Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-term MI outcomes at hospitals with or without on-site revascularization.

CONTEXT Many studies have found that patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who are admitted to hospitals with on-site revascularization facilities have higher rates of invasive cardiac procedures and better outcomes than patients in hospitals without such facilities. Whether such differences are due to invasive procedure rates alone or to other patient, physician, and hospital characteristics is unknown. OBJECTIVE To determine whether invasive procedural rate variations alone account for outcome differences in patients with AMI admitted to hospitals with or without on-site revascularization facilities. DESIGN Retrospective, observational cohort study using linked population-based administrative data from a universal health insurance system. SETTING One hundred ninety acute care hospitals in Ontario, 9 of which offered invasive procedures. PATIENTS A total of 25 697 patients hospitalized with AMI between April 1, 1992, and December 31, 1993, of whom 2832 (11%) were in invasive hospitals. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Mortality, recurrent cardiac hospitalizations, and emergency department visits in the 5 years following the index admission, adjusted for patient age, sex, socioeconomic status, illness severity, and index revascularization procedures; attending physician specialty; and hospital volume, teaching status, and geographical proximity to invasive-procedure centers and compared by hospital type. RESULTS Patients admitted to invasive-procedure hospitals were much more likely to undergo revascularization (11.4% vs 3.2% at other hospitals; P<.001). However, many other clinical and process-related factors differed between the 2 groups. Although mortality rates were similar between the 2 institution types, the nonfatal composite 5-year event rate (ie, recurrent cardiac hospitalization and emergency department visits) was lower for patients initially admitted to invasive-procedure hospitals (71.3% vs 80.4%; unadjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.65; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52-0.82; P<.001). This advantage persisted after adjustment for sociodemographic and clinical factors and procedure utilization (adjusted OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.53-0.89; P<.001). However, the nonfatal outcome advantages of invasive-procedure hospitals were explained by their teaching status (adjusted OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.73-1.30; P =.87). CONCLUSIONS In this sample of patients admitted with AMI, the differing outcomes of apparently similar patients treated in 2 different practice settings were explained by multiple competing factors. Researchers conducting observational studies should be cautious about attributing patient outcome differences to any single factor.
miR‐301a promotes pancreatic cancer cell proliferation by directly inhibiting bim expression

It is well known that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in many diseases, including tumorigenesis. However, the mechanisms by which miRNAs regulate pancreatic cancer (PC) development remain poorly understood. In the present study, we assayed expression level of miR‐301a in PC tissues by real‐time PCR, and defined the target gene and biological function by luciferase reporter assay and Western blot analysis. We first verified that the expression level of miR‐301a was significantly increased in PC tissues. Moreover, miR‐301a overexpression promoted PC cell proliferation, whereas its depletion decreased cell proliferation. We further demonstrated that miR‐301a directly targeted 3′‐UTR of Bim gene, and inhibited its protein expression in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, Bim re‐expression reduced PC cell proliferation induced by miR‐301a. These data suggest an important role of miR‐301a in the molecular etiology of PC and implicate the potential application of miR‐301a in PC therapy. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 3229–3235, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Experimental DC Extraction of the Base Resistance of Bipolar Transistors: Application to SiGe:C HBTs

This paper presents an improved variant of a dc method to experimentally evaluate the base resistance of a bipolar transistor. The technique relies on a device model associated with a simple parameter optimization methodology, and is suited for modern technologies wherein self-heating and impact-ionization effects play a relevant role. The approach is successfully applied to state-of-the-art SiGe:C heterojunction bipolar transistors for high-frequency applications, although it can in principle be exploited for any bipolar device. The accuracy of the method is verified by numerical and experimental procedures.
Biophysical and behavioral correlates of memory storage, degradation, and reactivation.

Neural correlates of associative memory and "forgetting" were observed 1, 6, and 14 days after acquisition of a conditioned response (CR) in the marine snail Hermissenda. Behavioral expression of a light-rotation association, as indexed by contraction of the animal's foot in response to light, dissipated throughout the 14-day interval such that a CR was observed 1 and 6 days after conditioning but was absent 14 days later. In relation to naive or pseudoconditioned animals, membrane resistance (inversely related to neuronal membrane conductance and directly related to excitability) of the isolated Type B photoreceptor (B cell) was elevated in conditioned animals on Days 1 and 6, whereas no elevation was detectable on Day 14. However, both the behavioral response and the elevated membrane resistance in conditioned animals were hypersensitive to light-rotation pairings (i.e., exhibited "savings") on Day 14, which is indicative of a latent memory trace. In a second experiment, a current-induced depolarization of the B cell after 14 retention days resulted in an increase in input resistance of the B cell membrane in previously conditioned animals but a weaker, transient rise in resistance in B cells from animals exposed to the nonassociative control procedure 14 days earlier. This effect was Ca(2+)-dependent because no rise in resistance was observed if Ca2+ was removed from the extracellular bath. These results indicate that modification of membrane conductance (i.e., elevated resistance), although apparently critical for the behavioral expression of the memory, is not essential for the maintenance of the latent memory trace, whereas Ca2+ hypersensitivity may be a principal contributor to the storage of a latent memory trace and memory reactivation.
New insights into the mechanism of protein–protein association

Association of a protein complex follows a two‐step mechanism, with the first step being the formation of an encounter complex that evolves into the final complex. Here, we analyze recent experimental data of the association of TEM1‐β‐lactamase with BLIP using theoretical calculations and simulation. We show that the calculated Debye–Hückel energy of interaction for a pair of proteins during association resembles an energy funnel, with the final complex at the minima. All attraction is lost at inter‐protein distances of 20 Å, or rotation angles of >60° from the orientation of the final complex. For faster‐associating protein complexes, the energy funnel deepens and its volume increases. Mutations with the largest impact on association (hotspots for association) have the largest effect on the size and depth of the energy funnel. Analyzing existing evidence, we suggest that the transition state along the association pathway is the formation of the final complex from the encounter complex. Consequently, pairs of proteins forming an encounter complex will tend to dissociate more readily than to evolve into the final complex. Increasing directional diffusion by increasing favorable electrostatic attraction results in a faster forming and slower dissociating encounter complex. The possible applicability of electrostatic calculations for protein–protein docking is discussed. Proteins 2001;45:190–198. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Fatal Cases of Tick‐Borne Fever (TBF) in Sheep Caused by Several 16S rRNA Gene Variants of Anaplasma phagocytophilum

Tick-borne fever (TBF) caused by the rickettsia Anaplasma phagocytophilum (formerly Ehrlichia phagocytophila ) is a common disease in sheep in tick ( Ixodes ricinus ) infested areas in Norway. Earlier studies indicate that this infection causes a persistent and widespread infection in sheep grazing on I. ricinus –infested pastures in Norway. 1,2 Although A. phagocytophilum variants are discriminated in the laboratory on the basis of only 1–3 nucleotide differences in the 16S rRNA gene, biological and ecological differences clearly exist, including varying host pathogenicity, vectors, and geographical distribution. 3 A recent study indicates that at least four 16S rRNA variants of A. phagocytophilum may occur in sheep. However, the pathogenicity of these variants has not been properly investigated. In the present study, we investigated lambs that had died on tick-infested pastures in the south-western part of Norway. The selected lambs had been submitted to the Department of Sheep and Goat Research for post mortem analyses. Routine necropsies were carried out, including histopathology and aerobic bacterial cultivation. A partial 16S rRNA gene sequence of A. phagocytophilum was determined. Total genomic DNA was isolated from different tissue samples using phenol-chloroform extractions. DNA was dissolved in water and the absorbance measured at 260 and 280 nm. Bacterial DNA was amplified using the AmpliTaq Gold polymerase (Perkin Elmer). Amplifications were carried out in 30μ L volumes containing 2.5 mM MgCl 2 , 0.2 mM dNTPs, 0.5 μ M of each primer, 0.8 U AmpliTaq Gold, and approximately 150 ng of the template DNA. Primers 16SANA-F (5 ′ -CAG AGT TTG ATC CTG GCT CAG AAC G-3 ′ ) and 16SANA-R (5 ′ -GAG TTT GCC GGG ACT TCT TCT GTA-3 ′ ) were used. These primers specifically amplified a 421 bp segment of the 16S rRNA gene from Anaplasma DNAs. Samples were heated to 95 ° C for 5 min, followed by 5 cycles of 94 ° C for 30 s, and 69 ° C for 60 s, with a decrease of 0.5 ° C per cycle for the annealing/extension step. Forty cycles were then added, with temperatures of 94 ° C and 67 ° C for 25 s and 60 s, respectively. All amplifications were performed on a GeneAmp 2400 instrument (Perkin Elmer). Excess primers and nucleotides were enzymatically removed from amplification reactions using
Searching the NCBI Databases Using Entrez

One of the most widely‐used interfaces for the retrieval of information from biological databases is the NCBI Entrez system. Entrez capitalizes on the fact that there are pre‐existing, logical relationships between the individual entries found in numerous public databases. The existence of such natural connections, mostly biological in nature, argued for the development of a method through which all the information about a particular biological entity could be found without having to sequentially visit and query disparate databases. Two Basic Protocols describe simple, text‐based searches, illustrating the types of information that can be retrieved through the Entrez system. An builds upon the first Basic Protocol, using additional, built‐in features of the Entrez system, and providing alternative ways to issue the initial query. The reviews how to save frequently‐issued queries. Finally, Cn3D, a structure visualization tool, is also discussed.
The impact of statins and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system blockers on pulmonary vein antrum isolation outcomes in post-menopausal females.

AIMS To assess whether treatment with statins or renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors as potential procedural 'augmenting agents' improved atrial fibrillation (AF) catheter ablation recurrence rates in post-menopausal females (PMFS). METHODS AND RESULTS Five hundred and eighteen consecutive female patients had undergone AF catheter ablation from January 2005 to May 2008. Post-menopausal females were selected and procedure outcomes were compared between cohorts of PMFS treated with statins or RAAS inhibitors to untreated PMFS. Out of 408 PMFS, 36 (8.8%) were treated with a combination of RAAS inhibitors and statins, thus were excluded leaving a total of 372 (91.2%) patients in the study. Out of 372 patients, 111 (29.8%) were on statins (Group 1), 59 (15.9%) on RAAS inhibitors (Group 2), and 202 (54.3%) without RAAS inhibitors or statins [(Group 3) control population]. Over a mean follow-up time of 24 +/- 8.3 (median 25) months, 78 (70.6%) in Group 1, 38 (65.4%) in Group 2, and 139 (68.8%) in Group 3 had procedural success. Statin or RAAS inhibitor use did not predict lower recurrence rates [hazard ratio (HR): 1.26, P = 0.282 and HR: 1.14, P = 0.728, respectively]. When compared with controls, no difference in the cumulative incidence of recurrence was found with statin or RAAS inhibitors use (P = 0.385 and P = 0.761, respectively). CONCLUSION Treatment with statins or RAAS inhibitors did not improve catheter ablation success rates among PMFS. Thereby, from a clinical standpoint, PMFS should not be started on these treatments as a procedural 'augmenting agent' at this time.
Raman generation of coherent phonons of anatase and rutile TiO 2 photoexcited at fundamental absorption edges

Ultrafast phonon dynamics in anatase and rutile TiO2 single crystals are investigated using 400 nm near ultraviolet light pulses, whose wavelength corresponds to the fundamental absorption edges of both polymorphs. Raman-active phonon modes are observed as coherent modulations in THz frequency range of the reflected light intensity. Coherent amplitudes vary as the crystals are rotated with respect to the pump and probe polarizations, depending on the symmetry of the phonon modes. The polarization dependence is quantitatively reproduced by assuming that both the generation and detection are dominated by the Raman scattering process. No evident resonance enhancement is observed in the coherent amplitudes as we vary the excitation light wavelength around the fundamental absorption edges. These results indicate that the creation of coherent bulk phonons by photodoped carriers is negligible compared with the competing Raman process at the fundamental band gap excitation.
Duality Theorem for Motives

Using Dold--Puppe category approach to the duality in topology, we prove general duality theorem for the category of motives. As one of the applications of this general result we obtain, in particular, a generalization of Friedlander--Voevodsky's duality to the case of arbitrary base field characteristic.
Low-cost housing leakages in Malaysia: the unexplored dimension

ABSTRACT Over the years, the Malaysian Government and private housing developers have been providing low-cost housing (LCH) yet the demand-supply gap is on the increase. Hence, this paper investigates the LCH leakages in Malaysia in an unexplored dimension. This was done sequentially, first, findings from the qualitatively explored phase was further tested and analysed via a questionnaire survey. The “quantised findings” were validated by the Malaysian LCH policymakers. Findings confirm a severe shortage of LCH. The study found under-declared income by house-buyers (frequent in states with lax enforcement), auction of LCH in open bidding, sales of LCH within the moratorium period by house owners for profiteering among others as the root causes of LCH leakage. The paper concludes that the government should engrave the land title deed such that only low-income earners (LIEs) are eligible to possess LCH. Second, implement the cumulative ruling (construction of LCH by a developer not based on the conventional but reach an agreed threshold target irrespective of the numbers of projects) for LCH provision. Also, states should set-up joint task force that comprises of land, planning, and housing department to monitor and ensure compliance, among others, were recommended.
Etude et Exploitation des Réseaux de Neutralité dans les Paysages Adaptatifs pour l'Optimisation Difficile. (Study and Exploitation of Neutral Networks in Fitness Landscape for Hard Optimization)

Le concept de paysage adaptatif a ete introduit par S. Wright dans le domaine de la biologie de l'evolution dans les annees 1930. Il est l'un des concepts pertinents pour modeliser l'evolution d'une population d'organismes. Dans le domaine de l'optimisation combinatoire par metaheuristiques, il est egalement utilise et permet de lier une description geometrique d'un probleme d'optimisation avec la dynamique des algorithmes de recherche. Deux geometries de paysage correspondant a deux dynamiques d'algorithme ont ete principalement etudiees. La geometrie de paysage multimodale est liee a la presence d'optima locaux, ou la dynamique est une succession de marches adaptatives vers de meilleures solutions et de degradations de performance. La geometrie des paysages adaptatifs neutres, mise en avant par la theorie de la neutralite en evolution moleculaire de Motoo Kimura, est liee a la presence de plateaux ; la dynamique se caracterise alors par une derive aleatoire entrecoupee de rares decouvertes de solutions plus performantes. Cette these se propose d'approfondir l'etude des paysages neutres dans le contexte de l'optimisation et de proposer de nouvelles metaheuristiques adaptees a ce type de paysages. La these se compose de quatre chapitres. Dans un premier chapitre, nous presentons les principaux resultats concernant les paysages adaptatifs et plus particulierement les paysages adaptatifs neutres. Dans un deuxieme chapitre, nous developpons le concept d'ensemble de neutralite en introduisant la notion de 'nuage adaptatif' qui permet d'etudier la correlation de performance entre solutions voisines et nous l'appliquons a la classe des paysages 'embarques' qui regroupe les paysages NK et Max-SAT. Dans un troisieme chapitre, nous resumons l'ensemble des mesures relatives aux reseaux de neutralite et nous proposons une nouvelle mesure. Une etude experimentale est realisee sur trois familles de paysages pour lesquelles la neutralite est ajustable et deux problemes classiques de la litterature. Enfin, un nouvel algorithme de recherche adapte aux paysages neutres lie a la nouvelle mesure est propose et evalue sur differents paysages neutres. Nous realisons l'etude du paysage adaptatif massivement neutre issu du probleme d'apprentissage de la regle d'un automate cellulaire realisant la tâche de classification par la densite, afin d'en ameliorer les metaheuristiques connues existantes.
Machine type communications in 3GPP networks: potential, challenges, and solutions

With a wide range of potential applications, Machine Type Communication (MTC) or Machine to Machine (M2M) communication is gaining a tremendous interest among mobile network operators, equipment vendors, MTC specialist companies, and research bodies. To facilitate convergence among these different stakeholders, different standardization groups started working on MTC. This article introduces briefly some of the relevant activities, with a focus on those related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The article focuses on two important aspects of MTC devices, currently discussed in 3GPP as part of its Release 10. They are subscription control and network congestion/overload control. For the latter, a new solution based on bulk signaling handling is proposed.
Implementation of an intrusion detection system based on mobile agents

The number of security-breaking attempts originating inside organizations is increasing steadily. Attacks made in this way, usually done by "authorized" users of the system, cannot be immediately located. As the idea of filtering the traffic at the "entrance door" (by firewalls, for instance) is not completely successful the use of other technologies should be considered to increase the defense capacity of a site. Therefore, the introduction of mobile agents to provide computational security by constantly moving around within the internal infoways of an organization is presented as a natural solution to prevent both external and internal sources of intrusion. This work presents an evaluation of the use of mobile agent mechanisms to add mobility features to the process of monitoring intrusion in computational systems. A modular approach is proposed, where independent small agents will monitor the communication paths. This approach presents significant advantages in terms of minimizing overhead, increasing scalability and flexibility and providing fault tolerance.
Does Attestation of the effectiveness of Internal Control over Financial Reporting Discourage Earnings Management? Evidence from China

To improve financial reporting quality, the Chinese government issued the Basic Standard for Enterprise Internal Control in 2008 and other related guidelines/regulations in the following years (hereafter China SOX). The scope of China SOX is broader but similar to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in the U.S. Formal adoptions of China SOX requires management and external auditor’s report on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR). A company’s ICFR, if effective, should provide reasonable assurance that the company’s financial statements are reliable and prepared in accordance with the applicable accounting standards. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether China external auditor attestation of ICFR discourage earnings management, an indicator of financial reporting quality. By analyzing a sample of Chinese public firms during 2011 to 2013, we find that: (1) Chinese firms that disclose audited ICFR reports exhibit lower earnings management than firms that do not; (2) Chinese firms that are mandated to disclose audited ICFR reports exhibit lower earnings management than firms that voluntarily disclose audited ICFR reports. Our empirical results seem to suggest that attestation of the effectiveness of ICFR discourages earnings management and therefore improve financial reporting quality.
Corporatism in 24 industrial democracies: Meaning and measurement

The ongoing use of the concept of ‘corporatism’ in industrial democracies has been stretched to include overlapping but still distinctive realities, which in turn often produce different ‘lists’ of corporatist economies. Consequently, this analysis sets out to disentangle the concept of corporatism and to suggest a replacement. It includes a comparative classification of 24 long-term industrial democracies in terms of the corporatism scores given by 23 different scholarly analyses. The divisions in scoring certain important but problematic cases (such as Japan) can be explained by noting differing emphases in the term. I then propose an alternative, more focused summary measure of economic integration which is clearly linear and which has no ‘problem cases’. Precise scores on economic integration are given for four time periods from the late 1960s through the mid-1990s. It will be seen that the industrial democracies have always been dichotomised between integrated and non-integrated (or ‘pluralist’) economies.
The Exploration of Financial Sharing Model for Large Groups-Based on the Perspective of Swot Analysis

Because of the economic globalization and China's “Belt and Road” initiative, large enterprise groups that willing to complete their transformation and improve their international competitiveness should construct a financial sharing model undoubtedly. The meanings of financial sharing service, the necessity of its establishing and construction strategy are the topics that scholars are now focusing on. By the means of Swot analysis, this paper analyzes the internal strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities and threats factors against the background of large groups building financial sharing model. Meanwhile, it also puts forward that large groups should fully grasp the opportunity and applies the advanced technology. Moreover, if the large groups have their own clear positioning and innovative services, and can overcome its own weaknesses and eliminate external threats, they could eventually exert the largest effects of financial sharing model. Keywords—Financial sharing; Large groups; Swot analysis