Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pulmonary thromboembolism: a retrospective study on the examination of 991 patients by ventilation/perfusion SPECT using Technegas

Summary Purpose: Conventional planar ventilation/perfusion (V/P)- imaging in those patients suspected of suffering from pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) is of limited diagnostic value. It is the purpose of this retrospective study to determine whether the use of V/P- SPECT using Technegas might reduce the rate of those diagnostic uncertainties and might lead to better results. Methods: 991 patients (660 female, 331 male, age 18-90, mean 60), referred to our laboratory with suspected PTE, were examined as follows: patients inhaled 37 MBq of Technegas in the supine position and a SPECT-acquisition was started. Following SPECT-completion, 185 MBq 99mTc-MAA was injected intravenously. SPECT was then repeated. Coronal and transverse ventilation and perfusion SPECT-slices were reconstructed and compared section by section. 85 patients underwent control scans by the same technique at a mean interval of 22 months after the original scans. Results: As the SPECT images in almost all cases made a clear match/mismatch decision possible, we categorized all patients as embolic (PTE+) if there was at least one mismatching defect, and as non embolic (PTE-) if there were none. Our results were: PTE +: 178 patients (18%), PTE-: 808 patients (81%), uncertain: 5 patients (0.5%), if 34 triple-match defects are included: 39 patients (3.9%). 46 patients, categorized as PΪE+ underwent a control V/P scan after anticoagulant therapy. In 44 of these patients, PTE was confirmed by the controls. In a control group of 39 PTE- patients, control scans were unchanged in 38 cases. From these observations we can calculate a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 97%. Conclusion: We conclude that V/P imaging can be improved significantly by V/P SPECT using Technegas.
Infliximab maintenance therapy for fistulizing Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND Infliximab, a monoclonal antibody against tumor necrosis factor, is an effective maintenance therapy for patients with Crohn's disease without fistulas. It is not known whether infliximab is an effective maintenance therapy for patients with fistulas. METHODS We performed a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of infliximab maintenance therapy in 306 adult patients with Crohn's disease and one or more draining abdominal or perianal fistulas of at least three months' duration. Patients received 5 mg of infliximab per kilogram of body weight intravenously on weeks 0, 2, and 6. A total of 195 patients who had a response at weeks 10 and 14 and 87 patients who had no response were then randomly assigned to receive placebo or 5 mg of infliximab per kilogram every eight weeks and to be followed to week 54. The primary analysis was the time to the loss of response among patients who had a response at week 14 and underwent randomization. RESULTS The time to loss of response was significantly longer for patients who received infliximab maintenance therapy than for those who received placebo maintenance (more than 40 weeks vs. 14 weeks, P<0.001). At week 54, 19 percent of patients in the placebo maintenance group had a complete absence of draining fistulas, as compared with 36 percent of patients in the infliximab maintenance group (P=0.009). CONCLUSIONS Patients with fistulizing Crohn's disease who have a response to induction therapy with infliximab have an increased likelihood of a sustained response over a 54-week period if infliximab treatment is continued every 8 weeks.
Does Corruption Influence the Self-Restraint Attitude of Women-led SMEs towards Bank Lending?

In this article we address the question of whether the perceived level of corruption in a country may influence women’s inclination in self-refraining from applying for bank loans. Using a sample of 60,058 observations—drawn from the European Central Bank- Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises (ECB-SAFE)—related to small- and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) chartered in 11 Euro-area countries during the period 2009–2014, we first investigate whether female-led businesses are more likely, than male-led ones, to refrain from applying for bank credit. Finally, we assess whether corruption actually matters in the women’s decision not to relying on the bank-lending channel. Our results—robust to various model specifications—highlight that women-led SMEs face a higher probability to self-refrain from applying for loans vis-a-vis their male counterparts. In addition, although corruption appears strongly correlated to the self-restraint attitudes of firms, our empirical analysis reveals that women-led SMEs generally tend to refrain from applying for loans, more than men, regardless of the quality of the surrounding environment.
Prospective Study of Bacterial and Viral Contamination of Exercise Equipment

Objective:Transmission of bacterial and viral pathogens is known to occur by hand contact with fomites. Exercise equipment in public facilities may serve as such fomites. It is not known whether equipment disinfection might reduce microorganism colonization. We performed studies to address these issues. Design:Observational study of bacterial and viral culture results from hand-contact surfaces of exercise equipment, pre-exercise and postexercise; prospective study of viral culture results before and after intervention with disinfection solution. Setting:Two fitness centers in a military community. Intervention:One week trial of twice-a-day equipment disinfection. Main Outcome Measures:Type and number of bacteria and type of viruses present on equipment before and after exercise; prevalence of viral culture positivity on equipment before and after intervention. Results:Bacterial cultures of body contact surfaces on equipment revealed benign bacterial species (coagulase-negative staphylococci, diphtheroids, and so forth) but no pathogenic bacteria whether obtained pre-exercise or postexercise, or whether from aerobic versus weight training equipment. Viral cultures revealed the presence of viruses (generally rhinoviruses) on 63 of 100 (63%) hand-contact surfaces of equipment. Weight equipment was significantly more often contaminated than aerobic equipment (73% vs. 51%; P = 0.026). Disinfection of equipment did not lower the prevalence of virus isolation (48% positive before cleaning; 86% positive after cleaning). Conclusions:There is little risk of exposure to pathogenic bacteria on exercise equipment. Such equipment may commonly serve as fomites for the transmission of viruses. These data do not suggest that disinfection of exercise equipment will offer significant protective effects against virus exposure.
Political skill as mediator of the upward influence and career success relationship

It is more than two decades since social influence researchers have called for a study that would investigate how and why upward influence are effective to gain career success at workplace. Career success is determined by a number of factors, including some combination of specific competencies and a performance record, along with organisational politics, specifically upward influence tactics. Theory and research suggest that employment of upward influence tactics leads to career success in the workplace, and the present study tried to investigate mediating potential of political skill for the upward influence-career success relationship. These hypotheses were tested on 352 middle-level managers selected from four iron and steel firms of Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. Contributions, implications, limitations and future directions are discussed.
A new method for pricing interest-rate derivatives in fixed income markets

We devised a method for pricing path dependent derivatives whose theory is new. It is based on a time and value discretization of the interest rate process, in conjunction with prices of Arrow-Debreu securities with unitary lifetime obtained via the Feymann-Kac formula. Such theoretical framework boils down immediately to allowing parallel computing, a quality that is not present in standard methods exploiting PDEs. It operates with a broad range of diffusions and quite general payoffs. Actually, the unique version of the method equally applies to stock and fixed income markets. An exercise is performed through pricing an Asian interest rate option. We purposely kept focus in the interest rate scenario since they are typically associated to the range of low volatilities where the existing numerical methods fail.
The Demand for Assets and Optimal Monetary Aggregation

This paper uses a highly disaggregated demand system to estimate the degree of substitutability among monetary assets and to address the issue of optimal monetary aggregation in the United States. We address the problems of dimensionality and nonlinearity, estimating a very detailed monetary asset demand system encompassing the full range of assets based on the locally flexible normalized quadratic expenditure function. We treat the concavity property as a maintained hypothesis and provide evidence consistent with neoclassical microeconomic theory. Statistical tests reject the appropriateness of the aggregation assumptions for all the money measures published by the Federal Reserve as well as for a large number of groupings suggested by earlier studies. This supports and reinforces Barnett's (2016) assertion that we should employ the broadest M4 monetary aggregate published by the Center for Financial Stability.
Treatment of femoro-acetabular impingement with surgical dislocation and débridement in young adults.

BACKGROUND Femoro-acetabular impingement has been associated with acetabular labral and/or articular cartilage damage that may ultimately result in osteoarthritis of the hip. Surgical treatment of femoro-acetabular impingement is directed at restoring a more normal femoral head-neck offset to alleviate femoral abutment against the acetabular rim and treating associated labral and articular cartilage damage. METHODS Thirty hips with femoro-acetabular impingement (in twenty-nine patients) underwent débridement through a greater trochanteric flip osteotomy and anterior dislocation of the femoral head. There were sixteen male patients and thirteen female patients with a mean age of thirty-one years. Cam (femoral based) impingement was noted in fourteen hips; pincer (acetabular based) impingement, in one hip; and combined cam and pincer impingement, in fifteen hips. The mean duration of clinical and radiographic follow-up was thirty-two months. All patients were followed according to a prospective protocol, with Harris hip scores and plain radiographs obtained preoperatively and at six months, one year, and annually for a minimum of two years. RESULTS The mean Harris hip score improved from 70 points preoperatively to 87 points at the time of final follow-up (p < 0.0001). Osteonecrosis did not develop in any hip, and there were no trochanteric nonunions. In eighteen hips, severe damage of the acetabular articular cartilage that had not been appreciated on preoperative plain radiographs or magnetic resonance arthrography was noted on arthrotomy. Eight of these eighteen hips subsequently had radiographic evidence of progression of the osteoarthritis, and four of the eight hips required or were expected to soon require conversion to a total hip arthroplasty to treat progressive pain. CONCLUSIONS At the time of early follow-up, we found that surgical dislocation and débridement of the hip for the treatment of femoro-acetabular impingement in hips without substantial damage to the articular cartilage can reduce pain and improve function. This procedure has a low rate of complications. Radiographic signs of progression of osteoarthritis and clinical failure requiring conversion to a total hip arthroplasty were seen only in patients with severe damage to the acetabular articular cartilage, a finding that emphasizes the need for better imaging methods to assess the extent of damage to the acetabular articular cartilage in patients with this disorder.
Interleukin-10-based therapy for inflammatory bowel disease

In recent years it has become clear that chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), especially Crohn’s disease (CD), is caused by a loss of tolerance against the autologous bacterial flora of the intestine. Tolerance against the indigenous flora requires optimal recognition of antigens by pattern recognition receptors and the presence of important regulatory cells and cytokines. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) has a major role in the regulatory network of cytokines controlling mucosal tolerance, and it is, therefore, not surprising that this cytokine is proposed as a potent anti-inflammatory biological therapy in chronic IBD. This review will discuss the characteristics of IL-10, its immunoregulatory properties in mice and humans, and the use of IL-10 as a treatment for CD. The review will summarise the clinical studies that have taken place and discuss the lessons learned from these trials. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of promising new strategies of IL-10 treatment, including gene therapy and the use of genetically modified bacteria, will be discussed. Both novel therapies have been shown to be successful in animal models of disease, and clinical testing is currently underway. The future goal of IL-10 treatment should be focused on mucosal delivery and remission maintenance instead of remission induction. In conclusion, it can be said that despite the disappointing results of IL-10 therapy so far, there is still enough rationale for the use of IL-10 as an anti-inflammatory biological treatment in chronic IBD.
Effect of Different Polymer Concentration on Drug Release Rate and Physicochemical Properties of Mucoadhesive Gastroretentive Tablets

Mucoadhesive tablets have emerged as potential candidates for gastroretentive drug delivery providing controlled release along with prolonged gastric residence time. Gastroretentive mucoadhesive tablets could result in increased bioavailability due to prolonged gastric residence time. A hydrophilic matrix system was developed as mucoadhesion is achievable on appropriate wetting and swelling of the polymers used. The polymers were so chosen so as to provide a balance between swelling, mucoadhesion and drug release. The polymers chosen were hydroxypropyl methylcellulose K4M, chitosan, and Carbopol 934. The concentrations of these polymers used has a great impact on the physicochemical properties of the resulting formulation. The tablets were formulated using wet granulation method and tranexamic acid was used as the model drug. The prepared tablets were characterized for size, shape, appearance, hardness, friability, weight variation, swelling, mucoadhesion and in vitro drug release. Several batches of tablets were prepared by varying the ratio of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose K4M and Chitosan. The batches having a greater ratio of chitosan showed higher rate of swelling, greater erosion, less mucoadhesion and faster release rate of the drug whereas the batches having greater ratio of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose K4M showed lesser rate of swelling, less erosion, better mucoadhesion and a smaller drug release rate. The level of carbopol was kept constant in all the batches.
Developmental inventories using illiterate parents as informants: Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) adaptation for two Kenyan languages

Abstract Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs, parent-completed language development checklists) are a helpful tool to assess language in children who are unused to interaction with unfamiliar adults. Generally, CDIs are completed in written form, but in developing country settings parents may have insufficient literacy to complete them alone. We designed CDIs to assess language development in children aged 0;8 to 2;4 in two languages used in Coastal communities in Kenya. Measures of vocabulary, gestures, and grammatical constructions were developed using both interviews with parents from varying backgrounds, and vocabulary as well as grammatical constructions from recordings of children's spontaneous speech. The CDIs were then administered in interview format to over 300 families. Reliability and validity ranged from acceptable to excellent, supporting the use of CDIs when direct language testing is impractical, even when children have multiple caregivers and where respondents have low literacy levels.
The protective effect of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on oxidative stress in rat liver exposed to the 900 MHz electromagnetic field

In this study, we aimed to investigate the possible protective effects of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on lipid peroxidation (LPO) and the activities of antioxidant enzymes in the liver of rats exposed to the 900 MHz electromagnetic field (EMF). EMF of cellular phones may affect biological systems by increasing free radical, which appear mainly to enhance LPO, and by changing the antioxidative activities of liver, thus leading to oxidative damage. CAPE, an active component of propolis extract, exhibits antioxidant properties and several studies suggest that supplementation with antioxidant can influence EMF exposure induced hepatotoxicity. Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups: control (n = 10), 900 MHz EMF (n = 10) and 900 MHz EMF + CAPE (n = 10). CAPE was injected intraperitoneally for 30 days before exposure to EMF. Liver tissue was removed to study the activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), xanthine oxidase (XO) and the levels of LPO. The activities of XO, CAT and level of LPO increased in the 900 MHz electromagnetic field (EMF) group compared with the control group, although XO, CAT activities and LPO levels were decreased by 900 MHz EMF + CAPE administration. The activities of SOD and GSH-Px decreased in the 900 MHz EMF group compared with the control group, although their levels were increased by EMF + CAPE administration. It can be concluded that CAPE may prevent the 900 MHz EMF-induced oxidative changes in liver by strengthening the antioxidant defense system by reducing reactive oxygen species and increasing antioxidant enzyme activities.
N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide in patients with isolated traumatic brain injury: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND The role of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) after traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains unclear, and its relationship with hyponatremia is still controversial. The aim of this study is to investigate the secretion pattern of N-terminal (NT)-proBNP in patients with TBI and to assess the relationship between NT-proBNP, sodium balance, and intracranial pressure (ICP). METHODS We measured serum NT-proBNP levels of 84 patients with isolated TBI on a daily basis from day 1 to day 14 after injury. RESULTS In average, the peak of BNP level was measured at 703.9 pg/mL±179.1 pg/mL on day 3 after injury, which was correlated to the severity of TBI. Among patients with severe TBI, plasma NT-proBNP concentrations in patients with hyponatremia were statistically higher than those without hyponatremia (p<0.05). In the hyponatremic group, the plasma NT-proBNP increased to a peak of 1001.16 pg/mL±131.52 pg/mL within 48 hours after injury and maintained at a high level for 3 days. In the normonatremic group, the plasma NT-proBNP reached a peak of 826.43 pg/mL±337.43 pg/mL on day 5 and quickly decreased thereafter. In addition, we found plasma NT-proBNP concentrations in patients with ICP>15 mm Hg were significantly higher than those in patients with ICP≤15 mm Hg (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS This study provides evidence that BNP plasma concentrations increase rapidly after TBI. Plasma BNP concentrations are correlated with hyponatremia in severe TBI patients but not in mild and moderate TBI patients. Furthermore, patients with elevated ICP have a higher serum BNP level in first 4 days after injury.
Isolation and quantitative detection of tetrachloroethene (PCE)-dechlorinating bacteria in unsaturated subsurface soils contaminated with chloroethenes.

The estimation of tetrachloethene (PCE) dechlorinating-activity and identification of PCE-dechlorinating bacteria were performed in 65 unsaturated subsurface soils (at a depth 30-60 cm) that were collected from 21 noncontaminated soils and 44 chloroethene-contaminated soils including four soils that dechlorinated PCE to 1,2-cis-dichloroethene (cisDCE) in situ. Sixteen out of the 44 PCE-contaminated soils and three out of the 21 noncontaminated soils dechlorinated PCE to trichloroethene and cisDCE but not vinyl chloride or ethene after a month of incubation with 0.1% yeast extract at 30 degrees C. Desulfitobacterium sp. strain B31e3 that can dechlorinate PCE to cisDCE was isolated from a soil that dechlorinated PCE to cisDCE in situ. 16S rRNA gene of this strain showed the closest similarity of 99.1% with that of Desulfitobacterium hafniense (formally frappieri) strain DP7. Real-time PCR using specific primer sets targeted to the 16S rRNA genes of the representative PCE-dechlorinating bacteria, Dehalococcoides spp. , Desulfitobacterium spp. , and Dehalobacter spp. were performed using five unsaturated subsurface soils that dechlorinated PCE and three that did not dechlorinate PCE. In two out of the five soils that dechlorinated PCE, Desulfitobacterium spp. (0.12, 0.38% of total bacteria) and Dehalobacter spp. (0.0045, 0.0061% of total bacteria) were detected, and in one of the five soils, only Desulfitobacterium spp. (0.042% of total bacteria) was detected. None of these representative PCE-dechlorinating bacteria were detected in two out of the five soils that dechlorinated PCE and in all of the three soils that did not dechlorinate PCE. Dehalococcoides spp. were not detected in any unsaturated subsurface soils used in this study. These results suggested the involvement of Desulfitobacterium spp. and probably Dehalobacter spp. rather than Dehalococcoides spp. in the dechlorination of PCE to cisDCE in unsaturated subsurface soils.
[A population-based case-control study of isolated congenital cataract].

BACKGROUND To detect the possible etiological factors in the origin of isolated congenital cataracts. METHOD The data set of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance of Congenital Abnormalities, 1980-2002, contained 111 cases with isolated congenital cataract and their 111 matched control pairs without defect, 22744 patient controls with other non-ocular abnormalities and 37837 population controls without any defects. Exposure data and family history were based on (i) medical records, (ii) retrospective maternal information and (iii) information obtained by regional nurses at home visit of nonrespondent families. RESULTS Positive family history indicated autosomal dominant origin in 9,9% of the cases. Rubella infections occurred more frequently in case mothers than in control mothers before the vaccination against rubella virus. A higher prevalence of influenza/common cold (55.9% in the case and 18.5% in the population control group, adjusted OR with 95% CI: 5.8, 4.0-8.4 and 21.7% in the malformation control group: 4.7, 3.2-6.9) and acute infectious diseases of respiratory system (26.1% in the case and 9.1% in the population control group: 3.8, 2.5-5.8 and 9.3% in the malformation control group: 3.4, 2.2-5.3) related with fever was found during the pregnancy of the case mothers. In addition the higher risk of isolated congenital cataract was prevented by antifever therapy. CONCLUSIONS Some part of isolated congenital cataract is preventable by rubella vaccination and probably by influenza vaccination in the epidemic period, in addition it is worth using an effective antifever therapy of fever related respiratory diseases to restrict the teratogenic risk of fever.