained by two neurologists with a 1‐year follow‐up and FP‐CIT‐SPECT. In total, 1,411 patients consulted the GPs, 1,030 participated in the study, 87 possible cases were identified by at least one of four screening modalities, 12 suffered from Parkinsonism, and 4 of these 12 were de novo cases. Statistical analysis demonstrated that with appropriate evaluation, the questionnaire is highly sensitive and excludes most nonaffected persons, and that the GPs' clinical impression is more specific. We therefore tested in a second survey the efficacy of a serial screening, starting with the questionnaire, followed by a standardized GP evaluation, and then by neurological examination. Of 1,353 participants seen by 9 GPs during a 3‐week period, 5 de novo cases were identified. This simple screening protocol significantly enhances recognition of incipient Parkinsonism. © 2004 Movement Disorder Society
K-band ladder filters employing air-gap type thin film bulk acoustic resonators

We describe the fabrication and characteristics of a filter with aluminum nitride thin film bulk acoustic resonators (FBAR) for the K-band. The FBAR has an air-gap beneath the resonator to acoustically isolate itself from the substrate, and is has an extremely thin film thickness to operate in the K-band. The FBAR has two structural features, a sacrificial layer to make the air-gap very thin in order to prevent the resonator from cracking on the edge of the air-gap and a resonator that is deformed into the shape of a dome by the film stresses to maintain the air-gap. The fabricated FBAR operated successfully at a keff 2 of 6.25%, a resonance Q of 189, and an anti-resonance Q of 171. The fabricated filter had a center frequency of 19.8 GHz, a minimum insertion loss of 4.1 dB and a fractional bandwidth of 2.0%.
Apraxia of Speech

Apraxia of speech (AOS)—also known as acquired apraxia of speech, verbal apraxia, or childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) when diagnosed in children—is a speech sound disorder. Someone with AOS has trouble saying what he or she wants to say correctly and consistently. AOS is a neurological disorder that affects the brain pathways involved in planning the sequence of movements involved in producing speech. The brain knows what it wants to say, but cannot properly plan and sequence the required speech sound movements.
Inflammation of the uveal tract as a presenting feature of temporal arteritis.

altered immunity, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and may be due to an effect on regulatory 1' lymphocyte function.7 Evidence in support of T cell mediation as a second possible mechanism for the induction of morphoea by penicillamine is illustrated by the cases of two patients who developed-morphoea following bone marrow transplants8 after initial development of acute and chronic skin changes of graft versus host disease. The latter represents immune attack on host antigens (the epithelial cells in the skin) by donor T lymphocytes. The morphoea appeared to represent the final healing stage of longstanding inflammation. Acute sensitivity reactions to penicillamine present as local or generalised erythematous, macular, and papular or urticarial eruptions. This may account for this patient's initial skin rash, which subsquently progressed to morphoea.
Psychoneuroimmunology and HIV Disease Progression

Among psychiatrists who treat patients with HIV/AIDS, the question of how psychosocial distress effects the progression of HIV disease is likely to arise. Even for healthy individuals, we are only beginning to clarify the complex pathways by which thoughts and emotions impact immune function. Due to the bidirectionality of the communications of the brain and the immune system, this is a complicated scenario. The fact that HIV alters the function of the immune system during the course of its progression creates greater confounds to the understanding of these systems. We will address the rationale that progression from HIV infection to AIDS may be modulated by psychosocial factors, discuss possible reasons for conflicting findings and posit some clinically relevant recommendations drawn from research findings.
Assessment of regional lung ventilation in dog lungs with Gd-DTPA aerosol ventilation MR imaging

Purpose: Gd-DTPA aerosol ventilation MR imaging was obtained using a modified aerosol delivery system with an aerosol reservoir to non-invasively assess regional lung ventilation in dogs. Material and Methods: Seven anesthetized, spontaneously breathing normal dogs inhaled 200 mmol Gd/l Gd-DTPA aerosol produced by an ultrasonic nebulizer, using an open-circuit aerosol delivery system with or without an aerosol reservoir. Fast gradient-echo MR images were sequentially acquired with an interval time of 1 min for 25 min before and after aerosol inhalation. The aerosol study was also performed using the aerosol delivery system with an aerosol reservoir in the same 7 dogs after airway obstruction with a balloon catheter, and in another 7 dogs after pulmonary arterial embolization with enbucrilate. An i.v. Gd-DTPA-enhanced dynamic MR study after i.v. bolus injection of a 0.1 mmol/kg dose of Gd-DTPA was combined to assess regional lung perfusion. Lung enhancement effect was evaluated by time-signal intensity curves and the subtracted ventilation- and perfusion-weighted images. Results: With or without the aerosol reservoir, the normal dog lungs were gradually and gravity-dependently enhanced with time after aerosol inhalation. The use of the aerosol reservoir, however, showed significantly greater lung enhancement without a significant increase in breathing rate and with minimal reduction in PaO2 of less than 5 mm Hg in these animals. The enhancement effect of i.v. injection of Gd-DTPA at pulmonary arterial perfusion phase was significantly greater compared to that of Gd-DTPA aerosol throughout the normal lungs, and the subtracted ventilation-weighted and perfusion-weighted images showed homogeneous but gravity-dependent aerosol deposition and perfusion. These images clearly defined the regionally matched perfusion-ventilation deficits in the lung regions distal to bronchial obstruction in all the airway obstruction dogs, and the regionally mismatched perfusion-ventilation in the embolized regions of all the pulmonary arterial embolization animals. Conclusion: Gd-based aerosol can non-invasively image regional lung ventilation in spontaneously breathing animals, using an adequate aerosol delivery system. The combined use of Gd-DTPA perfusion MR imaging may be acceptable for defining regionally impaired lung function associated with acute airway obstruction and pulmonary arterial embolization.
Direct retinal projections to the hypothalamus, piriform cortex, and accessory optic nuclei in the golden hamster as demonstrated by a sensitive anterograde horseradish peroxidase technique

The central projections of the retinal ganglion cells of the golden hamster were examined using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as the anterograde tracer molecule. Following monocular injections of HRP into the vitreous, retinfugal fibers were histochemically demonstrated using the chromagen tetramethylbenzidine. This procedure, being more sensitive than the 3H‐amino acid radioautographic technique, provided a clear demonstration of previously controversial retinal projections, clearer definition of established projections, and the discovery of new retinal pathways.
Site-Specific Manifestations of Invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease: Type Distribution and Corresponding Patterns of Virulence Determinants

ABSTRACT As part of a national surveillance program on invasive group A streptococci (GAS), isolates that caused specific manifestations of invasive GAS disease in The Netherlands were collected between 1992 and 1996. These site-specific GAS infections involved meningitis, arthritis, necrotizing fasciitis, and puerperal sepsis. An evaluation was performed to determine whether GAS virulence factors correlate with these different disease manifestations. PCRs were developed to detect 9 genes encoding exotoxins and 12 genes encoding fibronectin binding proteins. The genetic backgrounds of all isolates were determined by M genotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis. The predominant M types included M1, M2, M3, M4, M6, M9, M12, and M28. Most M types were associated with all manifestations of GAS disease. However, M2 was found exclusively in patients with puerperal sepsis, M6 predominated in patients with meningitis, and M12 predominated in patients with GAS arthritis. While characteristic gene profiles were detected in most M types, the resolution of detection of different gene profiles within M genotypes was enhanced by PFGE analysis, which clearly demonstrated the existence of some clonal lineages among invasive GAS isolates in The Netherlands. M1 isolates comprised a single clone carrying highly mitogenic toxin genes (speA, smeZ) and were associated with toxic shock-like syndrome. Toxin profiles were highly conserved among the most virulent strains, such as M1 and M3.
Risk Exchange with Distorted Probabilities

An exchange economy is considered, where agents (insurers/banks) trade risks. Decision making takes place under distorted probabilities, which are used to represent either rank-dependence of preferences or ambiguity with respect to real-world probabilities. Pricing formulas and risk allocations, generalising the results of Bühlmann (1980, 1984) are obtained via the construction of aggregate preferences from heterogeneous agents’ utility and distortion functions. This involves the introduction of a novel ‘collective ambiguity aversion’ coefficient. It is shown that probability distortion changes insurers’ behaviour, who trade not only to share the aggregate market risk, but are also found to bet against each other. Moreover, probability distortion tends to increase the price of insurance (increase asset returns). While the cases of rank-dependence and ambiguity are formally similar, an important distinction emerges as for rank-dependent preferences equilibria are determinate, while for ambiguity they are generally indeterminate.
On the Blissful Islands with Nietzsche & Jung: In the shadow of the superman

"What are the blissful islands? And where are they? This book takes as its starting-point the chapter called 'On the Blissful Islands' in Part Two of Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and its enigmatic conclusion: 'The beauty of the Superman came to me as a shadow'. From this remarkable and powerful passage, it disengages the Nietzschean idea of the Superman and the Jungian notion of the shadow, moving these concepts into a new, interdisciplinary direction. In particular, On the Blissful Islands seeks to develop the kind of interpretative approach that Jung himself employed. Its chief topics are classical (the motif of the blissful islands), psychological (the shadow), and philosophical (the U⁺bermensch or superman), blended together to produce a rich, intellectual-historical discussion. By bringing context and depth to a nexus of highly problematic concepts, it offers something new to the specialist and the general reader alike. So this book considers the significance of the statue in the culture of antiquity (and in alchemy), and investigates the associated notion of self-sculpting as a form of existential exercise. This Neoplatonic theme is pursued in relation to a poem by Schiller, at the centre of which lies the notion of self-sculpting, thus highlighting Nietzsche's (and Jung's) relationship to Idealism. Its conclusion directly addresses the vexed (and controversial) question of Nietzsche's relation to Plato. "
Unresolved feelings of guilt and shame in the maternal role with substance-dependent African American women.

PURPOSE To identify care needs of African American women residing in an inner-city transitional home for substance abuse, with the goal of facilitating their ability to move successfully through treatment and recovery. DESIGN Ethnography. The convenience sample consisted of 12 key participants and 18 general participants. Data were collected 1996-1998. METHOD Participant observation and focused interviews were used to collect data. Participants were asked open-ended questions designed to determine their care needs as they experienced treatment and recovery for substance abuse. FINDINGS Unresolved feelings of guilt and shame associated with perceptions of failure in the maternal role during their active addiction were discovered to be critical issue and possible barrier to successful treatment for African American women in a residential program for treatment of substance abuse. CONCLUSIONS Unresolved feelings of guilt and shame associated with consequences of the use and abuse of substances, particularly with perceptions of failure in the maternal role, could serve as barriers to successful treatment and recovery for substance-dependent African American women. Nursing actions designed to facilitate healing with these women could offer the potential for improved maternal and child health and well being.
Redundancy among Manganese Peroxidases in Pleurotus ostreatus

ABSTRACT Manganese peroxidases (MnPs) are key players in the ligninolytic system of white rot fungi. In Pleurotus ostreatus (the oyster mushroom) these enzymes are encoded by a gene family comprising nine members, mnp1 to -9 (mnp genes). Mn2+ amendment to P. ostreatus cultures results in enhanced degradation of recalcitrant compounds (such as the azo dye orange II) and lignin. In Mn2+-amended glucose-peptone medium, mnp3, mnp4, and mnp9 were the most highly expressed mnp genes. After 7 days of incubation, the time point at which the greatest capacity for orange II decolorization was observed, mnp3 expression and the presence of MnP3 in the extracellular culture fluids were predominant. To determine the significance of MnP3 for ligninolytic functionality in Mn2+-sufficient cultures, mnp3 was inactivated via the Δku80 strain-based P. ostreatus gene-targeting system. In Mn2+-sufficient medium, inactivation of mnp3 did not significantly affect expression of nontargeted MnPs or their genes, nor did it considerably diminish the fungal Mn2+-mediated orange II decolorization capacity, despite the significant reduction in total MnP activity. Similarly, inactivation of either mnp4 or mnp9 did not affect orange II decolorization ability. These results indicate functional redundancy within the P. ostreatus MnP gene family, enabling compensation upon deficiency of one of its members.
Phylogenetic study of ribosomal DNA of cactophilic Pichia species by restriction mapping

The rDNAs of strains of the cactophilic Pichia species P. amethionina, P. antillensis, P. barkeri, P. cactophila, P. caribaea, P. deserticola, P. heedii, P. kluyveri, P. norvegensis, P. opuntiae, P. pseudocactophila, P. thermotolerans and their varieties and anamorphs were mapped with 15 restriction endonucleases, and compared to P. membranaefaciens and P. salictaria as possible non‐cactophilic relatives. The existence of species complexes among those taxa was confirmed. P. membranaefaciens was a plausible ancestral species, and its closest relative in the cactophilic group was P. deserticola. These two species appeared to be moderately related to P. heedii and to P. barkeri, but the latter was shown clearly to belong to the P. kluyveri complex, in spite of a 6 mol% G+C difference in their nuclear DNAs. P. cactophila and P. pseudocactophila ostensibly emerged from P. norvegensis, a facultatively cactophilic yeast. The P. amethionina, P. cactophila and P. opuntiae species complexes appeared independent from one another and from all other species studied. P. salictaria did not appear to be related to P. amethionina.
La agresión y su justificación: un estudio comparado en estudiantes iraníes y españoles

La presente investigacion doctoral pretende acercarse a traves de la ciencia psicologica a uno de los problemas que mayor preocupacion e impacto social tienen en la actualidad: la agresion y la violencia humana. Desde un planteamiento teorico y metodologico eclectico, holista, integrador y multifactorial, se pretende en primer lugar profundizar en una serie de cuestiones todavia no del todo resueltas en relacion a la agresion: su significado, niveles y tipos, causalidad y posibles soluciones, asi como los modelos o el pensamiento cientifico determinante del enfoque preferido para su investigacion. En segundo lugar, una vez expuestos los fundamentos teoricos previos a cualquier tipo de investigacion, se pretende mostrar como diversos tipos de agresion y de procesos psicologicos subyacentes a esta, estan modulados por toda una serie de factores muy variados a la hora de explicar las causas y consecuencias de la agresion: los factores biologico-evolutivos (edad y sexo), los factores educativos (nivel de estudios, tipo de centro y tipo de estudios) y culturales (pais de origen) que llevan a caracterizar a la agresion como un comportamiento humano complejo y sometido a una multiplicidad de factores causales. Este entendimiento multidisciplinar y plurifactorial de la agresion es necesario si queremos reflejar que es, en que consiste, como se manifiesta, que consecuencias tiene y como puede prevenirse la agresion y la violencia en la sociedad actual.