Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety Disorders, and Cardiac Biomarkers in Subjects at High Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Objective: Cardiac biomarkers may be valuable when exploring potential mechanisms for the association between cardiovascular disease and psychiatric disorders. In subjects at increased risk for obstructive sleep apnea, we examined whether major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorders, or the combination of these was associated with circulating C-reactive protein (CRP), cardiac troponin T (cTnT), or heart rate variability (HRV). Methods: From the Akershus Sleep Apnea Project, 290 participants were assessed for MDD or any anxiety disorder by a physician using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Fasting blood samples were analyzed with high-sensitivity assays for CRP, cTnT, and HRV calculated from a Holter recording. Age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, obesity, smoking, apnea-hypopnea index, and previous cardiovascular disease were adjusted for. Results: The CRP levels (median [interquartile range], mg/L) were higher in depressive (2.7 [1.1-5.8]) versus nondepressive (1.3 [0.7-3.1], p = .02) and in anxious (2.8 [0.9-5.2]) versus nonanxious (1.3 [0.7-3.1], p = .01). MDD was independently associated with CRP (unstandardized &bgr; = 0.387, p = .04), but anxiety was not (unstandardized &bgr; = 0.298, p = .09). The CRP level was highest in subjects with comorbid MDD and anxiety (3.4 [1.1-7.8]). The unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for having measurable cTnT (>3 ng/L) were 0.49 (0.24-1.07) and 0.92 (0.31-2.67) for MDD versus nondepressive and 0.38 (0.18-0.80) and 0.61 (0.30-2.05) for anxiety versus nonanxiety, respectively. HRV did not vary between groups. Conclusions: Although CRP was increased both in MDD and anxiety disorders, patients with comorbid MDD and anxiety may be particularly prone to increased systemic inflammation. Neither MDD nor anxiety disorders were associated with low-level myocardial damage or HRV.ASAP = Akershus Sleep Apnea Project; BMI = body mass index; BQ = Berlin Questionnaire; CRP = C-reactive protein; cTnT = cardiac troponin T; CVD = cardiovascular disease; GAD = generalized anxiety disorder; HF = power in the high-frequency spectrum; HRV = heart rate variability; LF = power in the low-frequency spectrum; MDD = major depressive disorder; OCD = obsessive-compulsive disorder; OSA = obstructive sleep apnea; PD = panic disorder; PTSD = posttraumatic stress disorder; SCID = Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV; SDNN = standard deviation of NN-intervals.
Blaming suicide on NASA and divorce on margarine: the hazard of using cointegration to derive inference on spurious correlation

ABSTRACT Contrary to common belief, cointegration testing may not distinguish between spurious relations and genuine ones. It is demonstrated that highly correlated series appear as cointegrated, even though common sense tells us that the underlying relation does not make sense. Empirical testing using simulated data, data from daily life and historical data on interest rates shows that cointegration may fail not only to detect spurious correlation but also to capture cointegration in a genuine relation. Cointegration testing to reveal spurious correlation can only be used in conjunction with theory, common sense and intuition.
Canal of Nuck Hernia in a Female Infant Containing Uterus, Bilateral Adnexa and Bowel.

BACKGROUND The canal of Nuck is a fold of peritoneum that invaginates into the inguinal canal and closes at or just before birth. If the canal of Nuck remains open in female infants, herniation of the uterus, adnexa and/or bowel loops may arise through the inguinal canal into the labia majora. CASE REPORT The present case is a 12-week-old female infant with complaints of left groin swelling and discomfort. Ultrasonographic examination revealed a left inguinal hernia containing both adnexa (ovaries and fallopian tubes), uterus and small bowel loops with fluid. CONCLUSION A hernia containing ovary and uterus should be considered as a possible cause in a female infant with a groin mass. Ultrasonography of the inguinal mass lesions should be performed routinely in a female infant for accurate diagnosis.
Development of a subset of forelimb muscles and their attachment sites requires the ulnar-mammary syndrome gene Tbx3

ABSTRACT In the vertebrate limb over 40 muscles are arranged in a precise pattern of attachment via muscle connective tissue and tendon to bone and provide an extensive range of motion. How the development of somite-derived muscle is coordinated with the development of lateral plate-derived muscle connective tissue, tendon and bone to assemble a functional limb musculoskeletal system is a long-standing question. Mutations in the T-box transcription factor, TBX3, have previously been identified as the genetic cause of ulnar-mammary syndrome (UMS), characterized by distinctive defects in posterior forelimb bones. Using conditional mutagenesis in mice, we now show that TBX3 has a broader role in limb musculoskeletal development. TBX3 is not only required for development of posterior forelimb bones (ulna and digits 4 and 5), but also for a subset of posterior muscles (lateral triceps and brachialis) and their bone eminence attachment sites. TBX3 specification of origin and insertion sites appears to be tightly linked with whether these particular muscles develop and may represent a newly discovered mechanism for specification of anatomical muscles. Re-examination of an individual with UMS reveals similar previously unrecognized muscle and bone eminence defects and indicates a conserved role for TBX3 in regulating musculoskeletal development. Summary: The ulnar-mammary syndrome (UMS) gene, Tbx3, is required for development of posterior forelimb bones, muscles and their attachment sites. This broadens the UMS phenotype and suggests a new muscle-specification model.
Effect of initial opening speed on the behavior of vacuum arcs driven by transverse magnetic fields (TMF)

Transverse magnetic field (TMF) can force the arc to move circularly on the contacts thus avoid severe local overheating. In this paper, an experimental system was established to study the effect of initial opening speed characteristics on vacuum arc with two different TMF contact structures. Cup-shaped and Wan-type CuCr contacts with the same diameter of 30mm were investigated in a demountable vacuum chamber. Short-circuit currents were provided by a single-frequency oscillation circuit. By using a high-speed charge coupled device (CCD) video camera, the appearance of vacuum arcs was observed and investigated regarding different initial opening speeds. The results were analyzed by 3D finite element analysis. It was showed that with the increase of arc currents, the acceleration of opening speed will shorten the duration of transition arc mode and promote vacuum arc to go diffuse.
Comparison of short wrist transverse open and limited open techniques for carpal tunnel release: a randomized controlled trial of two incisions

The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to compare outcomes of limited open and short wrist transverse techniques in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. In a single centre randomized controlled trial, 84 patients with idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome were randomized before surgery to limited open or short wrist transverse open carpal tunnel release. The patients were evaluated at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 and 2 years after surgery. At every follow-up, the Brigham and Women’s Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire scores, scar discomfort, and subjective patient satisfaction were evaluated. Two years after surgery, five patients were lost to follow-up. The groups had similar Brigham and Women’s Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire Symptom Severity and Functional Status scores and subjective satisfaction scores. The incidence of scar discomfort was not significantly different between the two groups on serial postoperative follow-up. Short wrist transverse open release surgery showed similar early postoperative symptoms and subjective and functional outcomes to limited open release. Level of evidence: II
A Prepulsing Technique for the Characterization of GaN Power Amplifiers With Dynamic Supply Under Controlled Thermal and Trapping States

The asymmetry between capture and release time constants associated with charge-trapping phenomena observed in the electrical characteristics of microwave gallium–nitride (GaN) field-effect transistors (FETs) introduces distortion in GaN-based power amplifiers (PA). The PAs that operate with supply modulation to increase efficiency are particularly affected by this phenomenon, since the GaN FET trap state exhibits a nonlinear dependence on the voltage applied to the device terminals. In this paper, a measurement approach and the setup are presented for a large-signal characterization of GaN-based PAs operated with dynamic bias supply: a new prepulsing technique is introduced, which enables the characterization of the PA in controlled charge-trapping and thermal states. The characteristics obtained with this technique are shown to give an accurate description of the PA performance in the actual application working conditions. The proposed approach is validated by using the measured data for the direct computation of predistortion functions for the linearization of a 9.7-GHz envelope tracking 10-W GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit PA for amplitude-modulated pulsed radar transmitters. Additional research on the PA trap-induced performance degradation is also presented and can be explored to predict the PA performance for different parameters of the operative regime or for the formulation of the PA behavioral models.
Resource allocation and user association for HTTP adaptive streaming in heterogeneous cellular networks with small cells

Video streaming, especially hypertext transfer protocol based (HTTP) adaptive streaming (HAS) of video, has been expected to be a dominant application over mobile networks in the near future, which brings huge challenge for the mobile networks. Although some works have been done for video streaming delivery in heterogeneous cellular networks, most of them focus on the video streaming scheduling or the caching strategy design. The problem of joint user association and rate allocation to maximize the system utility while satisfying the requirement of the quality of experience of users is largely ignored. In this paper, the problem of joint user association and rate allocation for HTTP adaptive streaming in heterogeneous cellular networks is studied, we model the optimization problem as a mixed integer programming problem. And to reduce the computational complexity, an optimal rate allocation using the Lagrangian dual method under the assumption of knowing user association for BSs is first solved. Then we use the many-to-one matching model to analyze the user association problem, and the joint user association and rate allocation based on the distributed greedy matching algorithm is proposed. Finally, extensive simulation results are illustrated to demonstrate the performance of the proposed scheme.
A new observation of band-to-band tunneling induced hot-carrier stress using charge-pumping technique [MOSFETs]

The lateral distributions of interface-states (N/sub it/) and oxide-trapped charges (Q/sub ox/) generated by band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) induced hot-carrier stress are analyzed by the new charge-pumping method. It is shown that the interface-states and oxide-trapped charges should originate from different types of carriers due to the separation of the locations of their peak values. The further evidence of the measured distribution of the interface-states in the band-gap shows that the carriers travelling toward the gate edge would be the dominant carrier for the generation of interface-states while the carriers travelling away from the gate edge will generate oxide-trapped charges through the help of the vertical electric field. These results should be very useful for the reliability analysis of flash memories.
Amantadine-Oseltamivir Combination therapy for H5N1 Influenza Virus Infection in Mice

Background The clinical management of H5N1 influenza virus infection in humans remains unclear. Combination chemotherapy with drugs that target different viral proteins might be more effective than monotherapy. Methods BALB/c mice were treated by oral gavage for 5 days with amantadine (1.5, 15 or 30 mg/kg/day) and oseltamivir (1 or 10 mg/kg/day) separately or in combination. Mice were challenged 24 h after initiation of treatment with 10 mouse 50% lethal doses of either amantadine-sensitive (having S31 in the M2 protein) or amantadine-resistant (having N31 in the M2 protein) recombinant A/Vietnam/1203/04 (H5N1) virus. Results Combination treatment with amantadine (15 or 30 mg/kg/day) and oseltamivir (10 mg/kg/day) provided greater protection (60% and 90%, respectively) against lethal infection with amantadine-sensitive H5N1 virus than did monotherapy. Moreover, spread of the virus to the brain was prevented by both combination regimens. The efficacy of the drug combinations against amantadine-resistant H5N1 virus was comparable to that of oseltamivir alone. Oseltamivir produced a dose-dependent effect against both recombinant H5N1 viruses (P<0.05) but did not provide complete protection against lethal infection. Importantly, no mutations in the HA, NA and M2 proteins were detected when the two drugs were used in combination. Conclusions Combination chemotherapy provided a survival advantage over single-agent treatment of mice inoculated with neurotropic H5N1 influenza virus. This strategy might be an option for the control of pandemic influenza viruses that are sensitive to amantadine. Combinations that include other drugs should be explored.
Immaturity of IL‐18 gene expression and protein production in cord blood (CB) versus peripheral blood (PB) mononuclear cells and differential effects in natural killer (NK) cell development and function *

We have previously demonstrated dysregulation of IL‐12 and IL‐15 gene and protein expression between activated cord blood (CB) versus peripheral blood (PB) mononuclear cells (MNCs). In the present study, we compared IL‐18 gene expression and protein production and IL‐18 mRNA half‐life in basal versus activated CB versus PB MNCs, the effects of IL‐18 ± IL‐12 on MNCs IFN‐γ protein production and ex vivo expansion and activation of CB with IL‐12 + IL‐2 + anti‐CD3 ± IL‐18. Basal and activated levels of IL‐18 were significantly higher in PB versus CB MNCs (P < 0·05). IL‐18 mRNA was coincidental with protein levels and significantly lower in CB (P < 0·05) and its half‐life significantly shorter in CB versus PB MNCs (P < 0·05). IL‐18 synergistically with IL‐12 induced IFN‐γ production from PB greater than CB MNCs (P < 0·05). NK cells expansion (P < 0·001) and cytotoxicity (P < 0·01) was significantly increased with IL‐12 + IL‐2 + anti‐CD3 and IL‐18. In summary IL‐18 gene expression and protein production are significantly decreased in activated CB versus PB MNCs, in part secondary to increased degradation of CB IL‐18 mRNA. These results may have implications for the mechanism(s) in part responsible for the immaturity of CB T‐cell immunity.
Role of the First Extracellular Loop in the Functional Activation of CCR2

The physiological cellular responses to monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), a potent chemotactic and activating factor for mononuclear leukocytes, are mediated by specific binding to CCR2. The aim of this investigation is to identify receptor microdomains that are involved in high affinity agonist binding and receptor activation. The results from our functional studies in which we utilized neutralizing antisera against CCR2 are consistent with a multidomain binding model, previously proposed by others. The first extracellular loop was of particular interest, because in addition to a ligand-binding domain it contained also information for receptor activation, crucial for transmembrane signaling. Replacement of the first extracellular loop of CCR2 with the corresponding region of CCR1 decreased the MCP-1 binding affinity about 10-fold and prevented transmembrane signaling. A more detailed analysis by site-directed mutagenesis revealed that this receptor segment contains two distinct microdomains. The amino acid residues Asn104 and Glu105 are essential for high affinity agonist binding but are not involved in receptor activation. In contrast, the charged amino acid residue His100 does not contribute to ligand binding but is vital for receptor activation and initiation of transmembrane signaling. We hypothesize that the interaction of agonist with this residue initiates the conformational switch that allows the formation of the functional CCR2-G protein complex.
Low Gestational Weight Gain and Risk of Adverse Perinatal Outcomes in Obese and Severely Obese Women

Background: Our objective was to estimate associations between gestational weight gain z scores and preterm birth, neonatal intensive care unit admission, large- and small-for-gestational age birth, and cesarean delivery among grades 1, 2, and 3 obese women. Methods: We included singleton infants born in Pennsylvania (2003–2011) to grade 1 (body mass index 30–34.9 kg/m2, n = 148,335), grade 2 (35–39.9 kg/m2, n = 72,032), or grade 3 (≥40 kg/m2, n = 47,494) obese mothers. Total pregnancy weight gain (kg) was converted to gestational age-standardized z scores. Multivariable Poisson regression models stratified by obesity grade were used to estimate associations between z scores and outcomes. A probabilistic bias analysis, informed by an internal validation study, evaluated the impact of body mass index and weight gain misclassification. Results: Risks of adverse outcomes did not substantially vary within the range of z scores equivalent to 40-week weight gains of −4.3 to 9 kg for grade 1 obese, −8.2 to 5.6 kg for grade 2 obese, and −12 to −2.3 kg for grade 3 obese women. As gestational weight gain increased beyond these z score ranges, there were slight declines in risk of small-for-gestational age birth but rapid rises in cesarean delivery and large-for-gestational age birth. Risks of preterm birth and neonatal intensive care unit admission were weakly associated with weight gain. The bias analysis supported the validity of the conventional analysis. Conclusions: Gestational weight gain below national recommendations for obese mothers (5–9 kg) may not be adversely associated with fetal growth, gestational age at delivery, or mode of delivery.
How are corporate disclosures related to the cost of capital? The fundamental role of information asymmetry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze empirically the fundamental role that information asymmetry plays in the functioning of an efficient capital market as mediator in the relation between corporate disclosures and cost of capital. Design/methodology/approach – By using a sample of 1,260 international non-financial listed companies in the period 2007-2014. Findings – The findings suggest that high-quality financial and social disclosures quality reduce the cost of capital, by decreasing information asymmetry. In other words, the authors find evidence of the mediator role of information asymmetry in the relation between corporate disclosures and the cost of capital. These results are also controlled for differences on accounting standards and other institutional factors. Originality/value – The central assumption is that the demand for corporate disclosures that reduces the information advantages of some investors (who are more informed) arises from agency conflicts and these information diffe.
German macro: how it's different and why that matters. EPC Discussion Paper, May 2016

Do the macroeconomics of the German political establishment really differ from standard western macroeconomics? That question was the starting point for the seminar on ‘German macro: How it’s Different and Why that Matters’, which was held at Heriot-Watt University in December 2015, with financial support from the Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE) and the Money, Macro & Finance Research Group (MMF). This ebook, edited by George Bratsiotis and David Cobham, is the result of that exercise; six of the papers were presented at the seminar in earlier versions, and the editors sought some additional papers to complete the range of perspectives offered. The authors all sought out to discover whether or not there is something unique about German macroeconomics, and in what ways it differs from standard western macroeconomics; is it true that the former neglects demand management (although it may be quite interventionist in other ways), rejects debt relief and emphasises structural reform designed to improve competitiveness as the (only) key to economic growth? How much of whatever difference exists is due to a well worked out set of ideas in the form of Ordoliberalism? In what way does it relate to Germany’s own experiences in different periods? And how far is this the result of political preferences and how much do the idiosyncrasies of these German views matter, for the development of the Eurozone and indeed the health of the German economy?
Dexcom G4AP: An Advanced Continuous Glucose Monitor for the Artificial Pancreas

Input from continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) is a critical component of artificial pancreas (AP) systems, but CGM performance issues continue to limit progress in AP research. While G4 PLATINUM has been integrated into AP systems around the world and used in many successful AP controller feasibility studies, this system was designed to address the needs of ambulatory CGM users as an adjunctive use system. Dexcom and the University of Padova have developed an advanced CGM, called G4AP, to specifically address the heightened performance requirements for future AP studies. The G4AP employs the same sensor and transmitter as the G4 PLATINUM but contains updated denoising and calibration algorithms for improved accuracy and reliability. These algorithms were applied to raw data from an existing G4 PLATINUM clinical study using a simulated prospective procedure. The results show that mean absolute relative difference (MARD) compared with venous plasma glucose was improved from 13.2% with the G4 PLATINUM to 11.7% with the G4AP. Accuracy improvements were seen over all days of sensor wear and across the plasma glucose range (40–400 mg/dl). The greatest improvements occurred in the low glucose range (40–80 mg/dl), in euglycemia (80–120 mg/dl), and on the first day of sensor use. The percentage of sensors with a MARD <15% increased from 69% to 80%. Metrics proposed by the AP research community for addressing specific AP requirements were also computed. The G4AP consistently exhibited improved sensor performance compared with the G4 PLATINUM. These improvements are expected to enable further advances in AP research.
Migration and Immigrants: The Case of the Netherlands

This paper surveys migration to and from the Netherlands since thesixteenth century with an emphasis on the post-war period. Existingstudies on the labour market performance of immigrants and ethnicminorities are considered and some new results from our recentresearch are presented. See also pages 119 - 140 in: (R. Rotte & P. Stein (Eds.)), 'Migration Policy and the Economy: International Experiences', Munich, 2002.