Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Partial splenic embolization in patients with cirrhosis: efficacy, tolerance and long-term outcome in 32 patients

Background Although partial splenic embolization (PSE) has been proposed in patients with cirrhosis in cases when thrombocytopenia or neutropenia may cause clinical manifestations or if there are contra-indications to other therapeutic procedures, there are limited data on long-term outcome. We provide a retrospective review of results and the tolerance of all PSE procedures in patients with cirrhosis in our department. Patients and methods Thirty-two consecutive patients with cirrhosis were included over a 6 year period. Indications for PSE were as follows: (1) severe cytopenia preventing necessary antiviral treatment (n=14), percutaneous destruction of hepatocellular carcinoma (n=8) or major surgery (n=3), severe purpura (n=3); (2) painful splenomegaly (n=4). After superselective catheterization, embolization was performed with up to 50% reduction of splenic blood flow. Results Thrombocyte and leucocyte counts increased markedly (185% and 51% at 1 month; 95% and 30% at 6 months). Thirty-one and 20 patients had platelet count >80 000/mm3 at months 1 and 6 vs only one before PSE. Overall, the aim of PSE was achieved in 27 patients (84%) (planned treatment: 20/25; disappearance of purpura and splenic pain: 7/7). Severe complications occurred in five patients (16%): transient ascites (n=2), splenic and/or portal vein thrombosis (n=2) that resolved after anticoagulation therapy, and splenic abscess (n=2) leading to death. These two patients had splenic necrosis >70%. Conclusion In patients with cirrhosis, PSE may resolve cytopenia and the clinical complications related to hypersplenism or splenomegaly. However, due to a high risk of severe complications, particularly splenic abscess, the indications of PSE should be very limited and the extent of necrosis should be strictly controlled during the PSE procedure.
LABAS-TS - A System for Assisting Labeling of Training Sets for Text Classification

Most text classification techniques rely on the existence of training data sets that are required to build models. However, in many text classification projects, the availability of previously labeled texts is not frequent due to differences in language (e.g. Spanish), domain (e.g. healthcare) and regional or institutional written culture (e.g. specific hospital). In order to contribute to dealing with this problem, this paper presents LABAS-TS, a web-enabled system for assisting the open, collaborative labeling of training sets for text classification. LABAS-TS is framed within a named entity recognition approach that identifies important entities from a domain-specific corpus, based on gazetteers, and uses a language specific sentence analyzer that extracts the portions of text that should be annotated. LABAS-TS was evaluated in the generation of training data sets to classify whether an electronic health record text contains a diagnosis, a test or a procedure, and demonstrated its utility in reducing the required time for building a reliable training set, with an average of eleven seconds
Treating Auditory Hallucinations by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: A Randomized Controlled Cross-Over Trial

Background: In a previous functional magnetic resonance imaging study, the authors succeeded in demonstrating the activation of Heschl’s gyrus during auditory hallucinations (AH). Objectives: This study aims to treat AH specifically by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Methods: 16 patients with AH were included in a randomized, cross-over, sham-controlled trial. 1 Hz rTMS was administered over the left and right temporo-parietal cortex and sham position, respectively, on 5 consecutive days; 900 stimuli each, strength 100% of motor threshold. Using the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS), the hallucinations during the stimulation periods and 4-week follow-ups were quantified. Electroencephalograms (EEG) were acquired before and after each period. Results: Treatment responses were observed after left hemisphere rTMS only. The 5 patients who showed a response did so already after 2 days. However, group mean hallucination scores did not differ across treatment conditions. No significant changes were found in EEG after rTMS. Conclusions: A subgroup of patients suffering from AH benefits soon after treatment start from rTMS over the left superior temporal gyrus as revealed by the decrease of AH scores compared to right-sided and sham procedures.
Characterization of a Staphylococcus aureus Surface Virulence Factor That Promotes Resistance to Oxidative Killing and Infectious Endocarditis

ABSTRACT Staphylococcus aureus is a prominent human pathogen and a leading cause of community- and hospital-acquired bacterial infections worldwide. Herein, we describe the identification and characterization of the S. aureus 67.6-kDa hypothetical protein, named for the surface factor promoting resistance to oxidative killing (SOK) in this study. Sequence analysis showed that the SOK gene is conserved in all sequenced S. aureus strains and homologous to the myosin cross-reactive antigen of Streptococcus pyogenes. Immunoblotting and immunofluorescence analysis showed that SOK was copurified with membrane fractions and was exposed on the surface of S. aureus Newman and RN4220. Comparative analysis of wild-type S. aureus and an isogenic deletion strain indicated that SOK contributes to both resistance to killing by human neutrophils and to oxidative stress. In addition, the S. aureus sok deletion strain showed dramatically reduced aortic valve vegetation and bacterial cell number in a rabbit endocarditis model. These results, plus the suspected role of the streptococcal homologue in certain diseases such as acute rheumatic fever, suggest that SOK plays an important role in cardiovascular and other staphylococcal infections.
Transcatheter valve implantation for patients with aortic stenosis: a position statement from the European Association of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), in collaboration with the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI).

AIMS To critically review the available transcatheter aortic valve implantation techniques and their results, as well as propose recommendations for their use and development. METHODS AND RESULTS A committee of experts including European Association of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and European Society of Cardiology representatives met to reach a consensus based on the analysis of the available data obtained with transcatheter aortic valve implantation and their own experience. The evidence suggests that this technique is feasible and provides haemodynamic and clinical improvement for up to 2 years in patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis at high risk or with contraindications for surgery. Questions remain mainly concerning safety and long-term durability, which have to be assessed. Surgeons and cardiologists working as a team should select candidates, perform the procedure, and assess the results. Today, the use of this technique should be restricted to high-risk patients or those with contraindications for surgery. However, this may be extended to lower risk patients if the initial promise holds to be true after careful evaluation. CONCLUSION Transcatheter aortic valve implantation is a promising technique, which may offer an alternative to conventional surgery for high-risk patients with aortic stenosis. Today, careful evaluation is needed to avoid the risk of uncontrolled diffusion.
Culture as a project: design, self-determination and identity assertion in indigenous communities

Social design and social innovation are receiving an increasing attention from the design community. We are still, however, striving to understand the roles a designer can play in a process of social innovation. In this self-reflective paper, we discuss and illustrate one of the roles that social design can assume in long-term collaborative projects. Di Salvo et al. (2011) suggest that designers might play a key role in providing the scope for social innovation by facilitating the collective articulation of issues. They argue that the collective articulation of issues is a foundational practice of social design, comprising an outcome and purpose in its own right. In this paper, we illustrate the proposition of Di Salvo et al. with the trajectory of our collaboration with Atikamekw stakeholders. The project started in 2011, with the ultimate goal of encouraging a virtuous circle among Atikamekw artisans. Throughout the last four years, we changed a great deal of our understanding about the nature of a social design action. Acting together through short projects, we have explored the specific features of the situation and revealed new opportunities of action. Finally, we understood that a main outcome of our actions was the collective articulation of the issue of how to create and nurture a virtuous circle.
Providing an internet-based audiological counselling programme to new hearing aid users: A qualitative study

People with an acquired hearing loss often have difficulty adjusting to a first hearing aid. Studies have shown that audiological counselling can facilitate adjustment to a first hearing aid. Because of its interactive nature, the internet could be a valuable tool to gain information about the experiences of the new hearing aid user and to address the needs for audiological counselling. An internet-based audiological counselling programme in the form of daily e-mails during the first month after the hearing aid fitting was offered to three new hearing aid users. The data, qualitative in nature, were comprised of the content of the e-mails and of in-depth interviews with the participants and their audiologist, and were analysed according to grounded theory. Overall, the internet-based audiological counselling programme provided rich descriptions of the experiences of the participants and reinforced positive adjustment behaviours experienced by them.
Psychological Factors Associated with Emergency Room Visits among Asthmatic Patients

This study was designed to investigate physiological and psychological characteristics of subjects with high-frequency emergency room (ER) visits. Asthma status, psychological functioning and predispositions, psychosocial adaptation to asthma, and health behaviors were measured for 30 patients who had two or more ER visits during the last 2 years. These subjects were matched for age, sex, and corticosteroid use with 30 subjects who had no unscheduled ER visits for the same period. No significant differences were found for measures of asthma status. Among the asthma-specific variables, the number of hyperventilation-bronchoconstriction symptoms did not distinguish between the groups. High attenders reported more panic-fear symptoms, lower self-efficacy, and more perceived interference. There were no differences for measures of anxiety/depression, self-focused attention, or health locus of control. However, these variables were found to be significant predictors of panic-fear symptoms, lower selfefficacy, and more perceived interference.
On the Time‐Varying Relationship between Unemployment and Output: What Shapes it?

This paper revisits, by means of both time series and panel data analyses, the empirical regularity popularized by Okun's (Proc Bus Econ Sect, 98&#8208;103, 1962) seminal paper focusing on a sample of 20 advanced economies between 1978 and 2015. Not only do we provide arguably better estimates of the Okun's Law coefficient (OLC) (using the gap version) by employing a new filtering technique, but more importantly, we also contest the hypothesis that the OLC has been static over time. By estimating country&#8208;specific time&#8208;varying Okun coefficient models, we confirm that the unemployment&#8208;output responsiveness has been changing over time. The dispersion between countries&#8217; OLCs has been determined by some (structural) characteristics. The starting level of unemployment and the phase of the business cycle increase the estimated OLCs, while informality and certain labour and product market policies lower them. Our evidence sustains the fact that aggregate demand policies aiming at increasing output growth can equally contribute to the recovery in labour markets.
Ten Theses on Accountability

The following is an essay, that is to say an attempt, to rethink the debate around accountability. Accountability has been frequently lauded as an essential value of democracy and an idea that is unopposable. Through the following ten theses, I build an argument that accountability is conceptually and practically opposed to the very thing that it is held to guarantee, namely, self-government. I do so by rethinking the contours of the debate between Carl Friedrich and Herman Finer by showing that values of each persist within the existing accountability arrangement. As we understand it today, accountability is best conceived of as a technological concept of automation that is reinforced by the degradation of skills of self-government entrenched into the current practices of the administrative state. This is the nature of accountability in the administrative state, a concept of domination that is premised on the impracticality of self-government.
Tumor suppressor Smad4 is a transforming growth factor beta-inducible DNA binding protein

Members of the Smad family of proteins are thought to play important roles in transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta)-mediated signal transduction. In response to TGF-beta, specific Smads become inducibly phosphorylated, form heteromers with Smad4, and undergo nuclear accumulation. In addition, overexpression of specific Smad combinations can mimic the transcriptional effect of TGF-beta on both the plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) promoter and the reporter construct p3TP-Lux. Although these data suggest a role for Smads in regulating transcription, the precise nuclear function of these heteromeric Smad complexes remains largely unknown. Here we show that in Mv1Lu cells Smad3 and Smad4 form a TGF-beta-induced, phosphorylation-dependent, DNA binding complex that specifically recognizes a bipartite binding site within p3TP-Lux. Furthermore, we demonstrate that Smad4 itself is a DNA binding protein which recognizes the same sequence. Interestingly, mutations which eliminate the Smad DNA binding site do not interfere with either TGF-beta-dependent transcriptional activation or activation by Smad3/Smad4 cooverexpression. In contrast, mutation of adjacent AP1 sites within this context eliminates both TGF-beta-dependent transcriptional activation and activation in response to Smad3/Smad4 cooverexpression. Furthermore, concatemerized AP1 sites, in isolation, are activated by Smad3/Smad4 cooverexpression and, to a certain extent, by TGF-beta. Taken together, these data suggest that the Smad3/Smad4 complex has at least two separable nuclear functions: it forms a rapid, yet transient sequence-specific DNA binding complex, and it potentiates AP1-dependent transcriptional activation.
Breastfeeding during the first year promotes satiety responsiveness in children aged 18–24 months

What is already known about this subject? Infants who are formula fed have an increased risk of overweight and obesity compared to breastfed infants. Individuals who are satiety responsive, matching their intake of energy to need, are more likely to be a healthy weight. Breastfeeding may promote satiety responsiveness as the infant has greater opportunity to regulate their intake of milk in comparison to being fed with a bottle. However little research has been conducted on this relationship.
The Impact of Dodd–Frank on True Interest Cost of Municipal Bonds: Evidence from California

The Dodd&#8211;Frank Act of 2010 amended the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and introduced new registration requirements and regulatory standards applicable to municipal financial advisors. The reform is intended to address some of the problems observed with the conduct of some municipal advisors, including the issuance of financial advice without adequate training or qualifications, and to help municipal debt issuers to raise capital more efficiently. This article explores potential implications of the policy for municipal borrowers. After reviewing the main policy provisions and discussing theoretical outcomes, it empirically tests the null hypothesis of no policy effect on the cost of municipal borrowing in California. The results suggest a significant decrease in true interest cost after the reform. The policy effect is more pronounced on negotiated debt. Thus, the federal regulation of municipal financial intermediaries may have helped to improve the average quality of advice in the market and lower the cost of borrowing.
A study of uncertainty models in a reverberation chamber at NIST

The reverberation chamber has become a good alternative for over-the-air (OTA) testing of small antennas. Here the uncertainty of total radiated power measurements is evaluated for a reverberation chamber at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, Colorado. A procedure for measuring the uncertainty based on the standard deviation of nine different antenna orientations in the RC has been used. A model for the uncertainty, developed at Chalmers University of Technology, has been evaluated for measurements in this chamber. The model is based on the standard deviation of a Gaussian distribution for both the non-line-of-sight and the line-of-sight components together with an average Rician K-factor. It is found that the agreement between theoretical and experimental values are good and that the model describes the uncertainty well for both various loading in the chamber and various amount of platform stirring.
Exploration of the perceptual magnet effect using the mismatch negativity auditory evoked potential.

The goals of this study were (i) to assess the replicability of the "perceptual magnet effect" [Iverson and Kuhl, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97(1), 553-561 (1995)] and (ii) to investigate neurophysiologic processes underlying the perceptual magnet effect by using the mismatch negativity (MMN) auditory evoked potential. A stimulus continuum from /i/ to /e/ was synthesized by varying F1 and F2 in equal mel steps. Ten adult subjects identified and rated the goodness of the stimuli. Results revealed that the prototype was the stimulus with the lowest F1 and highest F2 values and the nonprototype stimulus was close to the category boundary. Subjects discriminated stimulus pairs differing in equal mel steps. The results indicated that discrimination accuracy was not significantly different in the prototype and the nonprototype condition. That is, no perceptual magnet effect was observed. The MMN evoked potential (a preattentive, neurophysiologic index of auditory discrimination) revealed that despite equal mel differences between the stimulus pairs the MMN was largest for the prototype pair (i.e., the pair that had the lowest F1 and highest F2 values). Therefore the MMN appears to be sensitive to within category acoustic differences. Taken together, the behavioral and electrophysiologic results indicate that discrimination of stimulus pairs near a prototype is based on the auditory structure of the stimulus pairs.
Nascent Entrepreneurship: Current Research Directions and Controversies

Given the growing interest in nascent entrepreneurs - individuals who are actively taking steps towards the creation of a new business but who are not entrepreneurs yet - we examine main themes and controversies emerging from nascent entrepreneurship literature. We develop a three- stage chart along which nascent entrepreneurs operate: Antecedents, activities and outcomes. In each stage, we review the literature, identify the main theoretical debates and propose future research directions. We make three contributions. First, we present a comprehensive review of nascent entrepreneurship research (1997-2017), with a focus on papers published after the Davidsson (2006) review. Second, we propose an integrative theoretical framework that highlights how nascent entrepreneurship research has been applied across three stages and summarize and reconcile current debates. Finally, based on the shortcomings and challenges revealed through the literature review, we identify and discuss avenues for future research, including suggestions to integrate the different stages and better understand nascent entrepreneurs. We hope that our study is a first step toward the creation of an overarching theory of nascent entrepreneurship.
Applying Fractional Processing to Radar Satellite Constellations

This paper introduces a new distributed SAR processing based on fractional Fourier transform for ground moving targets imaging. According to the analysis of the minimum mean-squared error, the distributed SAR representation is given. The multi-channel Doppler imaging used adapting coefficient to handle azimuth domain processing. Compared with the traditional approaches, it can achieve a better result of clutter cancellation by using optimal beamforming in the fractional Fourier domain. The effectiveness of this method has been tested through simulation
Contrasting Rates of Molecular Evolution and Patterns of Selection among Gymnosperms and Flowering Plants

Abstract The majority of variation in rates of molecular evolution among seed plants remains both unexplored and unexplained. Although some attention has been given to flowering plants, reports of molecular evolutionary rates for their sister plant clade (gymnosperms) are scarce, and to our knowledge differences in molecular evolution among seed plant clades have never been tested in a phylogenetic framework. Angiosperms and gymnosperms differ in a number of features, of which contrasting reproductive biology, life spans, and population sizes are the most prominent. The highly conserved morphology of gymnosperms evidenced by similarity of extant species to fossil records and the high levels of macrosynteny at the genomic level have led scientists to believe that gymnosperms are slow-evolving plants, although some studies have offered contradictory results. Here, we used 31,968 nucleotide sites obtained from orthologous genes across a wide taxonomic sampling that includes representatives of most conifers, cycads, ginkgo, and many angiosperms with a sequenced genome. Our results suggest that angiosperms and gymnosperms differ considerably in their rates of molecular evolution per unit time, with gymnosperm rates being, on average, seven times lower than angiosperm species. Longer generation times and larger genome sizes are some of the factors explaining the slow rates of molecular evolution found in gymnosperms. In contrast to their slow rates of molecular evolution, gymnosperms possess higher substitution rate ratios than angiosperm taxa. Finally, our study suggests stronger and more efficient purifying and diversifying selection in gymnosperm than in angiosperm species, probably in relation to larger effective population sizes.