Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can Initial Distribution Volume of Glucose Predict Hypovolemic Hypotension After Radical Surgery for Esophageal Cancer?

We recently reported that the initial distribution volume of glucose (IDVG) reliably measures the central extracellular fluid volume in the presence or absence of fluid gain or loss. We examined which variables, including IDVG, can predict subsequent hypovolemic hypotension produced by the continuous shift of the extracellular fluid from the central to the peripheral compartment early after radical surgery for esophageal cancer. IDVG and plasma volume were calculated after measuring cardiac index (CI), central venous pressure, and pulmonary artery wedge pressure immediately after admission to the intensive care unit. Intraoperative fluid balance and urine volume were also recorded. Postoperative hypovolemic hypotension was clinically defined as systolic blood pressure < 80 mm Hg responsive to IV fluid administration. Either IDVG < 105 mL/kg or CI < 3.4 L · min−1 · m−2 was associated with subsequent hypovolemic hypotension (P = 0.002 for the former and P = 0.00 03 for the latter), while remaining variables were not. IDVG and CI were well correlated (r = 0.8 7, n = 25, P = 0.0001). Our results suggest that IDVG can help predict the subsequent hypovolemic hypotension early after radical surgery for esophageal cancer.
Functional Vitamin B12 Deficiency Represented by Elevated Urine Methylmalonic Acid Levels in Patients with Migraine

Aims: Although vitamin B12 is currently used as a treatment option in patients with migraine, a possible cobalamin deficiency in those patients has not yet been investigated. In this study, we aimed to investigate cobalamin metabolism in patients with migraine. Materials and Methods: Fifty women having migraine without aura were matched with healthy controls (n=6) with the same age distribution. Fasting serum vitamin B12, folate, plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) and first morning urine methylmalonic acid (MMA) levels were determined in patient and control groups. Statistical differences in laboratory parameters between patient and control groups were analyzed by SPSS for Windows software. Results: Vitamin B12 and folate levels in the patient group were not different from those of the control group. Although mean plasma tHcy and urine MMA levels in the patient group were significantly higher than those in the control group, only a small portion (12%) of patients had plasma tHcy levels higher than the reference range, whereas 70% of patients had increased urine MMA levels. Conclusions: There was a functional vitamin B12 deficiency represented by elevated urine MMA levels in patients having migraine without aura. We suggest that vitamin B12 treatment for migraine patients should be started thereafter screening for MMA elevations.
Exploring Customer Loyalty Following Service Recovery: The Relationships of Perceived Justice, Commitment, Trust, and Loyalty

Existing research shows that loyalty is a function of customer perceptions of trust and commitment following service recovery. This study proposes and tests an integrative model of customer loyalty following service recovery in the context of social exchange theory. Specifically, this article argues that perceptions of justice (distributive, procedural, and interactional justice) in service recovery influence customer trust-commitment towards the service encounters, which in turn affects customer loyalty. Customers’ trust and commitment in service providers were proposed to mediate the relationship between perceived justice to service recovery efforts and subsequent loyalty intention. Finally, the author discusses important theoretical and managerial implications for service industries.
THE JUST-IN-TIME INVENTORY EFFECT: DOES IT HOLD UNDER DIFFERENT CONTEXTURAL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CONDITIONS?

When the percentage of purchases, production and sales made on a just-in-time (JIT) basis increases, weeks of inventory decrease. This study demonstrates the nature of this inverse relationship in a wide variety of conditions that differ in contextural, environmental and organizational factors. On average, inventory is cut from between five to six weeks to less than two weeks as the JIT percentage goes from zero to one hundred.
Simulation of Extended Resource Constrained Scheduling Problem with a Soft Computed Priority Heuristic

In the recent decade, numerous researchers have proposed extended version of scheduling problem named as multimode resource constrained scheduling problem (MMRCSP), claiming it to be a more practical way of capturing production characteristics. However, this flexibility comes with increased complexity. The present work proposes a framework for such multimode scheduling problems in order to provide solution via simulation of various heuristics and execution strategies. It allows user to select preferred parameters for transparent scheduling as compared to the commercial scheduling softwares which behave like a black box. As this extended constrained scheduling problem involves decision of activity allocation time and choice of performing method (mode option), the proposed framework provides heuristics for both decisions. The aim of the newly proposed heuristic for listing activity priorities is to incorporate the information of position, slack and size of an activity according to the project network characteristics. Additionally, a non-greedy heuristic has been adopted for selection of a performing method described as mode option. The developed framework seeks to aid decision manager for multiple trade-offs among cost, time and resource utilization in case of an in-exact optimal; a situation widely encountered in the field of operations management. Keywords—Heuristics; Scheduling; Multi-modes; Simulation
The New Organizational Wealth: Managing and Measuring Knowledge-Based Assets

From the Publisher: This groundbreaking book offers practical advice and rules of thumb for designing a business strategy that focuses on knowledge as an intangible asset. In eight chapters, Sveiby assembles a veritable toolbox of knowledge-based management techniques to enable managers to meet the new business challenges of the coming century. 28 charts; 16 tables.
Optimized Analytic Field Propagator (O-AFP) for Plane Wave Injection in FDTD Simulations

Optimizations are proposed for the original frequency domain analytic field propagator (AFP) to source plane waves in a 1D/2D/3D total-field scattered-field (TF/SF) FDTD formulation. The proposed technique essentially produces no field leakage error (limited by-300 dB machine precision error) with finite sampling points dictated by temporal aliasing constraints. By taking advantage of the inherent 1D nature of a plane wave, the memory requirements for the original AFP are reduced significantly. The proposed optimized solution (O-AFP) greatly reduces the computational complexity by calculating a number of spatial fields of O(N) rather than O(N 2), which then makes the technique practical enough to include fully 3D simulations.
Functional Characterization of MHC Class II-Restricted CD8+CD4− and CD8−CD4− T Cell Responses to Infection in CD4−/− Mice1

Classical CD4+ and CD8+ T cells recognize Ag presented by MHC class II (MHCII) and MHC class I (MHCI), respectively. However, our results show that CD4−/− mice mount a strong, readily detectable CD8+ T cell response to MHCII-restricted epitopes after a primary bacterial or viral infection. These MHCII-restricted CD8+CD4− T cells are more similar to classical CD8+ T cells than to CD4+ T cells in their expression of effector functions during a primary infection, yet they also differ from MHCI-restricted CD8+ T cells by their inability to produce high levels of the cytolytic molecule granzyme B. After resolution of a primary infection, epitope-specific MHCII-restricted T cells in CD4−/− mice persist for a long period of time as memory T cells. Surprisingly, upon reinfection the secondary MHCII-restricted response in CD4−/− mice consists mainly of CD8−CD4− T cells. In contrast to CD8+ T cells, MHCII-restricted CD8−CD4− T cells are capable of producing IL-2 in addition to IFN-γ and thus appear to have attributes characteristic of CD4+ T cells rather than CD8+ T cells. Therefore, MHCII-restricted T cells in CD4−/− mice do not share all phenotypic and functional characteristics with MHCI-restricted CD8+ T cells or with MHCII-restricted CD4+ T cells, but, rather, adopt attributes from each of these subsets. These results have implications for understanding thymic T cell selection and for elucidating the mechanisms regulating the peripheral immune response and memory differentiation.
Passive transfer of poly-(1-6)-beta-glucotriosyl-(1-3)-beta-glucopyranose glucan protection against lethal infection in an animal model of intra-abdominal sepsis

Previous studies have established the efficacy of soluble polymers of poly-(1-6)-beta-glucotriosyl-(1-3)-beta-glucopyranose (PGG) glucan, a biological-response modifier, in protecting against mortality associated with experimentally induced peritonitis in a rat model. PGG glucan-treated animals showed increases in total leukocyte counts and enhanced bacterial clearance from blood. To further explore the mechanisms) by which this agent confers protection, studies were performed to examine whether protection could be transferred from PGG glucan-treated animals to naive recipients via spleen cells (SC), SC lysates, or serum. Passive-transfer experiments indicated that the responsible factor(s) was transferable by whole SC and SC lysates, as well as by peripheral leukocytes or serum from animals treated with PGG glucan. The transferable factor(s) was resistant to pronase and trypsin digestion, was heat stable at 56 or 80 degrees C, and was not removed by NH4SO4 precipitation. The protective effect of PGG glucan was abrogated by treatment with indomethacin, a potent inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis. Administration of a purified prostaglandin extract from the sera of PGG glucan-treated animals protected against mortality in the peritonitis model. Furthermore, treatment of rats with exogenous synthetic prostaglandin E2 also conferred protection against mortality. These results suggest that the protective effect exhibited by PGG glucan in the rat peritonitis model is mediated, at least in part, by prostaglandins.
Minimising the risk of heparin-induced osteoporosis during pregnancy

Unfractionated heparin (UFH) may lead to symptomatic vertebral fractures in up to 3 out of every 100 people on long-term therapy. Ten-times that many people will experience a significant reduction in bone density leading to osteopoenia or osteoporosis. Low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) have been shown to be as effective as UFH in the prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism. Several well-established advantages of LMWH over UFH include increased bioavailability, more predictable dose response, less intensive coagulation monitoring, and a lower probability of causing immune-mediated thrombocytopenia. There is also some evidence that long-term LMWH therapy is less likely to cause osteoporotic fractures and significant reductions in bone mass than UFH. Both UFH and LMWH undergo pharmacokinetic changes during pregnancy, which sometimes necessitates dosage adjustments. Fondaparinux is a synthetic antithrombotic agent, which specifically binds to antithrombin. It has been shown to be comparable to, or even more effective than, LMWH in the management of both arterial and venous thrombosis. Fondaparinux does not appear to have a negative effect on bone metabolism. Therefore, fondaparinux may be a safe and effective alternative to UFH and LMWH in women who require anticoagulation during pregnancy.
Gay and lesbian partnership: Evidence from California

Much recent research on sexual minorities has used couples-based samples, which—by construction—provide no information on nonpartnered individuals. We present the first systematic empirical analysis of partnership and cohabitation among self-identified gay men and lesbians using two independent, large, population-wwbased data sources from California. These data indicate that 37%–46% of gay men and 51%–62% of lesbians aged 18–59 are in cohabiting partnerships (compared with 62% of heterosexual individuals in coresidential unions at comparable ages). Unlike previous research, we find that white and highly educated gay men and lesbians are more likely to be partnered, and we confirm that same-sex cohabiting partners in our data have demographic characteristics that are similar to California same-sex couples from Census 2000. We also present the first detailed analysis of officially registered domestic partnerships in California. We find that almost half of partnered lesbians are officially registered with the local or state government, while less than a quarter of partnered gay men are officially registered. We conclude with implications of our findings for couples-based research on gay men and lesbians, as well as recommendations for survey data collection.
Detection of Abnormal Input-Output Associations

We study a novel outlier detection problem that aims to identify abnormal input-output associations in data, whose instances consist of multi-dimensional input (context) and output (responses) pairs. We present our approach that works by analyzing data in the conditional (input--output) relation space, captured by a decomposable probabilistic model. Experimental results demonstrate the ability of our approach in identifying multivariate conditional outliers.
A Bayesian Approach in Estimating Transition Probabilities of a Discrete-time Markov Chain for Ignorable Intermittent Missing Data

This article focuses on data analyses under the scenario of missing at random within discrete-time Markov chain models. The naive method, nonlinear (NL) method, and Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm are discussed. We extend the NL method into a Bayesian framework, using an adjusted rejection algorithm to sample the posterior distribution, and estimating the transition probabilities with a Monte Carlo algorithm. We compare the Bayesian nonlinear (BNL) method with the naive method and the EM algorithm with various missing rates, and comprehensively evaluate estimators in terms of biases, variances, mean square errors, and coverage probabilities (CPs). Our simulation results show that the EM algorithm usually offers smallest variances but with poorest CP, while the BNL method has smaller variances and better/similar CP as compared to the naive method. When the missing rate is low (about 9%, MAR), the three methods are comparable. Whereas when the missing rate is high (about 25%, MAR), overall, the BNL method performs slightly but consistently better than the naive method regarding variances and CP. Data from a longitudinal study of stress level among caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease is used to illustrate these methods.
Propulsion control of crippled aircraft by H∞ model matching

An H/sub /spl infin// method for propulsion controlled aircraft (PCA) design is introduced. The PCA system is adopted for emergency fly-by-throttle control of an airplane with multiple control surface failure. The H/sub /spl infin// methodology is applied to the problem of matching by dynamic compensation the throttle-actuated crippled aircraft and the nominal control-surface-actuated aircraft model. The design procedure is used to synthesize model matching H/sub /spl infin// controllers for an L-1011, a commuter airliner, and a thrust vectoring aircraft model in longitudinal motion and an L-1011 model in lateral motion. Simulation results demonstrate that the concept is workable.
Brokers vs. Retailers: Evidence from the French Imports Industry of Fresh Produce

There is burgeoning discussion in the literature about trade intermediaries and more precisely about their specific role in trade. Using very original data, our article sheds light on the behavior of trade intermediaries when importing fresh fruits and vegetables in France. To do so, we distinguish the shares of direct and indirect imports of fresh produce respectively operated through French brokers and through French retailers. Accounting for the bounded nature of the share, we show that brokers are more likely than retailers to operate in small countries with high variable costs.
Crop Production Context-Aware Enterprise Application Using IoT

From last decade, the enormous increase of sensor deployments has became as well known fact and hot topic among researchers. These sensors are continuously creating large sum of data but to add value to that huge amount raw sensor data, we need to understand it first. Context-aware computing has proven to be effective in understanding sensor data. Context-aware systems bid totally new chance for application developers and also users by assembling context data and systems behavior consequently. In this paper, we presented proposed architecture of crop production context-ware framework using IoT based on context awareness workflow, IoT sensor networks, middleware, data semantics, enterprise lifecycle approach (ELA) and cloud computing along with the advantages of each integrated technology and how they helped in enhancement of the presented architecture. This paper discuss works and background study of context aware system and IoT based basics that help this paper study which ease the development of context-aware applications. We also discuss various feature, types, categories and important aspects in context-aware system related to IoT. This paper final goal is to study basics that helps to understand the concept of context aware system, architectural requirements while proposing an architecture and also for an efficient future work. Keyword: IoT(Internet of Things), Sensors, Context, Context-Aware, Enterprise Applications
Transcranial Doppler Ultrasonography: Year 2000 Update

In this update, the main clinical applications of transcranial Doppler ultrasonography are reassessed. A specific format for technology assessment, personal experience, and an extensive review of the literature form the basis of the evaluation. The document is approved by the American Society of Neuroimaging and the Neurosonology Research Group of the World Federation of Neurology.
A quantification strategy for missing bone mass in case of osteolytic bone lesions.

PURPOSE Most of the patients who died of breast cancer have developed bone metastases. To understand the pathogenesis of bone metastases and to analyze treatment response of different bone remodeling therapies, preclinical animal models are examined. In breast cancer, bone metastases are often bone destructive. To assess treatment response of bone remodeling therapies, the volumes of these lesions have to be determined during the therapy process. The manual delineation of missing structures, especially if large parts are missing, is very time-consuming and not reproducible. Reproducibility is highly important to have comparable results during the therapy process. Therefore, a computerized approach is needed. Also for the preclinical research, a reproducible measurement of the lesions is essential. Here, the authors present an automated segmentation method for the measurement of missing bone mass in a preclinical rat model with bone metastases in the hind leg bones based on 3D CT scans. METHODS The affected bone structure is compared to a healthy model. Since in this preclinical rat trial the metastasis only occurs on the right hind legs, which is assured by using vessel clips, the authors use the left body side as a healthy model. The left femur is segmented with a statistical shape model which is initialised using the automatically segmented medullary cavity. The left tibia and fibula are segmented using volume growing starting at the tibia medullary cavity and stopping at the femur boundary. Masked images of both segmentations are mirrored along the median plane and transferred manually to the position of the affected bone by rigid registration. Affected bone and healthy model are compared based on their gray values. If the gray value of a voxel indicates bone mass in the healthy model and no bone in the affected bone, this voxel is considered to be osteolytic. RESULTS The lesion segmentations complete the missing bone structures in a reasonable way. The mean ratio vr∕vm of the reconstructed bone volume vr and the healthy model bone volume vm is 1.07, which indicates a good reconstruction of the modified bone. CONCLUSIONS The qualitative and quantitative comparison of manual and semi-automated segmentation results have shown that comparing a modified bone structure with a healthy model can be used to identify and measure missing bone mass in a reproducible way.
Characterization of the normal alpha 1-antitrypsin allele Vmunich: a variant associated with a unique protein isoelectric focusing pattern.

alpha 1-Antitrypsin (alpha 1AT), the major serum inhibitor of neutrophil elastase, is a highly polymorphic protein associated with isoelectric focusing (IEF) patterns typical for each variant. alpha 1AT Vmunich, a previously unreported normal alpha 1AT variant, has a unique IEF banding pattern in which the 7 and 8 alpha 1AT protein bands focus with the normal M-type 7 and 8 bands, despite the fact that the major fraction of the Vmunich protein focuses in the "V" region of the IEF gel. To characterize the molecular basis of this variant and its unique IEF pattern, DNA sequence analysis of the coding exons of the Vmunich alpha 1AT gene was carried out using the polymerase chain reaction. The Vmunich allele differed from the common normal M1(Val213) alpha 1AT allele by a single nucleotide substitution of cytosine for adenosine, with the resultant amino acid change Asp2 GAT----Ala GCT. Inheritance of the allele was confirmed by family analysis using allele-specific amplification with the polymerase chain reaction. The Asp2----Ala mutation explains the cathodal position of the Vmunich protein on IEF, as there is a substitution of a negatively charged amino acid by a neutral one. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Comparing the Validity of Different Sources of Information on Emergency Department Visits: A Latent Class Analysis

Background:Emergency department (ED) use in Québec may be measured from varied sources, eg, patient's self-reports, hospital medical charts, and provincial health insurance claims databases. Determining the relative validity of each source is complicated because none is a gold standard. Objective:We sought to compare the validity of different measures of ED use without arbitrarily assuming one is perfect. Subjects:Data were obtained from a nursing liaison intervention study for frail seniors visiting EDs at 4 university-affiliated hospitals in Montreal. Measures:The number of ED visits during 2 consecutive follow-up periods of 1 and 4 months after baseline was obtained from patient interviews, from medical charts of participating hospitals, and from the provincial health insurance claims database. Methods:Latent class analysis was used to estimate the validity of each source. The impact of the following covariates on validity was evaluated: hospital visited, patient's demographic/clinical characteristics, risk of functional decline, nursing liaison intervention, duration of recall, previous ED use, and previous hospitalization. Results:The patient's self-report was found to be the least accurate (sensitivity: 70%, specificity: 88%). Claims databases had the greatest validity, especially after defining claims made on consecutive days as part of the same ED visit (sensitivity: 98%, specificity: 98%). The validity of the medical chart was intermediate. Lower sensitivity (or under-reporting) on the self-report appeared to be associated with higher age, low comorbidity and shorter length of recall. Conclusion:The claims database is the most valid method of measuring ED use among seniors in Quebec compared with hospital medical charts and patient-reported use.