Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rapamycin enhances platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate in vitro

Studies have demonstrated the important role of platelets in the formation of stent thrombosis associated with drug-eluting stents, but little is known about the effects of drugs eluted from stents on platelet function. The extent of platelet aggregation in platelet-rich plasma induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) was measured at various doses of rapamycin, and the ability of aspirin to inhibit platelet aggregation was determined at the same concentrations of rapamycin. Compared with lower concentrations, rapamycin at higher doses (>10 ng/mL) enhanced platelet aggregation induced by ADP, and the enhancement was significant at 50 ng/mL and 100 ng/mL (P = 0.005 and P = 0.04). The ability of aspirin to inhibit platelet aggregation was reduced at higher concentrations of rapamycin. These data suggest that higher concentrations of rapamycin can enhance platelet aggregation in response to ADP, and reduce the ability of aspirin to inhibit platelet aggregation.
Closed-Form Formulas for Estimation of Kinetic Parameters in One- and Two-Compartment Models

Nowadays the most reliable approach to estimate the kinetic parameters is to minimize an objective function which is essentially the distance between the measured data and the model generated pseudo data. Due to the highly non-linear nature of the model, common optimization algorithms usually fail to find the true minimum. A brute-force search method sometimes must be used to find the true minimum. This paper attempts to use the Laplace transform and Z-transform methods to derive closed-form formulas for kinetic parameter estimation problems, which assume oneor two-compartment models. The proposed method is computationally efficient and its solution is unique. When data sampling interval is small, the proposed method is able to accurately estimate the kinetic parameter; when the interval is larger, the proposed method fails to give a meaningful estimate. The one-compartment method is more robust than the two-compartment method.
SPECIAL REVIEW: GENETICS OF PLATELET BLEEDING DISORDERS Platelet genomics: the role of platelet size and number in health and disease

Taken together, there is ample evidence of the association of cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular, and inflammatory disease with single nucleotide variants (SNV) due to their impact on platelet size, number, and function. With the use of electronic medical record (EMR) or other phenotypic-linked bioinformatics sources, the more important “functional” variants are emerging and provide valuable information on their specific role in promoting early onset of disease or poor response to therapeutic measures. This review will focus upon the recognized common polymorphisms or gene variants with small, but functional effects, as it is becoming clear that these contribute to hyperor hypo-responsive platelet phenotypes. The impact of these gene variants is distinguishable among normal individuals, and they are suspected contributors to increased risk of adverse outcomes in patients with underlying disease. There are thousands of gene variants and environmental factors that may mitigate risk or amplify the potential for disease within each of us. When combined with the environment and epigenetic influences, it is clear that whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatics alone will not be enough to truly predict “risk” or probability, but awareness of their potential influence may be a starting point in selective screening and generating prevention strategies to promote a healthy lifestyle or fine-tune therapeutic choices in the future.
Cardiovascular and Thermal Response to Dry-Sauna Exposure in Healthy Subjects

Dry-sauna is a strong thermal stimulus and is commonly used all over the world. The aim of this experiment was to comprehensively analyse cardiovascular and autonomic changes that result from an increase in core body temperature during sauna bath. The study included 9 healthy men with mean age 26.7 ± 3.0 years and comparable anthropomorphical characteristics. Each subject was exposed to one 15-minute session of dry-sauna treatment at 100°C and 30–40% humidity. The autonomic and baseline cardiovascular (i.e., hemodynamic and contractility) parameters were measured noninvasively with Task Force Monitor. Cardiovascular autonomic functions were assessed using baroreceptor reflex sensitivity (BRS) and spectral analysis of heart rate (HRV) and blood pressure (BPV) variability. Measurements were performed four times, at the following stages “before sauna,” “after sauna,” “sauna
Evaluation of gender differences in endothelium‐independent dilation using peripheral arterial tonometry

Background: A change in peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT) in response to reactive hyperaemia is often used to provide a non‐invasive measure of endothelium‐dependent dilation (EDD). Reactive hyperaemia does not allow one to quantify endothelium‐independent dilation (EID), which is part of overall vascular function. Although most research examining vascular function and cardiovascular disease has focused on EDD, there is evidence that cardiovascular risk factors may impair EID.
The genetics of platelet count and volume in humans

Abstract The last decade has witnessed an explosion in the depth, variety, and amount of human genetic data that can be generated. This revolution in technical and analytical capacities has enabled the genetic investigation of human traits and disease in thousands to now millions of participants. Investigators have taken advantage of these advancements to gain insight into platelet biology and the platelet’s role in human disease. To do so, large human genetics studies have examined the association of genetic variation with two quantitative traits measured in many population and patient based cohorts: platelet count (PLT) and mean platelet volume (MPV). This article will review the many human genetic strategies—ranging from genome-wide association study (GWAS), Exomechip, whole exome sequencing (WES), to whole genome sequencing (WGS)—employed to identify genes and variants that contribute to platelet traits. Additionally, we will discuss how these investigations have examined and interpreted the functional implications of these newly identified genetic factors and whether they also impart risk to human disease. The depth and size of genetic, phenotypic, and other -omic data are primed to continue their growth in the coming years and provide unprecedented opportunities to gain critical insights into platelet biology and how platelets contribute to disease.
SPECIAL REVIEW: UTILITY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MICROFLUIDIC PLATFORMS FOR PLATELET RESEARCH Application of microfluidic devices in studies of thrombosis and hemostasis

Due to the importance of fluid flow during thrombotic episodes, it is quite appropriate to study clotting and bleeding processes in devices that have well-defined fluid shear environments. Two common devices for applying these defined shear stresses include the cone-and-plate viscometer and parallel-plate flow chamber. While such tools have many salient features, they require large amounts of blood or other protein components. With growth in the area of microfluidics over the last two decades, it has become feasible to miniaturize such flow devices. Such miniaturization not only enables saving of precious samples but also increases the throughput of fluid shear devices, thus enabling the design of combinatorial experiments and making the technique more accessible to the larger scientific community. In addition to simple flows that are common in traditional flow apparatus, more complex geometries that mimic stenosed arteries and the human microvasculature can also be generated. The composition of the microfluidics cell substrate can also be varied for diverse basic science investigations, and clinical investigations that aim to assay either individual patient coagulopathy or response to anti-coagulation treatment. This review summarizes the current state of the art for such microfluidic devices and their applications in the field of thrombosis and hemostasis.
Echogenicity of the carotid intima–media complex and cardiovascular risk factors

Increased carotid intima–media thickness (IMT) has been associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke. A measure of echogenicity, the grey scale median (GSM), has been shown to be inversely correlated with cardiovascular risk factors and to be predictive of mortality in a community‐based cohort. We assessed the factors associated with carotid IM–GSM in younger, non‐diabetic patients with a recent MI.
Immunohistochemical assessment of the effect of tobacco on a molecular gatekeeper in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Background: It has been emphasized that the molecular gatekeeper p53 has a key role in carcinogenesis and its mutation is seen in more than 50% of the human cancers including head and neck carcinomas and tobacco is the most important etiological agent in head and neck cancer. Aims: To assess p53 mutations in relation to tobacco usage in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) to understand the role of tobacco in the complex process of carcinogenesis. Materials and Methods: Forty formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded archival tissue samples were taken, of which 20 cases were associated with tobacco and 20 were not, and assessed immunohistochemically. Results: Enhanced expression of p53 was found to be associated with tobacco. Conclusions: p53 mutations are etiologically associated with the development of head and neck carcinomas and are associated with exposure to specific carcinogens of tobacco.
Clinical assessment of the lower tear meniscus height

Purpose: Different values of the lower tear meniscus height (TMH) can be obtained depending on the method and technique of measurement employed. This study aimed to assess (1) differences between the absolute (TMH‐A), reflex (TMH‐R) and fluorescein (TMH‐F) lower tear meniscus heights, (2) differences between the central (TMH‐R), nasal (TMH‐RN) and temporal (TMH‐RT) reflex lower tear meniscus heights and (3) the amount of fluorescein present in the lower tear meniscus, 5 min after fluorescein instillation (TMH‐FV).
Patterns of alignment in alliance structure and innovation

Abstract Alliances are becoming an increasingly common strategy for product development despite the intrinsic tension between alliance logic and innovation logic. This paper investigates the development of alliance structures during the exploration phase of the innovation process. Based on a study of five service development alliances in the telecom industry, three patterns are identified by which the alliance structure and the innovation are brought into alignment. Such alignment seems to be a necessary condition for the transition into commercialization. The patterns identified are: (1) Learning about the innovation may trigger changes in the alliance structure; (2) Learning about the innovation may suggest changes in the alliance structure that are impossible to implement, however, thus triggering changes in the innovation; (3) Planning the future alliance structure may suggest changes in the innovation. Based on these patterns, some conclusions and implications are identified, for both theory and practice.
Use of clozapine

Sir: In the audit article on the use of clozapine in South Manchester (Seabourne & Thomas, Psychiatric Bulletin, 1994, 18, 618-619) 25 patients were given clozapine between 1990 and 1992 and, at the end of the trial, only ten subjects were still receiving the drug, the majority having been discontinued because of side-effects. I am interested in why patients who have started clozapine are then terminated. Neutropenla apparently accounted for only one patient and the other side-effects noted were hypersalivation, sedation, grand mal fits, myoclonic jerks, vomiting, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, acute confusional state with cognitive impairment, slurred speech, benign hyperthermia, dry mouth, weight gain, constipation, diarrhoea, hypotension, and urinary incontinence. The clue may lie in the mean daily dose of clozapine; around 445 mg per day for responders, 633 mg per day for non-responders and 356 mg per day for the side-effect patients. This dosage is markedly above the average UK dosage of around 300mg per day and our own dosage which is nearer to 200 mg per day. With the experience of around 70 patients in the community on clozapine I would say that these patients were probably receiving clozapine at too high a dosage. Apart from the case of neuroleptic malignant syndrome, and of neutropenia, these side-effects are dose related. If the clozapine is combined with an oral conventional anti-psychotic then any breakthrough psychotic symptoms can be usually managed. In this way most of the side-effects would have markedly reduced and, with regards to epileptic and myoclonic sideeffects that were not reduced, better control could be achieved with the addition of an anticonvulsant, e.g. sodium valproate. With these modifications we might have seen an improvement in the high final discontinuation rate of 32%. Another benefit of lower dosage is that patients are less likely to non-comply as they perceive an enhanced life quality. The authors mention that they are interested in maximising the response to clozapine so as to persuade the purchasers to spend more money on the drug. A spin-off from using combined clozapine therapy is that the cost is less and you can get more well patients for your money.
A behavioural investigation of human visual short term memory for colour

We examined visual short term memory (VSTM) for colour using a delayed‐match‐to‐sample paradigm. In these experiments we measured the effects of increasing inter‐stimulus interval (ISI), varying between 0 and 10 s, on the ability of five colour normal human observers to make colour matches between a reference and subsequently presented test stimuli. The coloured stimuli used were defined by different chromatic axes on the isoluminant plane of DKL colour space. In preliminary experiments we used a hue scaling procedure to identify a total of 12 colour stimuli which served as reference hues in the colour memory experiments: four stimuli were exemplars of red, green, blue and yellow colour appearance categories, four were located between these categories and a further four were located on the cardinal axes that isolated the activity of the cone‐opponent mechanisms. Our results demonstrate that there is a reduction in the ability of observers to make accurate colour matches with increasing ISIs and that this reduced performance was similar for all colour stimuli. However, the shifts in hue that were measured between the reference and matched test stimuli were significantly greater for the cardinal stimuli compared to those measured for the stimuli defined by the hue scaling procedure. This deterioration in the retention of hue in VSTM for stimuli that isolate cone‐opponent mechanisms may be a reflection of the reorganisation of colour processing that occurs in the cortex where colour appearance mechanisms become more prominent.
Holistic Care for Women Includes Addressing Vaginal Health.

There is a lack of attentiveness to vaginal health during health care encounters with women. Rarely are women asked to describe the condition of their vaginas and to share signs and symptoms of what may be abnormal findings. Routine questions asked during a woman’s examination typically address menses, birth control, and, possibly, sexual activity. These particular questions may feel more comfortable and less sexually charged than asking, “How is your vaginal health? ” “Any issues with drainage or odor? ” “What is the condition of your skin around your vulva, perianal region, and vaginal opening? ” “Is intercourse or other sorts of sexual activity comfortable for you? ” This is a concerning care gap, given the importance of a healthy vagina. A vignette based on actual experiences demonstrates the impact of failing to consider vaginal health. This exemplar experience is informed by assessment data gathered by an adult nurse practitioner (ANP) during home visits with women older than 65 years. Visits are intended to identify educational needs, address gaps in care, discuss resource needs, and refer unmet physical or mental health care needs to the primary care provider (PCP). This particular encounter was with a woman who used incontinence pads “just in case” and who had recently been hospitalized for urosepsis requiring antibiotic
Capturing the environment, a metafrontier approach to the drinking water sector

Environmental factors add complexity to the comparison between specific activities or entire entities. Decision making units with an inferior performance are tempted to invoke that their organization is different from the others in the data set. By reinterpreting and extending the metafrontier literature, we propose an all-embracing concept to fully capture the operational environment. We suggest the ‘Group Specific Technical Efficiency’ as a new measure to assess the overall efficiency of a utility while allowing for environmental differences. A real-world example of drinking water utilies out of 5 different countries illustrates the concept.
Impact on Clinical Behavior of Face‐to‐Face Continuing Medical Education Blended with Online Spaced Education: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Spaced education (SE) is a novel, evidence‐based form of online learning. We investigated whether an SE program following a face‐to‐face continuing medical education (CME) course could enhance the course's impact on providers' clinical behaviors. Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted from March 2009 to April 2010, immediately following the Current Clinical Issues in Primary Care (Pri‐Med) CME conference in Houston, Texas. Enrolled providers were randomized to receive the SE program immediately after the live CME event or 18 weeks later (wait‐list controls). The SE program consisted of 40 validated questions and explanations covering 4 clinical topics. The repetition intervals were adapted to each provider based on his or her performance (8‐ and 16‐day intervals for incorrect and correct answers, respectively). Questions were retired when answered correctly twice in a row. At week 18, a behavior change survey instrument was administered simultaneously to providers in both cohorts. Results: Seventy‐four percent of participants (181/246) completed the SE program. Of these, 97% (176/181) submitted the behavior change survey. Across all 4 clinical topics, providers who received SE reported significantly greater change in their global clinical behaviors as a result of the CME program (p‐values .013 to <.001; effect size 0.7). Ninety‐seven percent (175/179) requested to participate in future SE supplements to live CME courses. Eighty‐six percent (156/179) agreed or strongly agreed that the SE program enhanced the impact of the live CME conference. Discussion: Online spaced education following a live CME course can significantly increase the impact of a face‐to‐face course on providers' self‐reported global clinical behaviors.
Catch-up growth and development of very low birth weight infants

Purpose:The aim of this study was to analyze the results and contributing factors of catch-up growth in very low birth weight infants(VLBWI) at the corrected age of 2 years. In addition, we looked for a relationship between the catch-up growth and the development by the bayley scales of infant development II(BSID II). Methods:A retrospective analysis by evaluating medical records was done for the 76 VLBWI whose follow-up was possible up to a corrected age of 2 years, out of the 114 who had been treated in the neonatal intensive care unit during the January of 2000 to December of 2001 at Samsung Cheil Hospital. Based on the Standard Korean Infant's Growth Curve, the catch-up growth group was defined over the 10th percentile of weight at 2 years as the corrected age and the failed catch-up growth group was defined under the 10th percentile. We investigated the clinical factors and courses of each group and compared the scores of the BSID II. Results:The catch-up growth group of the VLBWI was 51 infants and the failed catch-up growth group was 25 infants. In comparison with maternal clinical factors, use of antenatal steroids was significantly higher in the catch-up growth group. In comparisn with clinical factors and courses of VLBWI, two clinical factors were significantly different between the two groups : birth weight and intrauterine growth retardation(IUGR). Numbers of delayed development were increased in the failed catch-up growth group but statistically significant differences could not be observed. Conclusion:The catch-up growth of the VLBWI was affected by the use of antenatal steroids, birth weight and IUGR. No significant differences regarding neurodevelopmental outcome were observed between the catch-up and failed catch-up growth groups.
Current issues and research trends on open-source software communities

Open source software (OSS) projects represent a new paradigm of software creation and development based on hundreds or even thousands of developers and users organised in the form of a virtual community. The success of an OSS project is closely linked to the successful organisation and development of the virtual community of support group. This paper reviews different fields and research topics related to the OSS communities such as collective intelligence, the structure of OSS communities, their success, communities as virtual organisations, motivation, shared knowledge, innovation and learning. The main challenges, results obtained, and the knowledge areas are detailed for each topic.
Dynamic pricing and channel efficiency in the presence of the cost learning effect

This paper investigates the impacts of the supply-side cost learning effect on dynamic pricing strategies and the channel efficiency in a decentralized supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer. The unit production cost incurred by the manufacturer declines as the cumulative output increases. With the manufacturer being the price leader, the interactions between the two channel members are modeled as a Stackelberg differential game, where the two channel members dynamically set the wholesale and retail prices over time to optimize their respective profits. We find that while the cost learning effect is beneficial to both channel members in terms of long-term profitability, such an effect is detrimental to the channel inefficiency caused by price double marginalization. In a setting where the manufacturer sells through competing retailers, we show that the channel efficiency can be improved with the emergence of horizontal competition. Our result also indicates that the channel efficiency with a feedback pricing equilibrium is higher than that with an open-loop equilibrium.
(Failing to) create eco-innovation networks: The Nordic Climate Cluster

The Nordic Climate Cluster (NOCC) was an innovation network composed of large Norwegian and Swedish companies from different industries with common interests in climate-friendly eco-innovations. The network was initiated in 2008, but was disbanded just two years later. This study treats the NOCC as a special case (an eco-innovation network) and examines factors that influenced its failure. The study shows that the network failed for a variety of reasons, including a lack of stability, a lack of social capital and inadequate market demands for eco-innovations. The study concludes with implications for policy-makers who are keen to promote eco-innovation via networking.