Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Uterine artery embolization for leiomyomas: percentage of infarction predicts clinical outcome.

PURPOSE To determine the effect of partial versus complete leiomyoma infarction on relief of leiomyoma-related symptoms and freedom from invasive reinterventions and to assess if patient age, location of the dominant leiomyoma, number of leiomyomas, or baseline uterine and dominant leiomyoma volume were associated with clinical failure. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study protocol was approved by the institutional review board, and informed consent was obtained. One hundred fifteen consecutive women (median age, 42 years; range, 34-61 years) with symptomatic uterine leiomyomas underwent contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging at baseline and 24-72 hours after uterine artery embolization (UAE) to determine the percentage of infarction of leiomyoma tissue (complete = 100%, almost complete = 90%-99%, and partial = 0%-89%). Clinical outcome and frequency of reinterventions were compared for up to 36 months. RESULTS One hundred thirteen patients completed at least one clinical follow-up. Twenty-four months after UAE, 50% +/- 15.2 (standard error) of the patients with partial infarction and 80% +/- 13.4 (standard error) of patients with almost complete infarction had undergone no reintervention. No patient with complete infarction needed a second treatment (P < .001). The hazard ratios for reintervention between the complete infarction group and the almost complete and partial infarction groups were 15.88 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22, 2225.54; P = .034) and 73.08 (95% CI: 8.33, 9636.35; P < .001), respectively. There were significant differences in hazard ratios between patients with partial and those with complete infarction for persistence or recurrence of menorrhagia (hazard ratio, 7.45; 95% CI: 2.08, 28.31; P = .002) and bulk-related symptoms (hazard ratio, 5.90; 95% CI: 1.66, 21.92; P = .007). There was no significant correlation between patient age, number of leiomyomas, location of the dominant leiomyoma, or baseline uterine and dominant leiomyoma volume and clinical failure. CONCLUSION Women with leiomyoma infarction above 90% on contrast-enhanced MR images after UAE show significantly better symptom control and fewer reinterventions than do patients with a lower infarction rate.
Patient expectation of the partial response and response shift in pain score.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to define the minimum reduction in pain level that patients would expect and to examine whether response shift exists in the treatment of bone metastases with palliative radiation therapy (RT). PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with bone metastases were asked to quantify the minimal level of pain reduction by 2 months that they considered would justify the palliative RT based on their current pain (on a scale of 0-10 and a 4-point scale of none, mild, moderate, or severe). At the 2-month follow-up, they were asked the conventional "post-test" question, ie, what is their level of pain now? In addition, they were asked to retrospectively reevaluate their baseline "pretest" level of pain, which is referred to as a "then-test," ie, how would they now rate their level of pain before RT? RESULTS Two hundred seventeen patients were enrolled. The median minimum pain reduction they would expect from the radiation treatment at the time of consultation was 4. Patients expected a reduction of 50%-70% in their baseline pain after radiation treatment. At 2 months, 114 patients participated in the response shift study. Only 31 patients reported no change between the pretest and then-test pain scores. The other 83 patients (73%) demonstrated a response shift but in opposing directions. CONCLUSION Patients with bone metastases expected a 50%-70% reduction in pain score from baseline with the palliative RT. This might become the definition of partial response in future trials. Response shift was observed in this group of patients but in opposing directions and without affecting the overall outcome.
Mapping stakeholder positions in the Kenyan land reform process

The debate on land reform in sub-Saharan Africa has moved from the purpose and direction of reforms to the reasons why proposed reforms are not being implemented. The literature shows that one of the reasons for failure to implement reforms is conflicting stakeholder interests. This article proposes stakeholder analysis as a management tool that may be used to solve this problem. It goes ahead to apply the tool as a demonstration of how stakeholder analysis can resolve some of the conflicts involving stakeholder actions. These include a multi-level mapping of stakeholder characteristics for the land reform process in Kenya, a tri-attribute mapping of stakeholder characteristics, and a stakeholder mapping according to the six generic management strategies. This would help the implementing agency in carrying out the reform process successfully in Kenya.
Physiological responses of grapevines to biodynamic management

Abstract A 3-year (2011–2013) field trial was carried out in a mature vineyard (Vitis vinifera L., cv. Sangiovese), planted in 2003, to assess physiological responses of grapevines to biodynamic management. Starting in 2007, the vineyard was managed with organic production protocols in accordance with EC Regulations (834/2007). In 2008, the vineyard (2 ha) was divided in two large plots, with each plot having similar soil physico-chemical properties. One of the plots was managed with organic protocols per EC Regulations and the other with biodynamic practices, consisting of spray application of preparations 500, 500 K, fladen and 501. During the 2011–2013 season, the biodynamic preparations were used at least twice per year, with the exception of 501 that was applied only once in 2013. Concentration of hormones and mineral elements in biodynamic preparations were determined. Biodynamically managed vines showed lower stomatal conductance in all years and lower leaf water potential in 2012. Leaf photosynthetic activity was not influenced by cultivation method. Biodynamic management led to an increase in leaf enzymatic activities of endochitinase (EC 3.2.1.14), exochitinase (β-N-acetylhexosaminidase, EC 3.2.1.52 and chitin 1,4-β-chitobiosidase) and β-1,3-glucanase (EC 3.2.1.39), which are typically correlated with plant biotic and abiotic stresses and associated with induced plant resistance. Year effects were observed with 1,3-β-glucanase, whose activity in 2012 was 4.1-fold higher than in 2013. Disease incidence and grape yields were not different between organic and biodynamic treatments. This study provided a strong indication of a stimulation of natural defense compounds in grapes grown under biodynamic cultivation, but subsequent effects on plant protection and productivity require further evaluation.
Recurrent acute hemolytic transfusion reactions by antibodies against Doa antigens, not detected by cross‐matching

An 81‐year‐old male patient suffered from recurrent acute hemolytic transfusion reactions after transfusion with phenotyped cross‐match‐negative red blood cells (RBCs). Extensive posttransfusion workup eventually revealed Dombrock (a) (Doa) antibodies. Because commercially available cell panels do not allow for identification of anti‐Doa and owing to the lack of Doa typing serum samples, selection of matched units of RBCs is dependent on negative cross‐match results. In this case, selection of Do(a–) units by cross‐matching failed, indicating that serologic methods were not reliable. A polymerase chain reaction with sequence‐specific priming assay was used to detect DOA and DOB alleles, which encode Doa and Dob antigens, respectively. The patient was confirmed to be DOB/DOB by DNA sequencing. Furthermore, the involved mismatched units in each of the three hemolytic episodes were shown to be Do(a+). In the presenting case, DNA typing appeared to be superior to serologic methods in selecting matched RBC units in the presence of anti‐Doa.
Modelling time-varying asymmetric information component of transaction costs

ABSTRACT The main purpose of this paper is to model time-varying asymmetry information costs. To do this, first, we use two classical reduced-form microstructure models defined in a Bayesian hierarchical framework. In this scenario, we consider adverse selection as a random unobserved state variable and we use the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimator. And second, we evaluate whether time-varying asymmetric information cost estimates reflect the existence of periodicity (intraday patterns, time-of-day effects) and mean reversion in one stock. This procedure is applied to tick-by-tick quote and trade data on 15 SIBE-listed stocks over the 126 trading days since January–June 2005, estimating the unobserved time-varying costs for different hourly intervals. The main results indicate that our model captures periodicity between trading sessions and time-varying adverse selection costs showing the U-shape intraday pattern and mean reversion.
Recovery and Wellness Amidst Schizophrenia: Definitions, Evidence, and the Implications for Clinical Practice

Emerging evidence from longitudinal studies has suggested that many with schizophrenia can meaningfully recover over time. Recovery, though, is not a uniform process but varies from person to person and can involve a range of different experiences including the attainment of psychosocial milestones, the remission of symptoms, and changes in self-experience or personal narrative. To address the issue of recovery from schizophrenia, this article reviews currently evolving definitions of recovery and possible ways to understand recovery as involving both an objective and two subjective dimensions. Emerging operational definitions are explored and then empirical research is reviewed regarding actual rates and forms of recovery. It is concluded that although many with schizophrenia experience significant challenges linked with illness over time, more people than not experience meaningful periods of relative wellness. Implications for how daily practice can reinforce and promote recovery are discussed.
Interaction of the Na+‐K+ pump and Na+‐Ca2+ exchange via [Na+]i in a restricted space of guinea‐pig ventricular cells

1 The whole‐cell Na+‐K+ pump current (INa‐K) and Na+‐Ca2+ exchange current (INa‐Ca) were recorded in guinea‐pig ventricular myocytes to study the interaction between the two Na+ transport mechanisms. 2 I Na‐K was isolated as an external K+‐induced current, and INa‐Ca as an external Ca2+‐ induced or Ni2+‐sensitive current. The experimental protocol used for one ion carrier did not affect the other. 3 The amplitude of INa‐K decreased to 54 ± 17 % of the initial peak during continuous application of K+ with 20 mM Na+ in the pipette. The outward INa‐Ca, which was intermittently activated by brief applications of Ca2+, decreased during activation of INa‐K, and recovered after cessation of INa‐K activation. These findings revealed a dynamic interaction between INa‐K and INa‐Ca via a depletion of Na+ under the sarcolemma. 4 To estimate changes in Na+ concentration ([Na+]i) under the sarcolemma, the reversal potential (Vrev) of INa‐Ca was measured. Unexpectedly, Vrev hardly changed during activation of INa‐K. However, when INa‐Ca was blocked by Ni2+ at the same time that INa‐K was activated, Vrev changed markedly, maximally by +100 mV, immediately after the removal of Ni2+ and K+. 5 Subsarcolemmal [Na+]i was calculated from the Vrev of INa‐Ca on the assumption that the subsarcolemmal Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) was fixed with EGTA, and mean [Na+]i was calculated from both the time integral of INa‐K and the cell volume. The subsarcolemmal [Na+]i was about seven times greater than the mean [Na+]i. 6 The interaction between the Na+‐K+ pump and Na+‐Ca2+ exchange was well simulated by a diffusion model, in which Na+ diffusion was restricted to one‐seventh (14 %) of the total cell volume.
A case study approach to the examination of a telephone-based health coaching intervention in facilitating behaviour change for adults with Type 2 diabetes.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES This study aims to examine the effectiveness of the use of telephone empowerment-based health coaching as a cost-effective alternative to changing health behaviours of adults with Type 2 diabetes. BACKGROUND Guidelines regarding lifestyle management to reduce the risk of complications in diabetes include changing patterns of eating, physical activity and smoking cessation. Traditional education/behavioural methods of support for behaviour change reveal mixed and mainly short-term effects. DESIGN A mixed method case study approach was used (n = 10). METHODS Data were collected by means of physiological measurements survey and focus group interview both before and after telephone a coaching intervention. RESULTS Participants took greater responsibility for health and revealed high self-efficacy scores. Short-term benefits were seen in physiological variables at three months but these deteriorated with the cessation of the intervention indicating the need for continuous support. CONCLUSION Telephone coaching is a cost-effective approach to supporting health behaviour change for those with diabetes. It embraces the principles of empowerment and warrants further evaluation in supporting long-term behavioural changes. As such coaching emerges as a suitable proposition for this cohort. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Health coaching has a positive impact on health behaviours for those with diabetes. Health coaching facilitates an increase in personal control of health and builds confidence in self-managing diabetes. Patients feel really supported and become motivated towards self-care.
An exploratory study on impact of macroeconomic variables on current account deficit

The present paper is an endeavor to analyse the impact of macroeconomic variable on current account deficit. The present study is purely based on secondary data covering 15 financial years from 2000-01 to 2014-15. The analysis of which was made through the application of Karl Pearson's coefficient of Correlation and Multiple Regression. The study found that exchange rate accounts for 18% variations and external debt accounts for additional 53% variation in the outcome variable. It was further indicated through the results that if all the selected independent variables remain constant, then there are other factors which explain current account deficit up to 3243.382 units.
Nutrient adequacy and its correlation in a sub-Himalayan region of West Bengal, India

Introduction: Nutrient adequacy is the level of intake of an essential nutrient in relation to the nutrient requirement for adequate health, which is expressed as the percentage of recommended dietary allowance. To develop an effective nationwide preventive program to combat malnutrition, it is necessary not only to assess the nature and magnitude of the problem of nutrient inadequacy but to identify factors affecting it especially at the household level. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of nutrient adequacy in a sample of households in a rural area of Darjeeling district and to find out the factors associated with nutrient adequacy. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out from January 2014 to December 2014 in 821 households of Darjeeling district, India. The major dependent variable used in this study was the mean nutrient adequacy ratio of a household and the independent variables were number of family members, number of under-five children in the family, literacy of head of the family, literacy of the wife of the head of the family, income of the family, and percentage expenditure on food. Results: The prevalence of nutrient adequate households was found to be 35.3% among the study households. It was observed that the percentage expenditure on food had the highest contribution toward nutrient adequacy, followed by number of under-five children in the family and literacy of the wife of the head of the family. Undernutrition was found to be prevalent in 56.6% of the households. Conclusion: Majority of the study population had a diet less than the required amount and expectedly, undernutrition was also present in huge proportions.
Exclusion: Property Analogies in the Immigration Debate

Abstract By what right do sovereign states prohibit migrants from entering their territories? It cannot be assumed that they do, certainly not as a matter of the way we define “sovereignty. ” Can the sovereign right to exclude immigrants be derived from the sovereign’s status as owner of the territory it controls? This Article shows that the idea of the sovereign as owner is too problematic to be the basis of any argument for the right to exclude. It also argues against the proposition that communities, considered as informal sovereigns, have a right to exclude based on their communal property in the land they inhabit. In both cases, an “ownership conception” is distinguished from a more attractive “responsibility conception” of sovereignty. The former remains unclear, while the latter leaves open the question of who the sovereign (state or community) is responsible for.
Impact of Reputation-Sensitive Users and Competition Between ISPs on the Net Neutrality Debate

Network neutrality is the topic of a vivid and very sensitive debate, in both the telecommunication and political worlds, because of its potential impact in everyday life. That debate has been raised by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), complaining that content providers (CPs) congest the network with insu cient monetary compensation, and threatening to impose side payments to CPs in order to support their infrastructure costs. While there have been many studies discussing the advantages and drawbacks of neutrality, there is no game-theoretical work dealing with the observable situation of competitive ISPs in front of a (quasi-)monopolistic CP. Though, this is a typical situation that is condemned by ISPs, and, according to them, another reason of the non-neutrality need. We develop and analyze here a model describing the relations between two competitive ISPs and a single CP, played as a three-level game corresponding to three di erent time scales. At the largest time scale, side payments (if any) are determined. At a smaller time scale, ISPs decide their ( at-rate) subscription fee (toward users), then the CP chooses the ( at-rate) price to charge users. Users nally select their ISP (if any) using a price-based discrete choice model, and decide whether to also subscribe to the CP service. The game is analyzed by backward induction. As a conclusion, we obtain among other things that non-neutrality may be bene cial to the CP, and not necessarily to ISPs, unless the side payments are decided by ISPs (through a non-cooperative game).
Study on Microbial Community Structure of Immersed Biofilter in Urban River

Immersed biofiler was applied to purify the river water by increasing of microorganism quantity in the system. In order to analysis the water purification process, the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and real-time PCR technology were used to analysis the microbial community and the superior strains of the system. DGGE pattern showed that there has been a stable community structure on the 14th day (Z1) and single microbial community in March (Z5) in enormous water diversion period, finally, stable microbial community structure were formed in mature biofilm period (Z6~Z8). Homology analysis of superior strains indicated there was bacteria-eating zooplankton gene (Epistylis urceolatao) in mature biofilm, forming a good food chain to promote the decomposition of pollutants in the river. The number of total bacteria and &#946;-proteobacteria AOB during the different period in biofilm was detected by real-time PCR. The results showed that quantity of total bacteria and &#946;-proteobacteria AOB were stable around 1010 and 109 cells/L water, respectively, and their ratio was around 6%-8% in mature biofilm period.
Toxoplasmosis in Pallas' cats (Otocolobus manul) raised in captivity

Manuls or Pallas' cats (Felis manul, syn. Otocolobus manul) are endangered wild cats from Central Asia kept and bred in many zoos. Despite good breeding success young cats frequently die from acute toxoplasmosis. From 1998 to 2002, a breeding pair in the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria, gave birth to 24 kittens; 58% of kittens died between the 2nd and the 14th week of life, mostly due to acute toxoplasmosis. The epidemiology of toxoplasmosis in Pallas' cats was examined and a control strategy to protect the kittens from fatal toxoplasmosis was developed. One 12-week-old kitten from a litter of 6 born in 2001 died of generalized toxoplasmosis. This kitten had shed T. gondii oocysts that were bioassayed in mice. Toxoplasma gondii was isolated in tissue culture inoculated with tissues of these mice. The surviving animals were immediately treated with clindamycin for 16 weeks; they acquired a natural infection and seroconverted by the end of this time without clinical signs.
Euduboscquella costata n. sp. (Dinoflagellata, Syndinea), an Intracellular Parasite of the Ciliate Schmidingerella arcuata: Morphology, Molecular Phylogeny, Life Cycle, Prevalence, and Infection Intensity

The syndinean dinoflagellate Euduboscquella costata n. sp. , an intracellular parasite of the tintinnid ciliate Schmidingerella arcuata, was discovered from Korean coastal water in November of 2013. Euduboscquella costata parasitized in about 62% of the host population, with infection intensity (= number of trophonts in a single host cell) ranging from 1 to 8. Based on morphology and nuclear 18S ribosomal RNA gene sequences, the parasite is new to science. Euduboscquella costata n. sp. had an infection cycle typical of the genus, but had morphological and developmental features that distinguished it from congeneric species. These features include: (1) episome of the trophont with 25–40 grooves converging toward the center of the shield; (2) a narrow, funnel‐shaped lamina pharyngea extending from the margin of the episomal shield to the nucleus; (3) persistence of grooves during extracellular development (sporogenesis); (4) a single food vacuole during sporogenesis; (5) separation of sporocytes early in sporogenesis, regardless of type of spore formed; and (6) dinospore size (ca. 14 μm in length) and shape (bulbous episome with narrower, tapering hyposome). After sporogenesis, E. costata produced four different types of spore that showed completely identical 18S rRNA gene sequences. The gene sequence was completely identical with a previously reported population, Euduboscquella sp. ex S. arcuata, from Assawoman Bay, USA, indicating that the two populations are likely conspecific. Favella ehrenbergii, a widely recorded tintinnid known to host Euduboscquella spp. , co‐occurred with S. arcuata, but was not infected by E. costata in field samples or during short‐term, cross‐infection experiments.