Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A randomized trial of the effect of ritonavir in maintaining quality of life in advanced HIV disease

Background:The aim of treatment for HIV disease is prolonging survival and improvement in health-related quality of life. Ritonavir is a potent, orally bioavailable HIV protease inhibitor with demonstrated impact on surrogate endpoints, AIDS-defining disease, and mortality. Objectives:To evaluate the effect of ritonavir combined with reverse transcriptase inhibitor therapy on patient functioning and well-being. Methods:An international, multicenter randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial of ritonavir was conducted in HIV-infected patients with CD4 cell counts ≤ 100 × 106/l. A total of 1090 patients were randomized to ritonavir and continued treatment with as many as two nucleoside agents (n = 543) or placebo and continued treatment with as many as two nucleoside agents (n = 547). Health-related quality of life was measured at baseline and after 3 and 6 months of treatment using the Medical Outcomes Study HIV Health Survey (MOS-HIV) and HIV-related symptoms scale. MOS-HIV contains 10 subscales and two summary scores (physical health and mental health). Results:The two treatment groups were comparable on baseline CD4 cell counts, demographic characteristics, and MOS-HIV and HIV symptom subscale scores. After 3 months, statistically significant differences (P < 0.03) favoring the ritonavir-treated patients were seen on the physical health summary, mental health summary, and general health perceptions, social function, mental health, and energy/fatigue subscales. After 6 months of ritonavir therapy, significant differences were observed on physical health and mental health summary scores (P < 0.001), and on measures of general health perceptions, physical function, role function, social function, cognitive function, mental health, health distress, energy/fatigue, and overall ratings of quality of life (P < 0.01). Ritonavir-treated patients reported fewer fever symptoms and neurologic symptoms than the placebo group after 6 months of treatment (P ≤ 0.005). Conclusions:Ritonavir therapy, combined with other antiretroviral treatments, significantly contributes to maintenance of functioning and well-being over at least 6 months in patients with advanced HIV disease.
Staff perceptions of workplace violence in a pediatric emergency department.

BACKGROUND A teenage patient with an undiscovered gun in a pediatric emergency department (ED) created risk for violence and high staff stress. OBJECTIVE To describe ED staff views of workplace violence risk to guide improvements and address staff fears. PARTICIPANTS Two hundred thirty four health care staff in a Midwestern pediatric hospital system including ED and urgent care locations. METHODS An electronic survey gathered staff perceptions of workplace safety via multiple choice, forced rank, and narrative responses. Frequency of concern and fear for personal safety from patient or visitor violence was calculated. Events causing fear, and perceptions about presence of local police and hospital security staff, were examined. RESULTS 26% of staff expressed concern for safety at least weekly. Twenty seven percent experienced situations causing fear at least monthly. Primary causes of fear were patient or visitor agitation (with violence potential) and weapons in the ED. Respondents would feel ``more safe'' with increased presence from hospital security staff (55%) and local police (71%). CONCLUSIONS Workplace violence occurs in pediatric emergency departments. Both real and perceived threats must be addressed for staff wellbeing. Utilization of staff perception of risk and improvement ideas is a valuable strategy to guide violence reduction at work.
Optimal Replication of Poliovirus within Cells

We construct a mathematical model of the within‐cell replication of poliovirus, a prototypic RNA virus, and use realistic parameter estimates to describe the increase of copy number of the viral genome. Our initial model is essentially an exponential growth model; we also consider modifications of this model to account for resource utilization. The saturation of viral replication dynamics observed in experimental systems can be explained in terms of heavy resource use by the virus. We then use our models to consider the conditions under which the growth of poliovirus is optimized. Intriguingly, if poliovirus has optimized its replication within cells, the predicted ratio of positive to negative strands is close to what is actually observed. We interpret our findings in terms of the evolution of life‐history traits.
Neurofibromatosis type 1

Background: Cognitive impairment and fine motor deficits are frequent manifestations in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). More than 50% of patients with NF1 show focal areas of high signal intensity (T2H) on T2-weighted MRI of the brain. It has been hypothesized that T2H may be associated with the cognitive and motor problems. Methods: The authors investigated 100 patients with NF1 and 100 healthy control subjects matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic status for their IQ (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised [WISC-R] and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised [WAIS-R]), fine motor abilities (Motorische Leistungs-Serie [motor performance task]), and T2H (MRI). Results: As a group, the 100 patients performed within normal limits of WISC-R and WAIS-R scores. However, the scores for the NF1 patients with normal MRI were at the mean, whereas those for the patients who had T2H (n = 58) were significantly depressed. On measures of fine motor skills, patients with T2H performed poorer than patients with normal MRI. Conclusion: Hyperintensities on T2-weighted MRI represent a biological marker for impaired cognitive and fine motor performance in patients with NF1.
Rate Equations for 1.3-$\mu$ m Dots-Under-a-Well and Dots-in-a-Well Self-Assembled InAs–GaAs Quantum-Dot Lasers

A rate-equation model, in which three discrete quantum-dot (QD) energy levels are assumed and all possible relaxation paths and carrier transport in the GaAs barrier are considered, is presented to analyze the steady-state performance of 1.3 mum undoped and doped dots-under-a-well (DUW) and dots-in-a-well (DWELL) InAs-GaAs QD lasers. DWELL QD lasers have higher saturation value of QD level occupation probabilities and characteristic temperature (T0) than that of DUW QD lasers due to the improvement of hole confinement. The p-doped QD laser shows lower threshold current density than n-doped QD laser at the same threshold condition, and the T0 of n-doped DWELL laser is higher than that of p-doped DWELL laser at room temperature. Optimized QD layer number of DUW and DWELL QD lasers with different QD density is discussed
Family Burden, Participation in Care and Mental Health - an 11-Year Comparison of the Situation of Relatives To Compulsorily and Voluntarily Admitted Patients

The changes in fiamily burden and participation in care of relatives to both voluntarily and compulsorily admitted patients were investigated as part of a longitudinal study of the quality of the mental health services in a Swedish county perfiorrned between 1986 and 1997. The relationship between the relative's mental health and family burden, participation in care and need of own support was also investigated. The results showed similar and high levels of burden and a non-sufficient participation in care in both periods investigated despite the ongoing changes in the delivery of psychiatric services and a change in the compulsory legislation in Sweden during the period. More relatives experienced an own need of care and support from the psychiatric services in the 1997 investigation. Relatives who experienced mental health problems of their own more often experienced other forms of burden, experienced less participation in the patient's treatment and also more often had own needs of care and support. It is concluded that interventions in families where relatives experience mental health problems will be useful, since a well-functioning network around the mentally ill person has shown to reduce relapse.
The Profits and Losses of Short Sellers

We show that short sellers are constrained by their losses. Using unique data on the mark-to-market proﬁts of short sellers of U.S. stocks, we document an asymmetric response of short selling to gains versus losses. Short selling substantially falls following large losses but does not respond to gains. Consistent with recent theory linking funding constraints to trading activity, short selling is more aﬀected by losses among stocks subject to higher margin requirements. The well-documented predictive power of short interest for future returns falls with the fraction of short positions experiencing losses, indicating that loss-making short selling is less informed. We conclude that even though short selling is aﬀected by funding constraints, limits to arbitrage are mitigated as the constraints are more binding for its most uninformed component.
The Convergence of The Systems of Education at Scottish and Ukrainian Universities in the Context of Ethic Leadership

The globalization of educational space shows that university education should meet the needs of society based on the ethical principles of interaction between participants of educational process and use innovative teaching methods. Therefore the purpose of the study is to substantiate the importance of convergence of systems of education at Scottish and Ukrainian universities in order to provide ethical leadership in the field of education. A systematic approach to the realization of the purpose of the study allowed solving the main tasks: systematization of the strengths of Scottish education, justification of the impact of university social responsibility on providing ethical leadership in education, comparing the main indicators of the process of providing educational services in Scotland and Ukraine.As a result, it is established that the synergetic effect from the application of the concept of ethical leadership is achieved as a result of the interaction of all participants in the educational process, namely: the state (awareness and realization of the social mission to develop the potential of youth); universities (development of educational programs taking into account the needs of modern society and the use of teaching methods capable of forming the necessary competences for future specialists); students (interest in obtaining quality education).
Toxicity and efficacy of the acetylcholinesterase (AChe) inhibitor donepezil in childhood brain tumor survivors: A pilot study

Neurocognitive deficits are a recognized late effect of curative brain tumor therapy. We evaluated the feasibility, tolerance, and impact of a pilot pharmacologic intervention with the acetylcholinesterase (AChe) inhibitor, donepezil, in pediatric brain tumor (BT) survivors at risk for neurocognitive dysfunction.
SONOMA: A Small Open ecoNOmy for MAcrofinance

We develop a new small open economy model (SONOMA) in which domestic corporate debt and equities are affected by shocks to both external credit and equity markets. In a novel empirical analysis of several small-but-developed economies, we show that both external debt and equity shocks are important determinants of domestic economic fluctuations, corporate leverage, and net foreign asset positions. SONOMA replicates our empirical facts about asset prices, financial flows, and economic activity.
An increase of oxidative stress markers and the alteration of the antioxidant enzymatic system are associated with spleen damage caused by methimazole-induced hypothyroidism

Methimazole is the most widely used antithyroid drug in Europe and North America, but it causes several undesirable side effects, such as hematological dysfunctions and immunosuppression. Our aim in this work was to compare, over a time course, markers of oxidative stress, the redox environment, the antioxidant enzymatic system, and the glutathione cycle in the spleen of rats with methimazole- or thyroidectomy-caused hypothyroidism. We used 70-male Wistar rats divided into four groups: 1) euthyroid; 2) sham thyroidectomy; 3) thyroidectomy-caused hypothyroidism, with parathyroid reimplant; and 4) methimazole-caused hypothyroidism. Five rats of the euthyroid- and methimazole-caused hypothyroidism groups were killed at the end of weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 after treatment, and 5 rats of the sham thyroidectomy and thyroidectomy-caused hypothyroidism groups were killed at the end of weeks 2, 4, and 8 after the surgical procedure. Each spleen was excised and stored at −70°C until oxidative stress, REDOX environment, and the antioxidant enzymatic-system markers were tested. The histological study showed that only methimazole-induced hypothyroidism caused cell damage. This damage was associated with an increase of oxidative-stress markers that were not compensated for by the antioxidant system. The increase of the glutathione-cycle enzymes was insufficient to prevent oxidative-stress markers. Methimazole causes oxidative stress and cell damage in the spleen, whereas hypothyroidism per se does not cause cell damage in this organ. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new antithyroid drugs without causing oxidative stress and cellular damage.
The Valuation of Cryptocurrencies in Single-Asset and Multiple-Asset Models

Cryptocurrencies are virtual currencies employed in blockchain transactions. They are particularly worthy of theoretical examination, given the limited academic literature on the subject. This paper constructs valuation models of bitcoin and altcoins, both as single investments and components of mutliple-asset portfolios. As single investments, cryptocurrencies are valued at the confluence of Legendre utility functions, with Esscher transformed Geometric Levy pricing processes. As part of portfolios, cryptocurrencies are contained in traditional Markowitz portfolios which are varied by increasing the proportion of the riskless asset, shorting the risky asset, or adding currency options. Theoretical formulations show that Markowitz models combined with bitcoin, located on the Capital Market Line (which we term CML portfolios), have low returns, mainly due to the presence of the riskless asset. Such portfolios are appropriately suited to the investment goals of risk-averse traders, while overlooking the preferences of risk-takers. To satisfy less risk-averse investors, we propose a high-return portfolio with 9 asset choices, consisting of risky assets, cryptocurrencies, US dollars, soybean futures, Treasury bond futures, oil futures, currency options on the US dollar, currency options on the Mexican peso, and technology, or biotechnology stocks. Laplace transforms are employed to suppress volatility, skewness, or kurtosis of returns, which empirical studies have found to contribute to tail risk contained in outliers in fat-tailed distributions.
PD-1 deficiency reveals various tissue-specific autoimmunity by H-2b and dose-dependent requirement of H-2g7 for diabetes in NOD mice

Although many autoimmune diseases are associated with particular HLA/H-2 haplotypes, the mechanisms through which specific HLA/H-2 haplotypes afford autoimmune susceptibility remain enigmatic. Here, we analyzed the effects of the diabetes-associated (H-2g7) and an antidiabetogenic (H-2b) H-2 haplotypes in NOD mice deficient for programmed cell death-1 (PD-1, Pdcd1), a unique model of type 1 diabetes that confers complete penetrance and rapid onset of the disease. NOD-H2b/bPdcd1−/− mice were completely protected from diabetes, confirming that H-2g7 is indispensable for diabetes even in the absence of PD-1. However, NOD-H2b/bPdcd1−/− mice developed autoimmune inflammation in multiple tissues including peripheral nerves, stomachs, and exocrine tissues, demonstrating that autoreactive T cells are generated in the context of H-2b. These autoreactive T cells damaged target tissues only in the absence of PD-1, confirming that PD-1 deficiency unravels the hidden autoimmune susceptibility of the strain by reducing the threshold of T cell activation. Transfer experiments revealed that CD4 T cells are the effector cells of neuritis, and nerve-infiltrating CD4 T cells are strongly deviated toward Th1. Interestingly, neuritogenic T cells were also generated in the context of H-2g7, in sharp contrast to the strict requirement of H-2g7 for diabetes. In addition, 60% of the NOD-H2b/g7Pdcd1−/− mice developed diabetes, suggesting that H-2b does not dominantly suppress diabetes and that H-2g7 induces diabetes in a dose-dependent fashion.
Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Adult and Neonatal Sources : A Comparative In Vitro Analysis of Their Immunosuppressive Properties Against T Cells

Bone marrow-mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs) have immunosuppressive properties and have been used in cell therapies as immune regulators for the treatment of graft-versus-host disease. We have previously characterized several biological properties of MSCs from placenta (PL) and umbilical cord blood (UCB), and compared them to those of BM—the gold standard. In the present study, we have compared MSCs from BM, UCB, and PL in terms of their immunosuppressive properties against lymphoid cell populations enriched for CD3 + T cells. Our results confirm the immunosuppressive potential of BM-MSCs, and demonstrate that MSCs from UCB and, to a lesser extent PL, also have immunosuppressive potential. In contrast to PL-MSCs, BMMSCs and UCB-MSCs significantly inhibited the proliferation of both CD4 + and CD8 + activated T cells in a cell–cell contact-dependent manner. Such a reduced proliferation in cell cocultures correlated with upregulation of programmed death ligand 1 on MSCs and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated Ag-4 (CTLA-4) on T cells, and increased production of interferon-g, interleukin-10, and prostaglandin E2. Importantly, and in contrast to PL-MSCs, both BM-MSCs and UCB-MSCs favored the generation of T-cell subsets displaying a regulatory phenotype CD4 + CD25 + CTLA-4 + . Our results indicate that, besides BM-MSCs, UCB-MSCs might be a potent and reliable candidate for future therapeutic applications.
Torchvision the machine-vision package of torch

This paper presents Torchvision an open source machine vision package for Torch. Torch is a machine learning library providing a series of the state-of-the-art algorithms such as Neural Networks, Support Vector Machines, Gaussian Mixture Models, Hidden Markov Models and many others. Torchvision provides additional functionalities to manipulate and process images with standard image processing algorithms. Hence, the resulting images can be used directly with the Torch machine learning algorithms as Torchvision is fully integrated with Torch. Both Torch and Torchvision are written in C++ language and are publicly available under the Free-BSD License.
Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Cumulative Environmental Health Impacts in California: Evidence From a Statewide Environmental Justice Screening Tool (CalEnviroScreen 1.1).

OBJECTIVES We used an environmental justice screening tool (CalEnviroScreen 1.1) to compare the distribution of environmental hazards and vulnerable populations across California communities. METHODS CalEnviroScreen 1.1 combines 17 indicators created from 2004 to 2013 publicly available data into a relative cumulative impact score. We compared cumulative impact scores across California zip codes on the basis of their location, urban or rural character, and racial/ethnic makeup. We used a concentration index to evaluate which indicators were most unequally distributed with respect to race/ethnicity and poverty. RESULTS The unadjusted odds of living in one of the 10% most affected zip codes were 6.2, 5.8, 1.9, 1.8, and 1.6 times greater for Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and other or multiracial individuals, respectively, than for non-Hispanic Whites. Environmental hazards were more regressively distributed with respect to race/ethnicity than poverty, with pesticide use and toxic chemical releases being the most unequal. CONCLUSIONS Environmental health hazards disproportionately burden communities of color in California. Efforts to reduce disparities in pollution burden can use simple screening tools to prioritize areas for action.
Intravesical chemotherapy plus bacille Calmette‐Guérin in non‐muscle invasive bladder cancer: a systematic review with meta‐analysis

Non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer has a significant recurrence and progression rate despite transurethral resection. The current standard of care to lower the risk of recurrence and progression is adjuvant BCG followed by maintenance BCG. Despite this, a significant number of patients experience recurrence and progress to invasive cancer. Several randomized trials have studied combination therapy (BCG with chemotherapy) to try to reduce the recurrence and progression rate. We performed a systematic review with meta‐analysis and found that adjuvant BCG followed by maintenance therapy is the appropriate standard of care when compared with combination therapy. We conclude that further trials are warranted to test the effects of adding chemotherapy to BCG in patients with Ta or T1 disease, but not in those with Tis alone.
Bitcoin Awareness and Usage in Canada: An Update

This article provides an update of the results of the 2017 Bitcoin Omnibus Survey (BTCOS) conducted by the Bank of Canada from December 12 to 15, 2017. The BTCOS was previously conducted in November and December 2016 and the results were reported in Henry, Huynh, and Nicholls (2017, forthcoming). The 2017 survey took place in an interesting time, as Bitcoin prices were increasing and reached an all-time high on December 17, 2017. During this period, the level of awareness of Bitcoin increased from 64 percent in the 2016 BTCOS to 85 percent in the 2017 BTCOS, while ownership rose from 2.9 to 5.0 percent respectively. The main reason cited by survey participants for owning Bitcoin changed from transactional purposes in 2016 to investment purposes in 2017. Further, only about half of Bitcoin owners were found to regularly use Bitcoin to buy goods or services or to send money to other people.
Accounting for Intangibles: Can Capitalization of R&D Improve Investment Efficiency?

This paper investigates the potential for accounting rules to mitigate under‐investment induced by myopic managerial incentives. It exploits the difference within US GAAP requiring the capitalization of some research and development (R&D) costs in software development but proscribing the capitalization of R&D in other industries. We first investigate whether other hi‐technology firms with no capitalization of R&D costs suffer higher levels of under‐investment in myopic settings relative to software development firms. Second, we investigate whether the capitalization rule assists in mitigating under‐investment within the software development industry, and whether this comes at the cost of over‐investment in the presence of financial flexibility. Our findings are consistent with the mitigation of under‐investment in the software development setting but we find no evidence of over‐investment in the presence of high financial flexibility. Other hi‐tech firms that cannot capitalize R&D costs suffer higher levels of under‐investment relative to software development firms. Finally, we find that the ability to capitalize for the sample of software firms does reduce the probability of cutting R&D investment when managers are under earnings pressure. The findings in this paper are relevant to standard setters seeking to understand the costs imposed by (understandably) conservative accounting rules, and how verification of points of feasibility alongside less conservative accounting can prevent dysfunctional investment outcomes. This is the first study to consider whether the ability to (justifiably) capitalize the costs of internally generated intangibles can improve investment efficiency (the allocation of resources).