Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Renal dysfunction in hepatic disease: early identification with renal duplex Doppler US in patients who undergo liver transplantation.

To improve early detection of renal dysfunction in patients who undergo liver transplantation, a prospective study was performed with intrarenal duplex Doppler sonography before and after liver transplantation in 42 patients. The duplex Doppler findings were compared with multiple clinical and laboratory findings; patients were grouped on the basis of preoperative renal resistive index (RI) and serum creatinine level. The mean initial renal RI was elevated (.73 +/- .07 [standard deviation]); after transplantation, it was lower (.60 +/- .06) (P less than .001). Thirty-six patients had a normal serum creatinine level at the preoperative Doppler examination. Patients with an elevated renal RI (n = 19) had a greater chance of subsequent renal dysfunction (P less than .001), hemodialysis (P less than .01), longer stays in the intensive care unit (P less than .05), and longer hospital stays after surgery (P less than .05) than those with a normal renal RI (n = 17). In 34 patients the RI fell 10% or more after surgery and none died, whereas five of eight patients (62%) whose RI fell less than 10% died. Doppler analysis enabled identification of patients without azotemia whose course of disease before and after surgery was similar to that of patients with clinically recognized renal disease.
Temporal control of gene recombination in astrocytes by transgenic expression of the tamoxifen‐inducible DNA recombinase variant CreERT2

Inducible gene modification using the Cre/loxP system provides a valuable tool for the analysis of gene function in the active animal. GFAP‐Cre transgenic mice have been developed to achieve gene recombination in astrocytes, the most abundant cells of the central nervous system, with pivotal roles during brain function and pathology. Unfortunately, these mice displayed neuronal recombination as well, since the GFAP promoter is also active in embryonic radial glia, which possess a substantial neurogenic potential. To enable the temporal control of gene deletions in astrocytes only, we generated a transgenic mouse with expression of CreERT2, a fusion protein of the DNA recombinase Cre and a mutated ligand‐binding domain of the estrogen receptor, under the control of the human GFAP promoter. In offspring originating from crossbreedings of GFAP‐CreERT2‐transgenic mice with various Cre‐sensitive reporter mice, consecutive intraperitoneal injections of tamoxifen induced genomic recombination selectively in astrocytes of almost all brain regions. In Bergmann glia, which represent the main astroglial cell population of the cerebellum, virtually all cells showed successful gene recombination. When adult mice received cortical stab wound lesions, simultaneously given tamoxifen induced substantial recombination in reactive glia adjacent to the site of injury. These transgenic GFAP‐CreERT2 mice will allow the functional analysis of loxP‐modified genes in astroglia of the postnatal and adult brain. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Estimating stand water use of large mountain ash trees and validation of the sap flow measurement technique.

Mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans F.J. Muell.) forest catchments exhibit a strong relationship between stand age and runoff, attributed inter alia to differences in tree water use. However, the tree water use component of the mountain ash forest water balance is poorly quantified. We have used the sap flow technique to obtain estimates of daily water use in large mountain ash trees. First, the sap flow technique was validated by means of an in situ cut tree experiment. Close agreement was obtained between the sap flow estimate of water use and the actual uptake of water by the tree from a reservoir. Second, we compared the variability in sap velocity between a symmetric and an asymmetric tree by using multiple sap flow loggers. In the symmetric tree, velocity was fairly uniform throughout the xylem during the day, indicating that accurate sap flow estimates can be obtained with a minimal number of sampling points. However, large variations in sap velocity were observed in the asymmetric tree, indicating that much larger sampling sizes are required in asymmetric stems for an accurate determination of mean sap velocity. Finally, we compared two procedures for scaling individual tree sap flow estimates to the stand level based on stem diameter and leaf area index measurements. The first procedure was based on a regression between stem diameter and tree water use, developed on a small sample of trees and applied to a stand-level census of stem diameter values. Inputs to the second procedure were tree water use and leaf area of a single tree and the leaf area index of the stand. The two procedures yielded similar results; however, the first procedure was more robust but it required more sampling effort than the second procedure.
Factors Influencing Land Development and Redevelopment during China’s Rapid Urbanization: Evidence from Haikou City, 2003–2016

Land development and redevelopment (LDR) is essential to economic growth and the advancement of urbanization in urban China. Moreover, various factors affect LDR. Based on an investigation, during 2003–2016, which involves 420 parcels within a 2-km section of the Nandu River, Haikou city, this paper employs a logistic model, so as to judge the impact of LDR on these parcels, and then with an improved hedonic model, it sets out to explore the LDR influencing factors. Specifically, the results show that the impact mechanism of LDR in China is different from countries where economy is the main influencing force. Moreover, China’s urban land development results from the cooperation and competition between local government and enterprises, with a particular focus on multiple political and economic factors. Hence, the paper innovatively incorporates quantifiable political and property factors that significantly influence the results. Finally, the paper tries to explain the variance from macro-level government and micro-level enterprises perspectives. In conclusion, China’s land development requires cooperation among the government and enterprises, in order to improve the economic, social, and environmental benefits of land use.
MOOC as a Laboratory of Culture Shock: Helping Non-U.S. Students Integrate into All-American Virtual Environment.

“iMOOC101: Mastering American e-Learning” is a Coursera-based, free, massive online course aimed at preparing non-U.S. students to succeed in regular, for-credit, online classes in American universities. The course is also intended to help foreign-born professionals integrate into virtual work environments in U.S.-based companies. The development of the course is informed by two decades of practical experience of one U.S. public university in the field of international distance learning. The course is designed as a virtual laboratory of culture shock (Chukhlomin, 2010, 2016) where students are exposed to unfamiliar virtual environments and learn how to understand and adapt to the American online culture, the academic system, and professional contexts. The course had initially been developed as a small-scale, for-credit, online course; in 2014-2015 we obtained two Innovative Instructional Technology Grants to transform it into a MOOC format. Here we report on the design principles and the first results.
Equity Crowdfunding, Shareholder Structures, and Firm Performance

Research question/issue. This paper provides a first&#8208;time glimpse into the postcampaign financial and innovative performance of equity&#8208;crowdfunded (ECF) and matched nonequity&#8208;crowdfunded (NECF) firms. We further investigate how direct and nominee shareholder structures in ECF firms are associated with firm performance. Research findings/insights. We find that ECF firms have 8.5 times higher failure rates than matched NECF firms. However, 3.4 times more ECF firms have patent applications than matched NECF firms. Within the group of ECF firms, we find that ECF firms financed through a nominee structure make smaller losses, whereas ECF firms financed through a direct shareholder structure have more new patent applications, including foreign patent applications. Theoretical/academic implications. Our findings suggest that there are important adverse selection issues on equity crowdfunding platforms, although these platforms also serve as a catalyst for innovative activities. Moreover, our findings suggest that there is a more complex relationship between dispersed versus concentrated crowd shareholders and firm performance than currently assumed in the literature. Practitioner/policy implications. For policy makers and crowdfunding platforms, investor protection against adverse selection will be important to ensure the sustainability of equity crowdfunding markets. For entrepreneurs and crowd investors, our study highlights how equity crowdfunding and the adopted shareholder structure relate to short&#8208;term firm performance.
Parallelization in Predicting Species Distribution

Species distribution models allow the development of strategies and policies for the species sustainability. However, the process of predicting species distribution analyzes and produces a considerable amount of data, which takes hours or days to compute. The predicting process, including modeling and projection stages, requires efficient computational tools and good strategies of parallelization allowing the decrease of execution time. This paper presents a parallel solution for predicting species distribution through the parallelization of the BIOMOD2 platform. The parallel application can be run on a computer with multiple cores or a cluster. Besides decreasing the execution time, it aims at reducing the idleness of the resources. It performs an optimization on the use of the processing resources. The experiments demonstrate that it is possible to reduce the predicting process from 106 minutes to 10 minutes by using 20 cores of a cluster composed by five nodes.
Lenslet image compression based on image reshaping and macro-pixel Intra prediction

Lenslet images that record both spatial and angular light radiance in a super high definition with distinct macropixel structures desire efficient compression methods for promoting the applications of handheld plenoptic cameras urgently. In this paper, a lenslet image compression method is proposed. First, a reversible image reshaping and adaptive interpolation is proposed to align the macropixel structures with coding unit grids in the block based video coding standards. Then, based on the reshaped and regularized lenslet images, a macro-pixel Intra prediction mode, in which the coding unit is predicted by minimizing spatial boundary error among the adjacent macropixels, is proposed to fully exploit spatial correlations among the pixels beneath the neighboring microlens. The proposed approach outperforms HEVC by an average of 35.56% bitrate reduction. Compared with the existing coding approaches, like Intra block coding (IBC) and locally linear embedding-based (LLE) prediction, it achieves an average of 17.72%/23.06% bitrate reduction, which demonstrates its efficiency explicitly.
Early vectorcardiographic monitoring provides prognostic information in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction

Objective--To evaluate the prognostic value of specified vectorcardiographic data obtained during the first hours of ST-elevation myocardial infarction for cardiac outcomes up to 5 years. Design--Three hundred and five patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction and chest pain for less than 12 h were monitored with continuous vectorcardiography. Results--All patients had follow-up for at least 1 year. The mortality was 5.9% at 30 days and 10.8% at 1 year. The estimated 5-year mortality was 24%. A total of 7.9% had recurrent infarction at 30 days and 11.2% at 1 year. Recurrent infarction or death occurred in 12.1% at 30 days and in 19.7% at 1 year. The presence of ST-VM[Formula: See Text] ≥ 125 μV was highly predictive of the combined endpoint death or recurrent infarction at 1 year, OR 2.69 (95% CI 1.39-5.23). Multivariate analysis showed that age ≥75 years, anterior myocardial infarction, and the presence of ST-VM[Formula: See Text] ≥ 125 μV, were independently associated with increased risk of recurrent infarction or death at 1 year and with death at 5-year follow-up. A start value of ST-VM ≤⃒100 μV identified a group of patients with low risk of death or re-infarction within 1 year. Conclusion--Continuous vectorcardiography during the first hours after thrombolytic treatment of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction provides important prognostic information. A new vectorcardiographic variable, ST-VM[Formula: See Text], identifies a group of patients with increased risk of recurrent infarction or death. As well, patients with low risk of recurrent infarction or death were identified by low start values of ST-VM.
Determination of Position Jitter and Dot-Size Fluctuations in Patterned Arrays Fabricated by the Directed Self-Assembly of Gold Nanoparticles

The promise of magnetic bit-patterned media (BPM) in the hard disk drive industry hinges on its capability to extend the data storage density beyond that achievable by conventional continuous media. Its success, however, depends strongly on meeting the jitter and throughput requirements of BPM with a suitable fabrication process. In this paper, we report on the directed self-assembly of gold nanoparticles using a topographical template as an approach to fulfill the BPM fabrication requirements. The effects of position jitter and dot-size fluctuations are examined by performing image analysis on scanning electron microscopies of samples fabricated with areal densities of 4.4 Tdot/in2. For comparison, we considered three different cases: electron-beam lithography-defined templates, monolayer films of self-assembled nanoparticles on an unpatterned substrate, and nanoparticles directed to assemble within a template. Our analysis provides evidence for the improvements in position jitter of the directed assembly of nanoparticles over those that were left to assemble without a template.
Visual‐Spatial Skills in Children After Open‐Heart Surgery

ABSTRACT. This study was part of a randomized clinical trial comparing the central nervous system effects of the two vital organ‐support methods used in infant cardiac surgery: total circulatory arrest and low‐flow cardiopulmonary bypass. The extent to which visual‐spatial deficits are (1) associated with surgical and perioperative variables, (2) attributable to visual‐perceptual, motor control, or metacognitive deficits, and (3) associated with adaptive difficulties at home or school was evaluated. The subjects were 155 8‐year‐old children with D‐transposition of the great arteries who underwent the arterial switch operation before 3 months of age. As part of a comprehensive evaluation, the Rey‐Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) was administered. ROCF copy productions were classified as having a Basal Organization Level of 1 (low) or 2 or greater. A five‐category clinical rating was also assigned. More than half of the children in the cohort (52%) had copy productions scored at Level 1, more than twice the expected frequency. The risk of having a low score was not associated with vital organ support method or other surgical variables. On the basis of comparisons of the relative fits of nested logistic regression models, poor visual‐perceptual abilities were more predictive of having a Level 1 score than either motor control or metacognitive deficits. Children with poor copy production scores had lower mathematics scores, but not lower reading scores or poorer parent and teacher ratings of adaptive competence. The percentage of children receiving remedial school services was associated with ROCF clinical rating, ranging from 58% in the worst category to 8% in the best category. Visual‐spatial deficits are common among children after infant heart surgery and seem to reflect visual‐perceptual rather than motor control or metacognitive deficits. In addition, these deficits do not seem to be clearly associated with the intraoperative methods or postoperative events evaluated. J Dev Behav Pediatr 24:169‐179, 2003. Index terms: congenital heart disease, visual‐spatial skills, transposition of the great arteries, Rey‐Osterrieth Complex Figure.
Effects of Subchronic Exposures to Concentrated Ambient Particles (CAPs) in Mice: I. Introduction, Objectives, and Experimental Plan

Abstract This subchronic (6-mo) inhalation study of the effects of concentrated ambient air fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in normal mice (C57) and a murine model of humans with an advanced level of aortic plaque (ApoE−/−or ApoE−/−LDLr−/−) was designed to determine the presence and extent of a variety of health-related responses. The animals were exposed for 6 h/day, 5 days/wk during the spring and summer of 2003 to concentrations that were elevated 10-fold in Tuxedo, NY, a regional background site that is upwind and ∼50 km west-northwest of New York City. The average PM2.5concentration during exposure was 110 μg/m3, and the long-term average was 19.7 μ g/m3. There were substantial daily variations in concentration, and we sought evidence both for the influence of peak exposures on acute responses and for the cumulative effects of the prolonged series of exposures. Acute responses were characterized in terms of: (1) short-term electrocardiographic (EKG), core body temperature, and physical activity differences between PM and sham-exposed mice; and (2) in vitrotoxicity of a simultaneously collected PM2.5sample to lung epithelial cells. Cumulative responses to PM2.5were characterized in terms of changes in heart rate, heart-rate variability, heart-rate variance, aortic plaque density, genetic marker expression, and brain cell distributions. There were no significant changes in the normal mice. The nature and extent of the exposure-related responses that were seen in the ApoE−/−as well as ApoE−/−LDLr−/−mice are described in the articles that follow in this special issue of Inhalation Toxicology.
Health Care Utilization among Children Enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP via Express Lane Eligibility.

OBJECTIVE To assess health care utilization among children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP via Express Lane Eligibility (ELE). DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING Enrollment, claims, and encounter data for children enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP in Alabama, Iowa, Louisiana, and New Jersey during 2009-2012. STUDY DESIGN We compared health care utilization among children enrolled via ELE and nondisabled children who enrolled through standard pathways in each state. We used a two-step estimation approach, examining the likelihood of utilization and then the volume and cost of services among users. Regression adjustment corrected for demographic differences. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Most ELE and comparison group children used services within a year of enrollment and accessed a variety of services, including outpatient care, prescription drugs, and dental and vision care. ELE enrollees were somewhat less likely to use each service type, and those who used services often did so less intensively compared to other enrollees in their state. CONCLUSIONS Health care use patterns suggest that ELE enrollees are aware of their coverage; enrollees accessed and repeatedly used services covered by public health insurance. However, states considering this policy may expect that remaining eligible but uninsured children may be less expensive to cover than existing beneficiaries.
Human T‐cell leukemia virus type I: Induction of syncytia and inhibition by patients' sera

HTLV‐producing T‐cell lines induce cell fusion when cocultivated with a wide variety of indicator cells, suggesting that HTLV envelope antigens interact with the membranes of many cell types. Serum antibodies from adult T‐cell lymphoma‐leukemia (ATL) patients inhibited the formation of syncytia, and sera from British, American and Japanese ATL patients inhibited cell fusion induced by American and Japanese HTLV isolates equally well. No serological cross‐inhibition of syncytium induction was found between HTLV and bovine leukosis virus, Moloney murine leukemia virus and simian sarcoma‐associated virus. A simple syncytium inhibition test in microtiter plates has been developed to provide a rapid screen for antibodies presumed to be specific to HTLV envelope glycoproteins.
Analysis of the relationship between the observable characteristics of CEOs and organizational performance

This study aims to analyse the relationship between the observable characteristics of CEOs and organizational performance. To achieve the proposed objective, data regarding the observable characteristics of CEOs (age, gender, family control, training, experience, duality and origin) and the organizational performance of BM&FBovespa companies were collected for the period from 2010-2015. A descriptive statistical analysis of the variables and the panel data analysis were conducted to test the hypotheses. Negative relationships were found in the characteristics of family control, experience and training, and a positive one was found with duality. No significant relationships were found regarding age, gender, and origin of the CEO and organizational performance. As limitations, it is possible to highlight the use of the characteristics of the CEO, the analysis by segment and the consolidated analysis of all years (2010 to 2015).
Robust XVA

We introduce an arbitrage‐free framework for robust valuation adjustments. An investor trades a credit default swap portfolio with a risky counterparty, and hedges credit risk by taking a position in defaultable bonds. The investor does not know the exact return rate of her counterparty's bond, but she knows it lies within an uncertainty interval. We derive both upper and lower bounds for the XVA process of the portfolio, and show that these bounds may be recovered as solutions of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The presence of collateralization and closeout payoffs leads to important differences with respect to classical credit risk valuation. The value of the super‐replicating portfolio cannot be directly obtained by plugging one of the extremes of the uncertainty interval in the valuation equation, but rather depends on the relation between the XVA replicating portfolio and the closeout value throughout the life of the transaction. Our comparative statics analysis indicates that credit contagion has a nonlinear effect on the replication strategies and on the XVA.