Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chronic intracerebroventricular administration of recombinant CART(42-89) peptide inhibits and causes weight loss in lean and obese Zucker (fa/fa) rats.

OBJECTIVE Hypothalamic neuropeptide CART (cocaine-amphetamine-regulated transcript) is a leptin-dependent endogenous satiety factor in the rat, and single central injections of recombinant CART(42-89) lowers food intake in rats and mice. To assess the potential role of CART as a long-term regulator of food intake, we investigated the effects of continuous infusion of recombinant CART(42-89) on food consumption and body weight. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES Two doses of CART(42-89) were tested: 12 or 4.8 microg/d. Adult male, both lean (+/? ) and Zucker (fa/fa) obese, rats were equipped with intracerebroventricular cannulae in the right lateral ventricle. The cannulae were connected to subcutaneously placed osmotic mini-pumps. Pumps were filled with either CART(42-89) or vehicle (50 mM phosphate-buffered saline, pH 7.4). The pumps delivered a continuous infusion of CART(42-89) or vehicle, and food intake and body weight were followed for 10 days (12 microg/d) or 7 days (4.8 microg/d). Animals given the low dose had the pump removed on Day 7, and from half of the group, trunk blood was collected after decapitation, whereas the other half of the group had their mini-pumps removed and were followed for another 7 days before being decapitated. RESULTS Animals receiving the high doses displayed overt motor disturbances, whereas the low dose was devoid of such behavioral side effects. Both doses significantly lowered food intake with maximal effect on days 3 to 5 of the infusion period. The high dose of CART decreased body weight of normal animals to 85% of initial weight at days 3 to 5, whereas the weight of Zucker (fa/fa) obese rats dropped to 95% of the initial weight. In animals receiving 4.8 microg/d, moderate effects on body weight were seen between days 4 and 6 of the treatment period, but soon after termination of the treatment animals regained lost weight. To assess the biological activity of the contents of the osmotic mini-pumps, the pumps were removed from the subcutaneous implantation site, and 5 microL of their contents were injected intracerebroventricularly to naive animals kept on a restricted feeding schedule. The content of pumps from animals receiving 4.8 microg/d of CART(42-89) potently inhibited food intake, confirming full biological activity despite being kept for 7 days at body temperature. DISCUSSION Due to obvious effects on motor behavior, it is impossible with certainty to conclude that the observed effects on feeding and body weight are primary interference with satiety centers or secondary to effects on locomotor pathways. Also, the present experiments suggest that hypothalamic appetite-regulating neurons are subject to pharmacological desensitization upon prolonged exposure to CART peptide. The underlying mechanism of such desensitization is as yet unknown.
Forecasting the Polish Inflation Using Bayesian VAR Models with Seasonality

Bayesian VAR (BVAR) models offer a practical solution to the parameter proliferation concerns as they allow to introduce a priori information on seasonality and persistence of inflation in a multivariate framework. We investigate alternative prior specifications in the case of time series with a clear seasonal pattern. In the empirical part we forecast the monthly headline inflation in the Polish economy over the period 2011-2014 employing two popular BVAR frameworks: a steady-state reduced-form BVAR and just-identified structural BVAR model. To evaluate the forecast performance we use the pseudo realtime vintages of timely information from consumer and financial markets. We compare different models in terms of both point and density forecasts. Using formal testing procedure for density-based scores we provide the empirical evidence of superiority of the steady-state BVAR specifications with tight seasonal priors.
Characterizing Hand Written Devanagari Characters using Evolved Regular Expressions

Devanagari script is used in the Indian subcontinent for several major languages such as Hindi, Sanskrit, Marathi Nepali languages. More than 500 million people use the script. Recognition of unconstrained (Handwritten) Devanagari writing is more complex than English cursive due to shape of constituent strokes. The method that has been proposed is using segmentation evolved regular expressions. It has been taken care into account that there is vast variation in writing styles size and thickness characters and any distortion during scanning. There is no need preprocessing as well as training. The notation of regular expression is short and precise and can be easily transformed directed graphs or finite-state automata accepting all the symbol strings generated by the corresponding expressions. The method efficient enough because of power of regular expressions
Interaction of Monetary and Macroprudential Policies in Developing Economies

Our paper addresses the issue of the interaction between monetary and macroprudential policies in small open economies for different exchange rate regimes. The need for macroprudential policy arises from exacerbated macroeconomic fluctuations due to frictions in the financial system as in Bernanke, Gertler and Gilchrist (1999). Understanding these dynamics in developing nations has been even more important after the most recent events of the Great Recession. Policy makers within the scrutinized economies will see the exact magnitude of shocks caused by changes in financial frictions, monetary and macroprudential policy. Exchange rate considerations are also brought to the fore, by assessing the effects of these policies on two emerging economies from the Caribbean with differing monetary policy frameworks. Despite differences between flexible and fear of floating exchange rate regimes, macroprudential policies implementation help mitigate the effects of credit supply shocks affecting regional economies.
Complications related to invasive hemodynamic monitors during adult liver transplantation

The rate of complications directly related to invasive monitors during liver transplantation (LT) was reviewed in 1206 consecutive adult LTs performed over 8.6 yr (1/1/2004–7/31/2012). The designated anesthesiologists placed intra‐operative monitors, including two arterial catheters (via the radial and the right femoral arteries), central venous catheters (a 9 Fr. catheter and an 18 Fr. veno‐venous bypass [VVB] return cannula in an internal jugular vein), a pulmonary artery catheter, and a transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) probe. A 17 Fr. VVB drainage cannula was placed via the left femoral vein. No Clavien–Dindo Grade V (death) or Grade IV (organ dysfunction) complication was identified. Nine Grade III complications (requiring surgical intervention) and 15 Grade II complications (conservative treatment) were noted. Seven (0.58% in 1206 cases) were related to a femoral arterial line with Grade III of four; seven (0.58%) were due to VVB return cannula in the femoral vein with Grade III of one; four (0.33%) were related to central venous catheters with Grade III of two; four (0.33%) were due to a TEE probe with Grade III of two; and two minor complications (0.17%) that were related to a radial arterial line. No complication was observed with a pulmonary arterial catheter. Current invasive monitors placed during LT have an acceptable risk.
Coping with the Global Economic Crisis: The Regional Political Economy of Emergency Social Shock Absorbers in Italy

ABSTRACT This article contributes to the debate on governing the global financial crisis, focusing on the regional governance of emergency social shock absorbers in Italy. The article seeks to make two related contributions. First, it argues that subnational governments have been the main drivers of change in labour market policies. Second, it shows that state–local governance elicited a path-altering system by ‘patching up’ a hybrid administrative structure and by ‘converting’ the traditional goals of social shock absorbers from income maintenance to welfare-to-work. The article provides qualitative evidence on the changing organizational bases of the labour markets of two large Italian regions: Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. Evidence suggests that administrative innovation and path dependence intertwined in the governance of the global economic crisis in Italy, mitigating the entrenched distortions of labour market policies.
A critical evaluation of genomic control methods for genetic association studies

Population stratification is an important potential confounder of genetic case‐control association studies. For replication studies, limited availability of samples may lead to imbalanced sampling from heterogeneous populations. Genomic control (GC) can be used to correct χ2 test statistics which are presumed to be inflated by a factor λ; this may be estimated by a summary χ2 value (λmedian or λmean) from a set of unlinked markers. Many studies applying GC methods have used fewer than 50 unlinked markers and an important question is whether this can adequately correct for population stratification. We assess the behavior of GC methods in imbalanced case‐control studies using simulation. SNPs are sampled from two subpopulations with intra‐continental levels of FST (≤0.005) and sampling schemata ranging from balanced to completely imbalanced between subpopulations. The sampling properties of λmedian and λmean are explored using 6–1,600 unlinked markers to estimate Type 1 error and power empirically. GC corrections based on the χ2‐distribution (GCmedian or GCmean) can be anti‐conservative even when more than 100 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are genotyped and realistic levels of population stratification exist. The GCF procedure performs well over a wider range of conditions, only becoming anti‐conservative at low levels of α and with fewer than 25 SNPs genotyped. A substantial loss of power can arise when population stratification is present, but this is largely independent of the number of SNPs used. A literature survey shows that most studies applying GC have used GCmedian or GCmean, rather than GCF, which is the most appropriate GC correction method. Genet. Epidemiol. 2009. © 2008 Wiley Liss, Inc.
Socket Versus Bone-Anchored Trans-Femoral Prostheses: Hip Range of Motion and Sitting Comfort

This is the first study to report on hip range of motion (ROM) among active prosthesis users, when wearing and not wearing a trans-femoral socket prosthesis and to compare with individuals rehabilitated with an osseointegrated bone-anchored prosthesis. In addition, discomfort when sitting with the prosthesis is reported in both groups. The study group all had a non-vascular amputation and were divided into those supplied with a socket prosthesis (S group) (n = 43, mean age 51 years, 74% men) or a bone-anchored prosthesis (OI group) (n = 20, mean age 46 years, 75% men). Active hip ROM was measured with a goniometer, and self-reported problems with discomfort when sitting were recorded. The hip motion decreased in all directions when wearing the socket prosthesis compared to without it (P < 0.001 for all directions), and 37% of the subjects had less than 90° of hip flexion when wearing their prosthesis. Discomfort when sitting was reported among 44% (n = 19) in the S group and was more common among individuals with less than 90° of hip flexion motion (P = 0.025). In the OI group, no restriction in hip motion was measured with the prosthesis, and no subject had less than 90° of flexion and 5% (n = 1) reported discomfort when sitting. This study shows that a trans-femoral prosthetic socket significantly reduces the ROM of the hip and that discomfort when sitting is common among individuals wearing such prostheses. Further, the study confirms that individuals using a bone-anchored prosthesis have no restricted hip motion with the prosthesis and report very few problems with discomfort when sitting.
Q-enhancement through minimization of acoustic energy radiation in micromachined lateral-mode resonators

This paper describes a technique to increase the quality factor (Q) of lateral-mode piezoelectric resonators by reducing the amount of acoustic energy lost through the support tethers. Trenches are etched in the substrate layer surrounding the resonator at a specific distance from the resonator edge to function as an acoustic reflector. Resonators with optimized reflectors consistently show improved Q's compared to similar devices lacking the reflectors. The highest measured unloaded Q is 18,000 in vacuum (at ∼115MHz), upwards of 45% improvement over the highest Q recorded from the devices without reflectors.
Management of Miscarriage: Expectant, Medical, or Surgical? Results of Randomised Controlled Trial (Miscarriage Treatment [MIST] Trial)

BACKGROUND Obesity is a major, growing health problem. Observational studies suggest that bariatric surgery is more effective than nonsurgical therapy, but no randomized, controlled trials have confirmed this. OBJECTIVE To ascertain whether surgical therapy for obesity achieves better weight loss, health, and quality of life than nonsurgical therapy. DESIGN Randomized, controlled trial. SETTING University departments of medicine and surgery and an affiliated private hospital. PATIENTS 80 adults with mild to moderate obesity (body mass index, 30 kg/m2 to 35 kg/m2) from the general community. INTERVENTIONS Patients were assigned to a program of very-low-calorie diets, pharmacotherapy, and lifestyle change for 24 months (nonsurgical group) or to placement of a laparoscopic adjustable gastric band (LAP-BAND System, INAMED Health, Santa Barbara, California) (surgical group). MEASUREMENTS Outcome measures were weight change, presence of the metabolic syndrome, and change in quality of life at 2 years. RESULTS At 2 years, the surgical group had greater weight loss, with a mean of 21.6% (95% CI, 19.3% to 23.9%) of initial weight lost and 87.2% (CI, 77.7% to 96.6%) of excess weight lost, while the nonsurgical group had a loss of 5.5% (CI, 3.2% to 7.9%) of initial weight and 21.8% (CI, 11.9% to 31.6%) of excess weight (P < 0.001). The metabolic syndrome was initially present in 15 (38%) patients in each group and was present in 8 (24%) nonsurgical patients and 1 (3%) surgical patient at the completion of the study (P < 0.002). Quality of life improved statistically significantly more in the surgical group (8 of 8 subscores of Short Form-36) than in the nonsurgical group (3 of 8 subscores). LIMITATIONS The study included mildly and moderately obese participants, was not powered for comparison of adverse events, and examined outcomes only for 24 months. CONCLUSIONS Surgical treatment using laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding was statistically significantly more effective than nonsurgical therapy in reducing weight, resolving the metabolic syndrome, and improving quality of life during a 24-month treatment program.
Clinical outcome of cardiac resynchronization therapy in dilated-phase hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Backgrounds Clinical trials have demonstrated that cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is effective in patients with “non-ischemic cardiomyopathy”. However, patients with dilated-phase hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (DHCM) have been generally excluded from such trials. We aimed to compare the clinical outcome of CRT in patients with DHCM, idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM), or ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM). Methods A total of 312 consecutive patients (DHCM: n = 16; IDCM: n = 231; ICM: n = 65) undergoing CRT in Fuwai hospital were studied respectively. Response to CRT was defined as reduction in left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV) ≥ 15% at 6-month follow-up. Results Compared with DHCM, IDCM was associated with a lower total mortality (HR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.13–0.90), cardiac mortality (HR: 0.29; 95% CI: 0.11–0.77), and total mortality or heart failure (HF) hospitalizations (HR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.17–0.69), independent of known confounders. Compared with DHCM, the total mortality, cardiac mortality and total mortality or HF hospitalizations favored ICM but were not statistically significant (HR: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.22–1.61; HR: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.21–1.63; HR: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.26–1.15; respectively). Response rate to CRT was lower in the DHCM group than the other two groups although the differences didn't reach statistical significance. Conclusions Compared with IDCM, DHCM was associated with a worse outcome after CRT. The clinical outcome of DHCM patients receiving CRT was similar to or even worse than that of ICM patients. These indicate that DHCM behaves very differently after CRT.
Stochastic linear quadratic optimal control with partial information and its application to mean-variance hedging problems

This paper is concerned with a stochastic linear quadratic (LQ) optimal control with partial information where the control system is a non-Markov process. We solved this problem explicitly by completion of squares method. An optimal control is denoted by the corresponding optimal state equation, a Riccati differential equation and a backward stochastic differential equation (BSDE) with the dynamics similar to the optimal state equation. And then the general result is applied to a partial information mean-variance hedging problem, where an optimal mean-variance portfolio strategy is denoted by the sum of a replicating portfolio strategy for a contingent claim and a Mertonpsilas portfolio strategy with partial information. By filtering for SDEs, an explicitly observable optimal portfolio strategy for a partial information mean-variance hedging problem is presented, and some numerical simulations on the problem are given to furthermore support our theoretical results.
The effect of renin-angiotensin-system inhibition on survival and recurrence of N3+ breast cancer patients.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between the rennin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibition and the risk of breast cancer (BC) recurrence and progression in N3 positive patients. METHODS The medical records of patients treated for N3 positive BC in Hacettepe Cancer Institute between 2005 and 2012 were evaluated. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) users were defined as patients who took these medications for at least 6 months in no evidence of disease (NED) stage after the initial diagnosis. The primary and secondary outcome was disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard models were used. RESULTS A total of 218 pathologic N3 BC patients were included. Follow up ranged from 12 to 212 months (median 49.58). Thirty one patients used ACE inhibitors/ARBs. Univariate analysis showed BC recurrence was lower and OS was higher among patients who used ACE inhibitors/ ARBs, however without reaching statistical significance (p=0.38 and p=0.24, respectively). RAS inhibition was associated with reduced risk of pathologic N3 BC recurrence. CONCLUSION To the best of our knowledge this is the second study showing that the use of ACE inhibitors/ARBs may be effective in N3 BC. Because of the limited therapeutic options in BC, new drugs or new therapeutic modalities should be considered. In the future, studies with long-term follow-up may be helpful for their implication in clinical practice.
A convolutional neural network approach for abnormality detection in Wireless Capsule Endoscopy

In wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE), a swallowable miniature optical endoscope is used to transmit color images of the gastrointestinal tract. However, the number of images transmitted is large, taking a significant amount of the medical expert's time to review the scan. In this paper, we propose a technique to automate the abnormality detection in WCE images. We split the image into several patches and extract features pertaining to each block using a convolutional neural network (CNN) to increase their generality while overcoming the drawbacks of manually crafted features. We intend to exploit the importance of color information for the task. Experiments are performed to determine the optimal color space components for feature extraction and classifier design. We obtained an area under receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curve of approximately 0.8 on a dataset containing multiple abnormalities.
Characterization of the mechanical behavior of intrapulmonary percussive ventilation

A new device delivering intrapulmonary percussive ventilation (IPV), called Impulsator® (Percussionaire Corporation, Sandpoint, ID, USA), has recently been introduced in an effort to provide effective clearance and to promote homogeneity of ventilation in the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis. In order to optimize the treatment based on its use, a better understanding of its functioning is still necessary. In fact, up to now, a complete characterization of this device has not been carried out, thus reducing its effective utilization in clinical practice. With the aim of overcoming this lack, in this study, data concerning flow and pressure delivered during in vitro IPV were acquired under different combinations of device settings and respiratory loads. Quantitative information was obtained about the physical variables administered by the device like percussive frequency, ratio of inspiratory to expiratory time, flow and pressure magnitudes and volume exchanged. The analysis of the data determined the relations among these variables and between them and the mechanical loads, laying the basis for an optimal clinical application of the device.
Inhibitory effect of voglibose and gymnemic acid on maltose absorption in vivo.

AIM To determine whether diabetic care can be improved by combination of voglibose and gymnemic acid (GA), we compared the combinative and individual effects of voglibose and GA on maltose absorption in small intestine. METHODS The small intestine 30 cm long from 2 cm caudal ward Treitz's ligament of Wistar rat was used as an in situ loop, which was randomly perfused in recircular mode with maltose (10mmol/L) with or without different dosages of voglibose and/or GA for an hour. To compare the time course, perfusion of 10 mmol/L maltose was repeated four times. Each time continued for 1 hour and separated by 30 minutes rinse. In the first time, lower dosages of GA (0.5g/L) and/or voglibose (2 micromol/L) were contained except control. RESULTS Absorptive rate of maltose was the lowest in combinative group (P<0.05, ANOVA), for example, the inhibition rate was about 37% during the first hour when 0.5 g/L-GA and 2 micromol/L voglibose with 10 mmol/L maltose were perfused in the loop. The onset time was shortened to 30 minutes and the effective duration was prolonged to 4 hours with the combination; therefore the total amount of maltose absorption during the effective duration was inhibited more significantly than that in the individual administration (P < 0.05, U test of Mann Whitney). The effect of GA on absorptive barriers of the intestine played an important role in the combinative effects. CONCLUSION There are augmented effects of voglibose and GA. The management of diabetes mellitus can be improved by employing the combination.
A high-speed pipeline architecture of squarer-accumulator (SQAC)

This paper presents a high-speed pipeline architecture for squarer-accumulator (SQAC). The proposed design integrates squarer into multiplier-accumulator (MAC), producing the SQAC, which is utilized widely in signal processing field. The proposed architecture takes advantage of carry-save technique in the accumulation, and utilizes a novel feedback scheme. These ideas could also be applied to improve the performance of MAC. In estimation, the proposal is synthesized with TSMC CMOS libraries of 180nm, 130nm, 90nm and 65nm technology. Simulation results show that our proposed architecture provides almost 50% improvement compared with previous realizations in terms of time and area cost.