Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Objective evaluation by reflectance spectrophotometry can be of clinical value for the verification of blanching/non blanching erythema in the sacral area

Early detection of non blanching erythema (pressure ulcer category I) is necessary to prevent any further skin damage. An objective method to discriminate between blanching/non blanching erythema is presently not available. The purpose of this investigation was to explore if a non invasive objective method could differentiate between blanching/non blanching erythema in the sacral area of patients undergoing hip fracture surgery. Seventy‐eight patients were included. The sacral area of all patients was assessed using (i) conventional finger‐press test and (ii) digital reading of the erythema index assessed with reflectance spectrophotometry. The patients were examined at admission and during 5 days postsurgery. Reflectance spectrophotometry measurements proved able to discriminate between blanching/non blanching erythema. The reliability, quantified by the intra‐class correlation coefficient, was excellent between repeated measurements over the measurement period, varying between 0·82 and 0·96, and a significant change was recorded in the areas from day 1 to day 5 (P < 0·0001). The value from the reference point did not show any significant changes over the same period (P = 0·32). An objective method proven to identify early pressure damage to tissue can be a valuable tool in clinical practice.
Interactions of propofol and remifentanil on bispectral index under 66% N2O: analysis by dose-effect curve, isobologram, and combination index

Background Propofol and remifentanil are usually co-administered and have shown synergistic effect for anesthesia. However, the synergistic effect of the two drugs on hypnosis measured by bispectral index (BIS) was controversial in previous studies. The aim of this study was to identify the interaction of propofol and remifentanil on BIS and the optimal dose combinations for hypnosis under 66% N2O during surgery. Methods Patients (age 55-75 and American Society of Anesthesiologists [ASA] 1-2) undergoing gastrectomy were enrolled in this study. Propofol and remifentanil were co-administered incrementally at 1 : 1 potent ratio (the P1R1 group), at 1 : 2 potent ratio (the P1R2 group), or at 2 : 1 potent ratio (the P2R1 group) using effect site target-controlled infusion and BIS was measured. 66% N2O was concomitantly administered to all groups. The dose-effect curves, the 90% effective dose (EC90) for adequate hypnosis (BIS 40), isobolograms and combination index were obtained by Calcusyn program (Biosoft) to reveal the interaction of propofol and remifentanil. Results The P2R1 group showed synergistic action on BIS. However, the other groups needed larger amount of each drug than the doses of additive action. The EC90 of the P2R1 group was propofol, 3.34 µg/ml and remifentanil, 2.41 ng/ml under 66% of N2O. Conclusions Propofol dominant co-administration is needed for dose reduction in BIS guided hypnosis.
Synergy effect in GUI usability and accessibility education improvement

The paper presents a synergy effect achieved through knowledge and experience exchange in the field of Graphical User Interface (GUI) usability and accessibility among Leonardo da Vinci Partnerships project partners. The main aim of the project is curricula and teaching materials development in the usability and accessibility of computer applications area. Partner universities join their potential in order to achieve the planned results.
Facilitating Physically Active Identity Development in Older Women

Physical activity (PA) is beneficial for older women, yet, many older women are physically inactive. One way to motivate older women to become physically active is through physically active identity development. This study tested an intervention to see if physically active identity development could be facilitated, and if a facilitated physically active identity resulted in increased PA. A quasi-experimental pre-test post-test design was used with a convenience sample of 43 older women. Data analyses compared those who completed the study versus those who did not complete the study and those assigned to the intervention versus the attention-control group. Those who did not complete the study (N=22) had significantly higher walking frequency (p=.023) and significantly lower duration of sitting (p=.000). Among those who participated in the intervention (N=12) or attention-control (N=9) activities, there were no significant differences in physically active identities or PA at the end of the nine-week study period. Therefore, the study‟s two hypotheses were not supported. Significant associations were noted between physically active identity measures and health status (p=.039), ego-resiliency (p=.040, p=.016), general fear of performing PA (p=.024), and access to PA (p=.017). Limitations of the study include the high risk of error in the statistical conclusions due to low statistical power, the limitations of the sample, limitations of the intervention itself, and the failure to track subjects longitudinally. Implications for nursing education, practice, and research are discussed. Recommendations for future studies were suggested.
Erratum to the article Twisted Alexander polynomials and surjectivity of a group homomorphism

In [1, Section 5], we considered existence of surjective homomorphisms between knot groups. In particular, the twisted Alexander polynomial was used in order to prove nonexistence of surjective homomorphisms. To be precise, we dealt with the numerator and the denominator of twisted Alexander polynomial separately and stated that there does not exist any surjective homomorphism from G.821/, G.912/, G.924/, G.939/ onto G.41/. However, the numerator and the denominator depend on the presentation of a knot, that is, each of them is not an invariant of knots, though the twisted Alexander polynomial is. We fixed the Wirtinger presentations of knot groups and discussed the numerator and the denominator of twisted Alexander polynomial separately. By that argument, we proved only nonexistence of meridian-preserving surjective homomorphisms from G.821/, G.912/, G.924/, G.939/ onto G.41/.
Better statistical estimation can benefit all phrases in phrase-based statistical machine translation

The heuristic estimates of conditional phrase translation probabilities are based on frequency counts in a word-aligned parallel corpus. Earlier attempts at more principled estimation using Expectation-Maximization (EM) under perform this heuristic. This paper shows that a recently introduced novel estimator based on smoothing might provide a good alternative. When all phrase pairs are estimated (no length cut-off), this estimator slightly outperforms the heuristic estimator.
The impact of early normalization of haematocrit by erythropoietin on renal damage in the remnant kidney model.

BACKGROUND Correction of anaemia in moderate to advanced renal failure is still a matter of debate because of postulated detrimental effects of erythropoietin on the progression of renal damage. METHODS The renal effects of early normalization of haematocrit (Htc) by erythropoietin (rHuEpo) were investigated from the time of 5/6 nephrectomy up to 8 weeks post-intervention in three groups of remnant kidney model rats: untreated controls (CON), rats receiving 100 UI/kg body-wt of rHuEpo i.p. twice a week (EPO), and rats receiving rHuEpo in which periodic phlebotomies maintained Htc similar to the value of the control group (PHL). The latter group was included to evaluate the direct effects of rHuEpo on renal damage, i.e. independent from Htc correction. RESULTS Two weeks after renal ablation (basal), Htc decreased in CON and PHL rats (from 49.3+/-1.4% to 43.2+/- 1.1, P < 0.05 and from 49.6+/-1.1 to 43.3+/-1.5%, P<0.05 respectively), while it remained consistently normal in EPO rats (48.9+/-1.2% to 48.9+/-1.50/%, P<0.05 vs other groups). Thereafter Htc did not change throughout the remaining period in all groups. At the end of the study, with respect to basal, resting blood pressure increased significantly by the same extent in CON (+ 13+/-2%) and EPO rats (+ 15+/-5%), while it remained constant in PHL rats. Notably, creatinine clearance significantly decreased in CON (-53+/-8% 8 vs basal) and EPO (-38+/-8% vs basal), while it did not change in PHL rats. Likewise the degree of proteinuria as well as renal morphologic alterations and glomerular hypertrophy/sclerosis was similar in CON and EPO rats, and was significantly more severe than in the phlebotomized group. The only difference detected between CON and EPO group was the greater mesangial hypercellularity in rHuEpo-treated rats. CONCLUSION In uraemic rats, chronic treatment with rHuEpo aimed at normalization of Htc beginning the early stage of renal failure does not inevitably account for a rise in systemic blood pressure. In addition, neither erythropoietin per se nor the correction of haematocrit accelerates the progression of renal damage when blood pressure remains constant.
Entropy based attribute reduction approach for incomplete decision table

In this paper, a new entropy based uncertainty measure is introduced for evaluating the significance of subsets of attributes in incomplete decision tables. Some properties of rough conditional entropy are derived. And three attribute reduction algorithms are provided, including an algorithm using exhaustive search, an algorithm using heuristic search and an algorithm using probabilistic search for incomplete decision tables. Furthermore, several simulation experiments on real incomplete data sets are carried out to assess the efficiency of the proposed algorithms. The final simulation results indicate that two of above algorithms can give satisfying performances in the procedure of attribute reduction for incomplete decision tables.
Genetic Targeting of Arginase-II in Mouse Prevents Renal Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Diet-Induced Obesity

Obesity is associated with development and progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Recent evidence demonstrates that enhanced levels of the L-arginine:ureahydrolase, including the two isoenzymes arginase-I (Arg-I) and arginase-II (Arg-II) in vascular endothelial cells promote uncoupling of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), leading to increased superoxide radical anion and decreased NO production thereby endothelial dysfunction. Arg-II but not Arg-I is abundantly expressed in kidney and the role of Arg-II in CKD is uncertain and controversial. We aimed to investigate the role of Arg-II in renal damage associated with diet-induced obesity mouse model. Wild type (WT) C57BL/6 mice and mice deficient in Arg-II gene (Arg-II−/−) were fed with either a normal chow (NC) or a high-fat-diet (HFD) for 14 weeks (starting at the age of 7 weeks) to induce obesity. In WT mice, HFD feeding caused frequent renal lipid accumulation, enhancement of renal reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels which could be attenuated by a NOS inhibitor, suggesting uncoupling of NOS in kidney. HFD feeding also significantly augmented renal Arg-II expression and activity. All the alterations in the kidney under HFD feeding were reduced in Arg-II−/− mice. Moreover, mesangial expansion as analyzed by Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) staining and renal expression of vascular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in HFD-fed WT mouse assessed by immunoblotting were reduced in the HFD-fed Arg-II−/− mice, although there was no significant difference in body weight and renal weight/body weight ratio between the WT and Arg-II−/− mice. Thus, Arg-II expression/activity is enhanced in kidney of diet-induced obesity mice. Genetic targeting of Arg-II prevents renal damage associated with obesity, suggesting an important role of Arg-II in obesity-associated renal disease development.
Predicting Cellular Automata

We explore the ability of a locally informed individual agent to predict the future state of a cell in systems of varying degrees of complexity using Wolfram’s one-dimensional binary cellular automata. We then compare the agent’s performance to that of two small groups of agents voting by majority rule. We find stable rules (class I) to be highly predictable, and most complex (class IV) and chaotic rules (class III) to be unpredictable. However, we find rules that produce regular patterns (class II) vary widely in their predictability. We then show that the predictability of a class II rule depends on whether it produces vertical or horizontal patterns. We comment on the implications of our findings for the limitations of collective wisdom in complex environments.
Comparison of Morphine and Tramadol in Transforaminal Epidural Injections for Lumbar Radicular Pain

Background Transforaminal epidural steroid injections are known to reduce inflammation by inhibiting synthesis of various proinflammatory mediators and have been used increasingly. The anti-inflammatory properties of opioids are not as fully understood but apparently involve antagonism sensory neuron excitability and pro-inflammatory neuropeptide release. To date, no studies have addressed the efficacy of transforaminal epidural morphine in patients with radicular pain, and none have directly compared morphine with a tramadol for this indication. The aim of this study was to compare morphine and tramadol analgesia when administered via epidural injection to patients with lumbar radicular pain. Methods A total of 59 patients were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 treatment groups and followed for 3 months after procedure. Each patient was subjected to C-arm guided transforaminal epidural injection (TFEI) of an affected nerve root. As assigned, patients received either morphine sulfate (2.5 mg/2.5 ml) or tramadol (25 mg/0.5 ml) in combination with 0.2% ropivacaine (1 ml). Using numeric rating scale was subsequently rates at 2 weeks and 3 months following injection for comparison with baseline. Results Both groups had significantly lower mean pain scores at 2 weeks and at 3 months after treatment, but outcomes did not differ significantly between groups. Conclusions TFEI of an opioid plus local anesthetic proved effective in treating radicular pain. Although morphine surpassed tramadol in pain relief scores, the difference was not statistically significant.
The treatment of eating disorders as addiction among adolescent females

As science and medicine enter the new millennium, the influences of genetics and neurochemistry as high-risk determinants in the etiology and development of eating disorders are increasingly manifest in professional literature. Eating disorders are now recognized as major medical and psychiatric problems affecting millions throughout the world. Psychoeducational, cognitive, behavioral, and psychopharmacologic treatments form the basis of most interventions which, for the most part, tend to view the eating disorder as a symptom of underlying psychopathology. The Israel Counseling and Treatment Center of the North has been treating eating disorders as addictive disease by applying the twelve step program of the Anonymous Fellowships as an adjunct to counseling and treatment for those who suffer from compulsive overeating and bulimia. Following the ongoing program of interventions with adults, a counseling group for adolescent females was co-facilitated under the supervision of the author. A co-therapist, in recovery from bulimia and comulsive overeating, uses the twelve step philosophy and served as a role model in this group intervention. Another sample of adolescent females was offered individual counseling adhering to the same addiction treatment approach. Success rates were operationally defined and measured by weight loss in the obese population and the cessation of purging behaviors among bulimic subjects for a six-month period. The two adolescent treatment samples had success rates of 62% and 33% respectively. A higher success rate of 71% was observed with adult bulimic females who participated in group counseling. A mean weight loss of 3.9 kg for the small sample of adolescents and a 9.7 kg. mean weight loss for obese adults in treatment was reported. The theoretical basis of the addiction treatment paradigm for eating disorders is presented. Results and problems encountered specific to treating the adolescent population are discussed.
Inhibition of Glutathione Reductase by Dinitrosyl-Iron-Dithiolate Complex*

The biological signal molecule nitric oxide (NO) exists in a free and carrier-bound form. Since the structure of the carrier is likely to influence the interaction of NO with macromolecular targets, we assessed the interaction of a dinitrosyl-iron-dithiolate complex carrying different thiol ligands with glutathione reductase. The enzyme was irreversibly inhibited by dinitrosyl-iron-di-l-cysteine and dinitrosyl-iron-di-glutathione in a concentration- and time-dependent manner (IC50 30 and 3 μm, respectively). Evaluation of the inhibition kinetics according to Kitz-Wilson yielded a K i of 14 μm, and ak 3 of 1.3 × 10−3s−1. A participation of catalytic site thiols in the inhibitory mechanism was indicated by the findings that only the NADPH-reduced enzyme was inhibited by dinitrosyl-iron complex and that blockade of these thiols by Hg2+ afforded protection against irreversible inhibition. This inhibition was not accompanied by formation of a protein-bound dinitrosyl-iron complex and/orS-nitrosation of active site thiols (Cys-58 and Cys-63). However, one NO moiety exhibiting an acid lability similar to a secondary N-nitrosamine was present per mol of inhibited monomeric enzyme. These findings suggest specificallyN-nitrosation of glutathione reductase as a likely mechanism of inhibition elicited by dinitrosyl-iron complex and demonstrate in general that structural resemblance of an NO carrier with a natural ligand enhances NO+ transfer to the ligand-binding protein.
Role of connexins in human congenital heart disease: the chicken and egg problem

Inborn cardiac diseases are among the most frequent congenital anomalies and are the main cause of death in infants within the first year of age in industrialized countries when not adequately treated. They can be divided into simple and complex cardiac malformations. The former ones, for instance atrial and ventricular septal defects, valvular or subvalvular stenosis or insufficiency account for up to 80% of cardiac abnormalities. The latter ones, for example transposition of the great vessels, Tetralogy of Fallot or Shone’s anomaly often do not involve only the heart, but also the great vessels and although occurring less frequently, these severe cardiac malformations will become symptomatic within the first months of age and have a high risk of mortality if the patients remain untreated. In the last decade, there is increasing evidence that cardiac gap junction proteins, the connexins (Cx), might have an impact on cardiac anomalies. In the heart, mainly three of them (Cx40, Cx43, and Cx45) are differentially expressed with regard to temporal organogenesis and to their spatial distribution in the heart. These proteins, forming gap junction channels, are most important for a normal electrical conduction and coordinated synchronous heart muscle contraction and also for the normal embryonic development of the heart. Animal and also some human studies revealed that at least in some cardiac malformations alterations in certain gap junction proteins are present but until today no particular gap junction mutation could be assigned to a specific cardiac anomaly. As gap junctions have often been supposed to transmit growth and differentiation signals from cell to cell it is reasonable to assume that they are somehow involved in misdirected growth present in many inborn heart diseases playing a primary or contributory role. This review addresses the potentional role of gap junctions in the development of inborn heart anomalies like the conotruncal heart defects.
Clinical Efficacy of a New Automated Hemoencefalographic Neurofeedback Protocol

Among the ongoing attempts to enhance cognitive performance, an emergent and yet underrepresented venue is brought by hemoencefalographic neurofeedback (HEG). This paper presents three related advances in HEG neurofeedback for cognitive enhancement: a) a new HEG protocol for cognitive enhancement, as well as b) the results of independent measures of biological efficacy (EEG brain maps) extracted in three phases, during a one year follow up case study; c) the results of the first controlled clinical trial of HEG, designed to assess the efficacy of the technique for cognitive enhancement of an adult and neurologically intact population. The new protocol was developed in the environment of a software that organizes digital signal algorithms in a flowchart format. Brain maps were produced through 10 brain recordings. The clinical trial used a working memory test as its independent measure of achievement. The main conclusion of this study is that the technique appears to be clinically promising. Approaches to cognitive performance from a metabolic viewpoint should be explored further. However, it is particularly important to note that, to our knowledge, this is the world's first controlled clinical study on the matter and it is still early for an ultimate evaluation of the technique. Entre los intentos en curso para mejorar el rendimiento cognitivo, uno emergente y todavía insuficientemente representado es el neurofeedback hemoencefalográphico (HEG). Este trabajo presenta tres avances relacionados con HEG neurofeedback para la mejora cognitiva: a) un nuevo protocolo HEG para la mejora cognitiva, así como b) los resultados de las medidas independientes de la eficacia biológica (mapas cerebrales EEG) extraídos en tres fases durante un año estudio de seguimiento de casos; c) los resultados del primer ensayo clínico controlado de HEG, diseñado para evaluar la eficacia de la técnica para la mejora cognitiva de población adulta y neurológicamente sana. El nuevo protocolo fue desarrollado en el marco de un software que organiza algoritmos de señales digitales en un formato de diagrama de flujo. Los mapas de cerebro fueron producidos a través de 10 registros cerebrales. El ensayo clínico utilizó un test de memoria de trabajo como medida independiente de sus logros. La principal conclusión de este estudio es que la técnica parece ser clínicamente prometedora. Los enfoques para el rendimiento cognitivo desde un punto de vista metabólico deben investigarse más a fondo. Sin embargo, es particularmente importante tener en cuenta que, a nuestro entender, este es el primer estudio clínico controlado sobre el tema en el mundo, y aún es pronto para una evaluación final de la técnica.
Stock Option Expense, Forward-Looking Information, and Implied Volatilities of Traded Options

Prior research generally finds that firms underreport option expense by managing assumptions underlying option valuation (e.g. they shorten the expected option lives), but it fails to document management of a key assumption, the one concerning expected stock-price volatility. Using a new methodology, we address two questions: (1) To what extent do companies follow the guidance in FAS 123 and use forward looking information in addition to the readily available historical volatility in estimating expected volatility? (2) What determines the cross-sectional variation in the reliance on forward looking information? We find that firms use both historical and forward-looking information in deriving expected volatility. We also find, however, that the reliance on forward-looking information is limited to situations where this reliance results in reduced expected volatility and thus smaller option expense. We interpret this finding as managers opportunistically use the discretion in estimating expected volatility afforded by FAS 123. In support of this interpretation, we also find that managerial incentives play a key role in this opportunism.