Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased risk of venous thromboembolism associated with polymyositis and dermatomyositis: a meta-analysis

Objective Polymyositis and dermatomyositis (PM/DM) have been implicated in the development of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Previous studies investigating the association between PM/DM and VTE risk had yielded inconsistent findings. The aim of this study was to precisely estimate this association by meta-analysis of all available publications. Methods Two investigators independently performed a comprehensive literature search in databases of PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for eligible studies. The strength for the association was weighed by pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Stratified analysis and sensitivity analysis were performed for further analysis. Results Six studies including 9,045 patients with PM/DM were analyzed. The pooled OR suggested that inflammatory myositis was associated with increased risk of VTE (OR =4.31, 95% CI: 2.55–7.29, P<0.001). Besides, significantly elevated risk of VTE was related with PM and DM, respectively (for PM: OR =6.87, 95% CI: 4.12–11.46, P<0.001; for DM: OR =11.59, 95% CI: 6.54–20.55, P<0.001). In addition, inflammatory myositis could increase the risk of DVT (OR =4.85, 95% CI: 1.38–17.12, P<0.05) and PE (OR =4.74, 95% CI: 2.18–10.30, P<0.05). Sensitivity analysis did not materially alter the pooled results. Conclusion Our study shows strong evidence that patients with inflammatory myositis have an increased risk of VTE.
Are Parkinson’s Patients More Vulnerable to the Effects of Cardiovascular Risk: A Neuroimaging and Neuropsychological Study

Abstract Objectives: This study examined whether individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are at increased vulnerability for vascular-related cognitive impairment relative to controls. The underlying assumption behind this hypothesis relates to brain reserve and that both PD and vascular risk factors impair similar fronto-executive cognitive systems. Methods: The sample included 67 PD patients and 61 older controls (total N=128). Participants completed neuropsychological measures of executive functioning, processing speed, verbal delayed recall/memory, language, and auditory attention. Cardiovascular risk was assessed with the Framingham Cardiovascular Risk index. Participants underwent brain imaging (T1 and T2 FLAIR). Trained raters measured total and regional leukoaraiosis (periventricular, deep subcortical, and infracortical). Results: Hierarchical regressions revealed that more severe cardiovascular risk was related to worse executive functioning, processing speed, and delayed verbal recall in both Parkinson patients and controls. More severe cardiovascular risk was related to worse language functioning in the PD group, but not controls. In contrast, leukoaraiosis related to both cardiovascular risk and executive functioning for controls, but not the PD group. Conclusions: Overall, results revealed that PD and cardiovascular risk factors are independent risk factors for cognitive impairment. Generally, the influence of cardiovascular risk factors on cognition is similar in PD patients and controls. (JINS, 2017, 23, 322–331)
Intelligent message distribution in corporate expert communities

The basic challenge of information management is to provide useful information to the right people in a given situation, such as for problem solving. In a company, semantic technologies in combination with enterprise social media applications can be applied for the identification of experts in a required field of expertise. Our approach uses the Web 3L model, a 3-layer structure of networks which includes relations from social and semantic networks. It is shown how this model can be used to target the right crowd for corporate problem solving. The distribution of urgent requests in an internal knowledge networking tool is described as a real world example that is used in a productive environment.
Modelling and Forecasting Zimbabwe’s Tourist Arrivals Using Time Series Method: A Case Study of Victoria Falls Rainforest

Modelling and forecasting of tourist arrivals at one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, the Victoria Falls Rainforest, is critical to the tourism industry and economy of Zimbabwe. The aim of this paper is to provide quantitative techniques that will help with accurate tourist arrivals forecasting, shedding light on seasonality and other patterns of tourist arrivals. A time series plot of the monthly tourist arrivals statistics from January 2006 to December 2017 availed by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority shows an upward trend in tourist arrivals with large fluctuations. To tame the variance which is increasing with time, a logarithm transformation is done on the data. A SARIMA (2, 1, 0)(2, 0, 0)12 model fits well to the data and outperformed other SARIMA models and the naïve, seasonal naïve and Holt-Winters exponential smoothing models. A two-year future out-of-sample forecast is done using this model and gives reasonable forecasts that indicate a general rise in tourist arrivals. Investors, tourism managers and the government can make use of such results in order to find effective and efficient solutions to the investment, foreign currency, accommodation, transport and infrastructure development problems and other tourist-related challenges faced by Zimbabweans.
In Situ Silicon-Integrated Tuner for Automated On-Wafer MMW Noise Parameters Extraction Using Multi-Impedance Method for Transistor Characterization

In this paper, the design and use of an in situ tuner (IST) aiming On-Wafer multi-impedance method are presented. The conventional method using Off-Wafer tuner is limited by the frequency range and has high losses between this external tuner and the device under test (DUT). Here, the IST is placed near the DUT to achieve higher |Γ| and to cancel losses between the impedance generator and the device. The architecture of the tuner is based on variable lumped R and C elements fulfilled with cold-field-effect transistor and varactors controlled through biasing and associated to coplanar transmission line for phase shifting. Detailed and dedicated noise de-embedding technique is described to extract the four noise (NFmin, Rn, Γopt) parameters of 65-nm metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect silicon transistors through the use of this in situ multi-impedance method. The 75-110 GHz noise test bench using cold-noise source method and the noise measurement are described showing transistor capabilities at MMW.
Including Covariates in the Regression Discontinuity Design

This article proposes a fully nonparametric kernel method to account for observed covariates in regression discontinuity designs (RDD), which may increase precision of treatment effect estimation. It is shown that conditioning on covariates reduces the asymptotic variance and allows estimating the treatment effect at the rate of one-dimensional nonparametric regression, irrespective of the dimension of the continuously distributed elements in the conditioning set. Furthermore, the proposed method may decrease bias and restore identification by controlling for discontinuities in the covariate distribution at the discontinuity threshold, provided that all relevant discontinuously distributed variables are controlled for. To illustrate the estimation approach and its properties, we provide a simulation study and an empirical application to an Austrian labor market reform. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.
Reversing Course: Fiscal Policy and Economic Interdependence

ABSTRACT In response to the 2008 financial crisis, countries throughout the developed world widely embraced fiscal stimulus policies. But about one year later, with their economies still weak, a majority of these countries reversed course and adopted austerity measures, despite having the ability to maintain fiscal expansions. With little variation in domestic interests, institutions, or political ideologies over this short time period, theories of budgetary politics struggle to explain this policy shift. This shortcoming may be the result of the literature generally ignoring the international effects of fiscal policy. I argue that policymakers strategically consider their trade partners’ likely fiscal policies before setting domestic fiscal policy. If incumbents expect their major trade partners to enact fiscal expansions, they are more likely to pass expansionary policies of their own. But when incumbents expect their counterparts to enact contractionary policies, they are less likely to fund expansionary policies, as these policies may boost foreign economies with suppressed effects at home. I test this argument using spatial econometrics and a data set of OECD countries from 1998 to 2015. The evidence suggests that shifting expectations of fiscal policies abroad explains much of the move from stimulus to austerity over the short time span.
Download File PDF, ebook, read online DIGITAL QUEER CULTURES IN INDIA POLITICS INTIMACIES AND BELONGING

Sexuality in India offers an expression of nationalist anxieties and is a significant marker of modernity through which subjectivities are formed among the middle class. This book investigates the everyday experience of queer Indian men on digital spaces. It explores how queer identities are formed in virtual spaces and how the existence of such spaces challenge and critique ‘Indian’-ness. It also looks at the role of class and intimacy within the discourse. This work argues that new media, social networking sites (SNSs), both web and mobile, and related technologies do not exist in isolation; rather they are critically embedded within other social spaces. Similarly, online queer spaces exist parallel to and in conjunction with the larger queer movement in the country. This book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of gender studies, especially men's and masculinity studies, queer and LGBT studies, media and cultural studies, particularly new media and digital culture, sexuality and identity, politics, sociology and social anthropology, and South Asian studies. Download ebook, read file pdf Politics, Intimacies and Belonging
It’s in the air: Aroma marketing and affective response in the hotel world

ABSTRACT Smell is considered to be the sense that is most closely attached to emotional reactions. This makes scent in the hotel environment an important atmospheric variable to study, because fragrances are expected to increase the likelihood of producing an emotional reaction from consumers. Capitalizing on smell’s ability to cue memories and conjure up emotions, the purpose of this research is to examine the emotional states evoked by various hotel scents in a hotel business in Hong Kong that uses scent throughout its premises. More specifically, this study intends to make a connection between the emotional states evoked by the hotel scents and how hotel businesses can make use of their guests’ emotional responses. Scent marketing is an overlooked subject in hospitality and tourism research.
NO-containing factors mediate hindlimb vasodilation produced by superior laryngeal nerve stimulation.

The electrical stimulation (ES) of the superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) produces reflex vasodilation in the rat hindlimb. This study determined whether this vasodilation is mediated by the release of nitric oxide (NO)-containing factors (NOF) from NO synthase (NOS)-positive postganglionic lumbar sympathetic fibers that innervate the rat hindlimb vasculature. ES of the SLN (1-10 Hz for 15 s) produced frequency-dependent reductions in mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and hindlimb and mesenteric (MR) vascular resistances. The hindlimb vasodilation was not observed in rats in which the lumbar sympathetic trunk was transected 7-10 days previously. The falls in hindquarter vascular resistance (HQR) produced by lower intensity ES of the SLN were virtually abolished by the specific inhibitor of neuronal NOS 7-nitroindazole (7-NI, 45 mg/kg i.v.). The fall in HQR produced by 10 Hz ES of the SLN was not affected by 7-NI. The falls in MR produced by 1-10 Hz ES of the SLN were unaffected by 7-NI. Four consecutive episodes of ES at 10 Hz produced pronounced and equivalent reductions in MAP, HQR, and MR. After administration of 7-NI, the first ES produced similar hemodynamic responses to those observed before injection. However, each subsequent ES produced progressively and markedly smaller falls in HQR, whereas each episode of ES produced similar falls in MR. These results suggest that the reflex vasodilation in the rat hindlimb produced by ES of the SLN involves the release of newly synthesized and performed stores of NOF from NOS-positive postganglionic lumbar sympathetic nerves.
Association of elevated blood pressure during exercise with cerebral white matter lesions

Abstract Objectives: Cerebral white matter lesions (WMLs) are regarded to be subclinical ischemic changes of the cerebral parenchyma. Many previous studies have shown that baseline blood pressure (BP) is one of the most important factors for WMLs, but the relation between exercise BP and WMLs has not been fully evaluated. So, we sought to investigate the relationships between cerebral WMLs and peak exercise BP. Methods: Brain magnetic resonance imaging scan and treadmill testing were performed simultaneously in 130 consecutive subjects without history of stroke or transient ischemic stroke. Results: Among 130 subjects, 42 individuals (32%) presented WMLs. Individuals with WMLs were older than those without WMLs, and baseline systolic BP and pulse pressure were higher in subjects with WMLs. During treadmill test, peak exercise systolic BP was more significantly elevated in subjects with WMLs. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, elevated baseline systolic BP, not peak exercise systolic BP, was associated with the presence of WMLs, independently of age. However, in multivariable logistic regression analysis of 88 normotensive subjects, elevated peak systolic BP during exercise was the only determinant for the presence of WMLs. Conclusions: Elevated peak systolic BP during exercise is significantly related with WMLs, subclinical small vessel disease of brain, especially in normotensive subjects.
Adrenomedullin Requires an Intact Nitric Oxide System to Function as an Endogenous Vasodilator in Rat Gestation

Objective: We hypothesize that administration of adrenomedullin (AM), an endogenous vasodilator, will ameliorate the hypertension and growth restriction associated with chronic nitric oxide inhibition induced by l‐ω nitro‐l‐arginine methyl ester (l‐NAME) infusion in pregnant rats. Methods. Osmotic minipumps were inserted on day 14 of gestation to deliver continuously either AM, l‐NAME, AM+l‐NAME, or vehicle control. Systolic blood pressure was recorded daily in pregnant rats. Pregnant rats were either sacrificed on gestational days 15, 16, 17, 18, or 22, or they were allowed to deliver at term. The placentas from all of the treated groups were fixed for 24 hr in Bouin solution, sectioned, processed, embedded in paraffin, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The placentas were graded for the quality of fetal vessel development in the labyrinth. Results. Systolic blood pressure was increased in AM+l‐NAME‐treated rats. The animals that delivered in the AM+l‐NAME group exhibited decreased pup weight (l‐NAME and AM+l‐NAME, 5.2±0.1 compared with 6.4±0.1 g for both AM and controls, p<0.001) and increased pup mortality (AM+l‐NAME, 44.4% compared with 16.7% in l‐NAME, 0% in AM and 3.1% in controls, p<0.001 AM+l‐NAME compared with controls). Increased decidual necrosis, necrosis in the labyrinth, and deficient fetal vessel development in the labyrinth was identified in the placentas treated with AM+l‐NAME. Conclusions. Addition of the endogenous vasodilator AM to an l‐NAME‐induced state of chronic NO inhibition did not ameliorate hypertension and growth restriction.
Platelet-rich plasma may not provide any additional effect when associated with guided bone regeneration around dental implants in dogs.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate histometrically bone healing in surgically created dehiscence-type defects around titanium implants treated with an association of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and guided bone regeneration (GBR). MATERIALS AND METHODS Ten male adult mongrel dogs were used, from which the three low premolars (P2, P3, P4) and the first molar were extracted. Three months after teeth extraction, two implant sites were bilaterally drilled, buccal bone dehiscences were created and four titanium implants were placed. Dehiscences were randomly assigned to the following groups: (1) PRP, (2) GBR, (3) PRP+GBR and (4) control. After 3 months, the animals were sacrificed and the implants and adjacent hard tissues were processed for undecalcified sections. Bone-to-implant contact (BIC), bone density within the limits of implant threads (BW), bone density (BD) and new bone area (BA) in a zone lateral to the implant corresponding to bone defects were obtained and measured. RESULTS Intergroup analysis (two-way ANOVA -alpha=5%) demonstrated that when PRP was utilized,no differences were observed for all parameters (P>0.05). However, significant differences were observed for BIC and BW toward membrane-treated groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Within the limits of this study, it was concluded that PRP does not exert additional effects on bone healing in bone defects created around dental implants and treated by GBR.
High-throughput screening of cellular redox sensors using modern redox proteomics approaches

Cancer cells are characterized by higher levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) due to metabolic aberrations. ROS are widely accepted as second messengers triggering pivotal signaling pathways involved in the process of cell metabolism, cell cycle, apoptosis, and autophagy. However, the underlying cellular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Recently, accumulating evidence has demonstrated that ROS initiate redox signaling through direct oxidative modification of the cysteines of key redox-sensitive proteins (termed redox sensors). Uncovering the functional changes underlying redox regulation of redox sensors is urgently required, and the role of different redox sensors in distinct disease states still remains to be identified. To assist this, redox proteomics has been developed for the high-throughput screening of redox sensors, which will benefit the development of novel therapeutic strategies for cancer treatment. Highlighted here are recent advances in redox proteomics approaches and their applications in identifying redox sensors involved in tumor development.
Continuous pressure measurements in the pharynx and esophagus during sleep in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Pressure measurements were made preoperatively at six sites in the pharynx and esophagus in 18 obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) patients, 3 social snorers, and 6 healthy normal controls. Repeat measurements were made approximately 2 months after uvulopalatopharyngoglossoplasty (UPPGP) in 10 of the OSAS patients. The pressure transducers were contained in a thin silicone tube inserted through one nostril, and measurements were made both in the awake state and throughout a night's sleep. Oxygen saturation was also continuously recorded and, additionally, nasal and oral airflow measurements were made as the postoperative control. The majority of patients had obstruction in more than one pharyngeal segment, and the site(s) of obstruction differed in the awake and sleeping states. After UPPGP, 3 of the patients had neither subjective nor objective evidence of obstruction, while the remaining 7, although subjectively improved, had varying degrees of residual obstruction in the nasopharynx and at the level of the soft palate.
Downregulation of CD43 in RAEB and RAEB‐T patients. Report of 3 cases

CD43 (leukosialin, sialophorin) is a cell surface mucin expressed at high levels on most leukocytes and is reported to be involved in adhesion, anti‐adhesion, and signal transduction prodders. Regulation of its expression is thought to take place through methylation of the DNA in the nonproducing cells, and the methylation inhibitor 5‐azacytidine induces expression of the sialophorin gene. Here we report three cases of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes in which acquired severe deficiency of the CD43 antigen on the surface of most hemopoietic cells was observed. Peripheral blood mononuclear (PBMC) cells from 32 MDS patients and 20 healthy individuals were analyzed by flow cytometry after labeling with an anti‐CD43 (DF‐T1) monoclonal antibody. In 1 patient with refractory anemia with excess of blasts (RAEB) and 2 patients with refractory anemia with excess of blasts in transformation (RAEB‐t), the percentages of CD43(+) PBMC were 3.8%, 6%, and 9.9%, respectively. The deficiency was observed at protein and RNA level as confirmed by western and southern blot, while analysis of the DNA by single‐strand conformation polymorphism and sequencing did not reveal any difference in the gene sequence between the CD43(+) and CD43(−) cells of these patients. It is known that patients with MDS may have normal and dysplastic population of hemopoietic cells. Further studies are needed to reveal the mechanism of downregulation of the gene in these 3 patients and whether the phenomenon is related to the dysplastic population only or not. Am. J. Hematol. 63:20–27, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
RANTES Modulates TLR4-Induced Cytokine Secretion in Human Peripheral Blood Monocytes1

Monocytes are the key regulators of joint inflammation and destruction in rheumatoid arthritis; hence, suppression of their recruitment into the joint may be therapeutically beneficial. Chemokines, including RANTES, are highly expressed in the joints of patient with rheumatoid arthritis, and they promote leukocyte trafficking into the synovial tissue. Because endogenous TLR4 ligands are expressed in the rheumatoid joint, the TLR4 ligand LPS was used to characterize the effects of RANTES on the TLR4-mediated induction of TNF-α and IL-6. Using peripheral blood (PB) monocytes, RANTES decreased LPS-induced IL-6 transcriptionally, whereas TNF-α was suppressed at the posttranscriptional level. RANTES signaled through p38 MAPK, and this signaling was further enhanced by LPS stimulation in PB monocytes, resulting in the earlier and increased secretion of IL-10. Inhibition of p38 by short-interfering RNA or a chemical inhibitor, as well as neutralization of IL-10, reversed the RANTES-mediated suppression of LPS-induced IL-6 and TNF-α. Further, when rheumatoid arthritis synovial fluid was added to PB monocytes, the neutralization of RANTES in fluid reduced the LPS-induced IL-10 and increased TNF-α. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that RANTES down-regulates TLR4 ligation-induced IL-6 and TNF-α secretion by enhancing IL-10 production in PB monocytes. These observations suggest that the therapeutic neutralization of RANTES, in addition to decreasing the trafficking of leukocytes, may have a proinflammatory effect at the site of established chronic inflammation.