Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Internal‐external percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage for malignant biliary obstruction: a retrospective analysis

When percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) is required for the management of malignant biliary obstruction, the local policy favours the use of internal–external drains. Regular planned drain exchanges are scheduled, and patients have open access back into the system to minimise complications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the success and complication rate of this method for the palliation of malignant biliary obstruction. The hospital records of 43 consecutive patients who underwent PTBD for malignant biliary obstruction at a single institution between 1 February 2004 and 31 January 2006 were reviewed. Outcomes were examined until January 2008. Biliary decompression was achieved in all 43 patients. The level of obstruction was defined as distal in 24 patients and perihilar in 19 patients. There was one procedure‐related death. There were 91 routine outpatient drain exchanges performed at a median interval of 45 (range 21–64) days. Overall, 24/43 patients encountered 80 discrete complications related to biliary drainage. Fifty‐two non‐scheduled drain exchanges (accounting for 65% of all complications) were performed on an outpatient basis. Fourteen patients were readmitted on a median of one (range 1–3) occasion for a median duration of 3 (range 1–12) days. Median survival was 71 (range 7–850) days. PTBD can be performed with low mortality, but long‐term morbidity remains high despite an aggressive approach to maintaining biliary patency. Providing patients with an open‐access service means the majority of complications can be dealt with on an outpatient basis.
All for One? Family Size and Children's Educational Distribution under Credit Constraints

This paper examines the possibility that a child's years of schooling could increase in the number of siblings, instead of being diminished by competition for parents' resources: if unable to finance the education of their younger children, parents may do so through their older children's labor income. We examine this possibility in a model combining convex returns to education and credit constraints. Our model predicts correlations among family size, years of schooling and birth order, which would not exist when either of these two elements is absent. Empirical patterns shown in the United States, Mexico, and South Korea support the model predictions.
Macroeconomic Theories of Inflation

The study of causes of inflation has probably given rise to one of the most significant macroeconomic debates in the field of economics. In practice; however, it is not always easy to decompose the observed inflation into its monetary, demand-pull, cost-push and structural components. The process is dynamic, and the shocks to prices are mixed. Furthermore, inflation itself may also cause future inflation. This paper, mainly attempts to review and analyze the competing and complementary theories of inflation. The theoretical survey in this research work yielded a six-blocked schematization of origins of inflation; monetary shocks, Demand side, supply-side (or real) shocks, structural and political factors (or the role of institutions). It appeared that inflation is the net result of sophisticated dynamic interactions of these six groups of explanatory factors. That is to say, inflation is always and everywhere a macroeconomic and institutional phenomenon.
Synchronization in Petri Nets

In “Petti nets are Monoids” by Meseguer and Montanari, categories for Petri nets with and without markings are introduced, where the categorical product and coproduct express the joint behavior of nets. However, this framework lacks structure in the sense that there is no categorical technique to define a composition of nets satisfying some given synchronization specification. In this paper, a synchronization operation is proposed which is a functor induced by some given synchronization prescription at the transition level. Moreover, since this operation is also able to represent the asynchronous composition, the fact that some categories of Petri nets lack coproducts (asynchronous composition) is not anymore a restriction for interaction semantics.
The use of 21st century technology in New Zealand primary schools: A systematic literature review

Technology has experienced dramatic advancements in a number of fields, with Education being one of the most prominent. Such advancements have changed the perception, approach and use of technology in multiple fields, including primary education. This paper conducted a systematic literature review by investigating the different methods of technology education and implementation in New Zealand primary schools from the years 2000 to 2015. The evidence showed that various ways of technology implementation and education in primary school education led to positive effects, mostly with increased productivity, enthusiasm levels and critical thinking abilities from the students. The conclusion is that the use of technology as a teaching tool and educational subject resulted in positive outcomes which could be further developed and improved as technology will evolve.
Outcome of cesarean delivery in women with excessive weight gain during pregnancy

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of excessive weight gain during pregnancy on the outcome of cesarean delivery. It was a cohort study comparing the outcome of cesarean delivery between 56 pregnant women with excessive weight gain during pregnancy and 75 pregnant women with no excessive weight gain during pregnancy, consecutively recruited at the Yaounde Gyneco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital, Cameroon. In women delivered by cesarean section, excessive weight gain during pregnancy was found to predispose to: time interval from parietal incision to fetal extraction of more than five minutes, duration of cesarean section more than 60 minutes, blood loss more than 1000 ml during surgery, post-operative maternal complications, especially sepsis, fetal weight >3.5 kg and macrosomia. A systematic screening of excessive weight gain should be offered to all pregnant women, so as to prevent the adverse effects of excessive gestational weight gain on cesarean outcome.
Comparative semen cryopreservation in ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) and pregnancies after laparoscopic intrauterine insemination with frozen-thawed spermatozoa.

A study was conducted to determine an optimum technique for semen cryopreservation and the biological competence of frozen-thawed ferret spermatozoa. Fifty-two fresh electroejaculates from 4 males were evaluated for sperm percentage motility, forward progressive motility, motility index (SMI) and acrosomal integrity. To determine the optimum temperature for maintaining sperm motility in vitro and the influence of glycerol on sperm motility, seminal aliquants were diluted in TEST diluent (containing either 0 or 4% glycerol) and maintained at 25 degrees or 37 degrees C. For cryopreservation, semen was diluted in each of 3 cryodiluents (TEST, PDV, BF5F), cooled for 30 min at 5 degrees C and pelleted on solid CO2 or frozen in 0.25 ml straws (20 degrees C/min to -100 degrees C). Following thawing, SMI and acrosomal integrity were determined. Ten females with maximum vulval swelling were given 90 i.u. human chorionic gonadotrophin and laparoscopically inseminated in utero with spermatozoa previously frozen using the optimum diluent and freeze-thaw method. The maintenance temperature of 25 degrees C was superior (P less than 0.05) to 37 degrees C for sustaining sperm motility, and glycerol did not influence (P greater than 0.05) motility for up to 11 h of culture. After thawing, motile spermatozoa were recovered in all treatment groups, but sperm motility and normal acrosomal ratings were highest using the PDV diluent, the pelleting method and thawing at 37 degrees C (P less than 0.05). Seven of the 10 ferrets (70%) inseminated with spermatozoa frozen by this approach became pregnant and produced 31 kits (mean litter size 4.4; range 1-9 kits). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Urinary concentration of transforming growth factor‐β‐inducible gene‐h3(βig‐h3) in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Aims The expression of TGFβ‐inducible gene h3(βig‐h3) has been used to assess the biological activity of TGFβ in the kidney. In this study, we investigated whether the urinary concentration of βig‐h3 is associated with diabetic nephropathy in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. We also evaluated the relationship between the urinary concentration of βig‐3 and proteinuria and microalbuminuria (AER) in a normal healthy population and in Type 2 diabetes patients.
Ultrastructural Responses in Field-Bleached and Experimentally Stressed Amphistegina gibbosa (Class Foraminifera)

Abstract Amphistegina are the most common foraminifers with algal endosymbionts found on reefs and carbonate shelves worldwide. Like zooxanthellate corals and other reef organisms with algal symbionts, Amphistegina respond to photoxidative stress by bleaching. This paper documents ultrastructural changes that occur during bleaching under field and laboratory conditions. Nine chambers from the outer whorl of each of 22 normal-appearing and 11 partly bleached specimens of Amphistegina gibbosa, which were collected from Conch Reef, Florida, USA, were examined using transmission electron microscopy. The condition and numbers of algal symbionts, as well as the cell area occupied by 10 other intracellular structures of the host, were quantified. Normal-appearing specimens averaged three times more viable symbionts and less than a fourth as many deteriorating symbionts as partly bleached specimens. Foraminifers experimentally exposed to visible light intensities ≥ 13 μmole photon m−2 s−1 for 35 d were statistically similar to partly bleached field specimens in the number and condition of symbionts, and in chamber area occupied by the evaluated host structures. Exposure to 32 °C water temperature at 6–8 μmole photon m−2 s−1 for 28 d induced symbiont loss but did not degrade host endoplasm.
Sonographic findings of IgG4‐related disease of the salivary glands: Case report and review of the literature

IgG4‐related disease is a relatively newly described entity with findings that historically have been confused with a variety of other diseases with markedly different treatments and prognoses, including Sjogren's syndrome and MALT lymphoma. We present a case of IgG4‐related disease of the salivary glands and review the literature on sonographic findings of IgG4‐related disease. By connecting sonographic features of IgG4 disease with common ancillary features of IgG4 disease in other sites (pancreas, hilar lymph nodes, biliary tree, thyroid, and retroperitoneum), radiologists can play a pivotal role in the early diagnosis and identification of IgG4‐related disease. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 46:73–77, 2018;
Physical activity, obesity and survival in diffuse large B‐cell and follicular lymphoma cases

There is limited information concerning the impact of physical activity and obesity on non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) prognosis. We examined the associations between pre‐diagnosis physical activity and body mass index (BMI) with survival in 238 diffuse large B‐cell (DLBCL) and 175 follicular lymphoma cases, with follow‐up from 2000 to 2015. The most physically active DLBCL cases had 41% lower risk of dying in the follow‐up period than the least active [Hazard ratio (HR) = 0·59, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0·36–0·96], while obese follicular lymphoma cases had a 2·5‐fold risk of dying (HR = 2·52, 95% CI = 1·27–5·00) compared with cases with normal BMI. NHL‐specific survival results were similar.
Overnight GLP-1 normalizes fasting but not daytime plasma glucose levels in NIDDM patients.

GLP-1 (7-36 amide) normalizes fasting plasma glucose in NIDDM patients. It was the aim to study the effect of overnight intravenous GLP-1 (7-36 amide) on the following 24 h-glucose profiles. Ten NIDDM patients (7 female, 3 male; age 62 +/- 4 y., BMI (Body-Mass-Index) 29.6 +/- 3.9 kg/m2, duration 10 +/- 7 y. , HbA1c 10.9 +/- 1.3% (normal 4.0-6.1%), treated with glibenclamide and/or metformin) were studied on two occasions in random order: Either GLP-1 (7-36 amide) (Saxon Biochemicals, Hannover, FRG, 1 pmol x kg(-1) x min(-1)) or placebo (0.9% NaCl with 1% human serum albumin, Behringwerke, Marburg, FRG) were infused intravenously from 22:00 to 7:00 (9 h) and plasma glucose profiles were obtained during the GLP-1 infusion and the following 24 hours. GLP-1 (7-36 amide) (plasma concentration 110 +/- 12 pmol/l) raised plasma C-peptide concentrations (p = 0.0005), suppressed glucagon (p = 0.01) and lowered plasma glucose to 5.5 +/- 0.6 and 6.3 +/- 0.4 mmol/l at 3:00 and 7:00 a.m. (vs. 10.3 +/- 0.9 and 11.3 +/- 0.6 mmol/l, p = 0.0003 and p < 0.0001, respectively, with placebo). Thereafter, starting 1 h after breakfast, no significant differences in plasma glucose, insulin, C-peptide or glucagon profiles were found between experiments with GLP-1 (7-36 amide) and placebo. Average plasma glucose concentrations over the whole 24 h period were reduced by 18% by GLP-1 administered overnight. In conclusion, (1) overnight GLP-1 (7-36 amide) normalizes fasting plasma glucose, but (2) has no sustained effect on meal-induced glucose, insulin or glucagon concentrations once its administration has been stopped. (3) Normalization of fasting plasma glucose alone does not improve daytime metabolic control in NIDDM patients on oral agents.
Anatomical and functional intrapulmonary shunt in acute respiratory distress syndrome*

Objectives:The lung-protective strategy employs positive end-expiratory pressure to keep open otherwise collapsed lung regions (anatomical recruitment). Improvement in venous admixture with positive end-expiratory pressure indicates functional recruitment to better gas exchange, which is not necessarily related to anatomical recruitment, because of possible global/regional perfusion modifications. Therefore, we aimed to assess the value of venous admixture (functional shunt) in estimating the fraction of nonaerated lung tissue (anatomical shunt compartment) and to describe their relationship. Design:Retrospective analysis of a previously published study. Setting:Intensive care units of four university hospitals. Patients:Fifty-nine patients with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome. Interventions:Positive end-expiratory pressure trial at 5 and 15 cm H2O positive end-expiratory pressures. Measurements and Main Results:Anatomical shunt compartment (whole-lung computed tomography scan) and functional shunt (blood gas analysis) were assessed at 5 and 15 cm H2O positive end-expiratory pressures. Apparent perfusion ratio (perfusion per gram of nonaerated tissue/perfusion per gram of total lung tissue) was defined as the ratio of functional shunt to anatomical shunt compartment. Functional shunt was poorly correlated to the anatomical shunt compartment (r2 = .174). The apparent perfusion ratio at 5 cm H2O positive end-expiratory pressure was widely distributed and averaged 1.25 ± 0.80. The apparent perfusion ratios at 5 and 15 cm H2O positive end-expiratory pressures were highly correlated, with a slope close to identity (y = 1.10·x −0.03, r2 = .759), suggesting unchanged blood flow distribution toward the nonaerated lung tissue, when increasing positive end-expiratory pressure. Conclusions:Functional shunt poorly estimates the anatomical shunt compartment, due to the large variability in apparent perfusion ratio. Changes in anatomical shunt compartment with increasing positive end-expiratory pressure, in each individual patient, may be estimated from changes in functional shunt, only if the anatomical-functional shunt relationship at 5 cm H2O positive end-expiratory pressure is known.
Mice infected with the larvae of Taenia crassiceps exhibit a Th2-like immune response with concomitant anergy and downregulation of Th1-associated phenomena

SUMMARY Infection of intermediate hosts with eggs of taeniid parasites results in a larval infestation known as cysticercosis. A number of studies have indicated that cysticercosis is associated with immunosuppression, although little is known about the mechanisms involved. In the present study, mice infected with the larvae of Taenia crassiceps were found to exhibit a pronounced anergy, which preferentially affected T-cells located anatomically close to the parasite. This anergy was linked to late events in the T cell activation pathway; that is, stimulation through the T cell receptor(TCR)/CD complex by Concanavalin-A, or plate-bound monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to TCRαβ or CD3ε, or combinations of phorbol ester and ionomycin (all of which can bypass early membrane-related events), failed to fully activate T lymphocytes. The relative proximity of T cells to the parasite was directly related to upregulation of IL-4 and downregulation of IL-2 production. In addition, the profiles of parasite-specific Abs showed an exclusive increase of serum IgG1 during infection. Taken together, the data suggest that infection of mice with larvae of T. crassiceps alters the balance of CD4+ Th cells by upregulating Th2 and downregulating Th1 cells located in close proximity to the parasite.
Assessing Moderation of Employee Engagement on the Relationship between Work Discretion, Job Clarity and Business Performance in the Banking Sector of Pakistan

The present study attempted to examine the role of work discretion and job clarity towards business performance followed by the moderation of employee engagement. Affected by business performance issues, three major banks in Pakistan were sampled for the present study. a total of 300 questionnaires were distributed amongst the employees of these banks in the metropolitan city of Karachi through using convenience sampling. Results from the structural equation modeling using Smart PLS 2.0 concluded significant positive relationship between work discretion and business performance. In parallel, the study also reported similar resulted pertaining to job clarity and business performance relationship. Notably, the study found significant moderation of employee engagement on the relationship between job clarity and business performance hence, partially supporting out moderation hypotheses. The present study forwards credible theoretical and practical implications.
A 71‐YEAR‐OLD WOMAN WITH PSP‐LIKE SYMPTOMS

A 71-year-old female developed dementia, supranuclear gaze palsy, pseudobulbar palsy, dorsiflexion of neck, rigidity of neck, absence of tremor or cog-wheel rigidity of extremities, and postural reflex disturbance. Levodopa/carbidopa prescribed without clinical improvement. Sudden cardiopulmonary arrest on the 24th hospital day was followed by repeated respiratory infection until she died on the 58th hospital day. Ischemic changes were scattered in entire cerebral cortices, putamen, external part of globus pallidus, substantia nigra, pontine nuclei, and cerebellum. Furthermore, Lewy bodies were detected in the substantia nigra, oculomotor nucleus, loci cerulei, and dorsal motor nucleus of vagus. Gallyas-silver impregnation demonstrated argyrophilic structures around hypoxic ischemic foci: the putamen, dentate gyrus and CA4 of hippocampus, cerebral cortices, Purkinje cells, substantia nigra and subthalamic nucleus. These Gallyas-positive structures were 1) negative for AT8, 2) granular in cytoplasm without fibrillary structure, 3) abundant around ischemic foci. Typical tuft-shaped astrocytes were absent. Because trivial ischemic lesions are one of the most frequent findings in human autopsy brains, it is worth paying attention to possible induction of Gallyas-positive structures around ischemic foci for correct interpretation. Correspondence 736 Brain Pathology 22 (2012) 733–736 © 2012 The Authors; Brain Pathology © 2012 International Society of Neuropathology
Fast-scale network dynamics in human cortex have specific spectral covariance patterns

Significance How different cortical regions are coordinated during a cognitive task is fundamentally important to understanding brain function. At rest, the brain is subdivided into different functional networks that are bound together at very slow oscillating time scales. Less is understood about how this networked behavior operates during the brief moments of a cognitive operation. By recording brain signals directly from the surface of the human brain, we find that, when performing a simple speech task, broad cortical regions are transiently bound together by shared patterns of brain oscillations that are frequency specific. In addition to demonstrating that cortical areas are broadly networked, these findings provide a new analytic tool for understanding fast-scale dynamics in the brain. Whether measured by MRI or direct cortical physiology, infraslow rhythms have defined state invariant cortical networks. The time scales of this functional architecture, however, are unlikely to be able to accommodate the more rapid cortical dynamics necessary for an active cognitive task. Using invasively monitored epileptic patients as a research model, we tested the hypothesis that faster frequencies would spectrally bind regions of cortex as a transient mechanism to enable fast network interactions during the performance of a simple hear-and-repeat speech task. We term these short-lived spectrally covariant networks functional spectral networks (FSNs). We evaluated whether spectrally covariant regions of cortex, which were unique in their spectral signatures, provided a higher degree of task-related information than any single site showing more classic physiologic responses (i.e., single-site amplitude modulation). Taken together, our results showing that FSNs are a more sensitive measure of task-related brain activation and are better able to discern phonemic content strongly support the concept of spectrally encoded interactions in cortex. Moreover, these findings that specific linguistic information is represented in FSNs that have broad anatomic topographies support a more distributed model of cortical processing.
Contributions à l'étude de la satisfaction dans les services

L’objectif de cette recherche est d'etudier les modes de contribution des differents elements d'une experience de service a la satisfaction du client. Plus precisement, on souhaite constater et verifier que tous les elements d'une experience de service ne contribuent pas a la satisfaction globale du client en suivant la meme logique. Un modele "tetraclasse" integrant deux logiques principales de contribution, chacune se divisant en deux modes secondaires est propose :. Le poids de certains elements dans la satisfaction globale du client est dynamique, fluctuant. Il depend du niveau de performance percu par le client de ces elements. Cette dependance peut etre soit positive (elements plus), soit negative (elements basiques). D'autres elements contribuent a la satisfaction du client de facon stable, quelle que soit l'evaluation qui en est faite. Cette contribution stable peut etre soit forte (elements cles), soit faible (elements secondaires).