Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Percutaneous adhesiolysis procedures in the medicare population: analysis of utilization and growth patterns from 2000 to 2011.

BACKGROUND Multiple reviews have shown that interventional techniques for chronic pain have increased dramatically over the years. Of these interventional techniques, both sacroiliac joint injections and facet joint interventions showed explosive growth, followed by epidural procedures. Percutaneous adhesiolysis procedures have not been assessed for their utilization patterns separately from epidural injections. STUDY DESIGN An analysis of the utilization patterns of percutaneous adhesiolysis procedures in managing chronic low back pain in the Medicare population from 2000 to 2011. OBJECTIVE To assess the utilization and growth patterns of percutaneous adhesiolysis in managing chronic low back pain. METHODS The study was performed utilizing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Physician Supplier Procedure Summary Master of Fee-For-Service (FFS) Data from 2000 to 2011. RESULTS Percutaneous adhesiolysis procedures increased 47% with an annual growth rate of 3.6% in the FFS Medicare population from 2000 to 2011. These growth rates are significantly lower than the growth rates for sacroiliac joint injections (331%), facet joint interventions (308%), and epidural injections (130%), but substantially lower than lumbar transforaminal injections (665%) and lumbar facet joint neurolysis (544%). LIMITATIONS Study limitations include lack of inclusion of Medicare Advantage patients. In addition, the statewide data is based on claims which may include the contiguous or other states. CONCLUSION Percutaneous adhesiolysis utilization increased moderately in Medicare beneficiaries from 2000 to 2011. Overall, there was an increase of 47% in the utilization of adhesiolysis procedures per 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries, with an annual geometric average increase of 3.6%.
Millimetre-wave 65 nm CMOS Class C Oscillator at 65 GHz

A 65-GHz Class-C LC oscillator designed in 65nm CMOS technology by ST Microelectronics is presented. A three spiral transformer has been used to achieve low phase noise and low power consumption. Post-layout simulations show a phase noise is equal to -88.4 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset from the carrier (65.8 GHz). The power consumption is 14 mW with 1.2-V supply voltage. The oscillator is capable to operate even with supply voltages as low as 0.5V, still maintaining good phase noise performance of -84.5 dBc/Hz @ 1-MHz from the carrier (64.1GHz), and a very low power consumption of 1.9 mW only.
Stem infusions enhanced methionine content of soybean storage protein.

The quality of soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merrill) seed storage protein is limited by its low methionine (Met) content. Met supplementation of an in vitro soybean cotyledon culture has been shown to increase Met content by 21.9% due to an inhibition of the synthesis of the Met-devoid beta subunit of 7S storage protein (JF Thompson et al. 1981, Phytochemistry 20: 941-945). The objective of this research was to determine if Met supplementation of intact plants would result in a similar improvement in soybean protein quality. A solution including 10 millimolar d,l malic acid plus 10 millimolar K(2)HPO(4) with or without 20 millimolar d,l Met or 20 millimolar Na(2)SO(4) was infused throughout seed development into lower stem internodes of soybeans (cv ;Williams 79' or ;Williams 82') grown under both greenhouse and field conditions. Pediatric intravenous kits were used to infuse an average of 51.2 milliliters per plant. Met content of whole soybean seeds from intact plants receiving Met infusions increased by as much as 22.7%. Even greater (up to 31.0%) increases in cysteine (Cys) content were noted, indicating that soybean plants are able to metabolize Met to Cys, or that supplemental Met allows Cys accumulation by some other mechanism. Electrophoretic patterns showed a dramatic decrease in the synthesis of the beta subunit of 7S storage protein when Met was supplemented, and this effect was not confined to seeds at the lower nodes. In addition, seeds from upper compared to lower plant nodes (regardless of infusion treatment) had greater protein content (45.0 versus 41.6 w/w%), and different protein composition, as indicated by significantly different amino acid profiles. Methionine supplementation of intact soybean plants improved protein quality through an alteration in storage protein composition.
Effect of 2,3,5,4′-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-beta-d-glucoside on lipoprotein oxidation and proliferation of coronary arterial smooth cells

To investigate the effects of 2,3,5,4′-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-beta-d-glucoside (THSG), a compound extracted from the root of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb, on lipoprotein (LDL and VLDL) oxidation, proliferation and nitric oxide (NO) content of coronary arterial smooth cells (CASMCs) induced by LDL, VLDL, ox-LDL and ox-VLDL. The oxidation level of lipoprotein was determined by thiobabituric acid (TBA) method and agarose gel electrophoresis. The proliferative degree was determined by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method. The NO content was assayed by nitrate reductase method. (1)THSG (0.1 ∼ 100 μmol·L− 1) could dose-dependently prevent lipoprotein from oxidation induced by Cu2+ and CASMCs. (2)THSG (0.1 ∼ 100 μmol·L− 1) inhibited porcine CASMCs proliferation elicited by LDL, VLDL, ox-LDL and ox-VLDL. (3)THSG (0.1 ∼ 100 μmol·L− 1) counterpoised the decrease of NO content in CASMCs evoked by LDL, VLDL, ox-LDL and ox-VLDL. As compared with control, it was found that the threshold concentration of THSG, which significantly exerted the actions mentioned above, were at the concentration of 1μmol·L− 1 (P < 0.01). In conclusion, THSG possesses the antagonistic effects on oxidation of lipoprotein, proliferation and decrease of NO content of CASMCs, which partially explain the mechanism of anti-atherosclerosis of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb.
Epidemics of Non-A, Non-B Hepatitis in Pakistan

Three epidemics of acute viral hepatitis which occurred in different areas of Pakistan, namely Quetta, Mardan and Rawalpindi were studied. All the cases presented with jaundice, anorexia and nausea. The liver function tests showed raised serum bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase and ALT levels. In all the patients except one, the serology was consistent with non-A, non-B (NANB) hepatitis, which was most likely waterborne. This study shows that, as in some other parts of Asia and North Africa, epidemics of waterborne NANB hepatitis, clinically resembling hepatitis A, also occur in Pakistan. These epidemics are probably due to faecal contamination of the water supply systems in some areas of Pakistan.
Stress and productivity in workers of textile companies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between two psychological factors which are occupation stress and productivity, that influence workers immerse into textile production labor context. Design/methodology/approach This study has a quantitative methodology, is cross-sectional, nonexperimental and with an explicative scope. Findings The results of this research allow to identify that occupational stress levels cause a negative impact on worker’s productivity in the textile production area. Research limitations/implications There are two limitations in this study, first is the participant’s subjectivity when filling the questionnaires because it was self-reported and the second limitation is that the sample is specifically from a city of a South American country. Practical implications The results of this investigation show as an evidence the need for psychological intervention within companies for occupational stress, because it will impact in a negative way the textile production of a company, which will guide future research making possible to develop and apply psychological treatment programs pro employee’s mental health. Social implications A textile company with low productivity will bring strong economic losses and even bankruptcy, although, thanks to this study it was possible to identify that occupational stress will have a negative impact in productivity, drawing an important based line to future research, looking to improve worker’s performance and hence, companies’ profits contributing to social economic processes. Originality/value In general, companies of textile industry (as many others from capitalist economic system), make substantial investments in technology instruments, specialized workers, machines’ maintenance and reparation, marketing, etc. to improve their production standards, however, there is a low investment on worker’s mental health, as it has been found in this study it generates a strong negative impact on its productivity.
Graph Data Storage Model for Recommender System

Increasing e-commerce data presents new challenges for storing and querying large amounts of data to online recommendation systems. Recent studies on recommendation systems show that graph data model is more efficient than relational data model for processing complex data. This paper proposes a new graph data storage model for the collaborative filtering-based recommendation system. We present our structure, algorithm and experimental results. The result of the experiment shows that proposed approach is efficient storage model for recommendation system.
Behavioral Inhibition of Circadian Responses to Light

Circadian locomotor rhythms in rodents may be synchronized by either photic or nonphotic events that produce phase shifts of the rhythm. Little is known, however, about how these two types of stimuli interact to produce entrainment. The well-characterized circadian photic response of the golden hamster was examined in situations where a short light pulse and locomotor activity, a nonphotic event, occurred simultaneously. Light-induced phase advances were attenuated when animals were active during light exposure. The results show that circadian responses to light depend upon the environmental situation in which the light is given, and call into question the implicit assumption in circadian rhythm research that phase shifting and entrainment to light-dark cycles depend simply on photic activation of well-known retinofugal pathways. Moreover, since light therapy is becoming an important component in the treatment of circadian-based disorders in humans, the results emphasize the need for evaluation of the behavioral aspects of light therapy protocols.
On the influence of imputation in classification: practical issues

The substitution of missing values, also called imputation, is an important data preparation task for many domains. Ideally, the substitution of missing values should not insert biases into the dataset. This aspect has been usually assessed by some measures of the prediction capability of imputation methods. Such measures assume the simulation of missing entries for some attributes whose values are actually known. These artificially missing values are imputed and then compared with the original values. Although this evaluation is useful, it does not allow the influence of imputed values in the ultimate modelling task (e.g. in classification) to be inferred. We argue that imputation cannot be properly evaluated apart from the modelling task. Thus, alternative approaches are needed. This article elaborates on the influence of imputed values in classification. In particular, a practical procedure for estimating the inserted bias is described. As an additional contribution, we have used such a procedure to empirically illustrate the performance of three imputation methods (majority, naïve Bayes and Bayesian networks) in three datasets. Three classifiers (decision tree, naïve Bayes and nearest neighbours) have been used as modelling tools in our experiments. The achieved results illustrate a variety of situations that can take place in the data preparation practice.
A mobile markerless AR system for maintenance and repair

We present a solution for AR based repair guidance. This solution covers software as well as hardware related issues. In particular we developed a markerless CAD based tracking system which can deal with different illumination conditions during the tracking stage, partial occlusions and rapid motion. The system is also able to automatically recover from occasional tracking failures. On the hardware side the system is based on an off the shelf notebook, a wireless mobile setup consisting of a wide-angle video camera and an analog video transmission system. This setup has been tested with a monocular full-color video-see-through HMD and additionally with a monochrome optical-see-through HMD. Our system underwent several extensive test series under real industrial conditions and proved to be useful for different maintenance and repair scenarios.
Docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acid influence on preterm baboon retinal composition and function.

PURPOSE Dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid deficiency and prematurity are both associated with suboptimal visual function in nonhuman primates and in humans. This study reports measurements of retinal long chain polyunsaturate (LCP) concentrations and electroretinogram (ERG) parameters for term and preterm neonatal baboons consuming clinically relevant diets. METHODS ERGs and retinal fatty acid compositions were obtained from baboon neonates in four groups: term-delivered/breast-fed (B), term/formula-fed (T-), preterm/formula-fed (P-), and preterm/formula (P+) supplemented with long chain polyunsaturates. Initial a-wave slope change (ä), a-wave amplitude (a(amp)) and implicit time (a(i)), and b-wave amplitude (b(amp)) and implicit time (b(i)) were determined and correlations to retinal fatty acid concentrations were evaluated. RESULTS The P+ group ä and b(amp) significantly improved between 0 and 4 weeks' adjusted age, whereas no P- group parameter improved with age. At four weeks, both a(amp) and b(amp) were significantly greater in group B than in all other groups, and ä and a(i) were greater for P+ than for P-. Concentrations of 22:6n-3, 22:5n-3, and Sigman-3 and the 22:5n-6/22:6n-3 ratio correlated positively with improved retinal response parameters, whereas 22:5n-6, 22:4n-6, 20:4n-6, 20:3n-6, 20:2n-9, 20:1n-9, and 18:1n-9 all correlated negatively (P < 0.05); saturates were uncorrelated. The parameters most linearly related to retinal 22:6n-3 were ä, a(i), and a(amp). Retinal 20:4n-6 concentrations were not influenced by prematurity or supplementation. CONCLUSIONS Breast-feeding optimizes retinal response in 4-week-old baboons. Formula supplemented with 22:6n-3 prevents a decrease in retinal 22:6n-3 and improves preterm ERG parameters compared with unsupplemented formula. Retinal 22:6n-3 status is most closely associated with a-wave parameters.
Technical and Imaging Report: Fluoroscopic Guidance for Diagnosis and Treatment of Lumbar Synovial Cyst

Lumbar synovial cysts can be a source of low back pain with or without radiculopathy depending upon the size and location of the mass. Options for treatment range from analgesics to surgery, depending upon the degree of nerve root or spinal cord impingement. Attempts at minimally invasive treatment such as computed tomography‐assisted aspiration and cyst rupture are documented in the radiology literature with varying degrees of reported success. This case report is the first to document the fluoroscopically‐guided management of a lumbar synovial cyst in the pain medicine literature and highlights the knowledge and technical skills required when treating such cases.
Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program Does Not Provide the Right Incentives: Issues and Remedies

The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) reduces Medicare payments to hospitals with higher than expected readmission rates where the expected readmission rate for each hospital is determined based on the readmission levels at other hospitals. Although similar relative performance-based schemes are shown to lead to socially optimal outcomes in other settings (e.g., cost-cutting efforts), HRRP differs from these schemes in three respects: (i) deviation from the targets is adjusted using a multiplier; (ii) the total financial penalty for a hospital with higher than expected readmission rate is capped; and (iii) hospitals with lower than expected readmission rates do not receive bonus payments. We study three regulatory schemes derived from HRRP to determine the impact of each feature and use a principal-agent model to show that (i) HRRP overpenalizes hospitals with excess readmissions because of the multiplier and its effect can be substantial; (ii) having a penalty cap can curtail the effect of financial incentives and result in a no equilibrium outcome when the cap is too low; and (iii) not allowing bonus payments leads to many alternative symmetric equilibria, including one where hospitals exert no effort to reduce readmissions. These results show that HRRP does not provide the right incentives for hospitals to reduce readmissions. Next, we show that a bundled payment-type reimbursement method, which reimburses hospitals once for each episode of care (including readmissions), leads to socially optimal cost and readmissions reduction efforts. Finally, we show that, when delays to accessing care are inevitable, the reimbursement schemes need to provide additional incentives for hospitals to invest sufficiently in capacity. This paper was accepted by Stefan Scholtes, healthcare management.
An Energy-Efficient Routing Algorithm in Three-Dimensional Underwater Sensor Networks Based on Compressed Sensing

Compressed sensing (CS) has become a powerful tool to process data that is correlated in underwater sensor networks (USNs). Based on CS, certain signals can be recovered from a relatively small number of random linear projections. Since the battery-driven sensor nodes work in adverse environments, energy-efficient routing well-matched with CS is needed to realize data gathering in USNs. In this paper, a clustering, uneven-layered, and multi-hop routing based on CS (CS-CULM) is proposed. The inter-cluster transmission and fusion are fulfilled by an improved LEACH protocol, then the uneven-layered, multi-hop routing is adopted to forward the packets fused to sink node for data reconstruction. Simulation results show that CS-CULM can achieve better performances in energy saving and data reconstruction.
Keratinocytes efficiently process endogenous antigens for cytotoxic T‐cell mediated lysis

Abstract: The generation of a robust CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response is a key feature of many immunotherapeutic strategies against epithelial tumors and virally infected epithelial tissue. However, surprisingly few studies have addressed whether primary epithelial cells, expressing defined endogenous antigens, are good targets for CTL‐mediated lysis. Here, we show that primary keratinocytes (KCs), expressing endogenous ovalbumin (OVA) as a transgene, present measurable H‐2Kb/SIINFEKL complexes at the cell surface and are killed by OVA‐specific CTL. Target cell lysis was comparable with a more traditional CTL target cell, EL4, and was enhanced by KC pretreatment with interferon‐γ. These results suggest that primary KCs will be susceptible to CTL‐mediated apoptosis when endogenous KC antigens are targeted during immunotherapy.
Raw Material Sourcing and Firm Performance: Evidence from Manufacturing Firms in South-West Bangladesh

This study considers Khulna, Jessore, Satkhira and Bagerhat districts as the south-west region of Bangladesh. The manufacturing firms of the region have diverse characteristics. This diversity arises due to variety of products, firm size, ownership pattern, technology level and raw material sources. Bakery, brick, iron & steel, coconut oil, printing press, rice milling, tiles, wood processing and wood furniture are the main manufacturing firms of the region. This study describes the raw material sourcing pattern of the manufacturing firms. The intra-region raw material sourcing is the dominating tren d prevailing among the manufacturing firms of the south-west region of Bangladesh. Though the sales growth rates of such intra-region transactions are higher, the profit rates are lower than the rates for the firms dealing with outside the regions for raw material collection. The wider horizon of raw material source is positively related to the operating profit to sales ratio and negatively related to the sales growth rate. This trend indicates the necessity to expand raw material sources of the manufacturing firms for attaining higher profit–– the ultimate objective of a business entity. A massive improvement in infrastructure will encourage more firms to widen their horizon of input market. This point needs to be addressed properly for improving performance of the firms located in this region.
A grid-connected PV/supercapacitor/battery hybrid distributed generation system integrated with multiport DC-DC converter

A hybrid distributed generation system (HDGS) using a multi-input multi-output positive buck-boost converter (MIMO-PBBC) is proposed for the supply-side of the grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) generation power plant, where three PV clusters, one battery bank, and one supercapacitor module are hybridized and regulated by a centralized three-phase dc-ac inverter with their corresponding control systems. The major functionalities of the proposed systems including reactive power control, dc-link voltage regulation, low-voltage ride-through and maximum power point tracking are validated with excellent performance via computational simulation.
No Effect of Loss of E 2 F 1 on Liver Regeneration or Hepatocarcinogenesis in C 57 BL / 6 J or C 3 H / HeJ Mice

The E2F family of transcription factors regulates the expression of genes needed for DNA synthesis and cell-cycle control. However, the individual contributions of the different E2F family members in regulating proliferation in various tissues have not been well characterized. Mouse liver is an excellent system for investigating proliferation because its growth state can be experimentally manipulated. As observed in cell culture systems, E2F1 protein is present at low levels in the quiescent liver, with an increase in expression during proliferation. Therefore, we expected that E2F1 may play an important role in cell-growth control during periods of robust proliferation. Using E2F1nullizygous mice, we performed partial hepatectomies to investigate the role of E2F1 in the synchronous proliferation of adult hepatocytes. We found that E2F1 deficiency resulted in only minor changes in gene expression and that the timing of liver regeneration was not altered in E2F1 nullizygous mice. E2F1 has displayed properties of both a tumor suppressor and an oncogene in different model systems. Therefore, we investigated the role of E2F1 in rapidly growing liver tumor cells in strains of mice that have high (C3H/HeJ) and low (C57BL/6J) rates of hepatocarcinogenesis. We observed no significant differences in the number of liver tumors that developed after diethylnitrosamine treatment of wild type versus E2F1-nullizygous mice. We suggest that abundant levels of E2F4 in the mouse liver compensate for loss of E2F1. Mol. Carcinog. 25:295±303, 1999. # 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.