Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phase 2 double-blind, randomized trial of etravirine versus efavirenz in treatment-naive patients: 48-week results

Background:The Study of Etravirine Neuropsychiatric Symptoms versus Efavirenz (SENSE) trial compared etravirine with efavirenz in treatment-naive patients. The primary endpoint was neuropsychiatric adverse events up to week 12; HIV RNA suppression at week 48 was a secondary endpoint. Methods:Patients with HIV RNA more than 5000 copies/ml were randomized to etravirine 400 mg once daily (n = 79) or efavirenz (n = 78), plus two nucleoside analogues. HIV RNA less than 50 copies/ml at week 48 was analysed using the time to loss of virological response (TLOVR) algorithm. Drug resistance at treatment failure and safety endpoints were also evaluated. Results:At baseline, the median CD4 cell count was 302 cells/&mgr;l and HIV RNA was 4.8 log10 copies/ml. In the intent to treat TLOVR analysis at week 48, 60 of 79 (76%) patients on etravirine versus 58 of 78 (74%) on efavirenz had HIV RNA less than 50 copies/ml. In the on-treatment analysis, 60 of 65 (92%) taking etravirine had HIV RNA les than 50 copies/ml versus 58 of 65 (89%) for efavirenz: etravirine showed noninferior efficacy versus efavirenz in both analyses (P < 0.05). Four patients had virological failure in the etravirine arm: none developed resistance to nucleoside analogues or nonnucleosides. Seven patients had virological failure in the efavirenz arm: three developed treatment-emergent resistance to nucleoside analogues and/or nonnucleosides. At the week 48 visit, the percentage with ongoing neuropsychiatric adverse events was 6.3% for etravirine and 21.5% for efavirenz (P = 0.011). Conclusion:First-line treatment with etravirine 400 mg once daily and two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) led to similar rates of HIV RNA suppression, compared with efavirenz and two NRTIs. None of the patients with virological failure in the etravirine arm developed resistance to nonnucleosides.
比较金融系统 = Comparing financial systems

Financial systems are crucial to the allocation of resources in a modern economy. They channel household savings to the corporate sector and allocate investment funds among firms; they allow intertemporal smoothing of consumption by households and expenditures by firms; and they enable households and firms to share risks. These functions are common to the financial systems of most developed economies. Yet the form of these financial systems varies widely. In the United States and the United Kingdom competitive markets dominate the financial landscape, whereas in France, Germany, and Japan banks have traditionally played the most important role. Why do different countries have such different financial systems? Is one system better than all the others? Do different systems merely represent alternative ways of satisfying similar needs? Is the current trend toward market-based systems desirable? Franklin Allen and Douglas Gale argue that the view that market-based systems are best is simplistic. A more nuanced approach is necessary. For example, financial markets may be bad for risk sharing; competition in banking may be inefficient; financial crises can be good as well as bad; and separation of ownership and control can be optimal. Financial institutions are not simply veils, disguising the allocation mechanism without affecting it, but are crucial to overcoming market imperfections. An optimal financial system relies on both financial markets and financial intermediaries.
Correcting for non‐compliance of repeated binary outcomes in randomized clinical trials: randomized analysis approach

We develop the randomized analysis for repeated binary outcomes with non‐compliance. A break randomization‐based semi‐parametric estimation procedure for both the causal risk difference and the causal risk ratio is proposed for repeated binary data. Although we assume the simple structural models for potential outcomes, we choose to avoid making any assumptions about comparability beyond those implied by randomization at time zero. The proposed methods can incorporate non‐compliance information, while preserving the validity of the test of the null hypothesis, and even in the presence of non‐random non‐compliance can give the estimate of the causal effect that treatment would have if all individuals complied with their assigned treatment. The methods are applied to data from a randomized clinical trial for reduction of febrile neutropenia events among acute myeloid leukaemia patients, in which a prophylactic use of macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (M‐CSF) was compared to placebo during the courses of intensive chemotherapies. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Electrical treeing behavior at high temperature in XLPE cable insulation samples

This paper reports on investigations aiming to understand the behavior of electrical trees formed in XLPE cable insulation at elevated temperatures. Samples cut from a real high voltage cable equipped with an embedded electrode system and composed of a needle separated by 2 mm from counter electrode were used. The temperature was varied between 50 and 90 °C and the range of voltage changed between 9 and 18 kV. The electrical treeing process was followed by means of microscopic observation from the moment of initiation until the leading branches connected the counter electrode and partial discharge (PD) activity was monitored simultaneously. The shape and fractal dimension of the resulting trees were analyzed. It was found that temperature and voltage level had pronounced effect on the process of electrical tree formation. At lower voltages different type of trees could be formed, whereas at higher voltages branch trees dominated. Increase of test temperature reduced the time for tree initiation, whereas the tree growth time was less affected, except for the lowest voltage level at which the slowest tree development was observed at the highest test temperature. It is postulated that the impeding effect of elevated temperature on tree growth is due to a change of tree channel sidewall conductivity, whereas the observed reduction of tree initiation time with the increase of temperature and voltage level is attributed to lowering of the threshold energy for damage at higher temperature as well as increasing of the injection current at higher voltage level.
Evidence that TRPM 7 is required for breast cancer cell proliferation

Guilbert A, Gautier M, Dhennin-Duthille I, Haren N, Sevestre H, Ouadid-Ahidouch H. Evidence that TRPM7 is required for breast cancer cell proliferation. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 297: C493–C502, 2009. First published June 10, 2009; doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00624. 2008. — Because transient receptor potential (TRP) channels have been implicated in tumor progression, we have investigated the potential role of TRPM7 channel in breast cancer cell proliferation. Under whole cell patch clamp, a Mg -inhibited cationic (MIC) current was observed in MCF-7 cells. This current was characterized by an inward current and a strong outward rectifying current that were both inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner by the presence of intracellular Mg or Mg -ATP. The inward current was reduced by La , and the outward current was sensitive to 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB), spermine, La , and flufenamic acid. Importantly, a similar MIC current was also recorded in the primary culture of human breast cancerous epithelial cells (hBCE). Moreover, TRPM7 transcripts were found in both hBCE and MCF-7 cells. In MCF-7 cells, the MIC current was inhibited by TRPM7 small interfering RNA. Interestingly, we found that cell proliferation and intracellular Ca concentration were also reduced by TRPM7 silencing in MCF-7 cells. TRPM7 channels were also found in both human breast cancer and healthy tissues. Importantly, TRPM7 channel was overexpressed in grade III breast cancer samples associated with important Ki67 or tumor size. Our findings strongly suggest that TRPM7 is involved in the proliferative potentiality of breast cancer cells, probably by regulating Ca influx.
Identifying and Overcoming Behavioural Impediments to Long Term Responsible Investment: A Focus on UK Institutional Investors

As society’s expectations about the appropriate behaviour of corporations has shifted over time, so too has the focus on what role institutional investors might play through the investment mechanism. This thesis focuses on the behavioural impediments to the adoption and effective implementation of responsible investment practices from the institutional investor’s perspective. Studies of behavioural finance that identify investor inefficiencies have been employed to consider how these might impact on an institutional investor’s ability to invest in a long-term responsible manner. The research draws from three case studies on UK institutions that have adopted a responsible investment policy and finds evidence of short-termism, herding/gravitation towards defensible decisions and ‘separateness’ of longer-term, governance and responsibility issues from the core investment process. A unified framework of conventions has been developed and applied to study the dominant conventions, investment beliefs and the justification process that contribute to these behavioural shortcomings. These analyses revealed that the external conventions of short-termism, over-emphasis on relative asset-based index returns and valuation models heavily weighted towards tangible financial criteria are reinforced by internal conventions within institutions including the performance review process, team responsibilities, team interactions and criteria used for manager selection. The process by which sub-optimal conventions might change is discussed through an evolutionary conventions lens, focusing on the problems with, and alternatives to, the prevailing convention of measuring and rewarding portfolio performance on the basis of returns relative to an asset-based index/benchmark. Finally, some of the scholarly contributions of this thesis will be discussed, including the links forged between the SRI, behavioural finance and portfolio theory literature, as well as the potential contribution that the conventions framework could make to future research on institutional herding.
Feline gastrointestinal eosinophilic sclerosing fibroplasia: 13 cases and review of an emerging clinical entity

Objective: Feline gastrointestinal eosinophilic sclerosing fibroplasia (FGESF) is a recently described inflammatory disease of cats affecting stomach or intestines and draining regional lymph nodes. This study presents clinical and laboratory data on 13 newly described cases from Australia (11) and the UK (two). Observations: The disease was most often observed in middle-aged cats (median 7 years of age; interquartile range 5–9 years). Ragdolls (7/13) and males (9/13) were overrepresented. Cats generally had a long history of vomiting and/or diarrhoea. Lesions were typically large, hard, non-painful, easily palpable and most commonly situated near the pylorus or ileocaecocolic junction. Lesions were heterogeneous ultrasonographically and on sectioning at celiotomy or necropsy. Masses were hard and ‘gritty’ on fine-needle aspiration due to internal trabeculae made up of mature collagen bundles. Bacteria were commonly detected within masses (9/13 cases) using either culture or conventional light microscopy and a panel of special stains, and/or fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH), although detection often required a diligent search of multiple tissue sections. A consistent bacterial morphology could not be appreciated among the different cases. Outcome: Patients were treated with a variable combination of cytoreduction (debulking and biopsy, to complete surgical resection), immunosuppressive therapy and antimicrobial agents. Many cats had a poor outcome, which was attributable to late diagnosis combined with suboptimal management. It is hoped that suggestions outlined in the discussion may improve clinical outcomes and long-term survival in future cases.
High frequency oscillatory ventilation compared with conventional mechanical ventilation in adult respiratory distress syndrome : a randomized controlled trial [ ISRCTN 24242669 ]

Introduction To compare the safety and efficacy of high frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) with conventional mechanical ventilation (CV) for early intervention in adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a multi-centre randomized trial in four intensive care units was conducted. Methods Patients with ARDS were randomized to receive either HFOV or CV. In both treatment arms a priority was given to maintain lung volume while minimizing peak pressures. CV ventilation strategy was aimed at reducing tidal volumes. In the HFOV group, an open lung strategy was used. Respiratory and circulatory parameters were recorded and clinical outcome was determined at 30 days of follow up. Results The study was prematurely stopped. Thirty-seven patients received HFOV and 24 patients CV (average APACHE II score 21 and 20, oxygenation index 25 and 18 and duration of mechanical ventilation prior to randomization 2.1 and 1.5 days, respectively). There were no statistically significant differences in survival without supplemental oxygen or on ventilator, mortality, therapy failure, or crossover. Adjustment by a priori defined baseline characteristics showed an odds ratio of 0.80 (95% CI 0.22–2.97) for survival without oxygen or on ventilator, and an odds ratio for mortality of 1.15 (95% CI 0.43–3.10) for HFOV compared with CV. The response of the oxygenation index (OI) to treatment did not differentiate between survival and death. In the HFOV group the OI response was significantly higher than in the CV group between the first and the second day. A post hoc analysis suggested that there was a relatively better treatment effect of HFOV compared with CV in patients with a higher baseline OI. Conclusion No significant differences were observed, but this trial only had power to detect major differences in survival without oxygen or on ventilator. In patients with ARDS and higher baseline OI, however, there might be a treatment benefit of HFOV over CV. More research is needed to establish the efficacy of HFOV in the treatment of ARDS. We suggest that future studies are designed to allow for informative analysis in patients with higher OI. R430 ARDS = adult respiratory distress syndrome; CDP = continuous distending pressure; CI = confidence interval; CV = conventional mechanical ventilation; FiO2 = fraction of inspired oxygen; HFOV = high frequency oscillatory ventilation; MAP = mean airway pressure; OI = oxygenation index; OR = odds ratio; paCO2 = pressure of arterial carbon dioxide; paO2 = pressure of arterial oxygen; PEEP = positive end-expiratory pressure; SaO2 = arterial oxygen saturation. Critical Care Vol 9 No 4 Bollen et al. R43
Thalamic dysfunction in schizophrenia suggested by whole-night deficits in slow and fast spindles.

OBJECTIVE Slow waves and sleep spindles are the two main oscillations occurring during non-REM sleep. While slow oscillations are primarily generated and modulated by the cortex, sleep spindles are initiated by the thalamic reticular nucleus and regulated by thalamo-reticular and thalamo-cortical circuits. In a recent high-density EEG study, the authors found that 18 medicated schizophrenia patients had reduced sleep spindles, compared with healthy and depressed subjects, during the first non-REM episode. In the present study, the authors investigated whether spindle deficits were present in a larger sample of schizophrenia patients, were consistent across the night, were related to antipsychotic medications, and were suggestive of impairments in specific neuronal circuits. METHOD Whole-night high-density EEG recordings were performed in 49 schizophrenia patients, 20 nonschizophrenia patients receiving antipsychotic medication, and 44 healthy subjects. In addition to sleep spindles, several parameters of slow waves were assessed. RESULTS Schizophrenia patients had whole-night deficits in spindle power (12-16 Hz) and in slow (12-14 Hz) and fast (14-16 Hz) spindle amplitude, duration, number, and integrated activity in the prefrontal, centroparietal, and temporal regions. Integrated spindle activity and spindle number had the largest effect sizes (effect size: ≥ 2.21). In contrast, no slow wave deficits were found in schizophrenia patients. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that spindle deficits can be reliably established in schizophrenia, are stable across the night, are unlikely to be due to antipsychotic medications, and point to deficits in the thalamic reticular nucleus and thalamo-reticular circuits.
Quality of nosocomial infection control in Thailand.

OBJECTIVE To study the quality of nosocomial infection control with respect to structure and process. MATERIAL AND METHOD Data collection by questionnaire and interview administrators and medical personnel in 57 hospitals in Thailand in 2002. RESULTS Nosocomial infection control was implemented in all 57 hospitals. In every hospital, there was an infection control committee (ICC) and at least 1 infection control nurse (ICN). The quality of ICNs regarding knowledge, skill and time available for infection control needed to be improved. Surveillance methods of NI were not appropriate in many hospitals. Doctors were not interested in NI control and supply of certain materials was not adequate. Lack of support and co-operation of doctors and nurses was found. Service of certain departments needed to be revised in over 50%. Doctors and nurses not directly involved in NI controlled were not satisfied with current practices. CONCLUSION Quality of NI control in Thailand has yet to be improved regarding structure and process. Better cooperation between NI control team and healthcare personnel needs to be developed.
Nd:YAG laser irradiation of the tooth root surface inhibits demineralization and root surface softening caused by minocycline application.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of laser irradiation on root surface demineralization caused by local drug delivery systems (DDS), and to evaluate the effect of sealing on drug retention. BACKGROUND DATA The duration of supportive periodontal treatment (SPT) has increased with increasing life expectancy. Repeated root planing and DDS application during SPT should be reconsidered with regard to their effects on the root surface. METHODS Extracted human teeth were collected, cut into 3 × 3 × 2 mm root dentin specimens, and divided randomly into eight groups with various combinations of Nd:YAG laser power (0, 0.5, 1, and 2 W), with and without DDS (minocycline HCl). Specimen microhardness and calcium (Ca) solubility were measured after treatment. The specimens (control and laser and DDS groups) were examined by scanning electron microscopy. Forty SPT patients were recruited, to assess the effect of periodontal pocket sealing on drug retention. RESULTS Laser irradiation increased the microhardness of root specimens in an energy-dependent manner. Calcium solubilities decreased from the 0 W+DDS group to the 2.0 W+DDS group. The mean Ca solubilities in the 1.0 W+DDS and 2.0 W+DDS groups were significantly lower than in the 0 W+DDS group (p<0.01, p<0.001, respectively). Laser irradiation counteracted the softening effect of DDS. Morphologic change was observed in the 2 W+DDS group; however, no morphologic changes were observed in the control and the 1 W+DDS groups. The mean concentration of minocycline in the periodontal pocket 24 h after application was 252.79 ± 67.50 μg/mL. CONCLUSIONS Laser irradiation of the root surface inhibited the softening and decalcification caused by minocycline HCl. Sealing the periodontal pockets effectively improved drug retention. These results suggest that the combination of laser irradiation and DDS could benefit patients receiving repeated SPT.
Online optimal active sensing control

This paper deals with the problem of active sensing control for nonlinear differentially flat systems. The objective is to improve the estimation accuracy of an observer by determining the inputs of the system that maximise the amount of information gathered by the outputs over a time horizon. In particular, we use the Observability Gramian (OG) to quantify the richness of the acquired information. First, we define a trajectory for the flat outputs of the system by using B-Spline curves. Then, we exploit an online gradient descent strategy to move the control points of the B-Spline in order to actively maximise the smallest eigenvalue of the OG over the whole planning horizon. While the system travels along its planned (optimized) trajectory, an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is used to estimate the system state. In order to keep memory of the past acquired sensory data for online re-planning, the OG is also computed on the past estimated state trajectories. This is then used for an online replanning of the optimal trajectory during the robot motion which is continuously refined by exploiting the state estimation obtained by the EKF. In order to show the effectiveness of our method we consider a simple but significant case of a planar robot with a single range measurement. The simulation results show that, along the optimal path, the EKF converges faster and provides a more accurate estimate than along other possible (non-optimal) paths.
Discipline and Flexibility: A Behavioral Perspective on Product Design in Microfinance

The success of both microcredit and micro-savings products rests upon simplicity and standardization in order to stimulate client discipline. Meanwhile, these products lack flexibility. This paper attempts to make sense of behavioral product design in microfinance. We focus on the potential trade-offs between discipline and flexibility. While discipline devices encourage clients make payments duly on time, flexibility improves clients’ day-to-day money management and helps them cope with shocks. Our contribution is twofold. First, we highlight the evidencebased advantages and disadvantages of flexible products in microfinance. Second, we present best-practice examples of flexible products offered bymicrofinance institutions worldwide.
Debt or Equity： An Analysis on Funding Decision （Studied of Companies of Indonesia）

A company leverage can be used as a proxy for capital structure of a company as a result of its funding decision. By investigating the effect of leverage deviation lag, this paper tries to examine whether or not companies in Indonesia base their funding decision on targetted leverage. Sample data are taken from non-finance companies issuing their stocks and bonds on BEI. Target leverage itself is measured by using annual average values and regression-based predicted leverage for each group of industries. The method used for the measurement is panel regression with fixed effect. Data show that, using both regression-based predicted leverage and annual average values, the actual leverage deviation for period t-1 does not affect the value of period t leverage, while leverage lag on period t-1 does have a positive effect on period t leverage. The fact that a higher lag in leverage brings about a correlatively higher leverage leads to the conclusion that funding decision and capital structure in Indonesian companies does not always conform to the Trade-Off theory, but rather corresponds well with the Pecking Order theory.
N-Cyclohexyl-N-ethyl-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide

The title compound, C15H23NO2S, contains cyclohexyl and ethyl substituents on the sulfonamide N atom and the cyclohexyl ring adopts a classic chair conformation. The dihedral angle between the benzene ring plane and the mean plane through the six atoms of the cyclohexyl ring is 59.92 (6)°. In the crystal structure, C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link molecules into sheets extending in the bc plane.