Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal Ventilatory Strategies and Surfactant to Protect the Preterm Lungs

Invasive ventilation via the endotracheal tube is one of the most common therapeutic interventions performed in preterm infants with respiratory failure. Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) occurs in about 50% of preterm infants born at less than 30 weeks of gestational age. Mechanical ventilation using conventional or high-frequency ventilation and surfactant therapy have become the standard of care in management of preterm infants with RDS. However, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) remains as a major morbidity with adverse pulmonary and nonpulmonary outcomes in preterm infants despite these interventions. Ventilator-associated lung injury appears to be related to the duration of invasive ventilation via the endotracheal tube rather than the mode of ventilation. Randomized controlled trials comparing conventional mechanical ventilation and high-frequency ventilation, using ‘optimal ventilatory strategies’, have shown no significant difference in rates of BPD. Use of noninvasive ventilation, such as nasal continuous positive airway pressure and nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation has shown a significant decrease in postextubation failure as well as reduced incidence of BPD. Optimal ventilatory strategy in preterm infants with RDS may begin in the delivery room with application of sustained inflation to establish functional residual capacity, followed by surfactant therapy and rapid extubation to noninvasive ventilation to decrease the incidence of BPD and improve overall outcome.
'Hemiepiphyte': a confusing term and its history.

BACKGROUND AND SCOPE Over more than 120 years of scientific study since Schimper's seminal work, the recognized categories of structurally dependent plants have changed several times. Currently, ignoring parasitic mistletoes, it is usual to distinguish four functional groups: (1) true epiphytes; (2) primary hemiepiphytes; (3) secondary hemiepiphytes; and (4) climbing plants, i.e. lianas and vines. In this Viewpoint, it is argued that the term secondary hemiepiphytes (SHs) is misleading, that its definition is hard to impossible to apply in the field and, possibly causally related to this conceptual problem, that the use of this category in field studies is inconsistent, which now hampers interpretation and generalization. CONCLUSIONS Categories will frequently fail to capture gradual biological variation, but terms and concepts should be as unambiguous as possible to facilitate productive communication. A detailed analysis of the conceptual problems associated with the term SH and its application in scientific studies clearly shows that this goal is not fulfilled in this case. Consequently, the use of SH should be abandoned. An alternative scheme to categorize structurally dependent flora is suggested.
Circadian timing of cancer chemotherapy.

Animal studies have indicated that the time of administration of adriamycin and cisplatin, two widely used anticancer drugs, has a profound effect on their toxicity. This effect in cancer chemotherapy was studied in 31 patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Patients received at least eight monthly courses of adriamycin that were followed 12 hours later by cisplatin, with adriamycin randomly administered at either 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. The results show that in the group receiving adriamycin in the evening and cisplatin in the morning (i) twice as many patients required reductions in dosage and delays in treatment, (ii) four times as many treatments had to be delayed, (iii) drug dosages had to be modified downward three times as often, and (iv) even with more dose attenuation and treatment delays, treatment complications were still about two times more common as in the group receiving adriamycin in the morning and cisplatin in the evening. These findings show that the circadian stage at which anticancer drugs are given to patients should be carefully considered.
Identifying monetary policy in a small open economy under fixed exchange rates

We demonstrate how to identify monetary policy under fixed exchange rates in a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) using Denmark as a case study. The identifying restrictions are compared to SVARs for flexible exchange-rate regimes. Our basic model generates a plausible central-bank reaction function, and the responses to monetary shocks are in accordance with theory. We extend the basic model and econometric approach to incorporate the central bank’s interventions on the foreign-exchange market.
Muscle-bone characteristics in children with Prader-Willi syndrome.

BACKGROUND A decrease in muscle mass, low motor performance, and normal lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) have been reported in children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). However, these data are limited by the fact that PWS children (who have short stature) were compared to age-matched healthy or obese individuals of normal height. OBJECTIVE The goal of the present study was to compare bone and muscle characteristics in PWS children to sex- and age- or height-matched healthy subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study population included 17 PWS children (ages 6.2 to 17.5 yr; nine girls) who were not treated with GH. The axial skeleton was analyzed at the lumbar spine using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and the appendicular skeleton (radius and tibia) was evaluated using peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Muscle parameters (mass, size, and functional parameters) were measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, peripheral quantitative computed tomography, and jumping mechanography, respectively. RESULTS Compared to height-matched controls, PWS patients had normal axial and appendicular BMD, as well as normal muscle size. Compared to age- or height-matched controls of normal weight, PWS patients had lower maximal muscle force and power relative to body mass during jumping. PWS patients had similar absolute maximal muscle force but lower absolute maximal power compared to age- or height-matched controls. Relationships between bone mass and muscle size and force were similar in PWS patients and in healthy subjects. CONCLUSION Relative to their height, PWS patients not treated with GH had normal axial and appendicular BMD, muscle size, and muscle-bone relationships.
Complications and neobladder function of the Hautmann orthotopic ileal neobladder

Authors from Denmark describe the complications of the orthotopic Hautmann ileal neobladder, and the function of the neobladder in their experience. They found a relatively high rate of complications, but felt that most of these were minor, requiring only a minimal amount of intervention. They also found the function to resemble that of the native bladder.
Vascular Orientation by Intra-arterial Dye Injection during Spinal Arteriovenous Malformation Surgery: Technical Note

OBJECTIVE Rich and complicated vascular structures on the spinal cord often interfere with obliteration of a spinal arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Vascular orientation during spinal AVM surgery is essential. The authors recently performed six consecutive spinal AVM surgeries in five patients (two with perimedullary AVMs, and three with dural arteriovenous fistulae) with the aid of intra-arterial injection of dye (indigo carmine). METHODS Two representative cases are described. A microcatheter was placed preoperatively in the artery of interest. Subsequent to the exposure of the vascular complex, a 1-ml injection of indigo carmine (2 mg/ml) clearly demonstrated the feeding arteries and the draining veins around the AVM or dural arteriovenous fistula. RESULTS One patient had repeat surgery because of incomplete obliteration of the AVM owing to migration of the catheter. All patients, except one who had temporary postoperative deterioration and persistent neurological deficits, had good surgical outcomes, however. No apparent side effects caused by the dye were reported. CONCLUSION The assistance system for spinal AVM surgery is easy and safe and can be applied in other surgical institutions.
BAALC overexpression retains its negative prognostic role across all cytogenetic risk groups in acute myeloid leukemia patients

Overexpression of brain and acute leukemia cytoplasmic (BAALC) gene confers poor prognosis in cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients, while less defined is its role in AML with abnormal karyotype. We evaluated the effect of BAALC overexpression on outcome of 175 adult AML patients with different cytogenetic risks. Karyotype was favorable in 13, intermediate in 117 and unfavorable in 45 patients, respectively. Quantitative BAALC expression was determined by real‐time PCR, with cut off value set at 50th percentile. BAALC was overexpressed in 87/175 (50%) patients, without association with cytogenetic status. High BAALC was associated with unmutated NPM (P = 0.006) and CD34 positivity (P < 0.0001). Complete remission (CR) was attained in 111 patients (63%), and was maintained at 5 years in 52 ± 7%. BAALC overexpression had a negative impact on CR achievement (P = 0.04), while did not influence relapse probability. Median survival was 22 months with a 5‐years overall survival (OS) of 35%. Factors with a negative impact on OS were older age (P = 0.0001), unfavorable cytogenetic (P = 0.005), ABCG2 overexpression (P = 0.03) and high BAALC levels (P = 0.01). We observed a worse outcome in patients with high BAALC expression through all cytogenetic risk categories: 5‐years OS was 100% vs. 71% in patients with favorable cytogenetics (P = 0.05), 55% vs. 40% in cases with intermediate karyotype (P = 0.04) and 34% vs. 23% in unfavorable cytogenetic subgroup (P = 0.02). BAALC overexpression identified AML patients with poor prognosis in all cytogenetic groups. Though relatively rare, BAALC positivity in patients with favorable or unfavorable karyotype significantly worsened survival. Am. J. Hematol. 88:848–852, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Generic Framework for Symbolic Execution:Theory and Applications : Theory and Applications. (Un cadre générique pour exécution symbolique / Un cadre générique pour exécution symbolique : Theorie et Applications)

The modern world is shifting from the traditional workmanship to a more automated work environment, where software systems are increasingly used for automating, controlling and monitoring human activities. In many cases, software systems appear in critical places which may immediately affect our lives or the environment. Therefore, the software that runs on such systems has to be safe. This requirement has led to the development of various techniques to ensure software safety. In this dissertation we present a language-independent framework for symbolic execution, which is a particular technique for testing, debugging, and verifying programs. The main feature of this framework is that it is parametric in the formal definition of a programming language. We formally define programming languages and symbolic execution, and then we prove that the feasible symbolic executions of a program and the concrete executions of the same program mutually simulate each other. This relationship between concrete and symbolic executions allow us to perform analyses on symbolic programs, and to transfer the results of those analyses to concrete instances of the symbolic programs in question. We use our symbolic execution framework to perform program verification using Hoare Logic and Reachability Logic. For the latter, we propose an alternative proof system, and we show that under reasonable conditions, a certain strategy executing our proof system is sound and weakly complete. A prototype implementation of our symbolic execution framework has been developed in K. We illustrate it on the symbolic execution, model checking, and deductive verification of nontrivial programs.
An examination of the labour market transitions of minimum wage workers

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CSR and Customer Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Customer Engagement

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) image positively affects customer outcomes. Despite researchers’ interest in the investigation of company favoring outcomes still, there is a need to further examine the psychological mechanisms that generate these outcomes. Customer engagement (CE) is a state of mind that drives customer behavior. The role of CE has been fully ignored in CSR literature. We suggest that CSR engenders CE and examine the mediating role of CE between CSR and behavioral outcomes. A survey of 455 customers of banking services in Pakistan provided empirical evidence for hypothesis testing. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. We find that CSR image induces CE that gives rise to behavioral responses i.e., customer loyalty, word-of-mouth (WOM) and customer feedback. This is the first study to examine the impact of CSR on customer feedback and to investigate the mediating role of CE.
Predictors of response to extracorporeal photopheresis in advanced mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome

Background: Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) has been utilized for more than 20 years to treat cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma (CTCL), but a clinical response can take up to 9 months to manifest. This study was undertaken to determine whether clinical features, laboratory values, cytokine levels, or gene expression levels of tumor markers are useful to predict the subsequent response to ECP in CTCL patients with blood involvement.
The relationship between support and stress in forensic community mental health nursing.

UNLABELLED AIMS OF THE STUDY/PAPER: This paper reports the results of a survey of forensic community mental health nurses (FCMHNs) in England and Wales which aimed to ascertain the level of stress and burnout experienced by this group. BACKGROUND/RATIONALE Several studies have identified that mental health nursing is a stressful activity and the relationship between factors such as age, experience, support, caseload size and perceived stress have been explored. However, until recently, no studies have examined the situation of FCMHNs and this paper extends the analysis of studies completed by the main author, considering issues related to coping abilities and support systems. DESIGN/METHODS The survey involved respondents completing a demographic questionnaire and a range of standardized validated measures (Maslach Burnout Inventory, General Health Questionnaire and Community Psychiatric Nurse Stress Questionnaire). The population for the study was all identified FCMHNs attached to the 26 National Health Service (NHS) Medium Secure Units in England and Wales (n=104). RESULTS/FINDINGS A high response rate of 77% (n=80) was achieved. The results identified that a number of respondents were experiencing burnout. Statistically significant associations were found between caseload size and level of stress. The results also suggest that support from managers and colleagues were an important factor in ameliorating the experience of stress and show that individuals in this study experiencing high levels of stress adopted palliative behaviours such as use of alcohol. CONCLUSIONS The paper concludes by suggesting that such findings should be considered when delivering stress management programmes and reinforce the potential benefit of effective clinical supervision as a means of staff support.
Market Valuation Consequences of Avoiding Taxes While also Being Socially Responsible

In this study, we examine the effects of tax avoidance and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities on equity market valuation. Economic theory suggests that managers should avoid taxes through any legal means (Friedman 1970), and that CSR activities are of value to the extent that shareholder wealth is maximized (Hales, Matsumura, Moser, and Payne 2016). We hypothesize that while equity market participants may positively value both CSR and tax avoidance, these two actions are viewed as inconsistent with one another when engaged upon contemporaneously, where increased activity of one diminishes the value of the other. Results, using a sample of U.S. public firms during years 2000–2013, support our expectation and show a negative interaction between CSR and tax avoidance. A series of robustness checks provide additional evidence consistent with investors viewing CSR and tax avoidance as contradictory. JEL Classifications: G32; M41; M49; M410. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text.
Aesthetic Experience as an Essential Factor to Trigger Positive Environmental Consciousness

The current environmental attitude models are primarily composed of environmental knowledge, value, and intention. However, environmental aestheticians have maintained that aesthetic experience triggered by nature is the cornerstone of promoting environmental ethics. To verify this belief, this study proposes a new framework, which integrates the rational and emotional approaches, to describe the environmental attitudes of the public. Questionnaires are used to collect data from college students in Taiwan, and a total of 275 valid responses are received. The collected data are analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results support the proposed hypotheses. In addition to reconfirming the importance of environmental knowledge in the traditional models, this study confirms that aesthetic experience is also a determining dimension. The findings show that rational cognition and aesthetic perception complement and interact with each other and can strengthen environmental ethics, thereby enhancing the intention of pro-environmental behavior. The results of this study can serve as a reference for environmental protection or environmental education practice.
Essays in behavioral economics

This thesis contains two theoretical essays on reciprocity and one that analyzes the effects of perception biases on learning and decision-making. In the first chapter, I propose a new theory of intention-based reciprocity that addresses the question of when a mutually beneficial action is kind. When both benefit from the action, a player’s motive is unclear: he may be perceived as kind for improving the other player’s payoff, or as self-interested and not-kind for improving his own. I use trust as an intuitive mechanism to solve this ambiguity. Whenever a player puts himself in a vulnerable position by taking such an action, he can be perceived as kind. In contrast, if this action makes him better off than his alternative actions do, even if it is met by the most selfish response, he cannot be kind. My model explains why papers in the literature fail to find (much) positive reciprocity when players can reward and punish. The second chapter extends my theory of reciprocity to incomplete information. I outline how reciprocity can give rise to pay-what-you-want pricing schemes. In the classic bilateral trade setting, I show that sequential interactions can be more efficient than normal form mechanisms when some people are motivated by reciprocity. Reciprocity creates incentives for information sharing. The last chapter is co-authored with Manuel Staab. We study the effects of perception biases and incorrect priors on learning behavior, and the welfare ranking of information experiments. We find that both types of biases by themselves reduce expected utility in a model where payoff relevant actions also generate informative signals, i.e. when actions constitute information experiments. However, experiments can be affected to different degrees by these biases. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for when any binary ranking of action profiles can be reversed. Building on these findings, we show that an agent can be better off suffering from both biases rather than just one.
Men and women wage differences in Spain and Poland

Men and women wage differences is a widely discuss topic in the literature. Some authors point the fact that size of gender wage gap (GPG) is not the same across wage distribution. GPG ratio is accelerating at the top of it. Thus, the main goal of presented study is to analyse impact of outliers (top earners) on the values of GPG ratio and results of its decomposition. In addition we compare outcomes obtained for Spain and Poland.
Comparison of Neutralization and DNA Restriction Enzyme Methods for Typing Clinical Isolates of Human Adenovirus

Sixty-five adenovirus isolates collected over a 3.5-year period were typed by both standard microneutralization techniques and restriction endonuclease digestion of viral DNA. Of the 65 isolates, 47 (72.3%) representing six adenovirus types could be typed by microneutralization. Eighteen isolates demonstrated partial neutralization with standard antisera to two or more adenovirus serotypes and thus could not be definitively typed. DNA analysis permitted typing of 64 of the 65 isolates (98.5%) (including four isolates which contained mixtures of two adenovirus types), and 12 different types were identified. Neutralization and DNA typing disagreed for five isolates, and in each case, digestion with multiple restriction endonucleases and DNA hybridization studies were consistent with the type assigned by DNA analysis. In addition, the DNA analysis method allowed the identification of genomic variants (genome types) of five adenovirus types. We conclude that typing clinical isolates of adenovirus by restriction endonuclease digestion of viral DNA can be done rapidly, provides additional epidemiological and typing information, and provides fewer ambiguous results than does typing by neutralization.
Prospective evaluation of zirconia posterior fixed partial dentures: 7-year clinical results.

PURPOSE The clinical performance of three- and four-unit fixed partial dentures (FPDs) with frameworks made of yttria partially stabilized zirconia was determined after a mean observational period of 84 months. MATERIALS AND METHODS Seventy-five patients were treated with 99 posterior FPDs. Fifty-one specimens were veneered with an experimental ceramic suitable for titanium and zirconia frameworks; 48 restorations were veneered with a commercially available low-fusing ceramic optimized for zirconia frameworks. All restorations were luted with zinc-phosphate cement. Statistical analysis was performed according to Kaplan-Meier; potential risk factors were analyzed using the Cox regression analysis. RESULTS Nineteen restorations failed completely: 12 due to technical complications, 6 due to biologic complications, and 1 for unknown reasons. The overall survival rate after 84 months was 83.4%. Thirty-two events required clinical intervention for restoration maintenance, resulting in a time-dependent success rate of 57.9% after 84 months. Nineteen dropouts occurred during the follow-up time. None of the evaluated factors showed an association with survival or success of the restorations. CONCLUSIONS After a mean observational period of 7 years, the survival and success rates of zirconia-based posterior FPDs were inferior to those published for metal-ceramic FPDs. The majority of failures were caused by technical complications (material fractures). The main reasons for clinical intervention to maintain function were fractures of the veneering ceramic and decementations.