Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Systematic review of prophylactic vs rescue surfactant

Surfactant treatment has been shown by careful randomised trials to reduce the mortality and morbidity of very premature babies.1 However, whether surfactant should be given as soon as the baby is born or withheld until the baby has respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is controversial. The objective of this review is to set out the reasons for and against giving surfactant at birth, present the clinical trial data available to date with a systematic review of those trials, and the conclusions that can be drawn from them. “Prophylactic treatment” is defined as surfactant given down an endotracheal tube at initial resuscitation. “Rescue treatment” is when the surfactant given to an intubated baby several hours after birth when RDS has been diagnosed. The lung epithelium of very premature babies is damaged within minutes of ventilation.2 This causes protein to leak on to the surface and interferes with surfactant function.3 4Animal studies have shown that surfactant treatment, given as soon as possible after birth, reduces the severity of RDS and airway damage,5 and improves blood gases, lung function, and survival.6 7 Clinical trials have shown that surfactant treatment for very premature babies is very beneficial and remarkably safe.1 For example, the Ten Centre Trial of ALEC8 used prophylactically showed a 30% reduction in the incidence of RDS compared with control babies and a 48% reduction in neonatal mortality with no side effects. It is impossible to know which baby will develop RDS and who, therefore, might benefit from surfactant treatment. The shorter the gestation the more likely the baby is to develop RDS, but older babies who are compromised in some way are also at risk of RDS and its complications. Normal neonatal practice is to anticipate and try to prevent problems. To wait until …
Enhanced Percutaneous Permeability of Nicardipine Hydrochloride by Carvone Across the Rat Abdominal Skin

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of carvone on the permeation of nicardipine hydrochloride across the excised rat abdominal epidermis from 2% w/w hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) gel system. The HPC gel formulations containing nicardipine hydrochloride (1% w/w) and selected concentrations of carvone (0 to 12% w/w) were prepared, and evaluated for drug content, stability of the drug, and in vitro permeation of the drug through excised rat abdominal epidermis. The HPC gel was found to contain 99.98 to 101.6% of nicardipine hydrochloride, and the drug was found to be stable in the HPC gels. The permeation flux of nicardipine hydrochloride across rat epidermis was increased markedly by the addition of carvone to the HPC gels. A maximum flux of nicardipine hydrochloride (243.95.70 ± 1.90 µg/cm2/hr) was observed with an enhancement ratio of 7.9 when carvone was incorporated at a concentration of 12% w/w in the HPC reservoir system. The differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform-infrared data indicated that carvone increased the permeability of nicardipine hydrochloride across the rat epidermis by partial extraction of lipids in the stratum corneum. The results suggest that carvone may be useful for enhancing the skin permeability of nicardipine hydrochloride from transdermal therapeutic system containing HPC gel as a reservoir.
Exploring the Cost Effectiveness of Land Conservation Auctions and Payment Policies

This article evaluates the cost-effectiveness of the Catchment Care Australian conservation auction. It provides evidence of auction cost effectiveness, and estimates cost savings from two discrete components: (i) the opportunity cost revelation incentive provided by the auction mechanism, and (ii) the improved environmental targeting capacity that results from development of a scientifically based environmental benefits assessment capacity. Results show that there are potentially very large returns associated with the latter component that have been overlooked in the literature. Additionally, transaction costs involved with administering the case study conservation auction and the prior non-auction payment policy are compared. We find that the administration costs for the auction were greater than or equal to those associated with the prior policy. Estimates of relative cost effectiveness across policies are shown to be sensitive to the methods of comparison. In this case study, there is inelastic supply of the last units of environmental benefit. This inelasticity results in large estimated auction comparative cost advantage when the benefit metric is the estimated cost required to achieve auction aggregate environmental benefit. Estimated benefit of the auction is much less when measured as environmental benefits attainable with alternative payment policies subject to the auction budget constraint.
Breath-Holding During Exhalation as a Simple Manipulation to Reduce Pain Perception.

OBJECTIVE Baroreceptor stimulation yields antinociceptive effects. In this study, baroreceptors were stimulated by a respiratory maneuver, with the effect of this manipulation on pain perception subsequently measured. METHODS Thirty-eight healthy participants were instructed to inhale slowly (control condition) and to hold the air in lungs after a deep inhalation (experimental condition). It was expected that breath-holding would increases blood pressure (BP) and thus stimulate the baroreceptors, which in turn would reduce pain perception. Pain was induced by pressure algometry on the nail of the left-index finger, at three different pressure intensities, and quantified by visual analogue scales. Heart rate (HR) and BP were continuously recorded. RESULTS Pain perception was lower when pain pressure was administered during the breath-holding phase versus the slow inhalation phase, regardless of the pressure intensity. During breath-holding, a rapid increase in BP and decrease in HR were observed, demonstrating activation of the baroreceptor reflex. CONCLUSION Pain perception is reduced when painful stimulation is applied during breath-holding immediately following a deep inhalation. These results suggest that a simple and easy-to-perform respiratory maneuver could be used to reduce acute pain perception.
Franchise network restructuring: Pressures, constraints and mechanisms

Franchised businesses operate on the basis of granting individual franchisees trading rights to serve territories or market areas on either an exclusive or a non-exclusive basis. The design of these territories is generally undertaken during the roll-out phase of the franchise. However, these territories and market areas may become sub-optimal over time, necessitating restructuring. However, if the franchisor has granted exclusive rights to a territory then this is likely to involve a breach in the franchise contract. In cases where existing franchisees do not have exclusive territories they may nevertheless make a legal challenge to the creation of additional franchises on the grounds of encroachment. This paper – which is based on a study of 40 franchisors in the UK – examines how franchisors go about network restructuring in constrained and non-constrained situations. Franchisors typically did not act on their legal rights, echoing findings of earlier franchising studies which reveal a divergence between contractual rights and operational behaviour. This focus on network restructuring also provides new perspectives on the reasons for ownership reversion and the growth of multi-unit franchisees.
Relay-Based Spectrum Sharing With Secondary Users Powered by Wireless Energy Harvesting

Spectrum sharing and energy harvesting are promising techniques to improve the bandwidth and energy efficiencies to meet the ever-growing demand of wireless data transmissions. In this paper, we propose an efficient relay-based spectrum sharing protocol in the cognitive radio network, where the secondary user (SU) can implicitly harvest the radio frequency (RF) energy from the primary user (PU) transmissions. Using the harvested energy, the SU can assist the PU transmission to exchange for the opportunity of spectrum access. Both the Alamouti coding and the superposition coding techniques are adopted by the transmitters to facilitate the primary data relaying and the secondary data transmission simultaneously. The joint decoding and the interference cancelation techniques are adopted by the receivers to retrieve the desired signals. The more power allocated for the primary data relaying, the higher throughput can be achieved for the PU, while the less throughput is available for the SU with less energy remained. The optimal power allocation is numerically determined by maximizing the SU throughput while guaranteeing the PU throughput. Numerical results show that our protocol can greatly improve the system throughput and the impacts of various system settings are revealed for the network deployment.
Restructuring Financial Systems in Transition and Developing Economies: an Approach Based on the French Financial System

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate on the redesigning of financial systems in Central and Eastern European and developing countries by focusing attention on specific financial institutions appropriate to easing the transition and fostering the creation of markets. The paper argues that the immediate emulation of the better-known institutions of the most developed, market-based financial systems, i.e. the US and the UK, should not be taken for granted. It underlines, instead, the importance of drawing inspiration from the experiences of a variety of institutions and financial systems. Particularly relevant are those systems that have experienced forms of transition and a mix, over time, of market and state intervention. Copyright The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1997.
The reverse LBO decision and firm performance: Theory and evidence

The authors investigate the transition from private to public ownership of companies that had previously been subject to leveraged buyouts. They show that the information asymmetry problem firms face when they go to public markets for equity, as well as behavioral and debt overhang effects, will produce a pattern in which superior performance before an offering should be expected, with disappointing performance subsequently. The authors find empirical evidence of this phenomenon by studying sixty-two reverse leveraged buyouts that went public between 1983 and 1987. The market appears to anticipate this pattern. Copyright 1993 by American Finance Association.
Clinical value of rapid urine trypsinogen-2 test strip, urinary trypsinogen activation peptide, and serum and urinary activation peptide of carboxypeptidase B in acute pancreatitis.

AIM To assess the usefulness of urinary trypsinogen-2 test strip, urinary trypsinogen activation peptide (TAP), and serum and urine concentrations of the activation peptide of carboxypeptidase B (CAPAP) in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. METHODS Patients with acute abdominal pain and hospitalized within 24 h after the onset of symptoms were prospectively studied. Urinary trypsinogen-2 was considered positive when a clear blue line was observed (detection limit 50 microg/L). Urinary TAP was measured using a quantitative solid-phase ELISA, and serum and urinary CAPAP by a radioimmunoassay method. RESULTS Acute abdominal pain was due to acute pancreatitis in 50 patients and turned out to be extrapancreatic in origin in 22 patients. Patients with acute pancreatitis showed significantly higher median levels of serum and urinary CAPAP levels, as well as amylase and lipase than extrapancreatic controls. Median TAP levels were similar in both groups. The urinary trypsinogen-2 test strip was positive in 68% of patients with acute pancreatitis and 13.6% in extrapancreatic controls (P<0.01). Urinary CAPAP was the most reliable test for the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis (sensitivity 66.7%, specificity 95.5%, positive and negative predictive values 96.6% and 56.7%, respectively), with a 14.6 positive likelihood ratio for a cut-off value of 2.32 nmol/L. CONCLUSION In patients with acute abdominal pain, hospitalized within 24 h of symptom onset, CAPAP in serum and urine was a reliable diagnostic marker of acute pancreatitis. Urinary trypsinogen-2 test strip showed a clinical value similar to amylase and lipase. Urinary TAP was not a useful screening test for the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis.
Trigger Foods: The Influence of “Irrelevant” Alternatives in School Lunchrooms

Rational choice theory commonly assumes that the presence of unselected choices cannot impact which among the remaining choices is selected—often referred to as “independence of irrelevant alternatives. ” We show that such seemingly irrelevant alternatives influence choice in a school lunch setting. In these lunchrooms, we provide evidence that the presence of specific side dishes—trigger foods—can strongly increase the sales of unhealthy à la carte options, even when the trigger foods are not selected. This behavioral anomaly can be exploited to lead children to healthier choices. We also offer a method that can be used to identify such foods.
Portfolio optimization using the quadratic optimization system and publicly available information on the WWW

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe some optimization exercises which have proved to be very useful for introducing students to Markowitz-style mean-varience optimization. Design/methodology/approach - This paper describes two exercises that walk students through the process of gathering security price and dividend data, estimating the parameters of the joint distribution of asset returns, and then using a portfolio optimizer to construct mean-variance efficient portfolios. It describes the basic methodology, and the more complex formulations of the portfolio optimization problem that are used in practice. Practical implications - Portfolio selection is typically taught in finance courses as an abstract solution to a system of equations, and does little to connect the portfolio construction process to Exchange Traded Funds, stocks, bonds and other assets that are traded in markets. This study offers a practical approach to teaching portfolio optimization, that starts with gathering market data and shows how a quadratic optimization system is used to construct mean-variance optimal portfolios. Originality/value - The exercises in this case study prepare students to construct mean-variance efficient portfolios for asset allocation with Exchange Traded Funds, and for building stock and bond portfolios, using market data and a portfolio optimizer.
Liquid Betting against Beta in Dow Jones Industrial Average Stocks

The authors considered liquidity and transaction costs in the practical implementation of betting against beta (BAB) strategies. Using the 30 highly liquid stocks of the Dow Jones Industrial Average over 1926–2013, they analyzed whether the beta anomaly exists and, if so, whether it can be exploited within that universe. With respect to its existence, they found strong evidence of an inverse risk–return relationship. With respect to its exploitability, they found that pure BAB trading portfolios and mixed portfolios (combinations of the pure portfolios and the S&P 500 Index) generate significant abnormal returns that cannot be explained by standard asset-pricing factors. Their results hold both before and after transaction costs and are robust in various settings. The beta anomaly can be considered a persistent anomaly in finance because it has been documented worldwide and is based on solid theory. A recent study, however, argues that the trading efficacy of betting against beta (BAB) strategies may be limited because of illiquidity barriers. To investigate this issue, we explicitly considered liquidity and the role of transaction costs in the practical implementation of BAB strategies. Using the 30 highly liquid stocks of the Dow Jones Industrial Average over 1926–2013, we analyzed whether the anomaly exists and, if so, whether it can be exploited within that universe. With regard to its existence, we found strong evidence of an inverse risk–return relationship. Our results concerning its exploitability reveal that BAB trading portfolios generate significant abnormal returns that cannot be explained by the standard asset-pricing factors of size, book-to-market, and momentum. For example, a portfolio that is long in the 15 stocks with the lowest betas and short in the 15 stocks with the highest betas has historically had a monthly Sharpe ratio of 0.086 after transaction costs. Also, combining this portfolio with the S&P 500 Index increases the monthly Sharpe ratio from 0.089 (for the S&P 500 alone) to 0.146 (for the optimal mix) after transaction costs. Editor’s note: The authors may have a commercial interest in the topics discussed in this article. Editor’s note: This article was reviewed and accepted by Executive Editor Robert Litterman.
An Improved Agent/Group/Role Meta-Model for Building Multti-Agen Systems

The agent/group/role meta-model is a concise meta-model of organization-oriented multi-agent systems, by which engineers can build various categories of the system. However, there are two drawbacks in this meta-model, namely, the lack of the guidance to model organizational abstractions and the semantic notations representing the dynamic activities of internal roles. To solve these problems, we propose to extend the existing meta-model by presenting a generic method for the instruction of modeling process, and integrating it with the state chart of UML for the supplementary representations of internal roles’ dynamic behaviors. As is proved by practice, the proved meta-model helps designers build organization-oriented multi-agent systems more effectively and also provides richer semantic representations.
Regulation by corticosteroids of Th1 and Th2 cytokine production in human CD4+ effector T cells generated from CD45RO- and CD45RO+ subsets.

Corticosteroids (CS) are widely used as immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory agents, but their mechanism of action is not well understood. In this study we analyzed the effects of CS on the growth and differentiation of human CD4+45RO- "naive" and CD4+45RO+ "memory" T cells. To generate effector T cells secreting large amounts of Th1 and Th2 cytokines, FACS-sorted naive and memory subsets were primed and restimulated in vitro via the TCR in the presence of IL-2. CS added during priming reduced clonal expansion of both T cell populations, but the memory subset was 100-fold less sensitive. At lower concentrations, CS favored the development of effector T cells (from both subsets), which upon restimulation produced large amounts of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, but low amounts of IL-4, IL-5, or IFN-gamma. Interestingly, CS displayed different effects if it was added only during the restimulation of effector T cells. CS were unable to suppress clonal expansion of restimulated effector T cells. In effector T cells derived from the naive subset, CS induced production of IL-4 and IL-10, but blocked production of IL-5 and IFN-gamma. In effector T cells generated from the memory subset, CS blocked production of IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10, but inhibited production of IFN-gamma by only 50%, even if 100-fold higher concentrations of CS were applied. These results indicate that persistent TCR stimulation, e.g., in chronic infection, may reduce the sensitivity of T cells to the antiproliferative effects of CS. Furthermore, the potential of CS to increase or suppress IL-4 and IL-10 production depending on the stage of T cell activation may explain in part the beneficial effects of CS in the treatment of acute inflammation and chronic allergic/asthmatic diseases.
Measuring Retention in HIV Care: The Elusive Gold Standard

Background:Measuring retention in HIV primary care is complex, as care includes multiple visits scheduled at varying intervals over time. We evaluated 6 commonly used retention measures in predicting viral load (VL) suppression and the correlation among measures. Methods:Clinic-wide patient-level data from 6 academic HIV clinics were used for 12 months preceding implementation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Health Resources and Services Administration (CDC/HRSA) retention in care intervention. Six retention measures were calculated for each patient based on scheduled primary HIV provider visits: count and dichotomous missed visits, visit adherence, 6-month gap, 4-month visit constancy, and the HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau (HRSA HAB) retention measure. Spearman correlation coefficients and separate unadjusted logistic regression models compared retention measures with one another and with 12-month VL suppression, respectively. The discriminatory capacity of each measure was assessed with the c-statistic. Results:Among 10,053 patients, 8235 (82%) had 12-month VL measures, with 6304 (77%) achieving suppression (VL <400 copies/mL). All 6 retention measures were significantly associated (P < 0.0001) with VL suppression (odds ratio; 95% CI, c-statistic): missed visit count (0.73; 0.71 to 0.75, 0.67), missed visit dichotomous (3.2; 2.8 to 3.6, 0.62), visit adherence (3.9; 3.5 to 4.3,0.69), gap (3.0; 2.6 to 3.3, 0.61), visit constancy (2.8; 2.5 to 3.0, 0.63), and HRSA HAB (3.8; 3.3 to 4.4, 0.59). Measures incorporating “no-show” visits were highly correlated (Spearman coefficient = 0.83–0.85), as were measures based solely on kept visits (Spearman coefficient = 0.72–0.77). Correlation coefficients were lower across these 2 groups of measures (range = 0.16–0.57). Conclusions:Six retention measures displayed a wide range of correlation with one another, yet each measure had significant association and modest discrimination for VL suppression. These data suggest there is no clear gold standard and that selection of a retention measure may be tailored to context.
Market Expectations And Probability Distributions Implicit In Option Prices

This paper investigates whether specific characteristics of the returns distributions implied by options prices constitute useful information for the purpose of predicting changes in market direction. The key distributional characteristics we focus on are skewness, kurtosis, and the probability weight in the extreme tails of the implied distributions. We present a new methodology for extracting the returns distributions and apply it to S&P 500 index futures-options prices for twenty days surrounding the four largest market reversals in calendar 2001.
JÁNOS KORNAI'S ANTI-EQUILIBRIUM, A HARBINGER OF EVOLUTIONARY ECONOMICS*

Anti-Equilibrium (1971) was well ahead of its time in emphasising that (i) economics should draw from biology, rather than physics, as its methodological underpinning; (ii) evolutionary logic requires a different type of decision-making in simple, routine matters, as opposed to large and important decisions; (iii) the most important production processes are non-linear, with increasing returns to scale being the rule, rather than the exception in modern capitalist economies and — in conclusion — that there is no such thing as general equilibrium. In modern societies, goods and services are either in shortage (Socialism) or in a state of oversupply (Capitalism). It is either a buyers’ market or sellers’ market.