Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On-Demand Therapy Is a Valid Strategy in GERD Patients: Pros and Cons

On-demand proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy is an attractive option for long-term management of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Controlled trials in non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) patients have shown sufficient symptom control in most patients with a high rate of willingness to continue treatment and substantial saving on PPI expenditure. However, due to the slow onset of action of PPIs, rescue antacids are often used when symptoms recur and several patients continue to experience some degree of heartburn. On-demand treatment is less cost-saving in patients with esophagitis, and symptomatic/endoscopic relapses occur frequently in severe grades. Data on the prevention of long-term sequelae of on-demand treatment are scarce, only indirect evidence being available. It is suggested that PPI continuous maintenance is more appropriate than on-demand therapy in patients with severe esophagitis, in those with Barrett’s esophagus where chronic PPIs may reduce incidence of dysplasia, in uninvestigated elderly patients where esophagitis is more prevalent and it is more frequently complicated with gastrointestinal bleeding and possibly in uninvestigated or NERD patients with frequent clinical relapses. Finally, more appropriate outcome variables should be used in future trials in order to assess efficacy of on-demand treatment adequately.
N-Dimensional polar FSK

While working with the wireless communication systems(especially Personal Data Network) using existing modulation techniques, various problems encountered are: multipath fading, time dispersion which leads to ISI, lower bit rate capacity, requirement of larger transmit power for high bit rate and less spectral efficiency. To overcome above problems, this paper proposes a new digital modulation technique: N-Dimensional polar FSK. The proposed technique is based on multi-carrier system which helps in reducing frequency selective fading. To reduce multipath interference, symbol duration should be increased by increasing number of bits/symbol. This new technique works excellent by resulting in a constant bandwidth and Euclidean distance as the number of bits/symbol increases, thus providing high spectral and power efficiency.
Consumption and Investment Motives in Housing Wealth Accumulation: a French Study

The dual motives of housing behavior, consumption and investment make the analysis of housing purchases quite difficult. Nevertheless, it is better to refer to a model that keeps the two dimensional aspect of housing (Henderson and Ioannides [16]). In the absence of institutional considerations, this model predicts that it is the difference between the investment demand for housing and the consumption one that explains decisions to purchasse dwellings for owner occupation and for renting out. We have tested the model on the French data of the survey "Actifs Financiers 1992". Results show that the difference between the two demands cannot in itself explain housing purchases. Transaction costs, the tax system, the public aid policies for home ownership, and other market imperfections are inadequately dealt with. Moreover, estimation and identification of housing demand functions, both for consumption and investment, tend to show that there are portfolio motives in the factors that determine housing demand for owner occupation. French households behave in a different way than US households : for them, the difference between the two demands for housing explains behavior and consumption motives dominate primary residence purchase (Ionnides and Rosenthal [20]).
‘Electoral transition’ and party system change in Italy

This account assesses the relevance of the principal party and electoral changes of the 1990s for the functioning of the Italian party system. Focusing on the interactive structures of the party system, it evaluates change in four dimensions: the number of units constituting the system; interaction between those units; the distribution of their electorates; and the prevalent dynamics of competition. This analysis demonstrates how much the Italian party system has changed in the 1990s and how exactly it differs from the system which characterised the first 50 years of the Republic.
Mapping Intellectual Resources: Insights from Critical Modernism

A consensus is emerging that the key to competitive success is becoming the ability to create, leverage, maintain and develop specialised knowledge, competencies and intellectual resources. However, little is actually known about the creation, management, utilisation and valuation of such resources. Although a concept such as intellectual capital cannot be precisely defined, this should not prevent us from employing it in an era where the intangible is rapidly assuming economic, social and psychological supremacy over the tangible. Moving beyond objectivist and purely systems theoretic approaches, our point of departure in exploring this emergent dynamic, with implications for people management and accountancy, is the set of symmetric and reciprocal relations presupposed in Habermas’ concept of communicative action.
Millikelvin reactive collisions between sympathetically cooled molecular ions and laser-cooled atoms in an ion-atom hybrid trap.

We report on a study of cold reactive collisions between sympathetically cooled molecular ions and laser-cooled atoms in an ion-atom hybrid trap. Chemical reactions were studied at average collision energies /k(B)>/~20 mK, about 2 orders of magnitude lower than has been achieved in previous experiments with molecular ions. Choosing N(2)(+)+Rb as a prototypical system, we find that the reaction rate is independent of the collision energy within the range studied, but strongly dependent on the internal state of Rb. Highly efficient charge exchange four times faster than the Langevin rate was observed with Rb in the excited (5p) (2)P(3/2) state. This observation is rationalized by a capture process dominated by the charge-quadrupole interaction and a near resonance between the entrance and exit channels of the system. Our results provide a test of classical models for reactions of molecular ions at the lowest energies reached thus far.
The use of milk progesterone measurements for genetic improvement of fertility traits in dairy cattle

Fertility measures based on calving and insemination dates are heavily affected by a farmers decision to cull or inseminate a cow. This might partially explain the low heritability for these fertility traits and the unfavourable association between yield and fertility. Progesterone measurements might provide an alternative. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.14 to 0.20 (s.e. = 0.08) for interval between calving and first luteal activity (CLA). However, measuring this trait in a progeny testing scheme is not feasible. Therefore, mean progesterone profiles (transformed to a binomial scale) were investigated for groups of 50 animals differing in CLA. Using splines clearly different curves were observed, even when only monthly progesterone measurements were available for each cow. Days between calving till 50% of the daughters is cycling (progesterone > 3 ng/ml) might provide a good trait for sire selection. Phenotypic association between CLA and milk yield were unfavourable. If milk yield increased with 1 kg per day over the first 100 days of lactation, CLA is expected to increase with 1.4 days. Similarly, the regression coefficient of CLA on energy balance was -0.33 (s.e. = 0.11). Hence, at cow level progesterone measurements provide a heritable trait which is useful for selection and for investigating the relationship between fertility and production traits. Indications from this study are that progesterone measures during monthly milk recording might be useful to establish a mean progesterone profile for a group of animals. Whether this measure of female fertility is heritable and useful for sire selection in a progeny testing scheme requires a larger data set for further investigation.
CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE AGRICULTURE TEACHERS

The purpose of this Delphi study was to develop a consensus listing of those characteristics that comprise an effective agriculture teacher. Panel members consisted of agriculture teachers, county-level administrators, state FFA supervisory staff, and university faculty in agricultural education. The panel identified 40 characteristics of an effective agriculture teacher that were categorized into the areas of instruction, FFA, SAE, community relations, marketing, professionalism/professional growth, program planning/management, and personal qualities. Characteristics identified in the “personal qualities” category that are requisite for effective teachers warrant examination and possible remediation by current teacher education programs.
Strategic Trade Policy with Endogenous Choice of Quality and Asymmetric Costs

This paper examines the strategic trade policy incentives for investment policies towards quality improvements in a vertically differentiated exporting industry. Firms first compete in qualities and then export to a third country market based on Bertrand or Cournot competition. Optimal policies are asymmetric across the two producing countries. Under Bertrand competition, the low-quality country subsidizes investment to raise export quality, while the high-quality country imposes a tax so as to reduce the quality of its already high quality exports. Under Cournot competition, the results are reversed with a tax in the low-quality country and a subsidy in the high-quality country.
Direct Democracy Matters for Economic Performance: An Empirical Investigation

Since the 1960s, the discussion whether democracy is a precondition for or a result of economic growth has not yet been finished. In this paper, a comparative institutional analysis of the relative performance of direct and representative democratic decision making in the Swiss economy is undertaken using a cross section of the twenty-six Swiss states in 1989 and panel data for the states from 1982 to 1993. The empirical results and robustness tests support the hypothesis that the stronger control of the representatives by the voters due to obligatory and optimal referenda leads to better economic performance. Copyright 1997 by WWZ and Helbing & Lichtenhahn Verlag AG
Itraconazole therapy for chronic coccidioidal meningitis.

STUDY OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of orally administered itraconazole in the treatment of coccidioidal meningitis. DESIGN Prospective, nonrandomized open trial. SETTING Multicenter trial at an urban county hospital, a university referral center, and referring institutions. PATIENTS Ten patients with culture or serologic evidence of coccidioidal meningitis refractory to standard therapy. Patients receiving other systemic antifungal therapy were excluded. INTERVENTION Itraconazole was administered orally at doses of 300 to 400 mg/d for a median duration of 10 months. Disease activity and drug efficacy were evaluated at initiation of therapy and at the most recent follow-up using a standardized scoring system. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Eight of ten patients are evaluable. Of five patients receiving itraconazole as sole therapy, four have responded. All three patients receiving intrathecal amphotericin B have had that therapy discontinued and have no evidence of active disease in the absence of intrathecal therapy. Toxicity has been minimal; one patient had mild nausea. CONCLUSIONS Itraconazole shows impressive activity in this series of patients with refractory coccidioidal meningitis. Itraconazole in this and other fungal meningitides should be evaluated further.
Combined Microdialysis and Fos Immunohistochemistry for the Estimation of Dopamine Neurotransmission in the Rat Caudate‐Putamen

Abstract: Extracellular dopamine (DA) concentrations estimated by transcerebral dialysis and D1‐dependent c‐fos expression, as demonstrated by Fos immunohistochemistry, were studied after blockade of DA reuptake by GBR‐12909. Rats implanted with dialysis probes in the dorsal caudate‐putamen did not show any Fos‐positive neuronal labeling in the implanted area or in the rest of the caudate‐putamen. Administration of GBR‐12909 dose‐dependently increased DA output in dialysates and resulted in the appearance in the caudate‐putamen of Fos‐positive neurons whose density was related to the dose of GBR‐12909 and to the increase in extracellular concentrations of DA. The D1 antagonist SCH‐23390 blocked GBR‐12909‐induced activation of Fos while potentiating the stimulation of DA output. The results show that following blockade of DA reuptake by GBR‐12909, the induction of Fos is related to stimulation of D1 receptors by extracellular DA. Combination of brain dialysis with Fos immunohistochemistry might provide a method for estimating the functional significance of extracellular DA as measured by brain microdialysis.
Increased incidence of lymphoproliferative disorder after immunosuppression with the monoclonal antibody OKT3 in cardiac-transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND A sudden increase in the incidence of post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder among the patients in our cardiac-transplantation program was temporally related to introduction of the immunosuppressive drug OKT3. This monoclonal antibody has come to be widely used in recent years both to prevent and to treat rejection after cardiac transplantation. METHODS In order to identify variables that predict the development of post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder, we analyzed retrospectively a series of 154 consecutive cardiac-transplant recipients at a single institution. Univariate analyses and multivariate analysis by logistic regression were performed. RESULTS Among 75 patients who did not receive OKT3, post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder developed in 1 (1.3 percent), as compared with 9 of 79 patients who received the drug (11.4 percent); the incidence among the OKT3-treated patients was ninefold higher (odds ratio, 9.5; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.6 to 54.7). According to multivariate analysis, the only factor significantly associated with the development of post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder was the use of OKT3 (P = 0.001). A significant increase in risk with increasing doses was also apparent: 4 of 65 patients who received a cumulative dose of 75 mg of OKT3 or less (6.2 percent) had post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder, whereas 5 of 14 patients who received more than 75 mg had the disorder (35.7 percent; P less than 0.001). CONCLUSION The addition of OKT3 to the immunosuppressive regimen increases the incidence of post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder after cardiac transplantation, and the risk increases sharply after cumulative doses greater than 75 mg. We suggest that the risks and benefits of prophylactic OKT3 administration be reassessed in the light of these findings, particularly since the value of prophylactic immunotherapy in cardiac-transplant recipients remains to be clearly established.
Investigations into More Exact Weightings of Customer Demands in QFD

Apart from the customer demands themselves, the weightings of the customer demands are one of the main input data of a QFD (Quality Function Deployment) and furthermore of the actual construction process of products. Up to now, most interviews with stakeholders have been carried out with questionnaires and then absolute weightings have been used. Now it has been analysed if the use of other interview and evaluation techniques, e.g. relative weightings and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), can improve the precision of the demands and wishes of the stakeholders. Now the task was to analyse if the use of relative weightings as input of a QFD is possible at all, how they have to be adapted and if an increase in precision compared to the use of absolute weightings is reached. When using AHP during the product development it has become clear that only up to seven demands can be rated at the same time by customers. That means that a kind of hierarchy has to be developed to correctly transfer the demands and their weightings into the QFD.
Technology in S&C: Tracking Lower Limb Exercises with Wearable Sensors.

Strength and conditioning (S&C) coaches offer expert guidance to help those they work with achieve their personal fitness goals. However, due to cost and availability issues, individuals are often left training without expert supervision. Recent developments in inertial measurement units (IMUs) and mobile computing platforms have allowed for the possibility of unobtrusive motion tracking systems and the provision of real time individualised feedback regarding exercise performance. These systems could enable S&C coaches to remotely monitor sessions and help gym users record workouts. One component of these IMU systems is the ability to identify the exercises completed. In this study, IMUs were positioned on the lumbar spine, thighs and shanks on 82 healthy participants. Participants completed 10 repetitions of the squat, lunge, single leg squat, deadlift and tuck jump with acceptable form. Descriptive features were extracted from the IMU signals for each repetition of each exercise and these were used to train an exercise classifier. The exercises were detected with 99% accuracy when using signals from all five IMUs, 98% when using signals from the thigh and lumbar IMUs and 98% with just a single IMU on the shank. These results indicate that a single IMU can accurately distinguish between five common multi-joint exercises.
Credible Spatial Preemption

It is often argued that incumbent firms may deter entry by preemptive investment in new goods. We show that these conclusions are reserved when multiproduct incumbent firms may exit in response to entry. Once entrants are in an industry, an incumbent will often want to withdraw some goods to prevent competition with the entrant from reducing profits on other goods. Such a reaction makes entry more attractive to a potential entrant. The equilibrium industry structure is less likely to be monopolistic as the goods are better substitutes, as exit costs are low, and as the competition between producers of the same good is more intense.
Perception and the Art of Depiction of Cylindrical Objects

Many works of art, notably those in the Byzantine tradition, contain depictions of upright cylindrical objects such that the outline of their top surfaces is incompatible with that of their bottom surfaces. We endeavour to elucidate whether this is a consequence of a painterly usage or a perceptual effect and conclude, on the basis of empirical evidence, that the latter cause is more likely.
Does Tourism Change Our Lives?

Does tourism change our lives? The mainstream of tourism psychology research is mostly concerned with tourist motivation, behavior in and satisfaction with destination, and few studies explore how tourism might affect people's perceptions of themselves, home, neighborhood, work, friends, relatives, and life in general. This study seeks insights into the effect and influence of travel and tourism on people, not momentary impact during vacation but longer-term impact in terms of sense of being, direction in life, and well-being. It is found that there are positive changes in the perception of life among Chinese travelers in general and the perception changes among travelers are significantly stronger than the perception changes among the control group of non-travelers. There is clear evidence that travelers feel more positive than non-travelers in their general well-being, attitude toward life, sense of control, and outlook.
Of rings and spines: The multiple facets of Citron proteins in neural development

ABSTRACT The Citron protein was originally identified for its capability to specifically bind the active form of RhoA small GTPase, leading to the simplistic hypothesis that it may work as a RhoA downstream effector in actin remodeling. More than two decades later, a much more complex picture has emerged. In particular, it has become clear that in animals, and especially in mammals, the functions of the Citron gene (CIT) are intimately linked to many aspects of central nervous system (CNS) development and function, although the gene is broadly expressed. More specifically, CIT encodes two main isoforms, Citron-kinase (CIT-K) and Citron-N (CIT-N), characterized by complementary expression pattern and different functions. Moreover, in many of their activities, CIT proteins act more as upstream regulators than as downstream effectors of RhoA. Finally it has been found that, besides working through actin, CIT proteins have many crucial functional interactions with the microtubule cytoskeleton and may directly affect genome stability. In this review, we will summarize these advances and illustrate their actual or potential relevance for CNS diseases, including microcephaly and psychiatric disorders.
New options for combined cataract and glaucoma surgery

Purpose of review To review the current literature regarding the effectiveness and risks of new surgeries that can be combined with phacoemulsification in the management of cataract and glaucoma. Recent findings Surgical options for concurrently managing cataract and glaucoma have expanded in recent years. Endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation, trabecular micro-bypass stent, ab interno trabeculectomy, and canaloplasty may be performed in conjunction with cataract extraction to provide additional intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction. Studies evaluating these new glaucoma procedures combined with phacoemulsification generally include retrospective case series without a comparison group. Because cataract surgery alone is associated with IOP reduction, the relative contribution of the glaucoma procedure in lowering IOP cannot be determined in these studies. Randomized clinical trials are needed to better evaluate the efficacy and safety of newer glaucoma procedures in combination with cataract surgery. Summary The newer glaucoma procedures appear less effective than trabeculectomy, but they are associated with a lower risk of surgical complications.
Direct and multistep conversion of lignin to biofuels

Lignin is the second most abundant biopolymer on Earth, right after cellulose, with a highly complex chemical structure that hinders its possible utilizations. Applications that utilize lignin in different manners are of great interest, due to its inexpensive nature. Present work is based on the notion of converting lignin into different biofuels that have only a few, however important, advantages over lignin as a direct energy source. The first part of current work (pyrolysis) details the analysis of lignin from a relatively new lignin isolation process called LignoBoost. It is obtained from the pulp and paper industry via CO₂ precipitation of lignin from black liquor (BL). This method is environment friendly, results lignin with minimal oxidation, eliminates the main bottleneck of the Kraft cycle (recovery boiler capacity), and yet leaves enough lignin in the process stream to recover pulping chemicals and generate energy for the pulp mill. Pyrolysis had converted this lignin into bio-oil with high aliphatic content and low oxidation level, all advantageous for application as liquid fuel. The second part of this dissertation proved the theory that lignin degradation and lipid accumulation metabolic pathways can be interconnected. Gram-positive Rhodococcus opacus species, DSM 1069 and PD630 were used to evaluate lignin to lipid bioconversion, starting with ethanol organosolv and Kraft lignin. This conversion is a first step in a multistep process towards biodiesel production, which includes transesterification, after lipids are extracted from the cells. Results clearly indicated that the lignin to lipid bioconversion pathway is viable, by cells gaining up to 4 % of their weight in lipids, while growing solely on lignin as a carbon and energy source.