Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Evaluation of a New Two-Electrode Myocardial Electrical Impedance Monitor for Detecting Myocardial Ischemia

The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of a two-electrode myocardial electrical impedance (MEI) monitor in reproducibly detecting induced myocardial ischemia by comparing MEI changes with hemodynamic changes, including sonomicrometric changes. With institutional approval, 80 dogs were anesthetized with sodium thiamylal, intubated, ventilated, and had venous, arterial, and pulmonary artery catheters placed. Medial sternotomy was performed to facilitate myocardial exposure and allow the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) to be isolated. Two pacing electrodes were attached to the myocardium to measure MEI with a monitor. Seventy dogs were randomly assigned to the 15, 30, 45, 60, or 120 min LAD occlusion group. Sonomicrometric transducers were attached to the myocardium of the ten remaining dogs and their LAD was occluded for 36 min. MEI increased immediately after LAD occlusion to a level significantly more (P <0.05) than baseline and returned to the baseline level upon reperfusion. Twenty dogs developed ventricular fibrillation with no attempts at resuscitation. MEI changes paralleled the sonomicrometric changes expected with ischemia. No significant cardiovascular hemodynamic changes were found with less than 45 min of LAD occlusion. Sixty and 120 min LAD occlusion resulted in significant decreases in cardiac output. The results of these experiments demonstrate that the two-electrode MEI monitor reproducibly changes in response to myocardial ischemia. Implications We used dogs to determine if we could measure myocardial ischemia using a device that measures impedance and demonstrated that a two-electrode myocardial electrical impedance monitor reliably reflected changes induced by myocardial ischemia.
Can Marshall's Clusters Survive Globalization?

It is widely presumed that in today’s globalized economy, the value of geographic clustering of manufacturing industries is no longer valuable. Manufacturing is represented as a highly mobile “commodity” that can be sourced from anywhere in the world where factor costs are favorable. This paper re-examines this assumption, and suggests that not all manufacturing is highly mobile. We suggest that manufacturing sectors should be viewed along a continuum from highly mobile to highly “sticky”. Manufacturing clusters can decline for two completely different reasons. The first is a change in technology that reduces the value of co-location (stickiness). This tends to lead to the decoupling of design and production activities and to a broad geographic diffusion of manufacturing. The second is a shift in the relative comparative advantage of clusters located in one region versus another. Under this scenario, geographic concentration is still valuable, but the center of production activity can shift from one location to another. The paper then analyzes how firm supply chain strategies impact stickiness and the survival manufacturing clusters. Can Marshall’s Clusters Survive Globalization? Giulio Buciuni University of Venice Ca Foscari Gary P. Pisano Harvard Business School FIRST DRAFT March 26, 2015
Corporate Governance, Product Market Competition and Debt Financing

This paper examines the impact of product market competition and corporate governance on the cost of debt financing and the use of bond covenants. We find that more anti-takeover provisions are associated with a lower cost of debt only in competitive industries. Because they are exposed to higher takeover risk in competitive industries, bondholders charge higher bond spreads to firms that have fewer anti-takeover provisions. Once firms’ anti-takeover provisions are in place, we find that bondholders use fewer payment and debt priority covenants in competitive industries. Our results suggest that product market competition plays a crucial role in explaining the way a firm’s anti-takeover protection affects the cost of debt and the use of bond covenants.
Asset Opaqueness, Split Bond Ratings, and Rating Migration

This paper finds that firms with large asset opaqueness problems are more likely to receive split bond ratings from Moody's and S&P rating agencies, split rated bonds and bond with more opaque assets are more likely to have rating changes in the future. These results imply a causal link between asset opaqueness, split ratings and rating changes.
C1q Binding Activity of De Novo Donor-specific HLA Antibodies in Renal Transplant Recipients With and Without Antibody-mediated Rejection

Background Complement fixation by donor-specific HLA antibodies (DSA) is a primary mechanism for antibody-mediated damage of organ allografts. Using a recently developed kit that measures C1q binding to distinguish complement fixing and nonfixing antibodies, studies showed that C1q + DSAs have a higher risk of rejection and graft loss compared to C1q-DSA. The objective of this study was to assess the ability of the C1q-binding assay to identify clinically significant de novo DSA in renal transplant recipients and to define the properties of DSA that confer C1q binding ability. Methods The DSA-positive sera from 34 kidney recipients, 19 with biopsy-proven antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) + and 15 who were AMR−, were assayed in C1q-binding assays (C1q Screen; One Lambda, Inc. Canoga Park, CA). The correlation between C1q-binding activity, presence of AMR, DSA mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) values, and immunoglobulin G isotype was determined. Results Fifty-three percent (10/19) of sera from AMR+ patients had C1q + DSA, whereas only 13% (2/15) of sera from AMR− patients contained C1q + DSA. C1q + DSA exhibited significantly higher MFI values regardless of whether they were from AMR+ or AMR− patients (16,118 ± 6698 vs 6429 ± 4003; P < 0.0001). C1q + DSA converted to C1q − when diluted to a comparable MFI level as the C1q − DSA from AMR− patients, and some C1q − antibodies converted to C1q + when concentrated to MFI levels comparable to those observed for AMR+/C1q + sera. Conclusions The C1q binding activity by de novo DSA in patients with AMR largely reflects differences in antibody strength. The C1q assay does not appear to distinguish functionally distinct DSA with clinical significance.
Lower socioeconomic status is independently associated with shorter survival in Hodgkin Lymphoma patients—An analysis from the Brazilian Hodgkin Lymphoma Registry

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a well‐known determinant of outcomes in cancer. The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of the SES on the outcomes of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients from the Brazilian Prospective HL Registry. SES stratification was done using an individual asset/education‐based household index. A total of 624 classical HL patients with diagnosis from January/2009 to December/2014, and treated with ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine), were analyzed. The median follow‐up was 35.6 months, and 33% were classified as lower SES. The 3‐year progression‐ free survival (PFS) in higher and lower SES were 78 and 64% (p < 0.0001), respectively. The 3‐year overall survival (OS) in higher and lower SES were 94 and 82% (p < 0.0001), respectively. Lower SES patients were more likely to be ≥ 60 years (16 vs. 8%, p = 0.003), and to present higher risk International Prognostic score (IPS) (44 vs. 31%, p = 0.004) and advanced disease (71 vs. 58%, p = 0.003). After adjustments for potential confounders, lower SES remained independently associated with poorer survival (HR = 3.12 [1.86‐5.22] for OS and HR = 1.66 [1.19‐2.32] for PFS). The fatality ratio during treatment was 7.5 and 1.3% for lower and higher SES (p = 0.0001). Infections and treatment toxicity accounted for 81% of these deaths. SES is an independent factor associated with shorter survival in HL in Brazil. Potential underlying mechanisms associated with the impact of SES are delayed diagnosis and poorer education. Educational and socio‐economic support interventions must be tested in this vulnerable population.
ROSIGLITAZONE IS CARDIOPROTECTIVE IN A MURINE MODEL OF MYOCARDIAL I/R

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor &ggr; (PPAR-&ggr;) is a regulator of anti-inflammatory genes. One of its agonists, rosiglitazone-widely used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus-has recently been reported to increase the risk for myocardial infarction. In contrast, various studies provide evidence for a rosiglitazone-induced cardioprotection in different models of acute myocardial I/R. Here, we report that this protection can still be observed after 28 days of reperfusion in a murine model even when treatment commenced after the period of ischemia (reperfusion therapy). In vitro, cells from the rat cardiomyoblast cell line H9c2(2-1) are protected against oxidative stress by incubation with rosiglitazone, which can be abrogated by dexamethasone or cycloheximide. The antioxidant enzyme heme oxygenase 1 is up-regulated in these cells after rosiglitazone treatment. Our data provide further evidence that rosiglitazone exerts protective effects during myocardial I/R and might contribute to the reevaluation of the approved drug rosiglitazone.
Economic Burden of Endometriosis : A Systematic Review

At present, few discussions have addressed the economic burden of endometriosis. The present study aimed to update two previous reviews and to assess the current body of literature regarding the costs associated with endometriosis. We searched the PubMed, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library databases using “endometriosis”, “economics”, “costs”, “productivity”, “insurance” and “burden” as search terms to identify articles published between 2004 and 2015. To enable the performance of comparisons across reported studies, cost findings were converted to international dollars using purchasing power parities (PPPs) and then inflated to 2010 dollars using the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The search yielded 11 relevant articles. Of these articles, four evaluated direct costs, one analysed indirect costs, and six reported both direct and indirect costs. Based on the results of these studies, endometriosis was estimated to account for annual total costs of Int$-PPP 2.193-8.475 in newly diagnosed women and Int$-PPP 11.688-12.941 in previously diagnosed women. The indirect costs associated with this condition were much higher for previously diagnosed women than newly diagnosed women. The included articles varied considerably in terms of study design, included cost categories and methodological quality. Although it has been ten years since seven methodological considerations for designing future endometriosis cost studies were defined, the application of these recommendations was infrequently identified in the current body of literature. As endometriosis affects women of reproductive and, thus, working age chronically, the indirect costs of endometriosis are especially high. Accordingly, future studies must better explore the manner in which costs, particularly indirect costs, accrue among women affected by endometriosis to best facilitate health and social policy interventions.
Integrating Service Strategy in the Manufacturing Company

An integrated approach to after-sales support. The role of field service. Corporate strategy and service management. Developing the service planning and information systems. Designing the service organizational structure. Auditing field service performance. Application and results, a case study. Appendices: Presentation of analysis pattern for after-sale Support organization Survey of after-sale support organizations Presentation of the sample firms Forecasting and methods for expressing needs for parts.
Smallness, Newness and Regional Development

The purpose of this book chapter is to present empirical findings and interpretations concerning the role of small and new firms for job creation and economic well-being from a regional perspective. More specifically, we will deal with the following questions: • Are small firms over-represented as creators of new jobs? • What characteristics of regions contribute to high levels of new firm formation? • Is a large and/or dynamic small firm sector a prerequisite for favorable development of various aspects of regional economic well-being? The analyses concern business dynamics in Sweden during the 1985-9 period, using a data set that was compiled for this particular research project. Importantly, the studied period was one of increasing GNP, rapid employment growth in the private service sector, and very low levels of unemployment in most regions. While many results from the project have been presented and discussed before (Davidsson, Lindmark & Olofsson, 1993a; 1993b; 1994a; 1994b; 1995a; 1995b; Davidsson, 1995a) some analyses were carried out specifically for this paper.
Analyzing Ineffective Corporate Governance: Director Busyness and Board Committee Memberships

The benefits and costs of directors holding multiple board seats continue to be debated in the literature. We contribute to the debate by examining whether holding multiple outside board seats compromises directors' ability to effectively perform their monitoring duties. Analyzing over 40,000 observations of individual director data across more than 1,400 firms, we report that, by and large, individuals holding more outside directorships serve on fewer board committees. The relation, however, appears to be non-linear and U-shaped indicating some support for both the busyness and the reputation hypotheses. In addition, we find that holding more outside board seats decreases the likelihood of a board member being on a greater number of work-heavy and specialized committees such as compensation and audit committees. The findings substantiate evidence (Akhigbe and Martin 2006) on value relevance of board committee structures. Additional analysis of committee memberships suggests that women and ethnic minorities are placed on more board committees. In addition, directors on smaller and independent boards serve on more committees. Finally, it appears that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act had material impact on the association between the number of multiple board seats and the committee memberships.
A generalization of the PDA target tracking algorithm using hypothesis clustering

A suboptimal algorithm is proposed for target tracking in clutter. The exact posterior density of a target state conditioned on the past observation history is a Gaussian mixture with the number of terms equal to the number of possible ways to associate observations and targets. In order to avoid an exponentially growing complexity, the algorithm performs an approximation by naturally partitioning and grouping the target state estimates into a set of approximate sufficient statistics. A new criterion function is introduced in this approximation process. The well-known probabilistic data association (PDA) filter is a special case of the algorithm.
Treatment of giardiasis in children with quinacrine, metronidazole, tinidazole and ornidazole.

One hundred and twenty four children with symptomatic and parasitologically confirmed giardiasis were treated in a comparative trial. The dosage of antigiardia drug was adjusted to the body surface area of the patients from the adult basic dosage as 100 mg of quinacrine t.i. d. for 5 days, 200 mg of metronidazole t.i. d. for 7 days, 2 gm of metronidazole once, 2 gm of tinidazole once or 2 gm of ornidazole once. They were hospitalized for follow-up for 30 days. The parasitological follow-up consisted of daily examination of stool specimens. Reinfections were unlikely. The rates of success were: a 5-day course of quinacrine, cured all of them, 20 patients; a 7-day course of metronidazole, 12 of 20; metronidazole, single dose, 11 of 21; tinidazole, single dose, 18 of 21; ornidazole, single dose, 21 of 22; placebo, none of 20. After a single dose, 5 patients had transient elevation of transaminases, one patient in each of metronidazole and tinidazole group 3 patients in ornidazole group. A 5-day course of quinacrine gave excellent result but the drug is not widely marketed. Ornidazole or tinidazole were more effective, both of them were recommended as a drug of choice as single dose therapy, however transient increase of transaminases may occur in some cases.
Il debito commerciale in Italia: quanto contano le motivazioni finanziarie?

Trade credit arises from delayed payments between firms. It is not easy to identify its determinants since they are connected to organisational,technical, commercial and financial factors.In this paper we empirically examine the determinants of the usage of trade credit by Italian industrial firms. We use an original database that contains detailed information from an ad hoc survey of Bank of Italy on trade credit, from Italian Central Credit Register on banking relations and from firmsi? ½ balance sheet.The focus of the paper concerns the role of financial reasons among the determinants of trade credit demand. The Bank of Italy survey shows that financial motives are less frequent than transactive ones; nevertheless we find a positive correlation between financial reasons and the amount of accounts payable, while the opposite occurs for firms that delay the payments to their suppliers in order to control the quality of purchased goods. The main findings of our empirical analysis are: i) financial determinants of trade credit demand are more frequent among firms in financial distress (rationed firms, firms with lower unused lines of credit and firms with a higher cost of credit); ii) firms in financial distress and firms in trouble have more accounts payable; iii) finally, these firms do not obtain from their suppliers a higher amount of accounts payable (or more delayed payments) but they are able to increase their usage of trade credit by paying over the due date.
Untangling the relationship between narcissistic traits and behavioral aggression using a FFM framework

Vize, Colin Edward. M.S., Purdue University, May 2016. Untangling the Relationship Between Narcissistic Traits and Behavioral Aggression Using a FFM Framework. Major Professor: Donald R. Lynam. Recent work on the construct of narcissism has identified two distinct subtypes: grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. The two variants share an antagonistic core, but differ from one another in traits related to neuroticism and extraversion. We sought to explore how the differences between the subtypes may manifest in relation to behavioral aggression in the laboratory following provocation as well as in relation to a variety of self-report measures of aggression. In the case of behavioral aggression following provocation, our results showed a three-way interaction between gender, threat condition, and vulnerable narcissism such that males who reported higher levels of vulnerable narcissism were more aggressive after being insulted. No significant effects were observed in relation to grandiose narcissism, contrary to our hypotheses. Important areas of convergence and divergence were observed among the self-report measures. The results are discussed in the context of previous work on narcissism and provocation. The findings suggest that neuroticism related traits relevant to vulnerable narcissism may play an important role in aggression after individuals are provoked.
Laser doppler flowmetry for bone blood flow measurements: Helium–neon laser light attenuation and depth of perfusion assessment

Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) has been successfully used in clinical and experimental settings to evaluate bone perfusion but unanswered questions regarding its capabilities and limitations still remain. This study was undertaken to determine absorption of He–Ne laser light (632.8 nm) and maximum depth for flow assessment (threshold thickness) under optimal conditions in bone. Light transmittance in bovine bone samples of femora and tibia was measured after each step of grinding and depth of penetration calculated. The threshold thickness was obtained by placing the same samples in a flow chamber where a solution of 2% latex circulated beneath; flow was detected by a laser Doppler probe resting on top of the sample. The results showed a significantly higher depth of penetration for trabecular than for cortical bone. A regression analysis showed a high correlation between the inorganic fraction of the bone and the depth of penetration. The maximum depth at which the laser Doppler probe can evaluate flow in bone conditions was found to be 2.9 ± 0.2 mm in cortical bone, 3.5 ± 0.3 mm in bone covered by 1 mm cartilage and 3.5 ± 0.2 mm in trabecular bone. The study showed the limitations of LDF in bone and their correlations to various bone properties.
Independent Regulation of the Cycle and Acceleration in Parkinsonian Gait Analyzed by a Long-Term Daily Monitoring System

Background: Few reports have objectively assessed gait patterns of Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients in their daily lives. We investigated the mean gait cycle and mean gait acceleration using a portable gait rhythmogram (PGR). Method: We continuously recorded PGR measurements for 24 h in 64 PD patients with the ability to independently engage in activities of daily living. Results: There was no significant difference in the mean gait cycle between PD patients and normal controls. However, the mean gait cycle was significantly faster in PD patients in the modified Hoehn and Yahr stage 1.5 than those in stages 2.5–3.0. The mean gait acceleration in PD patients was significantly less than in normal controls, but there were no significant differences among the stage groups. Conclusion: The results suggest that the cycle and acceleration of gait movements are controlled independently and that disturbances in these movements have different clinical courses in PD.
A Bayesian approach for nonlinear inverse scattering tomographic imaging

The authors propose a new method to solve the nonlinear inverse problem of tomographic imaging using microwave or ultrasound probing, beyond the classical first order Born or Rytov approximations. The relation between the data and the measurement is given by two coupled nonlinear equations. The authors set this problem as one of estimation and propose a solution within the Bayesian probability framework. The maximum a posteriori estimate determination leads to a multi-modal criterion minimisation. Global minimisation using simulated annealing is not practicable due to the high calculation cost. The authors propose a feasible deterministic relaxation algorithm inspired by the graduated nonconvexity principle to perform this minimisation.
State-Constrained Stochastic Optimal Control Problems via Reachability Approach

This paper deals with a class of stochastic optimal control problems (SOCPs) in the presence of state constraints. It is well known that for such problems the value function is, in general, discontinuous, and its characterization by a Hamilton--Jacobi equation requires additional assumptions involving an interplay between the boundary of the set of constraints and the dynamics of the controlled system. Here, we give a characterization of the epigraph of the value function without assuming the usual controllability assumptions. To this end, the SOCP is first translated into a state-constrained stochastic target problem. Then a level-set approach is used to describe the backward reachable sets of the new target problem. It turns out that these backward reachable sets describe the value function. The main advantage of our approach is that it allows us to easily handle the state constraints by an exact penalization. However, the target problem involves a new state variable and a new control variable that is u.
Classification of Driver Distraction

​ This paper describes the process of using the caffe deep learning framework to train and test two convolutional neural network models (VGG-16 and GoogleNet) to classify distracted drivers for the State Farm challenge on Kaggle. To improve the results, we created an ensemble and also averaged over K nearest neighbors. Our best result is a log loss of 0.28554 using the combined ensemble of VGG-16 and GoogleNet with K = 10. This score puts us within the top 12% among all 1440 participants on Kaggle.