Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intrathecal Nicardipine for Cerebral Vasospasm Post Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: a Retrospective Analysis and Propensity-Based Comparison

Background and Purpose: Cerebral vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) contribute to poor outcome following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). With the paucity of effective treatments, we describe our experience with intrathecal (IT) nicardipine for this indication. Methods: Patients admitted to Emory University Hospital Neuroscience ICU between 2012-2017 with non-traumatic SAH, either aneurysmal or idiopathic, were included in the analysis. This patient cohort was compared using a propensity-score model to patients in the SAH international trialist (SAHIT) repository who did not receive intrathecal nicardipine. The primary outcome was DCI. Secondary outcomes were long-term functional outcome and adverse events. Results: The analysis included 1,351 patients, 422 of whom were diagnosed with cerebral vasospasm and treated with IT nicardipine. When compared with patients with no vasospasm (n=859) the treated group was younger (51.1{+/-}12.4 vs. 56.7{+/-}14.1, p<0.01), had a higher World Federation of Neurological Surgeons score (WFNS), modified Fisher grade, and more likely to undergo clipping of the ruptured aneurysm as compared to endovascular treatment (30.3% vs. 11.3%, p<0.01). Treatment with IT nicardipine decreased daily mean transcranial Doppler velocities in 77.3% of the treated patients. When compared to patients not receiving IT nicardipine, treatment was not associated with an increase rate of bacterial ventriculitis (3.1% compared with 2.7%, p>0.1) yet higher rates of VP shunting were noted (19.9% vs. 8.8%, p<0.01). In a propensity score comparison to the SAHIT database, the odds ratio to develop DCI with IT nicardipine treatment was 0.61 with 95% CI[0.44-0.84], and to have a favorable functional outcome (mRS[≤]2) was 2.17[1.61-2.91]. Conclusions: IT nicardipine was associated with improved outcome and reduced DCI compared with propensity matched controls. There was an increased need for permanent CSF diversion but no other safety issues. This data should be considered when selecting medications and treatments to study in future randomized controlled clinical trial for SAH.
Are the angiosperms primitively vesselless

The hypothesis that angiosperms are primitively vesselless was tested in the context of a cladistic analysis of selected families of the Magnoliidae, Ra- nunculidae, and Hamamelididae. Results of this analysis show that the most parsi- monious explanation of the absence of vessels in dicotyledons is that in all instances it is a derived feature. This conclusion is supported by three taxon out-group com- parisons and does not alter our well-founded understanding of vessel member evo- lution within the angiosperms. I suggest that presence of vessel members with sca- lariform perforation plates and scalariform intervascular pitting, such as those in Austrobaileya, is the "primitive" condition within the angiosperms. I also suggest that in the earliest angiosperms vessels were restricted to secondary xylem. Absence of vessels in the eleven extant genera of "primitive" woody dicotyledons is a secondary loss, and it is suggested that the xylem of these genera is paedomorphic. Perhaps one of the most widely accepted hypotheses regarding the evolution of angiosperms is that they are primitively vesselless (Bailey 1957a). That is, absence of vessels in the xylem of taxa of the woody, dicotyledonous families Winteraceae, Chloranthaceae, Amborellaceae, Trochodendraceae, and Tetracentraceae (table 1), and perhaps the her- baceous Nymphaeales, represents retention of a primitive feature.
A Dual-mesh Framework for Multiphysics Simulation of Photoconductive Terahertz Devices

The operation of a photoconductive terahertz (THz) device relies on optoelectronic interactions and THz radiation. Although these two processes are coupled, in simulations, they are often modeled separately due to the large difference between the frequencies of optical and THz electromagnetic waves. To model both processes in a single simulation, we propose a dual-mesh discontinuous Galerkin (DG) scheme. Optoelectronic interactions and THz radiation are accounted for by solving, respectively, a coupled system of Maxwell and drift-diffusion equations discretized on a fine mesh and only the Maxwell equations discretized on a coarse mesh. This approach uses an efficient high-order interpolation scheme to “connect” electric field and current discretized on these two meshes. The proposed scheme is validated against experimental results.
LARGE DEVIATIONS FOR RANDOM NETWORKS AND APPLICATIONS.

While large deviations theory for sums and other linear functions of independent random variables is well developed and classical, the set of tools to analyze non-linear functions, such as polynomials, is limited. Canonical examples of such non-linear functions include subgraph counts and spectral observables in random networks. In this notes, we review the recent exciting developments around building a suitable nonlinear large deviations theory to treat such random variables and understand geometric properties of large random networks conditioned on associated rare events. We will start with a discussion on dense graphs and see how the theory of graphons provides a natural framework to study large deviations in this setting. We also discuss Exponential random graphs, a well known family of Gibbs measures on graphs, and the bearing this theory has on them. We will then review the new technology needed to treat sparse graphs. Finally, we will see how the above and new ideas can be used to study spectral properties in this context. The lectures will aim to oﬀer a glimpse of the diﬀerent ideas and tools that come into play including from extremal graph theory, arithmetic combinatorics and spectral graph theory. Several open problems are also mentioned.
Population Dynamics of Sucking Insect Pests of Cotton and its Correlation with Abiotic Factors

The research was conducted during kharif seasons of 2008 and 2009. Nineteen genotypes comprising of seventeen Bt hybrids, one conventional hybrid and one variety were evaluated for their reaction to sucking insect pests, under unsprayed condition. Observations on sucking pests were recorded at weekly intervals. The highest population of leafhopper was recorded during 28th and 32nd standard weeks. The highest mean incidence was recorded in H-1226. Whitefly population remained below economic threshold level (ETL) during 2008 while during 2009 it crossed ETL in RCH 134 BG-II (6.00-6.23 adults/leaf). Mean highest population was recorded in IT-905 Bt and RCH-134 BG-II. Leafhopper and whitefly population were significantly and positively correlated with temperature while negatively correlated with rainfall. Among the genotypes, it was observed that there was no significant difference in population of the sucking pests.
Queens Oeindrila

Are states led by women less prone to conflict than states led by men? We answer this question by examining the effect of female rule on war among European polities over the 15th-20th centuries. We utilize gender of the first born and presence of a female sibling among previous monarchs as instruments for queenly rule. We find that polities led by queens were more likely to engage in war than polities led by kings. Moreover, the tendency of queens to engage as aggressors varied by marital status. Among unmarried monarchs, queens were more likely to be attacked than kings. Among married monarchs, queens were more likely to participate as attackers than kings, and, more likely to fight alongside allies. These results are consistent with an account in which marriages strengthened queenly reigns because married queens were more likely to secure alliances and enlist their spouses to help them rule. Married kings, in contrast, were less inclined to utilize a similar division of labor. These asymmetries, which reflected prevailing gender norms, ultimately enabled queens to pursue more aggressive war policies. ∗First draft: April 1, 2015. We are grateful to Michael Eisner for sharing data on regicides with us. We would also like to thank Guido Alfani, Katherine Casey, Latika Chaudhury, Mark Dincecco, Francesco Drago, Arindrajit Dube, James Fearon, Thiemo Fetzer, Andrej Kokkonen, Stelios Michaelopoulos, William Monter, Sendhil Mullainathan, Aprajit Mahajan, Rohini Pande, Debraj Ray, Frances Rosenbluth, Jake Shapiro, Alastair Smith and Joachim Voth, as well as participants from seminars and conferences at Harvard, Stanford, Paris School of Economics, Vancouver School of Economics, CUNY, Berkeley, University of Chicago, New York University, Bocconi, EEA-2016, APSA-2015, MPSA-2015, and Barcelona-GSE Summer Forum 2015, for many helpful comments and suggestions. Michael Xu and Oliver Xie provided excellent research assistance. †Professor, University of Chicago. odube@uchicago.edu. ‡Post-doctoral Fellow, McGill University. harishsp@gmail.com.
New observations and transit solutions of the inflated exoplanets HAT-P-40b and HAT-P-51b

We present high-precision photometric observations of the transiting exoplanets HAT-P-40b and HAT-P-51b by the Rozhen 2-m telescope. The newly-observed transit of HAT-P-40b is the first one with a complete curve. The orbital periods of the two targets were improved. We modeled the observed transits and found bigger stellar radii than those derived from the stellar models. The planet radii of HAT-P-40b and HAT-P-51b obtained from our transit solutions are bigger than the values calculated by the empirical relations for Jupiter-mass and Saturn-mass planets respectively. Their values reveal the highly-inflated nature of the two targets, especially that of HAT-P-51b. We established that the best transit solutions correspond to a quadratic limb-darkening law. The fitted limb-darkening coefficients of HAT-P-40 are close to the theoretical ones while those of HAT-P-51 are a little different. The precise astrometric Gaia distances of the two targets are smaller by 6%-7% than the calculated values from the stellar models. We propose the Gaia distances to be used for improvement of the stellar models as well as for more reliable calculation of the parameters of the known exoplanets.
Effects of Moringa oleifera Aqua Leaf Extract on Some Serum-biochemical Constituents on of Wister Rats

Medicinal plants have been used in healthcare since time immemorial. Studies have been carried out globally to verify their efficacy and some of the findings have led to the production of plant-based medicines. The global market value of medicinal plant products exceeds $100 billion per annum. This study was conducted to know the effect of Moringa oleifera leaf on Serum biochemistry of experimental exposed Wister rats. Moringa oleifera leaf was extracted with distilled water and concentrated to semisolid form with rotary evaporator at 42°C. Twenty apparently healthy rats weighing 128-233g were exposed to different concentration of Moringa oleifera aqueous leaf extract. Control group were exposed to only distill water. The animals were divided into 3 groups of five rats each, with Group-I exposed to 500 mg/kg crude extract. Group-II exposed to 1000 mg/kg crude extract and Group-III exposed to 2000 mg/kg crude extract. There significant difference (p< 0.05) in analyzed serum biochemical parameters (Creatinine, Urea, Aspartate amino transferase and Alanine amino transferase) between the experimental and control group. From this finding, it can be concluded that Moringa oleifera leaf extract up to 2000mg/kg is safe and cause slight changes in serum biochemistry. Toxicity studies of this plant extracts as well as phytochemical studies to reaffirm it effect in several body tissues and organs and identify the bioactive compounds are highly recommended.
Clinicopathological characteristics and treatment outcomes of 162 Chinese patients with metastatic bladder cancer: results from a tertiary teaching hospital

Background To explore the relationship between clinicopathological features and prognosis of metastatic bladder cancer (MBC) patients in the real world, and to provide peculiar data support for the management of such patients. Methods A retrospective analysis of 162 MBC patients who underwent radical cystectomy (RC) in West China Hospital, Sichuan University from September 2010 to December 2015 was conducted. The study included the clinical, pathological and metastatic features of these patients. Chi-square test, Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard model were used to assess the relationship between clinicopathological factors and outcomes. Results Of the 162 patients enrolled, 137 (84.6%) were male and 25 (15.4%) were female. The ages at which the tumors metastasize for men and women were 64.8±9.4 and 66.2±12.7 years, respectively (P=0.52). The median follow-up time was 13.6 months (IQR: 5.8–33.1 months). Smoking history, pathological stages, and marginal status were independent predictors of the metastasis-free interval (MFI); Pathological stages, local recurrence, liver metastasis, and surgical approaches were significantly associated with cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS). Besides, OS was associated with lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and age at metastasis. Conclusions Our study suggests that tumors in MBC patients with a smoking history, positive margins, pT3 or more advanced tumors are more likely to metastasize. Besides, patients with a minimally invasive surgery, local recurrence, and liver metastases are at greater risk of death from bladder cancer; Taken together, our study provides data support for an optimal management of patients with MBC in current real-world practice.
Trends and spatial variation in rain-on-snow events over the Arctic Ocean during the early melt season

Abstract. Rain-on-snow (ROS) events can accelerate the surface ablation of sea ice, thus greatly influencing the ice–albedo feedback. However, the variability of ROS events over the Arctic Ocean is poorly understood due to limited historical station data in this region. In this study early melt season ROS events were investigated based on four widely used reanalysis products (ERA-Interim, JRA-55, MERRA, and ERA5) in conjunction with available observations at Arctic coastal stations. The performance of the reanalysis products in representing the timing of ROS events and the phase change of precipitation was assessed. Our results show that ERA-Interim better represents the onset date of ROS events in spring, and ERA5 better represents the phase change of precipitation associated with ROS events. All reanalyses indicate that ROS event timing has shifted to earlier dates in recent decades (with maximum trends up to −4 to −6 d per decade in some regions in ERA-Interim) and that sea ice melt onset in the Pacific sector and most of the Eurasian marginal seas is correlated with this shift. There has been a clear transition from solid to liquid precipitation, leading to more ROS events in spring, although large discrepancies were found between different reanalysis products. In ERA5, the shift from solid to liquid precipitation phase during the early melt season has directly contributed to a reduction in spring snow depth on sea ice by more than −0.5 cm per decade averaged over the Arctic Ocean since 1980, with the largest contribution (about −2.0 cm per decade) in the Kara–Barents seas and Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
Effects of Straw Returning Plus Nitrogen Fertilizer on Nitrogen Utilization and Grain Yield in Winter Wheat

A field experiment was conducted in 2011–2012 and 2012–2013 growing seasons to assess the effects of straw returning plus nitrogen(N) fertilizer on wheat yield and N use efficiency. Compared to only N fertilizer applied(control), straw returning resulted in the increase of dry matter accumulation during the whole growing period and the decrease of the proportion of dry matter accumulation before anthesis to that in whole growing period. The partial factor productivity of applied N, N use efficiency, and N harvest index increased by 7.5%, 6.4%, and 5.2%, respectively, in the straw returning plus pure N 225 kg ha–1 treatment compared with the control. Under straw returning condition, the nitrate N accumulation in soil decreased significantly, especially in 0–30 and 30–60 cm layer. The grain yield of straw returning plus pure N 225 kg ha–1 treatment was significantly higher than those of other treatments, showing the largest increment over the control. Therefore, it is a suitable technique in local cropping patterns.
Banks Financing and Industrial Sector Performance in Nigeria

This paper examined the effect of banks financing on industrial sector growth in Nigeria. The objectives of the Study were to examine the effects of domestic money supply, banks credit and maximum bank lending rate on industrial sector performance in Nigeria. The Study is established on Bank-based monetary framework on the grounds that the hypothesis focuses on the positive functions of banks in industrial growth and development. Descriptive and Ex-post facto research designs were adopted to investigate the contribution of various bank financing variables to industrial sector growth measured by manufacturing sector output in Nigeria over a period of 15 years (2004-2018). Method of analysis was the linear regression model using fully modified ordinary least square model to estimate the individual effects of banks financing variables measured by banks credits, domestic money supply, and maximum bank lending rate on industrial sector growth measured by manufacturing sector output. The study revealed that industrial sector growth is strongly impacted upon by banks credits, domestic money supply, and maximum bank lending rate. The study concluded that, there is positive significant relationship between bank credits, domestic money supply and growth in the industrial sector. Therefore, the study recommended that, banks should continue to support the industrial sector through credit borrowing, this way, the dwindling nature of Nigeria industrial sector can be redressed through adequate credits provided by these banks. However, these credits should be given at lower interest rate.
Sparse Gaussian Processes Revisited: Bayesian Approaches to Inducing-Variable Approximations

Variational inference techniques based on inducing variables provide an elegant framework for scalable posterior estimation in Gaussian process (GP) models. Besides enabling scalability, one of their main advantages over sparse approximations using direct marginal likelihood maximization is that they provide a robust alternative for point estimation of the inducing inputs, i.e. the location of the inducing variables. In this work we challenge the common wisdom that optimizing the inducing inputs in the variational framework yields optimal performance. We show that, by revisiting old model approximations such as the fully-independent training conditionals endowed with powerful sampling-based inference methods, treating both inducing locations and GP hyper-parameters in a Bayesian way can improve performance significantly. Based on stochastic gradient Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, we develop a fully Bayesian approach to scalable GP and deep GP models, and demonstrate its state-of-the-art performance through an extensive experimental campaign across several regression and classification problems.
Corporate Governance And Financial Reporting Quality In Nigeria Deposit Money Banks

- The manipulations of financial statements and subsequent corporate failure are recurring phenomena globally which have not guaranteed the credibility of the financial statements. Studies have shown that financial statement quality is a challenge in deposit money banks in Nigeria. Despite various measures put in place by the regulatory agencies, there were recurring cases of poor quality of financial statements. Therefore, the study examined the effect of corporate governance on financial reporting quality in quoted deposit money banks in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted survey and ex post facto research design. The target population for this study was staff from 10 deposit money banks in Lagos State, Nigeria and 450 participants were purposively sampled for the study. The instrument for the study was validated by the supervisor and its reliability test shows 0.752. The data for the study was analysed using multiple regression analysis. The study showed that corporate governance has significant effect on financial reporting quality in selected deposit money banks in Lagos State, Nigeria. The finding also revealed that shareholders assembly, board of directors, supervision and control; and transparency and publicity have significant effect on faithful representation Adj R 2 = 0.596; F-Stat “F (4, 432) = 161.994” and p-value =0.000; on the relevance with Adj R 2 = 0.899; F-Stat
Neonatal meningitis: a multicenter study in Lima, Peru.

OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence and the clinical, bacteriological and cerebrospinal fluid characteristics of neonatal meningitis in Lima hospitals. MATERIALS AND METHODS An observational, multicenter study was conducted in six hospitals in the city of Lima during 1 year of epidemiological surveillance. RESULTS The cumulative hospital incidence was 1.4 cases per 1000 live births. A total of 53 cases of neonatal meningitis were included, 34% (18/53) were early and 66% (35/53) late. The associated maternal factors were meconium-stained amniotic fluid and urinary tract infection. Insufficient prenatal check-ups were found in 58.8% (30/51). The most associated neonatal factor was sepsis. The main symptoms were fever, irritability, hypoactivity and respiratory distress. Pleocytosis in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was significant, without predominance of polymorphonuclear lymphocytes (PMN), hypoglycorrhagia and proteinorrhagia. The most frequent pathogens isolated were Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes. CONCLUSIONS The hospital incidence of neonatal meningitis was 1.4 per 1000 live births, being ten times higher in preterm infants. Breathing difficulty was the most frequent symptom in the early stage, while fever and irritability in the late stage. CSF showed pleocytosis without predominance of PMN. The most frequent germs were Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes. Ventriculitis and hydrocephalus were the most common neurological complications.
Swarm modelling framework to improve design support systems capabilities

The disruptive development of ICT technologies can be a decisive element in bringing the productivity of the construction sector closer to the highest performing ones, such as automotive. We base the proposed research on the improvement of existing tools with artificial intelligence techniques, with the goal of having a self-adaptive model regarding the objectives to achieve. So, we present a general framework based on the Swarm Simulation Modelling approach. Building objects, goals, constraints and design solutions will be represented as a Multi-Agents System able to communicate, interact and integrate over the existing BIM systems, ensuring a reactive and proactive behaviour. Finally, the model presents many interconnected intelligent agents, linked to building object. They can sense external ‘perturbations’ and react by re-organising their structure to satisfy imposed constraints. We can find the near optimal solution via the DCOP approach, autonomously.