Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ivabradine : A Novel Drug to Control Heart of Patients Undergoing CT Coronary Angiography

Heart rate control is crucial for diagnostic accuracy and proper image quality of CTCA. A lower heart rate reduces coronary artery movement artifacts by increasing the length of diastolic phase, thereby improving image quality as blood stay longer in vessels. Despite wide spread use of β-blockers ,it has been difficult to achieve target heart rates in patients undergoing CTCA. Ivabradine is a novel purely negative chronotropic drug which acts on sinus node &decreases heart rate without significant hemodynamic effects or impairment of cardiac conduction. Our study assessed the efficacy of ivabradine on image quality of CT coronary angiography (CTCA) and compared it with βblockers. We randomized 100 consecutive patients undergoing CTCA to receive either of the two premedication protocols: oral β-blockers or ivabradine. Images were scored in terms of image quality of the coronary artery segments using a 5-point grading scale. Ivabradine achieved better heart rate reduction & also required less additional pre study doses of rate controlling drugs. CTCA image quality with ivabradine group had 95% diagnostically accepted coronary segments imaging compared to 90% with the β – blocker group. βblocker significantly lowered both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, while ivabradine did not. Ivabradine is an attractive alternate to βblocker for reduction of heart rate in patients undergoing CTCA and had an excellent safety profile.
Planning and Control Systems: A Framework for Analysis

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Modification of silica nanoparticles by grafting of copolymers containing organosilane and fluorine moities

The free-radical cotelomerization of 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TMSPMA) with 1,1,2,2-tetrahydroperfluorodecyl acrylate (PFDA) in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol was performed at 80 °C in acetonitrile. Hydroxy end-groups of the cotelomers were reacted with 2-isocyanatoethyl methacrylate to give macromonomers. The P(TMSPMA-stat-PFDA) cotelomers, containing fluoro and silane groups, were then grafted onto silica nanoparticles. Optimal grafting conditions were found with TMSPMA monomer alone in toluene at 110 °C. The structure of the modified silica was analyzed by FTIR and 29 Si solid-state NMR. The amount of grafted TMSPMA or P(TMSPMA-stat-PFDA) was calculated by thermogravimetric and elemental analyzes. The grafting yield increased with the copolymer/silica weight ratio until a maximum value of 2.26 μmol/m 2 .
Impact of hemodialysis dose and frequency on survival of patients on chronic hemodialysis in Lithuania during 1998-2005.

INTRODUCTION The question of the targets of dialysis dosing remains controversial since the beginning of the long-term dialysis treatment era. It is still uncertain if higher dialysis dose is better. The aim of our study was to investigate issues of dialysis dose in Lithuania during the period of 1998-2005 and to determine associations between hemodialysis dose and survival of patients on chronic hemodialysis. MATERIAL AND METHODS We analyzed data of all patients who started hemodialysis due to end-stage renal disease in Lithuania between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2005. The information about hemodialysis frequency, duration, and adequacy (according to Kt/V) was obtained from medical documentation. The overall survival rate was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Survival comparisons were made using the log-rank or Breslow tests. Univariate Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to select variables significantly associated with the risk of death; then these variables were included in multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS During the study period, from 2428 patients who started chronic hemodialysis, 58.5% of patients started hemodialysis three times a week. More than one-third (36.2%) of patients were dialyzed twice weekly, and 5.3% of patients started hemodialysis once weekly. Survival analysis revealed that patients dialyzed less than three times per week survived shorter than patients receiving a higher dialysis dose. Duration of HD session of ≤8 hours per week was an independent risk factor for mortality. A higher mean Kt/V was associated with better survival of patients on chronic hemodialysis. CONCLUSIONS Dialysis frequency and weekly duration of HD sessions were dependent on HD accessibility in Lithuania during the period of 1998-2005. Better survival of patients on chronic hemodialysis was associated with a higher hemodialysis dose.
Corporate Governance and Financial Distress: A Discrete Time Hazard Prediction Model

Poor corporate governance can damage the interests of shareholders, and may lead to company collapse. Previous studies in credit risk prediction provide no consensus as to which and how corporate governance variables determine bankruptcy. This paper is the first to apply a discrete time hazard model and a wide selection of 35 corporate governance measures including board composition, ownership structure, management compensation, and director and manager characteristics in predicting corporate credit risk by using a panel dataset of ten years for 1688 companies. We find that state control, institutional ownership, salaries of independent directors, the Chair’s age, the CEO’s education, the work location of independent directors and concurrent CEO positions have significant associations with the risk of financial distress. Governance measures, financial ratios and macroeconomic variables provide the best predictive accuracy. Policy implications are particularly suggested that regulations regarding State-Owned Enterprises and independent directors should be specially focused.
Patiriella exigua: grazing by a starfish in an overgrazed intertidal system

Intertidal rocky shores in south-eastern Australia are dominated by a diverse assem- blage of grazing invertebrates that feed on micro-algal biofilms. This resource is spatially variable and frequently over-grazed, causing strong inter- and intra-specific competition among grazers. Most studies on intertidal grazing are about gastropod molluscs. We observed, however, damaged patches in intertidal biofilms that appeared to be associated with the herbivorous asterinid starfish Patiriella exigua (Lamarck). In contrast with predatory starfish, there have been few ecological studies about herbivorous starfish, even though they are often abundant. We demonstrated that these patches were caused by grazing by this starfish. We then used field-based remote-sensing methods to demonstrate that amounts of chlorophyll were reduced inside grazing marks, quantified these changes and measured their longevity. In experiments, starfish could graze up to 60% of the epilithic micro-algae beneath their everted stomach during a single feeding event lasting on average 22 min. Over 5 d, 2 caged starfish could remove nearly half of the available micro-algae from areas of 144 cm 2 . Changes to the amounts of chlorophyll in grazing marks were persistent, remaining visible on sandstone substrata for several weeks. Amounts of chlorophyll on grazed areas of substratum were significantly different from ungrazed areas up to 28 d after being grazed. Recovering areas were demonstrated to be bio-equivalent to ungrazed areas after a similar period. Thus, P. exigua can have a large effect on the temporal and spatial distribution of micro-algal food, with numerous possible consequences for intertidal assemblages. The ecological importance of herbivorous starfish may be greater than previously perceived.
How Organizational Resources Affect Strategic Change and Performance in Turbulent Environments

This study examines how historical resource endowments and competencies affect strategic change and its outcomes amid environmental turbulence. Drawing from both behavioral and economics-based literatures, we develop four distinct perspectives regarding the likely effect of resources on strategic change. These four perspectives offer alternative predictions about how and why resource endowments should affect the likelihood or magnitude of strategic change, and how and why they should moderate the relation between strategic change and performance. We examine the predictive power of these four alternative arguments using extensive longitudinal data from a single industry context characterized both by substantial resource heterogeneity and environmental turbulence. Results indicate that organizations possessing greater stocks of historically valuable resources were much less likely to engage in adaptive strategic change, but also that this resource-driven disinclination towards change tended to have a benign or even beneficial effect on performance. We discuss the implications of our theory and findings for the strategic change literature and also for the literature on the resource-based view of the firm.
Comparative effects of sodium butyrate and flavors on feed intake of lactating sows and growth performance of piglets.

We examined the effects of sodium butyrate and flavors on feed intake of lactating sows and growth performance of piglets. A total of 52 primiparous sows (Large White) were randomly divided into four treatments (n = 13) and received 6 g/kg sodium butyrate (SB), fruit-milk (FM) flavor and fruit-milk-anise (FMA) flavor with pair feeding to the mothers receiving the control diet. The feeding trial lasted for 29 days, including 21 days of nursing and 8 days of post-weaning period, respectively. The nursing and weaning piglets received creep diets with the same flavor or SB supplement as their mother. The results showed that FMA flavor increased average daily feed intake (ADFI) of lactating sows (P < 0.01), as well as improved litter weight gain (P = 0.05) and ADFI (P < 0.01) of nursing pigs among treatments. Indeed, greater ADFI and average daily gain of weaning piglets for the initial 8 days after weaning was observed in the FMA group compared with those in the control group (P < 0.01). These findings indicated that adding FMA flavor was superior to SB for increasing feed intake of lactating sows and improving growth performance of piglets.
Intraarterial gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography of the renal arteries in humans: feasibility, contrast agent reduction, and accuracy for detection of stenoses.

OBJECTIVE Feasibility of intraarterial MR angiography of the renal arteries and comparison of the accuracy of intraarterial MR angiography with selective intraarterial digital subtraction angiography (DSA) for detection of stenoses. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ten consecutive patients (mean, 68 years) with suspected renal artery stenosis underwent a digital subtraction angiography and an intraarterial gadolinium-enhanced MR angiography, performed on a 1.5-T system. For intraarterial MR angiography 60 ml diluted contrast agent (10 ml gadodiamide in 50 ml 0.9% saline solution) was injected through a conventional angiography catheter placed in the suprarenal abdominal aorta using a flow rate of 3.5 ml/s. A three-dimensional (3D) gradient-echo sequence was performed. Differences in the quantitative measurement of stenoses of lesions between DSA and intraarterial MR angiography were evaluated by three observers. Overall impression of the intraarterial MR angiography was documented on a four-point scale (1 = excellent to 4 = poor). Interobserver variability was calculated. RESULTS Intraarterial MR angiography of the renal arteries was feasible in all patients (100%) with a mean overall impression of all images of 1.8 (SD: 0.71). One of 9 accessory renal arteries was not visualized with intraarterial MR angiography. The overall sensitivity/specificity for detection of significant stenoses (>or=50% stenosis) were 83%/87%. Interobserver variability of intraarterial MR angiography ranged between fair and substantial (0.359-0.622). CONCLUSION Intraarterial MR angiography of the renal arteries in humans is feasible and has an acceptable sensitivity in detecting stenoses using injections of diluted contrast agent at concentrations as low as 17%.
Synchronous and Non-Synchronous Semelparity in Sibling Species of Pulmonates

Diverse life histories have been documented in terrestrial pulmonates, which inhabit different regions in climate. Life history traits are often phenotypically plastic and vary depending on the environment. Thus, surveys using designs that control for the confounding effects of environment are needed to evaluate the evolutionary differences between populations of closely related species in the wild. We examined the life histories of sibling species of terrestrial pulmonate within two regions of similar climates. Bradybaena pellucida (BP) is endemic to Japanese islands, and has recently been expanding its distribution northeastward, whereas B. similaris (BS) has been introduced by humans into temperate and tropical regions worldwide. We found that these species exhibit discrete differences in population dynamics and life cycle, despite their close relatedness. The annual life cycle of BP is synchronized among individuals in a population. Thus, BP is univoltine with discontinuous generation. In contrast, BS individuals do not synchronize their growth or reproduction, and thus exhibit overlapping generations. Our results indicate that synchronized and non-synchronized population dynamics diverge relatively rapidly in semelparous pulmonates. This type of difference has not been documented in pulmonate life history, and may have been overlooked because only a few studies have explicitly compared life cycles of closely related species within the same climate. Our results provide a basis for further studies of life history evolution in pulmonates.
Mobilization of Visceral Adipose Tissue Related to the Improvement in Insulin Sensitivity in Response to Physical Training in NIDDM: Effects of branched-chain amino acid supplements

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of an intense physical training program on abdominal fat distribution, glycemic control, and insulin sensitivity in patients with NIDDM and to determine whether branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplements influence these effects. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Twenty-four patients (ages 45 ± 2 [mean ± SE] years, BMI 30.2 ± 0.9 kg/m2, HbA1c 7.9 ± 0.3%) were randomly assigned to four groups: training plus BCAA supplement (n = 6), training plus placebo (n = 6), sedentary plus BCAA supplement (n = 6), and sedentary plus placebo (n = 6). Physical training consisted of a supervised 45-min cycling exercise at 75% of their oxygen uptake peak (VO2 peak) two times per week and an intermittent exercise one time per week for 2 months. RESULTS Patients who exercised increased their VO2 peak by 41% and their insulin sensitivity by 46%. Physical training significantly decreased abdominal fat evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging (umbilicus), with a greater loss of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) (48%) in comparison with the loss of subcutaneous adipose tissue (18%), but did not significantly affect body weight. The change in visceral abdominal fat was associated with the improvement in insulin sensitivity (r = 0.84, P = 0.001). BCAA supplementation had no effect on abdominal fat and glucose metabolism. CONCLUSIONS Physical training resulted in an improvement in insulin sensitivity with concomitant loss of VAT and should be included in the treatment program for patients with NIDDM.
Validation of self-reported history of colorectal cancer screening.

OBJECTIVE This study aims to determine the validity of self-reported history of colorectal cancer (CRC) testing consisting of fecal occult blood tests (FOBTs)in the past 2 years or endoscopy (flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy) in the past 5 years by comparing it with reports provided by physicians. DESIGN A cross-sectional design was used for this study. SETTING Study participants were selected directly from the city's population. Self-reported history of CRC testing was validated using records obtained from their physicians' offices. PARTICIPANTS Participants were adults of 50 to 74 years, living within the boundaries of Calgary Health Region in Alberta. INTERVENTIONS Participants were recruited by a random-digit dial telephone survey of adults aged 50 to 74 years (n = 598). Following a phased process, a subset of these people (n = 200) agreed to provide names of their physicians to be contacted for their histories of CRC testing. Physicians' reports were used to measure validity of self-reported history. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Agreement between self-reported history and physician's records was measured using kappa statistics and concordance. Validity of self-report was measured by calculating sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values, and negative predictive values. Reasons for testing reported by the participants were compared with those reported by their physicians. RESULTS Complete information was received for 146 participants, revealing a 34.2% testing rate for CRC. Intermediate level of agreement for testing history (kappa = 0.66 and concordance = 84.9%) was found between the 2 types of reporting for CRC testing. Self-reported history showed sensitivity of 76.0% (95% CI = 61.8%-86.9%) and specificity of 89.6% (95% CI = 81.7%-94.9%). High specificity was also observed for self-reporting of the individual tests, but low sensitivity was seen for the reporting of FOBT in the last 2 years. Most participants who correctly recalled the testing history also accurately identified the reason for testing (concordance = 80.0% for FOBT and 69.6% for endoscopy). CONCLUSION Self-reported history of CRC testing and physicians' reports showed dependable agreement. Physicians need to probe their patients further for the history of FOBT. These results can be useful in clinical practice to determine the CRC screening status of the patients.
Generalized social anxiety disorder: A still‐neglected anxiety disorder 3 decades since Liebowitz's review

In the 3 decades since Liebowitz's review of ‘a neglected anxiety disorder,’ controversy and challenges have remained in the study of social anxiety disorder (SAD). This review examines evidence around the classification and subtyping of SAD, focusing on generalized SAD. Substantial discrepancies and variation in definition, epidemiology, assessment, and treatment of generalized SAD exist as the international literature on it has grown. In East Asian cultures in particular, study of taijin kyofusho has been important to a broadened conceptualization of SAD into generalized SAD. Despite important progress with biological and other studies, many challenges in the understanding of generalized SAD will remain in the years to come.
Tibetan patients with essential hypertension caused by underlying oxidative metabolism dysfunction and depressed nitric oxide synthesis.

OBJECTIVE To assess the role of oxidative metabolism and nitric oxide synthesis for elucidating their pathophysiological mechanisms in a Tibetan patient with essential hypertension. METHODS The serum levels of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), nitric oxide (NO) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) were assayed in sixty native Tibetans (thirty hypertensive patients and thirty healthy volunteers as control). RESULTS The levels of T-SOD, T-AOC, NO and NOS were significantly lower in the patient group than in the control group (P < 0.01); MDA was significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (P < 0.01). The level of MDA had a strong negative correlation with T-SOD, T-AOC, NO and NOS (r = -0.82, -0.76, -0.79, -0.73, respectively, P < 0.001 for all). CONCLUSION Tibetan patients with essential hypertension (EH) may have underlying oxidative metabolism dysfunction and depressed NO synthesis, both responsible for the hypertensive process.
Plasma concentrations of alfentanil required to supplement nitrous oxide anaesthesia for lower abdominal surgery.

In 15 patients about to undergo lower abdominal surgery, anaesthesia was induced with alfentanil 150 micrograms kg-1 i.v. and 66% nitrous oxide in oxygen. Thereafter, nitrous oxide anaesthesia was supplemented with a continuous infusion of alfentanil at a rate which varied between 25 and 150 micrograms kg-1, as indicated by the patient's responses to the stimulation of surgery. Small bolus doses of alfentanil 7 micrograms kg-1 were administered to suppress precisely defined somatic, haemodynamic and other responses to stimulation. With one exception, all responses were rapidly controlled by increments of alfentanil. By measuring the arterial plasma concentrations of alfentanil at times with and without a response, we were able to estimate the alfentanil concentrations required (with nitrous oxide) to suppress responses to different stimuli during surgery. The results demonstrate the feasibility of continuous infusion of alfentanil in anaesthesia.