Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ultrasound-Guided Rectus Sheath Block in Gynaecological Surgery with Pfannenstiel Incision.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the effects of ultrasound-guided rectus sheath block in gynaecological surgery with Pfannenstiel incision. METHODS After the approval of the ethics committee and the patients' consent, 75 ASA I-II patients who were aged between 20 and 70 years and scheduled for a gynaecological surgery with Pfannenstiel incision were included in this study. After induction of general anaesthesia, patients were randomly divided into three groups. In Group UR patients (n=25), ultrasound-guided rectus sheath block with 0.25% levobupivacaine (0.2 mL kg(-1)) was performed. In Group SR patients (n=25), surgical rectus sheath block with 0.25% levobupivacaine (0.2 mL kg(-1)) was applied. In Group T (n=25) patients, tramadol (2 mg kg(-1)) was intravenously administered 30 min before the end of surgery. Patient-controlled analgesia device was established for postoperative pain relief in all groups. Haemodynamic data and inspired sevoflurane concentration were recorded during the operation. Pain scores, total tramadol consumption, supplemental analgesic requirement and side effects were postoperatively evaluated. RESULTS Demographic characteristics, duration of surgery and haemodynamic parameters were similar between the groups. Inspired sevoflurane concentration (%) and VAS scores were significantly lower in Group UR than those in Groups SR and T. Total tramadol consumption was significantly lower in Groups UR and SR than that in Group T. There was no significant difference in the incidence of side effects. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that ultrasound-guided rectus sheath block helps to provide the effective analgesia without any side effects compared with surgical rectus sheath block and intravenous tramadol for gynaecological surgery with Pfannenstiel incision.
Cost-utility of a cardiovascular prevention program in highly educated adults: Intermediate results of a randomized controlled trial

Objectives: Little is known about the costs and the effects of cardiovascular prevention programs targeted at medical and behavioral risk factors. The aim was to evaluate the cost-utility of a cardiovascular prevention program in a general sample of highly educated adults after 1 year of intervention. Methods: The participants were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 208) and usual care conditions (n = 106). The intervention consisted of medical interventions and optional behavior-change interventions (e.g., a tailored Web site). Cost data were registered from a healthcare perspective, and questionnaires were used to determine effectiveness (e.g., quality-adjusted life-years [QALYs]). A cost-utility analysis and sensitivity analyses using bootstrapping were performed on the intermediate results. Results: When adjusting for baseline utility differences, the incremental cost was €433 and the incremental effectiveness was 0.016 QALYs. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was €26,910 per QALY. Conclusions: The intervention was cost-effective compared with usual care in this sample of highly educated adults after 1 year of intervention. Increased participation would make this intervention highly cost-effective.
Depression following traumatic brain injury: A functional connectivity perspective

Abstract Introduction: Despite the mounting evidence that depression is one of the most common psychiatric sequelae in survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI), no studies so far have attempted to provide an explanation in terms of functional network integrity. This proof of concept study investigated the association between the severity of depressive symptoms and resting network integrity in a sample of patients with TBI and a group of healthy controls. Methods: We first examined the association between depression symptomatology and global functional connectivity and then attempted to characterize the extent of differences in functional network integrity. Results: The severity of depressive symptoms in patients with TBI was associated with neuroadaptations within the insula, the thalamus and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Specifically, patients with TBI displayed increased connectivity between the insula and a region encompassing the rolandic operculum and the superior temporal cortex and reduced connectivity between the thalamus and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Conclusions: These findings show the network level involvement of the insula, the thalamus and the subgenual ACC in the depressive symptomatology of patients with TBI and tentatively propose that TBI-induced depression may result from altered functional connectivity of a set of networks associated with emotional regulation. However, other factors including a number of adjustment issues and challenges may also lead to depression in this population.
Regulation and Evolution of the Malonate and Propionate 1 Catabolism in the Proteobacteria 2 3

18 Bacteria catabolize malonate via two pathways, encoded by the mdc and mat genes. In 19 various bacteria, transcription of these genes is controlled by the GntR-family transcription 20 factors MatR/MdcY or/and a LysR-family transcription factor MdcR. Propionate is metabolised 21 via the methylcitrate pathway comprising enzymes encoded by the prp and acn genes. PrpR, the 22 Fis-family sigma54-dependent transcription factor, is known to be a transcriptional activator of 23 the prp genes. Here, we report a detailed comparative genomic analysis of the malonate and 24 propionate metabolism and its regulation in the Proteobacteria. We characterize genomic loci 25 and gene regulation, identify binding motifs for four new TFs, and also new regulon members, in 26 particular, TRAP transporters. We describe restructuring of the genomic loci and regulatory 27 interactions during the evolution of the Proteobacteria. 28
TESTING FOR THE EFFICIENT MARKET HYPOTHESIS IN STOCK PRICES: INTERNATIONAL EVIDENCE FROM NONLINEAR HETEROGENEOUS PANELS

Using international data, this paper explores whether the efficient market hypothesis for real stock prices is supported for different panels. The stationarity of a real stock price has important implications for modeling and forecasting financial activities. On a global scale, we implement the recently developed nonlinear heterogeneous panel unit root test, which allows us to account for possible nonlinearity and cross-section dependence and to identify how many and which countries of the panel contain a unit root. The primary conclusion is that the stationarity of real stock prices varies between regions and levels of economic development. Overall, our empirical results illustrate that real stock prices in these countries are a mixture of stationary (integrated of order zero) and nonstationary (integrated of order one) processes.
Consumption and Equilibrium Interest Rates in Stochastic Production Economies

In this paper, we analyze the behavior of equilibrium real interest rates in an identical consumer economy in which the preferences are represented by time additive logarithmic utility functions and production technologies are Cobb-Douglas with stochastic constant returns to scale. The following main results are established. (i)When there is no relative price uncertainty, it is shown that the equilibrium interest rate exhibits a mean reverting tendency. A nontrivial steady state distribution is found to exist for the equilibrium interest rate. The properties of the equilibrium interest rate are also derived and discussed. (ii)In a multigood economy, even with additive preferences across goods, the equilibrium interest rates depend explicitly on relative prices. The substitution possibilities in production technologies induce this result. This is in contrast to the findings of Richard and Sundaresan [11] who show that the analytical general equilibrium term structure of interest rates formula of Cox, Ingersoll, and Ross [5] is unaffected by the introduction of relative price uncertainty when the technologies are linear and hence involve no substitution. Furthermore, we relate our results to those of Cox, Ingersoll, and Ross [5], Breeden [3], and Richard and Sundaresan [11] with special emphasis on stochastic production and realtive price uncertainty.
Proposal of an Adaptive Service Providing System for a Multi-User Smart Home

This paper presents a new system which provides services to elderly and persons suffering from motor or cognitive impair-ments in a smart home (SH). SH are alternative solutions in order to keep elderly and impaired persons as long as possible at their homes to allow them to live with more comfort. SH are dynamically evolving environments, thus the provided services by this system are context aware and customizable for every user. These services can be accessed by users through an application installed on a mobile device. The sys-tem uses a multi agent system (MAS) to have a dynamic and adaptive response to environmental change. Experiments are carried out in order to validate the chosen solutions.
Delay analysis of different backoff algorithms in IEEE 802.11

We use a newly developed analytical model to compute the average delay of the existing binary exponential backoff (BEB) algorithm in IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN and two different proposals, exponential increase exponential decrease (EIED) and exponential increase linear decrease (EILD) backoff algorithms. A one-dimensional Markov chain model is constructed for each algorithm and used to compare delay under saturation conditions. Our approach simplifies previous analyses of the BEB algorithm which used a 2-dimensional Markov chain model, while the other backoff algorithm delays have not been analyzed before. Additionally, improvements have been made to the previous analysis of BEB to achieve more accurate results. Analytical results are compared to those obtained from simulation.
An Epidemic Spreading Model on the Adaptive Dual networks

Information diffusion and disease spreading in awareness-contact layered network are typically asymmetrically coupled with each other, in which how an individual being aware of disease responds to the disease can significantly affect the epidemic spreading. During the two processes above, there will be an adaptive evolution machine in which the diffusion of the disease or the information will lead individual to break or generate the link to avoid infecting the disease or to get more information, and then the link changes will react to the diffusion processes. In this paper, we carry out an epidemic spreading model on the adaptive dual network based on the machine to study the interplay between the two processes. By constructing two adaptive networks, we consider a new link breaking phenomenon on the epidemic spreading process and the heterogeneity of the link breaking probability. The simulation results show that our model will slow down the disease spreading and reduce the infected size. In addition, the homogeneous of the link breaking probability will increase the epidemic threshold.
Study of the dynamic mean-variance portfolio optimization with regard to bankruptcy

The mean-variance formulation by Markowitz in the 1950s paved a foundation for portfolio selection analysis in a single period. This was subsequently extended to multi-period portfolio selection by Li and Ng [4] and multi-period portfolio selection with inter-temporal constraints by Costa and Nabholz [5]. The solutions of both papers were implemented and backtested on the Singapore and US stock market. It was found that incredulous gains and exceptional losses were just as likely with both models. The empirical analysis further revealed that bankruptcy is a prevalent problem with the optimal portfolio policy of [7]. This problem was ameliorated by the addition of inter-temporal restrictions [8] but the improvements were marginal and only restricted to the Singapore market. The empirical studies also provided strong statistical evidence for an inverse relationship between the expected terminal wealth and the observed terminal wealth for certain portfolios. This is contrary to the intended purpose of the models as one would expect the observed terminal wealth to increase with the expected terminal wealth.
Adenosine Signaling: Good or Bad in Erectile Function?

The erectile status of penile tissue is governed largely by the tone of cavernosal smooth muscle cells, which is determined by the balance of vascular relaxants and constrictors. Vascular relaxants play a key role in regulating the tone of cavernosal smooth muscle and thus the initiation and maintenance of penile erection. Early studies drew attention to the potential role of adenosine signaling in this process. However, the serendipitous discovery of the effect of sildenafil on erectile physiology drew more attention toward nitric oxide (NO) as a vasodilator in the process of penile erection, and a recently discovered, unexpected erectile phenotype of adenosine deaminase–deficient mice reemphasizes the importance of adenosine as a key regulatory of erectile status. Adenosine, like NO, is a potent and short-lived vasorelaxant that functions via cyclic nucleotide second messenger signaling to promote smooth muscle relaxation. Recent studies reviewed here show that adenosine functions to relax the corpus cavernosum and promote penile erection. Excess adenosine in penile tissue contributes to the disorder called priapism, and impaired adenosine signaling is associated with erectile dysfunction. More recent research summarized in this review reveals that adenosine functions as a key endogenous vasodilator in the initiation and maintenance of normal penile erection. This new insight highlights adenosine signaling pathways operating in penile tissue as significant therapeutic targets for the treatment of erectile disorders.
Vietnamese values, networks and family businesses in London

The article explores the so-called Confucian values associated by Hofstede and Bond (1993) with competitive advantage in business and investigates the role of ‘trust’ and ‘trusted networks’ amongst the Vietnamese of London. It investigates the extent to which distinctive cultural attributes can be detected in the ways this Overseas Vietnamese community has adapted to London, and how the Vietnamese either resemble or differ from another migrant community with whom they share a common history, namely the Overseas Chinese. The study explores the extent of Confucian influence on core values and how these may account for the relative success of Vietnamese businesses in London. The findings support the idea that the cultural inheritance of the Vietnamese has conferred a competitive advantage in business activity, but this is not exclusively Confucian.
New Technology and Labour Markets: Entrants, Outsourcing, and Matching

The impact of new technology (ICT) on labour markets and welfare is analyzed in a model of matching. First, ICT lowers cost and speed of market access, thus reducing frictions in matching a searching worker to an opportunity. It raises output and lowers the cost of entry for a new firm. The rise in scale of aggregate employment raises productivity. Second, since the net effect of ICT raises the probability of a successful search by workers relative to a successful search by firms, workers share of the match surplus rises. Third, it induces more learning and innovation. Fourth, ICTs allows hitherto excluded segments to access new networks. This reduces the ability of members of an existing network to extract the entire surplus from a new entrant. Finally, it encourages cumulative improvements in technology and skills. More labour-using technological progress is induced. Multiple equilibria are possible, however, due to endogenous choice of training and technology. Therefore investment in training and technology may be at less than socially optimal levels. Policy implications follow.
Porphyrin derivatives as photosensitizers for the inactivation of Bacillus cereus endospores

Aims: In this study, we propose (i) to study the photodynamic inactivation (PDI) efficiency of neutral and cationic porphyrin derivatives, (ii) to characterize the kinetics of the inactivation process using Bacillus cereus as a model endospore‐producing bacterium and (iii) to conclude on the applicability of porphyrin derivatives in the inactivation of bacterial endospores.
Monetary Policy and Asset Price Fluctuations

This paper examines how an inflation-targeting central bank should optimally respond to a financial bubble, driven by non-fundamental movements in asset prices. It concludes that a bubble in asset prices represents a demandshock to investment. It causes an imbalance between consumption and investment and introduces a trade-off between inflation and output stabilization. A commitment problem in monetary policy therefore arises. When the asset price bubble is exogenously driven, the central bank only needs to respond indirectly, to the extent that the bubble creates inflationary pressure. The optimal solution under time-consistent discretionary policy is similar to a standard Taylor-rule, but it is sub-optimal and does not correspond to the optimal equilibrium under commitment. The commitment solution implies that the central bank responds with persistence to a bubble in asset prices, since this has a favorable impact on expectations, and reduces inflation more efficiently. One further result is that in the presence of self-fulfilling bubbles in asset markets, it becomes important for the central bank to assign a high relative weight on inflation stabilization, in order to tie down expectations. Otherwise, the model does not provide a determinate solution. The paper also shows that any movement in the natural rate of interest that is caused by an asset price bubble should be fully accommodated by the central bank.
Context-dependent preferences

The standard theory of choice---based on value maximization---associates with each option a real value such that, given an offered set, the decision maker chooses the option with the highest value. Despite its simplicity and intuitive appeal, there is a growing body of data that is inconsistent with this theory. In particular, the relative attractiveness of x compared to y often depends on the presence or absence of a third option z, and the "market share" of an option can actually be increased by enlarging the offered set. We review recent empirical findings that are inconsistent with value maximization, and present a context-dependent model that expresses the value of each option as an additive combination of two components: a contingent weighting process that captures the effect of the background context, and a binary comparison process that describes the effect of the local context. The model accounts for observed violations of the standard theory and provides a framework for analyzing context-dependent preferences.
Improving dental care recommendation systems using trust and social networks

The growing popularity of Health Social Networking sites has a tremendous impact on people's health related experiences. However, without any quality filtering, there could be a detrimental effect on the users' health. Trust-based techniques have been identified as effective methods to filter the information for recommendation systems. This research focuses on dental care related social networks and recommendation systems. Trust is critical when choosing a dental care provider due to the invasive nature of the treatment. Surprisingly, current dental care recommendation systems do not use trust-based techniques, and most of them are simple reviews and ratings sites. This research aims at improving dental care recommendation systems by proposing a new framework, taking trust into account. It derives trust from both users' social networks and from existing crowdsourced information on dental care. Such a framework could be used for other healthcare recommendation systems where trust is of major importance.
Altered gene expression of epigenetic modifying enzymes in response to dietary supplementation with linseed oil

Recently we showed that 5% linseed oil (LSO) and 5% safflower oil (SFO) supplementation of cow's diets reduced milk fat yield by 30·38 and 32·42% respectively, accompanied by differential expression of genes and regulation by microRNAs (miRNA). This research communication addresses the hypothesis that epigenetic regulation could be involved in the observed milk fat reduction. Thus, this study investigated the gene expression pattern of major epigenetic modifying enzymes in response to dietary supplementation with LSO or SFO. Twenty-six Canadian Holstein cows in mid lactation were randomly assigned to two groups (13/group) and fed a control diet for 28 d (day −28 to −1) (control period- CP) followed by a treatment period (TP) (control diet supplemented with 5% LSO (LSO treatment) or 5% SFO (SFO treatment) of 28 d (day +1 to +28). After treatment, cows in the two groups were returned to the control diet for another 28 d (day +29 to +56) (post treatment period-PTP). Milk samples were collected on day −1 (CP), +7, +28 (TP) and +56 (PTP) for RNA isolation and measurement of the expression of thirteen epigenetic modifying genes including two DNA methytrasferases (DNMT1, DNMT3A), four histone acetylases (HAT1, KAT2A, KAT5 and CREBBP), five histone deacetylases (HDAC1, HDAC2, HDAC3, SIRT1 and SIRT2) and two histone methytransferases (EHMT2 and PRMT1) by qPCR. Linseed oil supplementation significantly repressed the expression of EHMT2, HDAC2 and HDAC3 on day +7 (P < 0·05) and KAT2A and SIRT2 on day +28 (P < 0·05) as compared with the control period (day −1) while SFO had no effect. When LSO was withdrawn, the expression of some of the genes increased slightly but did not reach control (day −1) levels at the end of the PTP. Our study demonstrated a significant role of LSO in the epigenetic regulation of fatty acid synthesis as compared to SFO. The effect of LSO may be related to its higher degree of unsaturation and might represent a different regulatory mechanism which needs further investigation.
Agricultural net primary production in relation to that liberated by the extinction of Pleistocene mega-herbivores: an estimate of agricultural carrying capacity?

Mega-fauna (defined as animals > 44 kg) experienced a global extinction with 97 of 150 genera going extinct by ∼ 10 000 years ago. We estimate the net primary production (NPP) that was liberated following the global extinction of these mega-herbivores. We then explore how humans, through agriculture, gradually appropriated this liberated NPP, with specific calculations for 800, 1850, and 2000 AD. By 1850, most of the liberated NPP had been appropriated by people, but NPP was still available in the Western US, South America and Australia. NPP liberated following the extinction of the mega-herbivores was ∼ 2.5% (∼1.4 (between 1.2 and 1.6) Pg yr − 1 of 56 Pg C yr − 1; Pg: petagrams) of global terrestrial NPP. Liberated NPP peaked during the onset of agriculture and was sufficient for sustaining human agriculture until ∼ 320 (250–500) years ago. Humans currently use ∼ 6 times more NPP than was utilized by the extinct Pleistocene mega-herbivores.