Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of prophylactic fenoldopam infusion on renal blood flow and renal tubular function during acute hypovolemia in anesthetized dogs

ObjectiveIt was hypothesized that fenoldopam mesylate, a selective dopamine agonist, may preserve renal perfusion and decrease tubular oxygen consumption during states of hypoperfusion, such as hypovolemic shock. The objective of this study was to quantify the effects of fenoldopam (0.1 &mgr;g·kg−1·min−1) on renal blood flow, urine output, creatinine clearance, and sodium clearance in pentobarbital anesthetized dogs that had undergone partial exsanguination to acutely decrease cardiac output. DesignProspective, randomized, controlled experiment. SettingUniversity-based animal laboratory and research unit. SubjectsEight female beagle dogs. InterventionsArterial blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac output, renal blood flow, urine output, creatinine clearance, and fractional excretion of sodium were measured and calculated at four times: a) before infusion of fenoldopam or normal saline; b) during infusion of fenoldopam or normal saline (1 hr); c) during a 90-min period of hypovolemia (induced by acute partial exsanguination), with concurrent infusion of fenoldopam or normal saline; and d) during a 1-hr period after retransfusing the dogs. Measurements and Main Results Administration of fenoldopam (0.1 &mgr;g·kg−1·min−1) was not associated with hemodynamic instability. Renal blood flow and urine output decreased significantly from baseline (p < .01) during the hypovolemic period in the placebo group (72 ± 20 to 47 ± 6 mL/min and 0.26 ± 0.15 to 0.08 ± 0.05 mL/min, respectively) but not in the fenoldopam group (75 ± 14 to 73 ± 17 mL/min and 0.3 ± 0.19 to 0.14 ± 0.05 mL/min, respectively). Creatinine clearance and fractional excretion of sodium decreased significantly from baseline (p < .01) in the placebo group during the hypovolemic period (3.0 ± 0.4 to 1.8 ± 0.8 mL·kg−1·min−1 and 1.7% ± 0.9% to 0.4% ± 0.2%, respectively) but not in the dogs that received fenoldopam (3.0 ± 1.0 to 2.9 ± 0.5 mL·kg−1·min−1 and 1.9% ± 1.1% to 1.7% ± 2.7%, respectively). ConclusionsFenoldopam ablated the tubular prerenal response to profound hypovolemia and maintained renal blood flow, glomerular filtration rate, and natriuresis without causing hypotension. This suggests that fenoldopam may have a renoprotective effect in acute ischemic injury.
The Impact of Oil Price Shocks on the Returns in China’s Stock Market

Abstract: The main goal of this paper is to study the relationship between oil price shocks and mainland China’s stock market. From empirical study, we have found that the impact of oil price shocks on stock prices in China has been mixed. In contrast to the conventional wisdom that higher oil prices may cause lower stock prices, positive shocks to oil-market-specific demand resulted in both higher real oil prices and higher stock prices, which helps explain the boom of the Chinese stock market as oil prices were increasing in 2007. However, global oil demand and supply shocks had no significant effects.
Time to Tenure: Does Tenure Reform Affect Teacher Absence Behavior and Mobility? Working Paper 172.

We rely on natural experiments in North Carolina and Washington State, which previously extended time to tenure by one year, to estimate models that assess the relationship between the extended probationary period and absence and attrition outcomes for teachers affected by the new tenure laws. Across both states we find evidence of decreases in teacher absences for probationary teachers who are subject to the new extended tenure laws, and in Washington, we find a significant reduction in absences in the specific year in which tenure was extended. We find mixed evidence for teacher attrition and mobility.
A multidisciplinary reconstruction of Palaeolithic nutrition that holds promise for the prevention and treatment of diseases of civilisation

Evolutionary medicine acknowledges that many chronic degenerative diseases result from conflicts between our rapidly changing environment, our dietary habits included, and our genome, which has remained virtually unchanged since the Palaeolithic era. Reconstruction of the diet before the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions is therefore indicated, but hampered by the ongoing debate on our ancestors' ecological niche. Arguments and their counterarguments regarding evolutionary medicine are updated and the evidence for the long-reigning hypothesis of human evolution on the arid savanna is weighed against the hypothesis that man evolved in the proximity of water. Evidence from various disciplines is discussed, including the study of palaeo-environments, comparative anatomy, biogeochemistry, archaeology, anthropology, (patho)physiology and epidemiology. Although our ancestors had much lower life expectancies, the current evidence does neither support the misconception that during the Palaeolithic there were no elderly nor that they had poor health. Rather than rejecting the possibility of ‘healthy ageing’, the default assumption should be that healthy ageing posed an evolutionary advantage for human survival. There is ample evidence that our ancestors lived in a land–water ecosystem and extracted a substantial part of their diets from both terrestrial and aquatic resources. Rather than rejecting this possibility by lack of evidence, the default assumption should be that hominins, living in coastal ecosystems with catchable aquatic resources, consumed these resources. Finally, the composition and merits of so-called ‘Palaeolithic diets’, based on different hominin niche-reconstructions, are evaluated. The benefits of these diets illustrate that it is time to incorporate this knowledge into dietary recommendations.
Estimating daily fat yield from a single milking on test day for herds with a robotic milking system.

The objective of this study was to estimate the daily fat yield and fat percentage from one sampled milking per cow per test day in an automatic milking system herd, when the milking times and milk yields of all individual milkings are recorded by the automatic milking system. Multiple regression models were used to estimate the 24-h fat percentage when only one milking is sampled for components and milk yields and milking times are known for all milkings in the 24-h period before the sampled milking. In total, 10,697 cow test day records, from 595 herd tests at 91 Dutch herds milked with an automatic milking system, were used. The best model to predict 24-h fat percentage included fat percentage, protein percentage, milk yield and milking interval of the sampled milking, milk yield, and milking interval of the preceding milking, and the interaction between milking interval and the ratio of fat and protein percentage of the sampled milking. This model gave a standard deviation of the prediction error (SE) for 24-h fat percentage of 0.321 and a correlation between the predicted and actual 24-h fat percentage of 0.910. For the 24-h fat yield, we found SE = 90 g and correlation = 0.967. This precision is slightly better than that of present a.m.-p.m. testing schemes. Extra attention must be paid to correctly matching the sample jars and the milkings. Furthermore, milkings with an interval of less than 4 h must be excluded from sampling as well as milkings that are interrupted or that follow an interrupted milking. Under these restrictions (correct matching, interval of at least 4 h, and no interrupted milking), one sampled milking suffices to get a satisfactory estimate for the test-day fat yield.
Correlates of second-line type 2 diabetes medication selection in the USA

Objective Past research provides insufficient evidence to inform second-line diabetes medication prescribing when metformin is no longer sufficient. We evaluated patient, prescriber, and health plan characteristics associated with selection of second-line diabetes medications in the USA. Research design and methods We used a multiple case-comparison study design to identify characteristics associated with the probability of starting each of six second-line diabetes medication alternatives within 77 744 adults enrolled in commercial or Medicare Advantage health plans from 2011 to 2015. National administrative data were provided by a large commercial health payer. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to identify characteristics independently associated with selecting each diabetes drug class. Results From 2011 to 2015, sulfonylureas still represented 47% of all second-line drug starts, with proportionately higher use in patients ≥75 years of age (63% of drug starts). Basal insulin was more likely to be selected when a past A1c test result was >10% (13.0% vs 4.5% for those with A1c <8%; p<0.001). Initiation of a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist was associated with being female (10.1% vs 6.0% for male; p<0.001) and having a diagnosis code for obesity (10.8% vs 6.9% for no diagnosis; p<0.001). For all drug classes, the recent prescribing behavior of the provider was a strong correlate of subsequent second-line drug selection. Conclusions Sulfonylureas continue to represent almost half of second-line diabetes medication starts in the USA. This could reflect overuse for some groups such as older adults, for whom some alternatives may be safer, although more costly and potentially less effective. Future research should compare outcomes of medication choices and conditions under which particular classes are most effective.
Analysis of Quantum-Dot Spin-VCSELs

The derivation of a set of rate equations (REs) to describe optically pumped quantum-dot (QD) spin-injected vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) is presented based on a modified version of the spin-flip model. The approach includes capture of spin-up and spin-down electrons from the wetting layer into the ground state of the QD and also coupling between left- and right-circularly polarized fields caused by birefringence and dichroism. Numerical solutions of the REs are presented in the form of stability maps in the plane of pump polarization and total pump intensity; examples of calculated time series of the polarized field components are also given for specific cases of interest. The values of the spin-relaxation rate, the carrier capture rate, and the gain parameter are shown to have a significant effect on the dynamics of quantum-dot spin-VCSELs.
Farmers’ participation in extension programs and technology adoption in rural Nepal: a logistic regression analysis

ABSTRACT Purpose: This paper examines the factors affecting farmers’ participation in extension programs and adoption of improved seed varieties in the hills of rural Nepal. Methodology/approach: Cross-sectional farm-level data were collected during July and August 2014. A sample of 198 farm households was selected for interviewing by using a multistage, random sampling technique. We employed a logistic regression model, frequency counts, and percentages to analyze the data. Findings: Adoption decisions were mainly affected by extension-related variables – training, membership in a farmers’ group, and off-farm employment. Extension participation was found to be influenced by socioeconomic variables – age, education, household size, and distance to the extension office. Our findings reveal that distance to the extension office and off-farm employment limited participation in extension activities and adoption, respectively, and education, household size, and group membership stimulated participation in extension programs. Practical implications: Recognition of the determinants of farmers’ participation in extension services and innovation adoption ensures that targeted extension approaches are used to address these factors in various stages of planning, delivering, and evaluating extension programs. Theoretical implications: Innovation adoption follows a systematic decision-making process. Although personal characteristics are important, widespread use of new technology requires a conducive social and institutional context. Because contexts vary by country or region, extension services providers should create institutions favorable for innovation adoption within a social system. Originality/value: This research is original and highly valuable to identify the factors associated with extension participation and innovation adoption in the rural hilly region of Nepal. This also provides a new direction to operationalize farmer-oriented policies of agricultural extension and so can be helpful for agricultural policy-makers in devising programs of extension services.
Measurement and interpretation of QT dispersion.

QT dispersion was proposed as an index of the spatial inhomogeneity of ventricular recovery times. The results of studies that found significant correlation between dispersion of ventricular recovery times measured with monophasic action potentials and QT dispersion were interpreted as proof of the direct link between QT dispersion and the dispersion of ventricular recovery times. Later it was shown that QT dispersion is not a direct reflection of the spatial variation of the recovery times and cannot be used for quantification of this variation. The interlead variability of the QT intervals is a result of different projections of the spatial T-wave loop into the various electrocardiographic leads. The reliability of both manual and automatic measurement of QT dispersion is low and is often of the order of the differences of Qt dispersion between different patient groups. The measurement reliability is influenced by intrinsic factors (e.g., amplitude of the T wave) and extrinsic factors (e.g., noise, paper speed of recording, instruments for manual measurements, and type of algorithm and interalgorithmic settings for automatic measurement). There is very little to choose between the different indices of expression of QT dispersion, as well as between the different lead configurations used for its measurement. QT dispersion is not simply a result of measurement error, but a crude measure of abnormalities during the whole course of repolarization. Only grossly prolonged QT dispersion (e.g., > or =100 ms), must be interpreted simply as a sign of the abnormal course of the repolarization, and inferences about the actual dispersion of the ventricular recovery times should not be made. Newer concepts of assessment of the morphology of the T wave are already emerging and will probably be of higher clinical value.
A New Heuristic for the Data Clustering Problem

This paper presents a new heuristic for the data clustering problem. It comprises two parts. The first part is a greedy algorithm, which selects the data points that can act as the centroids of well-separated clusters. The second part is a single-solution-based heuristic, which performs clustering with the objective of optimizing a cluster validity index. Single-solution-based heuristics are memory efficient as compared with population-based heuristics. The proposed heuristic is inspired from evolutionary algorithms (EAs) and consists of five main components: 1) genes; 2) fitness of genes; 3) selection; 4) mutation operation; and 5) diversification. The attributes of the centroids of clusters are considered as genes. The fitness of a gene is a function of two factors: 1) difference between its value and the same attribute of the mean of the data points assigned to its cluster and 2) the frequency with which it has been mutated in previous iterations. The genes that have low fitness values should be updated through the mutation operation. The mutation operation performs small change (positive or negative) in the value of the gene. The mutants are accepted if they are better (with respect to objective function) than their parents. However, diversification in the search process is maintained by allowing, with a small probability, the mutants to replace their parents even they are not better than them. The objective functions used in the proposed heuristic are Calinski Harabasz index and Dunn index. The proposed algorithm has been experimented using real-life numeric data sets of UCI repository. The number of data points and number of attributes in the datasets lie between 150–11 000 and 4–60, respectively. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm performs better than two standard EAs: 1) simulated annealing algorithm and 2) differential evolution algorithm and a genetic algorithm-based clustering method.
Theory of the Time-Reversal Operator for a Dielectric Cylinder Using Separate Transmit and Receive Arrays

The DORT method applies to scattering analysis with arrays of transceivers. It consists in the study of the time-reversal invariants. In this paper, a large dielectric cylinder is observed by separate transmit and receive arrays with linear polarizations, E or H, parallel to its axis. The decomposition of the scattered field into normal modes and projected harmonics is used to determine the theoretical time-reversal invariants. It is shown that the number of invariants is about 2k 1 a , where a is the cylinder radius and k 1 the wave number in the surrounding medium. Furthermore, this approach provides approximated expressions of the two first invariants for a sub-resolved cylinder, i.e., when the cylinder diameter is smaller than the resolution width of the arrays. The two first invariants are also expressed in the small object limit for k1a. AMS subject classifications. 35B40, 35P25, 45A05, 74J20,78M35.
Radiofrequency ablation for autonomously functioning thyroid nodules: a multicenter study.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study is to validate the generalizability of the efficacy and safety of radiofrequency (RF) ablation for treating autonomously functioning thyroid nodules (AFTN) in a large population multicenter study. METHODS This study included 44 patients from 5 institutions who refused or were not suitable for surgery or radioiodine therapy. Twenty-three patients were affected by a toxic nodule and 21 by a pretoxic nodule. RF ablation was performed using an 18-gauge, internally cooled electrode. Nodule volume, thyroid function, scintigraphy, symptom/cosmetic scores, and complications were evaluated before treatment and during each follow-up. RESULTS The mean follow-up period was 19.9±12.6 months. The mean nodule volume was initially 18.5±30.1 mL and significantly decreased after treatment at 1 month (11.8±26.9 mL, p<0.001) and the last month (4.5±9.8 mL, p<0.001). Significant improvement of triiodothyronine, free thyroxine, and thyrotropin was observed at the last follow-up. Regarding scintigraphy, 35 hot nodules became cold or were normal when scanned and 9 decreased uptake, although they remained hot nodules. The mean symptom and cosmetic scores were significantly reduced at the last follow-up. No major complications were encountered. CONCLUSIONS This multicenter study validated the efficacy and safety of RF ablation for treating AFTN; RF ablation can be considered an alternative to surgery or radioiodine therapy.
Neurologist care in Parkinson disease

Objective: To investigate the utilization of neurologist providers in the treatment of patients with Parkinson disease (PD) in the United States and determine whether neurologist treatment is associated with improved clinical outcomes. Methods: This was a retrospective observational cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries with PD in the year 2002. Multilevel logistic regression was used to determine which patient characteristics predicted neurologist care between 2002 and 2005 and compare the age, race, sex, and comorbidity-adjusted annual risk of skilled nursing facility placement and hip fracture between neurologist- and primary care physician–treated patients with PD. Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the adjusted 6-year risk of death using incident PD cases, stratified by physician specialty. Results: More than 138,000 incident PD cases were identified. Only 58% of patients with PD received neurologist care between 2002 and 2005. Race and sex were significant demographic predictors of neurologist treatment: women (odds ratio [OR] 0.78, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.76–0.80) and nonwhites (OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.79–0.87) were less likely to be treated by a neurologist. Neurologist-treated patients were less likely to be placed in a skilled nursing facility (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.77–0.82) and had a lower risk of hip fracture (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.80–0.92) in logistic regression models that included demographic, clinical, and socioeconomic covariates. Neurologist-treated patients also had a lower adjusted likelihood of death (hazard ratio 0.78, 95% CI 0.77–0.79). Conclusions: Women and minorities with PD obtain specialist care less often than white men. Neurologist care of patients with PD may be associated with improved selected clinical outcomes and greater survival.
AUTOIMMUNE NEUROLOGICAL AND RHEUMATIC DISEASES: ROLE OF CHRONIC INFECTIONS IN MORBIDITY AND PROGRESSION

Autoimmune neurological and rheumatic diseases unfortunately do not have known causes, and in most cases, effective treatments. Although there has been tremendous progress in the last few years on these diseases, they still remain among the most difficult diseases to manage. The Institute for Molecular Medicine has been working with its affiliated institutions to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to treating autoimmune diseases.
S‐Nitrosylation of Viral Proteins: Molecular Bases for Antiviral Effect of Nitric Oxide

Nitric oxide (NO) is considered an important signaling molecule implied in various different physiological processes, including nervous transmission, vascular regulation, and immune defence, as well as the pathogenesis of several diseases. NO reportedly also has an antiviral effect on several DNA and RNA virus families. The NO‐mediated S‐nitrosylation of viral and host (macro)molecules appears to be an intriguing general mechanism for the control of the virus life cycle. In this respect, NO is able to nitrosylate cysteine‐containing enzymes (e.g., proteases, reverse transcriptase, and ribonucleotide reductase). Moreover, zinc‐fingers and related domains present in enzymes (e.g., HIV‐1 encoded integrase or herpes simplex virus type‐1 heterotrimeric helicase primase complex) or nucleocapsid proteins may beconsidered as NO targets. Also, NO may regulate both host (e.g., nuclear factor‐kappaB) and viral‐encoded (e.g., HIV‐1 tat protein or Epstein‐Barr virus Zta) transcriptional factors that are involved in virus replication. Finally, NO‐mediated S‐nitrosylation of cysteine‐containing glycoproteins and hemagglutinin may also occur. Here, NO targets are summarised, and the molecular bases for the antiviral effect of NO are discussed.
Long‐ and short‐term intravital imaging reveals differential spatiotemporal recruitment and function of myelomonocytic cells after spinal cord injury

• Inflammatory cells such as myelomonocytic cells are key players in the progression and recovery from spinal cord injury (SCI). • However, the precise spatiotemporal distributions and roles of different subpopulations of myelomonocytic cells remain unclear in part because their dynamics have not been examined in vivo. • Using chronic in vivo two‐photon microscopy techniques in adult transgenic mice with SCI, we show that infiltrating and resident myelomonocytic cells have differential spatiotemporal distribution patterns to injury sites. • We also show that infiltrating myelomonocytic cells are associated with the collapse of certain cut axon terminals thus potentially impeding recovery, whereas resident myelomonocytic cells clear axon debris, which may be important for axon regrowth and recovery. • These results set a framework to understand the roles of different subpopulations of myelomonocytic cells in SCI, and may be important for the development of therapies that target specific immune cell populations at precise times post‐injury.