Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Explaining cruisers’ shore expenditure through a latent class tobit model: Evidence from the Canary Islands

This study analyzes the expenditure patterns of cruise ship passengers during stopovers in the Canary Islands, which is a key variable for evaluating the economic impact of this type of tourism from the point of view of local key stakeholders and residents. Information on cruisers’ expenditure was collected in each port of call by survey responses for six cruise seasons, during the period 2001–2015. Through a latent class model in a framework of censured regression, three distinct groups of passengers were identified. This approach fills a gap in the empirical tourism literature in order to achieve more accurate results to deal with cruise travelers’ heterogeneity. Moreover, the identification of these homogeneous groups is important so as to better design policies that allow for higher tourism economic impact onshore. Our findings suggest that it would be ideal to attract more class 1 cruise passengers.
Stability of Drug Additives in Peritoneal Dialysis Solutions in a New Container

Objective To evaluate the stability of gentamicin, tobramycin, netilmycin, vancomycin, cefazolin, unfractionated heparin, and low molecular weight heparin when added to four different peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions [Extraneal (Baxter Healthcare, Castlebar, Ireland); Physioneal, Nutrineal, and Dianeal (Baxter Healthcare, Grosotto, Italy)] in new, non-PVC Clear-Flex containers. Measurements Gentamicin, tobramycin, netilmycin, vancomycin, cefazolin, unfractionated heparin, and low molecular weight heparin were injected into separate bags of PD solution. Samples were withdrawn at predefined sampling times and the concentration of each drug was analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (for gentamicin, tobramycin, vancomycin, and cefazolin), or bioassay (for netilmycin, gentamicin, and tobramycin in Nutrineal), or coagulation methods (heparins). Results Netilmycin, vancomycin, cefazolin, and heparin in Physioneal, Nutrineal, Extraneal, and Dianeal were stable for at least 24 hours at 25°C and for an additional 4 hours at 37°C. Gentamicin in Nutrineal, Extraneal, and Dianeal was stable for at least 24 hours at 25°C and for an additional 4 hours at 37°C; gentamicin in Physioneal was stable for less than 24 hours at 25°C. Tobramycin in Nutrineal and Extraneal was stable for at least 24 hours at 25°C and for an additional 4 hours at 37°C; tobramycin in Physioneal and Dianeal was stable for less than 24 hours at 25°C.
What Determines Trade between China and India During the Recession of 2008–2012?

Despite the international status of China and India rising dramatically in the previous decades, trade between the two countries did not grow accordingly. This paper investigates the determinants of the bilateral trade performance during the period of 2008–2012 from two perspectives: comparative advantage and trade protection. Two cases, Chinese exports to India, and Indian exports to China, are analyzed by using product‐level data. The results suggest that (1) the law of comparative advantage and trade protection explain the pattern of China–India trade, while (2) in a time of crisis, the adverse forces become prominent which explains the declining trend of the bilateral trade. (JEL F13, F14)
Automation in Mixed-Signal Design : Challenges and Solutions in the Wake of the Nano Era

Analog and mixed-signal CAD looks like a nice success story: there's been significant research in building design automation tools since the late 80's, and commercial tools have been on the market for several years now. However, the majority of AMS (Analog/Mixed-Signal) designers still use manual design only, focused around the SPICE simulator. So why are designers not or slowly adopting these CAD tools? This paper will present a reality check on the current state of the art of AMS design tools for industrial usage.
Formoterol as a rescue medication for asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways in which various triggers cause attacks of wheezing, dyspnoea and chest tightness. Such attacks are treated with relief or rescue medications. Inflammation in asthma is addressed by maintenance treatment consisting mainly of inhaled corticosteroids. Short-acting β2 agonists are used as reliever or rescue medications. More recently, long-acting β2 agonists with fast onset of action have been used as reliever therapy. This paper analyses the results of a randomised study comparing the safety and efficacy of formoterol with traditionally used salbutamol as a rescue medication for asthma.
Extracorporeal lung perfusion

Purpose of reviewThe number of patients listed for lung transplantation largely exceeds the number of available transplantable organs because of both a shortage of organ donors and a low utilization rate of lungs from those donors due to injuries acquired during the process of brain death and intensive care unit (ICU) care. A novel strategy for donor lung preservation – ex-vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) – that keeps the organ at physiological protective conditions has shown great promise to increase lung utilization by reassessing, treating, and repairing injured donor lungs prior to transplantation. Recent findingsA first clinical trial using EVLP has shown the method to be safe and to allow for reassessment and improvement in function of lungs from high-risk donor lungs prior to transplantation. When these lungs were transplanted, low rates of primary graft dysfunction were achieved, and the early outcomes were similar to those with conventionally selected and transplanted lungs. Preclinical studies have shown a great potential of EVLP as a platform for the delivery of novel simple and advanced therapies to repair injured organs ex vivo and thus further increase the donor lung utilization rate. SummaryEVLP triggers a new era in lung transplantation. This method will allow for more and better organs to become available. Several experimental studies, clinical case reports, and a clinical trial have shown the safety of EVLP and the numerous potentials of EVLP.
An efficient energy data gathering based on grid-chain for wireless sensor networks

Energy efficiency and network life time prolonging are the important issues for data gathering in wireless sensor network (WSN). In this paper, we propose an energy efficient grid-chain based data gathering (EEGDG) method, which can effectively improve the above two problems based on the chain by combining the grid architecture with clustering. The proposed EEGDG divides the sensing area into several sub-areas, and uses the concept of cluster to choose one node in each area for sensing data and data gathering. Thus, to reduce the transmission energy the chain distance is minimized to improve the disadvantages of chain hop and prolonging the network life time. Simulation results show that the proposed EEGDG can prolong the network life time and reduce the node energy consumption to a large degree.
A Kind of Generalized Analytical Model on Magnetic Suspension Force of Bearingless Motor and its Application

The generalized Analytical model on inductance of bearingless 4-pole motor with 2-pole suspension windings is given firstly. Then, based on the inductance model, the generalized analytical model on Maxwell magnetic suspension force of 4-pole bearingless motor with 2-pole suspension windings and columnar stator, is analyzed and derived in detail. The generalized model on Maxwell force is not only applicable to bearingless motor with salient-pole rotor, but also applicable to bearingless motor with cylindrical rotor. At the end, by setting relevant pole-width parameter in the generalized model on magnetic suspension force, the magnetic suspension force model of bearingless induction motor is derived; the relevant decoupling control system is devised, and the simulation experiment is made. The simulation results have proved the validity and feasibility of the generalized analytical model. Thus, the theory foundation is made solidly for the further study on fundamental theory and common rules of bearingless motors, and for the further study on dynamic characteristics of bearingless motor.
Buprenorphine augmentation in the treatment of refractory obsessive–compulsive disorder

Background: OCD is often refractory to treatment. There is a need for the development of new, non-invasive treatments for severe OCD. Rationale: There is evidence that opiates can be a useful adjunctive treatment in OCD. We summarise our experience with sublingual buprenorphine augmentation of standard pharmacological management of severe OCD. Methods: Patients were recruited from a standard psychiatric outpatient clinic and gave their consent to the treatment trial. The severity of the OCD was rated with the Y-BOCS. The buprenorphine was introduced to their existing medication regime at a low dose and the dose increased according to response. In order to gauge the reproducibility of the response the buprenorphine was withdrawn and then reintroduced once symptoms had returned. Results: 4 out of 7 patients with treatment resistant OCD showed a 30% reduction in the Y-BOCS score following buprenorphine augmentation. 3 of the responders were comorbid for other Axis 1 diagnoses. All of the responders had shown some improvement with SSRIs or clomipramine. Non-responders had not shown any improvement with either antidepressant or antipsychotic drugs. Typically improvement appeared within 2 days of initiating buprenorphine and waned within 1 to 2 days of its discontinuation. The dose of buprenorphine required varied between 400 µg and 600 µg a day. One responder managed on alternate day dosing. Reintroduction of buprenorphine resulted in symptom control within 2 to 3 days. The buprenorphine treatment was not associated with significant side-effects and the improvement was maintained without progressive dose escalation. Conclusions: Buprenorphine augmentation of standard treatment for OCD can result in clinically meaningful improvement in a proportion of refractory OCD cases. Further treatment trials are indicated.
Rad52/Rad59-dependent Recombination as a Means to Rectify Faulty Okazaki Fragment Processing*

Background: How faulty Okazaki fragments are repaired remains unclear. Results: The DNA annealing activity of Rad52 and sister chromatid cohesion are important in the repair of faulty Okazaki fragments. Conclusion: Rad52/Rad59-mediated sister chromatid recombination is a major means of repairing faulty Okazaki fragments. Significance: The faithful repair of faulty Okazaki fragments is critical for genome stability. The correct removal of 5′-flap structures by Rad27 and Dna2 during Okazaki fragment maturation is crucial for the stable maintenance of genetic materials and cell viability. In this study, we identified RAD52, a key recombination protein, as a multicopy suppressor of dna2-K1080E, a lethal helicase-negative mutant allele of DNA2 in yeasts. In contrast, the overexpression of Rad51, which works conjointly with Rad52 in canonical homologous recombination, failed to suppress the growth defect of the dna2-K1080E mutation, indicating that Rad52 plays a unique and distinct role in Okazaki fragment metabolism. We found that the recombination-defective Rad52-QDDD/AAAA mutant did not rescue dna2-K1080E, suggesting that Rad52-mediated recombination is important for suppression. The Rad52-mediated enzymatic stimulation of Dna2 or Rad27 is not a direct cause of suppression observed in vivo, as both Rad52 and Rad52-QDDD/AAAA proteins stimulated the endonuclease activities of both Dna2 and Rad27 to a similar extent. The recombination mediator activity of Rad52 was dispensable for the suppression, whereas both the DNA annealing activity and its ability to interact with Rad59 were essential. In addition, we found that several cohesion establishment factors, including Rsc2 and Elg1, were required for the Rad52-dependent suppression of dna2-K1080E. Our findings suggest a novel Rad52/Rad59-dependent, but Rad51-independent recombination pathway that could ultimately lead to the removal of faulty flaps in conjunction with cohesion establishment factors.
Hemodynamic and intravascular ultrasound assessment of myocardial bridging: Fractional flow reserve paradox with dobutamine versus adenosine

Compared to coronary angiography, both intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and CT‐angiography provide important information with respect to the morphological aspects of myocardial bridging (MB). However, these modalities are limited in defining the hemodynamic and clinical significance of MB. Intracoronary Doppler studies demonstrate a peculiar abnormal Doppler flow profile associated with MB. Fractional flow reserve (FFR) after adenosine infusion has been used to assess the hemodynamic significance of MB, but FFR after adenosine induced hyperemia underestimates the significance of MB. On the other hand, high‐dose dobutamine by increasing the contractility of the bridging segment unmasks ischemia induced by MB. This review outlines the role of flow velocity measurement by intracoronary Doppler, FFR, and IVUS for assessment of patients with MB. In addition, we compared FFR measurements after adenosine versus dobutamine infusions for the hemodynamic assessment of MB in two patients. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Measurements and Analysis of Dynamic Effects in the LARP Model Quadrupole HQ02b During Rapid Discharge

This paper presents the analysis of some quench tests addressed to study the dynamic effects in the 1-m-long 120-mm-aperture Nb3Sn quadrupole magnet, i.e., HQ02b, designed, fabricated, and tested by the LHC Accelerator Research Program. The magnet has a short sample gradient of 205 T/m at 1.9 K and a peak field of 14.2 T. The test campaign has been performed at CERN in April 2014. In the specific tests, which were dedicated to the measurements of the dynamic inductance of the magnet during the rapid current discharge for a quench, the protection heaters were activated only in some windings, in order to obtain the measure of the resistive and inductive voltages separately. The analysis of the results confirms a very low value of the dynamic inductance at the beginning of the discharge, which later approaches the nominal value. Indications of dynamic inductance variation were already found from the analysis of current decay during quenches in the previous magnets HQ02a and HQ02a2; however, with this dedicated test of HQ02b, a quantitative measurement and assessment has been possible. An analytical model using interfilament coupling current influence for the inductance lowering has been implemented in the quench calculation code QLASA, and the comparison with experimental data is given. The agreement of the model with the experimental results is very good and allows predicting more accurately the critical parameters in quench analysis (MIITs, hot spot temperature) for the MQXF Nb3Sn quadrupoles, which will be installed in the High Luminosity LHC.
Output-feedback control of a class of high-order nonlinear systems

This paper considers a concrete example, and designs an improved output-feedback controller from the viewpoint of reducing the control effort at premise of maintaining the desired control performance (e.g., asymptotical stability). By introducing a new rescaling transformation, adopting an effective reduced-order observer, and choosing ingenious Lyapunov function and appropriate design parameters, the output-feedback controller guarantees the globally asymptotical stability of the closed-loop system. Simultaneously, from both the theoretical analysis and a concrete example, the smaller critical values for gain parameter and rescaling transformation parameter are obtained to reduce effectively the control effort and the rate of change of controller than the design of the related papers. At last, simulations are given to compare the control effort of two control schemes.
Functional Interaction between Gαz and Rap1GAP Suggests a Novel Form of Cellular Cross-talk*

Gz is a member of the Gi family of trimeric G proteins whose primary role in cell physiology is still unknown. In an ongoing effort to elucidate the cellular functions of Gz, the yeast two-hybrid system was employed to identify proteins that specifically interact with a mutationally activated form of Gαz. One of the molecules uncovered in this screen was Rap1GAP, a previously identified protein that specifically stimulates GTP hydrolytic activity of the monomeric G protein Rap1 and thus is believed to function as a down-regulator of Rap1 signaling. Like Gz, the precise role of Rap1 in cell physiology is poorly understood. Biochemical analysis using purified recombinant proteins revealed that the physical interaction between Gαz and Rap1GAP blocks the ability of RGSs (regulators of G protein signaling) to stimulate GTP hydrolysis of the α subunit, and also attenuates the ability of activated Gαz to inhibit adenylyl cyclase. Structure-function analyses indicate that the first 74 amino-terminal residues of Rap1GAP, a region distinct from the catalytic core domain responsible for the GAP activity toward Rap1, is required for this interaction. Co-precipitation assays revealed that Gαz, Rap1GAP, and Rap1 can form a stable complex. These data suggest that Rap1GAP acts as a signal integrator to somehow coordinate and/or integrate Gz signaling and Rap1 signaling in cells.
Synthesis and damage specificity of a novel probe for the detection of abasic sites in DNA.

The abasic site (apurinic/apyrimidinic site) is the most common lesion in DNA and is suggested to be an important intermediate in mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. We have recently reported a novel assay for the detection and quantitation of abasic sites in DNA [Kubo, K. , Ide, H. , Wallace, S. S. , & Kow, Y. W. (1992) Biochemistry 31, 3703-3708]. In this assay, the aldehyde group in an abasic site is first modified by a probe bearing a biotin residue, called the Aldehyde Reactive Probe (ARP) and then the tagged biotin is quantified by an ELISA-like assay. However, in the previous study, ARP was prepared only in a crude form, and no solid chemical data concerning the structure and specificity of ARP were reported. In this study, an improved method for the preparative synthesis of ARP has been established, and its structure has been unambiguously characterized using spectroscopic means. In order to elucidate the specificity of ARP to DNA damages, ARP was incubated with a variety of damaged bases or nucleosides and the reaction mixtures were analyzed by HPLC. Of the 14 compounds tested for their reactivity to ARP, 2-deoxyribose (a model compound for an abasic site) and 5-formyluracil reacted with ARP. Interestingly, compounds bearing a formamide group such as formamidopyrimidine and deoxyribosylformamide did not react with ARP, indicating that ARP is specific to damages having an alkyl or allyl aldehyde group. Furthermore, the ability of ARP synthesized by the defined chemical route to detect abasic sites has been substantiated using natural DNA containing abasic sites. Potential applications and limitations of the ARP assay are discussed.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Pediatric Quality Indicators (PDIs): Accidental Puncture or Laceration During Surgery in Children

Context:The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) pediatric quality indicators (PDIs) are measures designed to evaluate the quality of pediatric healthcare. They specifically focus on adverse events that are potentially avoidable, including complications and iatrogenic events. PDI 1 refers to accidental puncture or laceration. Objective:To determine risk factors and outcomes associated with PDI 1 in a population of pediatric surgical patients. Design, Setting, and Patients:The Nationwide Inpatient Sample and Kids Inpatient Database were used to identify hospitalized pediatric surgical patients in the United States (age: 0–18) from 1988 to 2005. The data from these 1,939,540 patients was linked to the AHRQ PDIs using AHRQ WinQI software, and 7033 pediatric patients with PDI 1 were identified. A 1:3 matched case control design was implemented with 6459 cases (patients with PDI 1) and 19,377 controls (patients without PDI 1) matched on age, race, gender, and hospital ID. Cases and controls were stratified into procedure categories based on diagnosis related group procedure codes. Main Outcome Measures:To examine the relationship between PDI 1 and procedure category, as well as the outcomes of in-hospital mortality, length of stay, and total hospital charges for cases compared with controls. Results:Of the 4627 patients with PDI 1 stratified into procedure categories, the highest proportion of PDI 1 cases occurred in the gastrointestinal (30.19%), cardiothoracic (19.6%), and the orthopedic (11.13%) categories. Logistic regression analysis for PDI 1, controlling for admission type and insurance status, revealed a statistically significant higher odds of PDI 1 in the gynecology (OR: 1.69, P < 0.001) and transplant (OR: 1.45, P: 0.026) procedure categories. Multivariable regression analysis revealed patients with PDI 1 were more likely to die (OR: 1.91, P < 0.001), had a 4.81 day longer length of stay (95% CI: 4.26–5.36, P < 0.001) and had $36,291 higher total hospital charges (95% CI: $32,583–$40,000, P < 0.001) compared with patients without PDI 1. Conclusions:Cases of PDI 1 were most commonly associated with the gastrointestinal, cardiothoracic, and orthopedic procedure categories, and these were also 3 of the most common procedure categories overall. Controlling for type of procedure and other variables, the procedure categories having the highest likelihood of PDI 1 were gynecology and transplant. PDI 1 was found to be associated with greater mortality, longer length of stay, and greater total hospital charges.
Resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia in suicide attempters.

Although suicide attempts (SA) occur across a broad range of diagnoses as well as in the absence of a diagnosable disorder, most studies to date have focused on them within a single, specific disorder. Consistent with the NIMH RDoC initiative to identify biobehavioral vulnerabilities that cut across diagnoses, the goal of the present study was to examine potential differences in resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) levels in a large, diagnostically heterogeneous sample of women with and without a history of SA who were matched on a broad range of demographic and clinical variables. Participants were 112 women with (n = 56) and without (n = 56) a history of SA recruited from the community. The two groups were equated on approximate age, race, household income, and lifetime histories of psychiatric diagnoses. Resting electrocardiogram was recorded during a 2-min rest period. RSA was calculated via spectral power analyses with a fast Fourier transform. We found that women with a history of SA exhibited significantly lower resting RSA levels than women with no history of SA, and this difference was maintained even after statistically controlling for the potential influence of women's history of psychiatric diagnoses and their current symptoms of depression and anxiety. These findings suggest the presence of a link between resting RSA and SA history.