Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ten-year follow-up of subjects who received bronchial thermoplasty (BT) in 3 randomized controlled studies (BT10+)

Background: BT is an endoscopic treatment for uncontrolled asthma. The long-term efficacy and safety of BT beyond 5 years is not known. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of BT at 10+ years follow-up. Methods: BT10+ is an international, multi-center, ≥10yrs follow-up study on subjects who were previously enrolled in the AIR, RISA and AIR2 trials. Demographics, quality of life, lung function, severe exacerbations (SE, defined as exacerbations requiring systemic corticosteroids) and healthcare utilisation for the previous year were collected. Results: Of the 429 subjects enrolled in the previous studies, 192 subjects had a follow-up at 10.6-15.8 years (12.1 median) post-treatment at 16 centers: 137 treated with BT during a previous study, 18 control/sham treated with BT post-study, and 37 control/sham only. Rates for hospitalisations, emergency visits and SE for BT subjects from the year prior to BT to the year prior to the BT 10+ visit are shown in Figure 1. No increases in hospitalisations or ER visits were observed compared to baseline and SE were stable compared to Year 1. No deterioration in rates were shown for control/sham only and post-study BT patients. Quality of life and spirometry results were comparable between Years 1, 5, and 10+ for all groups. Conclusion: The BT10+ study suggests that efficacy of bronchial thermoplasty is sustained over 10 years. Funding: Boston Scientific
A study of electrocardiographic changes in thyroid disorders

Introduction: Thyroid plays an important role in the orchestration of various metabolic functions in the body and thus thyroid dysfunction can produce dramatic cardiovascular effects, often mimicking primary cardiac disease. Aims: The aim was to study the spectrum of electrocardiographic (ECG) changes in hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. Materials and Methods: The present study included 26 cases of hypothyroidism and 24 cases of hyperthyroidism conducted in Department of Medicine, Chirayu Medical College and Hospital, Bhopal. 20 age- and sex-matched euthyroid controls were also included in the study for comparison. Serum free T3, T4, and thyroid-stimulating hormone were done using sensitive chemiluminescence technology. Twelve lead ECG was done in each patient. Results: The predominant abnormality found on ECG study of hypothyroid cases was sinus bradycardia that was found in16 (61.5%) cases (P < 0.05). ST-T changes in the form of T-wave inversion or ST segment depression and flattening was present in 7 cases (26.9%). Sinus tachycardia was the commonest abnormality in hyperthyroidism seen in 19 (79.2%) cases. Atrial fibrillation was seen in three (12.5%) cases and ST-T changes in 2 (8.3%) cases. Conclusion: Sinus bradycardia is the commonest ECG change in hypothyroidism and sinus tachycardia was the predominant ECG change in hyperthyroidism. Therefore, electrocardiography is a sensitive tool to detect cardiac manifestations in thyroid disorders.
Evaluation of four global ocean reanalysis products for New Zealand waters–A guide for regional ocean modelling

ABSTRACT A comparison between 4 (near) global ocean reanalysis products is presented for the waters around New Zealand. The objective is to provide information for an educated choice of ocean estate estimate. The simulations are compared to satellite and in situ observations, and vertical sections are extracted to evaluate the representation of the main regional boundary currents and their transport. Overall, the Copernicus GLORYS reanalysis exhibits the better performance, with more realistic ocean variability and smaller biases in the water column structure. However, the BlueLink Reanalysis (BRAN) provides more realistic transport estimates of the East Auckland Current, an important boundary current connecting New Zealand to the World Ocean. All simulations have important biases in both temperature and salinity, particularly in coastal regions. Moreover, they are not able to represent coastal currents and processes. Therefore, the present study results emphasise the need for a regional ocean reanalysis and a data assimilative operational forecast system.
Influence of Pre and Per-Exercise Nutritional Supplementation on Working Dogs Biological Markers Evolution during a Standardized Exercise

The authors investigated the effects of a pre/per-exercise nutritional supplementation containing fat and anti-oxidants on physi-ological, biochemical, inflammatory parameters and stress oxidative markers of dogs performing an endurance exercise. Ten working Belgian Shepherds dogs were randomly divided into two groups. They consumed 2g/kg body weight of the supplement (SG), or noth-ing (CG), one hour before and in the middle of the exercise (two times 20 minutes runs at 14km/h, separated by 5 minutes rest). The trial was repeated fifteen days after by switching the two groups. Physiological parameters were measured before exercise (T0) at the end of the first 20 minutes run (T1), immediately after the run (T2) and then at 10, 20, 30 minutes and 24 hours (T3) later. Blood samples were performed at T0, T2 and T3.A slower increase of the heart rate during exercise and a faster return to rest heart rate (10 min vs 20 min) after exercise were ob-served in SG vs CG. Respiratory rate peak was lower in SG and return to rest respiratory rate was faster (20 min vs 30 min) in SG vs CG. Thermal load tended to be lower at T1 and at T2 in SG vs CG (39.2°C vs 39.7°). In SG, blood triglycerides were higher and decreased during exercise. Advanced Oxidation Proteins Products (AOPP) was significantly higher at T2 and T3 in CG. Interleukins IL1βand IL8 were higher at T2 in CG vs SG, and even at T3 for IL-8. Mild intensity endurance exercise induces an increase in energy consumption, mainly covered in dogs by lipid oxidation [1,2]. In addi-tion to having a direct effect on the quantity and quality of energy requirements, muscle work also has a great influence on the nutritional balance of food intake via induced stress. When exercise is prolonged (more than a few minutes) and of a moderate intensity 50 to 70 p100 of the maximal oxygen consumption, still poorly quantified in dogs but very higher than in humans [3] aerobiosis is the metabolic pathway that covers 90 p100 of the muscular energy requirements. Prolonged muscle work is therefore responsible for a marked increase in plasma FFA [4-6] and both FFA mobilization ability and the level of fat in the diet are directly correlated to endurance performance in the dog [1,7-11]. Inflammation and ROS productions are also increased during such exercise.The results tend to indicate a better tolerance to exercise after the supplementation.
High power narrow-linewidth Raman amplifier and its limitation

We investigated the limitations in output power generated by a high power narrow-linewidth Raman fiber amplifier. The pump was produced by a kW-level all-fiber Yb-doped amplifier emitting at 1060 nm, whose seed linewidth could be changed. The Raman seed was a narrow-linewidth signal at 1110 nm co-propagating with the laser at 1060 nm. The main Raman conversion occurred in the passive fiber at the amplifier output. We identified cross-phase modulation (XPM) as a main reason for broadening of the Raman light by using different pump sources, which is a first limitation. An improved setup was limited at approximately 600 W of Stokes output power by a threshold-like onset of a transverse mode instability. Since the instability was not observed without a Stokes seed and the temperatures of the active fiber with and without Stokes seed are equal, this constitutes the first direct observation of transverse mode instabilities (TMI) induced by SRS in a passive fiber.
1cm Agency Conflicts, Macroeconomic Risk, and Asset Prices

This paper develops a framework for studying the impact of time-varying agency conflicts on the cost of equity. Investors infer agency costs coming from these conflicts by observing a firm’s governance policy. They dislike stocks of firms with higher agency costs in bad times, because this amplifies these stocks volatility. I empirically test the model with two commonly used measures of corporate governance and study the implications for U.S. firms from 1990 to 2006. A higher index level implies more power to insiders and is interpreted as leading to more costs by outsiders. I find that firms with a higher index in bad compared to good times have a higher cost of equity, even after controlling for prominent market factors, firm-specific financial and operating variables and also replacing the indices by their IVs. JEL Codes: G30, G12, G32, G14
Firm Openness and Managerial Innovation: Rebalancing Deliberate Actions and Institutional Pressures

The two main perspectives regarding the drivers of managerial innovation (MI)-institutional and rational-are often presented as contrasts in previous literature. This article seeks to bridge the two perspectives in an effort to analyze the external antecedents of MI in an open innovation framework. Using the French Organizational Change and Computerization survey, this analysis reveals that MI is influenced not only by active external search strategies but also by coercive pressures and a quest for legitimacy. The results also indicate a substitution effect between external search activity and absorptive capacity in relation to MI. That is, openness is beneficial for managerial innovation in manufacturing firms but internal obstacles still dominate.
Automatic computational scheme for segmentation, volumetric assessment and analysis of multiple sclerosis lesions in magnetic resonance images of the human brain

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating (that is, with myelin loss) disease of the Central Nervous System (CNS). It is considered an autoimmune disease in which the immune system wrongly recognizes the myelin sheath of the CNS as an external element and attacks it, resulting in inflammation and scarring (sclerosis) of multiple areas of CNS’s white matter. Multi-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been successfully used in diagnosing and monitoring MS due to its excellent properties such as high resolution and good differentiation between soft tissues. In this context, from a computational standpoint, two important goals stand out: lesion segmentation and lesion classification, the latter being related to the identification of which lesions are under an inflammatory state, also called active or enhancing lesions. Nowadays, the preferred method to segment MS lesions is manual delineation, made by specialists with limited aid of a computer. However, this approach is tiresome, expensive and prone to error due to interand intra-variability between observers caused by low contrast on lesion edges. Here, we propose the development of an automatic computational technique based on Student’s t-distribution finite mixture models and probabilistic atlases to segment and measure MS lesions volumes in MR images. Regarding the identification of enhacing lesions, Gadolinium-based contrasts are used to visually highlight them during an MRI procedure. However, recent studies indicate that patients gradually lose their ability to eliminate the contrast substances from their bodies when they undergo many contrast injections throughout their lives, which is the case for MS subjects. In this sense, in this work we used textural features to distinguish enhancing (active) and nonenhancing lesions without the aid of intravenous injection of Gadoliniumbased contrast, thus eliminating the risk of accumulation of this substance in one’s body and making the MRI procedure faster and cheaper.
Psychopharmacological Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorders in Naval Military Subjects

INTRODUCTION: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric syndrome known since 1980 with multiple names in the military field. Its etiology is multicausal, whose predominant factor is the lack of adaptation and managing with events considered traumatic. Objective . To describe the clinical characteristics such as the type of psychological and pharmacological treatment received by the naval military with diagnosis of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder at the Psychiatric Unit of Cartagena’s Naval Hospital. METHODOLOGY : A descriptive, retrospective cross-sectional study with an associative approach (Crosstabulation). The sample was 242 navy subjects with PTSD diagnosis. The information was collected with a data collection form of medical records. The information analysis was developed through the program SPSS ® 21.0. Chi 2 and value of p≤0.05 calculation was applied through the crossing of variables. RESULTS : The most prevalent type of traumatic event was the one represented by combat with the presence of depressive disorders and anxiety with a value of p≤0.05. CONCLUSIONS : The PTSD severity is related to the severity of the event, in addition if the trumatic event was repetitive.
The biliteracy process in Primary Education: teachers and parents’ perceptions on the use of phonic methods to develop emergent biliteracy skills.

The type of method used inside the classroom to work on biliteracy skills can influence children’s development and their motivation to acquire two different languages. This study aims to explore teachers and parents’ perceptions on the implementation of phonic methods for the emergent biliteracy learning of 6-year-old children; and to determine differences between the families’ perceptions of private and state schools. This research counted with the pupils, their families and teachers from two schools from Seville, and was carried out through a non-experimental research design, with a descriptive and cross-sectional nature. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews to teachers, analysed through a categorial system; and parents’ questionnaires, analysed through a descriptive statistics and the Chi square test. Results present that teachers and families agree on the beneficial use of a phonic method to develop emergent English literacy skills and on children’s positive learning regarding phonological awareness, vocabulary and, more especially, considering word and sentence reading. This study presents important implications regarding parents’ raise of their awareness on the use of a method to offer a significant support at home.
Improvement of PD-4 (Aseel), an indigenous chicken, for growth and production traits

Backyard poultry production plays a vital role in providing animal protein at affordable and sustainable manner. Growth and production potential of indigenous chicken need to be improved through selective breeding to enhance the productivity of backyard farming. PD-4 birds (Aseel, indigenous breed) were subjected to selection for higher body weight over eight generations. Study investigated effect of selection on the performance of PD-4 birds with respect to economic traits. There was significant improvement in body weight and shank length at 8 weeks of age. Egg production up to 40 weeks had improved by 19.1 eggs. Egg weight at 28, 32, 36 and 40 weeks of age improved by 0.8, 1.3, 1.7 and 1.3 g respectively. Age at sexual maturity had declined by 14.2 days. There was no significant change in fertility and hatchability traits. Survivorsâ€™ egg production up to 72 weeks of age was 156. 5Â±2.79 eggs while hen day and hen housed egg production were 144.9 and 137.5 eggs respectively. Egg weight consistently improved from 35.13 g at age at first egg to 48.07 g at 40 weeks and to 49.63 g at 72 weeks of age. The study demonstrated that indigenous chickens could be improved for body weight and egg production without affecting other economic traits and improved PD-4 variety has the potential to be used as improved dual purpose indigenous chicken variety for low input backyard poultry farming.
Experimental Investigation of the Macroscopic Behavior and Microstructure Property Evolution of Hardened Cement Consolidated Tailings

Surface cement consolidated tailings disposal has recently been proposed to manage tailings in the modern mining industry because it can reduce or eliminate the disadvantages of traditional tailings storage. In this study, the evolution of the macro performance and microstructure characteristics of cement consolidated tailing samples during the curing period were determined by unconfined compressive strength tests, permeability tests, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations, and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests, respectively. The results show that the curing time notably affected the macro performance and microstructural properties of the hardened cement consolidated tailings samples. As the curing age increases, the compressive strength increases nonlinearly and the growth rate decreases; the permeability decreases rapidly first, then gradually stabilizes, and finally reaches a stable value; the morphology of the hydration products and microstructures continues to evolve with the hydration process; the total pore volume decreases slightly, whereas the critical pore size decreases significantly. The proportion of the pore volume in different pore size ranges can also be affected by the curing age, which results in a large pore (>200 nm) decrease, and the small pores (<200 nm) increased. In this process, the filling effect plays a major role.
CAPACIDAD ANTAGÓNICA DE Trichoderma spp. NATIVA CONTRA Phytophthora parasitica Y Fusarium oxysporum AISLADOS DE CULTIVOS DE JAMAICA

La enfermedad Pata Prieta en jamaica (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) es ocasionada principalmente por Phytophthora parasitica Dastur y Fusarium oxysporum. Estos patógenos causan pérdidas de producción en al menos 50 % en el estado de Guerrero, donde se siembra la mayor superficie de este cultivo en México. Los fungicidas que se emplean para el control de la enfermedad son caros, tóxicos y residuales, por lo que es necesario buscar alternativas de control dentro de un contexto de agricultura sustentable. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la capacidad antagónica in vitro de cepas nativas de Trichoderma spp. contra P. parasitica y F. oxysporum. Las confrontaciones duales entre patógenos y agentes antagónicos se evaluaron en cajas Petri bajo un diseño experimental completamente al azar con cuatro repeticiones. Las variables registradas fueron días al primer contacto entre hifas, zona de intersección, tipo de antagonismo y porcentaje de inhibición. La información fue sometida a análisis de varianza y prueba de comparación de medias (Tukey, P ≤ 0.05). Las cinco cepas de Trichoderma sobrecrecieron a P. parasitica y cubrieron 100 % del medio; en el caso de la confrontación con F. oxysporum, Trichoderma creció sólo en dos terceras partes del medio. En las zonas de intersección se observó variación de 0.0 a 4.8 cm entre patógenos y antagónicos. La confrontación entre T. inhamatum cepa 14 y P. parasitica mostró el mayor contacto entre hifas con 4.82 cm; Ti14, Ta10 y Ta9 mostraron el primer contacto entre hifas a los 3 y 4 d en P. parasitica y F. oxysporum; la primera cepa tuvo un porcentaje de inhibición superior con 95 y 85 % para los dos patógenos. Las cepas Ti14 y Ta10 mostraron mayor antagonismo contra ambos patógenos por el tiempo al primer contacto, esporulación, crecimiento sobre los patógenos y porcentaje de inhibición. Las cepas nativas de Trichoderma representan una alternativa viable para el control de la pata prieta en Jamaica.
Constructing a time scale of biotic recovery across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, Corral Bluffs, Denver Basin, Colorado, U.S.A.

The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary interval represents one of the most significant mass extinctions and ensuing biotic recoveries in Earth history. Earliest Paleocene fossil mammal faunas corresponding to the Puercan North American Land Mammal Age (NALMA) are thought to be highly endemic and potentially diachronous, necessitating precise chronostratigraphic controls at key fossil localities to constrain recovery dynamics in continental biotas following the K–Pg mass extinction. The Laramide synorgenic sedimentary deposits within the Denver Basin in east-central Colorado preserve one of the most continuous and fossiliferous records of the K–Pg boundary interval in North America. Poor exposure in much of the Denver Basin, however, makes it difficult to correlate between outcrops. To constrain fossil localities in coeval strata across the basin, previous studies have relied upon chronostratigraphic methods such as magnetostratigraphy. Here, we present a new high-resolution magnetostratigraphy of 10 lithostratigraphic sections spanning the K–Pg boundary interval at Corral Bluffs located east of Colorado Springs in the southern part of the Denver Basin. Fossil localities from Corral Bluffs have yielded limited dinosaur remains, mammal fossils assigned to the Puercan NALMA, and numerous fossil leaf localities. Palynological analyses identifying the K–Pg boundary in three sections and two independent, but nearly identical, 206Pb/238U age estimates for the same volcanic ash, provide key temporal calibration points. Our paleomagnetic analyses have identified clear polarity reversal boundaries from chron C30n to chron C28r across the sections. It is now possible to place the fossil localities at Corral Bluffs within the broader basin-wide chronostratigraphic framework and evaluate them in the context of K–Pg boundary extinction and recovery.
Physical Problems of Patients after Colorectal Cancer in Mosul Governorate

Objective: Assessment the quality of life concerning physical problems for patient after colorectal cancer in Mosul Governorate. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional design is employed through the present study of 1st June 2011 to 15th December 2011 in order to assess the quality of life concerning physical problems for patient after colorectal cancer in Mosul Governorate. A purposive (non probability) sample is selected for the study which includes (60) patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer were treated in Mosul Oncology and Nuclear Medicine hospital or the patients who visited the outpatient clinic in the same hospital for medical follow-up and further treatment. Data were gathered through the patients` interviewed. Assessment questionnaire consist of two parts contains demographic characteristic, the other part concerning of quality of life concerning physical problems after colorectal cancer. Reliability and validity of this tool is determined through application of a pilot study and panel of experts. Data were analyzed through the application of descriptive statistical (frequencies and percentages) and inferential statistical (mean of score). Content validity of the instrument was done through eliciting the opinions of a panel of (13) experts and reliability through a pilot study by using Internal consistency reliability is determined through the computation of the cronbach alpha correlation coefficient of the scale on data gathered from patients. Results: The Overall results revealed that the quality of life related to physical problems for patients after colorectal cancer were acceptable. So, there is no significant correlation between the quality of life related to physical problems for these patients and some demographic characteristics such as gender, age, marital status and education level. The study concludes that colorectal cancer are most common in married than in unmarried, half patients age are between 40 and 60 years old, have a relatively low level of education, many are unemployed and they reside in the urban areas in Mosul. Recommendations: The study recommended to preparation of an educational program for patients with colorectal cancer and to raise awareness and education among families of patients to provide a better life for their patients.