Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential Effects of Etomidate, Propofol, and Midazolam on Calcium and Potassium Channel Currents in Canine Myocardial Cells

Background Intravenous anesthetics etomidate, propofol, and midazolam produce negative inotropic effects of various degrees. The mechanism underlying these differences is largely unknown. Methods The effects of intravenous anesthetics on L-type Calcium sup 2+, transient outward and inward-rectifier Potassium sup + channel currents (ICa, IKto, and IK1) were compared in canine ventricular cells using the whole-cell voltage-clamp technique. ICa and IK were elicited by progressively depolarizing cells from -40 to +40 mV, and from -90 to +60 mV, respectively. The peak amplitude and time-dependent inactivation rate of ICa and IK were measured before, during, and after the administration of equimolar concentrations (5, 30, or 60 micro Meter) of etomidate, propofol, or midazolam. Results Exposure to etomidate, propofol, and midazolam produced a concentration-dependent inhibition of ICa. Midazolam was the most potent intravenous anesthetic; at 60 micro Meter, etomidate, propofol, and midazolam decreased peak ICa by 16 +/- 4% (mean +/- SEM), 33 +/- 5%, and 47 +/- 5%, respectively. Etomidate, propofol, and midazolam given in a 60-micro Meter concentration decreased IKto by 8 +/- 3%, 9 +/- 2%, and 23 +/- 3%, respectively. IK1 was decreased by 60 micro meter etomidate and midazolam by 20 +/- 6% and 14% +/- 5%, respectively. Propofol had no effect on IK1. Conclusions At equimolar concentrations, intravenous anesthetics decreased the peak ICa, IKto, and IK1 with various degrees of potency. Effects of anesthetics on ICa were significantly greater compared with their effects on Potassium sup + currents. These findings suggest that the negative inotropic actions of etomidate, propofol, and midazolam are related, at least in part, to decreased ICa. Some effects, such as IK inhibition, may partially antagonize effects of decreased ICa. Indeed, the final effect of these intravenous anesthetics on myocardium will be the sum of these and other sarcolemmal and intracellular effects.
Determinants of defined-benefit pension plan policies

I test the degree that variables related to pension insurance, corporate income tax and financial slack considerations determine the contributions, funding levels, and actuarial assumptions associated with defined-benefit pension plans. Using a large sample of pension data and improved proxies for testing the various hypotheses, my findings suggest that pension contributions decline with increased bankruptcy probability, and that increased bankruptcy probability and reduced taxes impact plan funding levels and actuarial assumptions. My findings are particularly consistent with the eects of pension insurance, in contrast to earlier studies. This suggests that the implications of earlier research are not robust to my expanded set of data and improved proxies. I am grateful for the invaluable guidance and comments of my dissertation committee: Cli
Fingertip Three-Axis Tactile Sensor for Multifingered Grasping

A fingertip three-axis tactile sensor system with the capability of measuring both normal and shear force distribution using quantum tunneling composites is presented. The practical design and fabrication of a tactile sensor for the robot fingertip are described in detail. Also, an integrated fingertip-shaped tactile sensor with 13 tactile cells is developed. The tactile sensor is mounted on a multifingered robotic hand fingertip, and its effectiveness is validated with experimental results. The fabricated fingertip tactile sensor shows that the full-scale range of detectable force are about 10, 10, and 20N for the x-, y-, and z -directions, respectively. Each detector response was proportional to the magnitude of the applied stress. The fingertip tactile sensor showed a high repeatability, low hysteresis, and minimal three-axis force crosstalk. Experiments are conducted with dynamic grasping force control, based on fingertip three-axis sensor feedback. The grasping force of the finger is adjusted adaptively to the three-axis tactile feedback, such that the force on each fingertip is restricted inside the friction cone without any undesired slip or detaching from the object when grasping it.
Left thalamic infarction and disturbance of verbal memory: A clinicoanatomical study with a new method of computed tomographc stereotaxic lesion localization

A 41‐year‐old right‐handed man developed disturbances of language and memory after a discrete thalamic infarction. Detailed neuropsychological assessment revealed deficits in verbal fluency, word finding, confrontation naming, and anterograde memory for verbal material. High‐resolution computed tomography with stereotaxic lesion localization permitted the determination of the thalamic nuclei involved in the infarction. We suggest that the patient's problem in language and verbal memory reflected a defect in memory processing for verbal material during registration, retention, and retrieval, and that this defect probably resulted from a left anterior thalamic lesion affecting the ventrolateral nucleus, centromedian‐parafascicular nuclei complex, internal medullary lamina, or mamillothalamic tract.
Economic Status, Informal Exchange, and Sexual Risk in Kisumu, Kenya

Many observers believe that wealthy men play a disproportionate role in the continuing spread of HIV/AIDS infection in sub‐Saharan Africa through their involvement in informal exchange relationships, where money and gifts (referred to as “transfers”) are given to a range of nonmarital sexual partners. In this case, wealthier men are riskier sexual partners because they can afford to give larger transfers, which have been found to be negatively associated with condom use. Alternatively, wealthier men might have greater incentives to practice safe sex at later stages of the epidemic, or wealthier men might match with female partners who have particularly strong preferences for condom use. Accordingly, economic status would be positively associated with condom use. I use survey data from urban Kisumu, Kenya, to investigate the various mechanisms through which economic status is associated with sexual risk behavior. My results show that wealth is positively associated with transfers; however, wealth is uncorrelated with condom use. The characteristics of wealthier men’s female partners also do not differ from the characteristics of poorer men’s partners. I conclude that wealthier men have stronger preferences for condom use, which offsets the negative effect of larger transfers that they give to their sexual partners.
RNA canonical and non-canonical base pairing types: a recognition method and complete repertoire.

The problem of systematic and objective identification of canonical and non-canonical base pairs in RNA three-dimensional (3D) structures was studied. A probabilistic approach was applied, and an algorithm and its implementation in a computer program that detects and analyzes all the base pairs contained in RNA 3D structures were developed. The algorithm objectively distinguishes among canonical and non-canonical base pairing types formed by three, two and one hydrogen bonds (H-bonds), as well as those containing bifurcated and C-H.X. H-bonds. The nodes of a bipartite graph are used to encode the donor and acceptor atoms of a 3D structure. The capacities of the edges correspond to probabilities computed from the geometry of the donor and acceptor groups to form H-bonds. The maximum flow from donors to acceptors directly identifies base pairs and their types. A complete repertoire of base pairing types was built from the detected H-bonds of all X-ray crystal structures of a resolution of 3.0 A or better, including the large and small ribosomal subunits. The base pairing types are labeled using an extension of the nomenclature recently introduced by Leontis and Westhof. The probabilistic method was implemented in MC-Annotate, an RNA structure analysis computer program used to determine the base pairing parameters of the 3D modeling system MC-Sym.
Study on comparison of quality factors, which effect on service satisfaction by passengers who use multi-airport

The role of airports in the metropolitan area in Korea is very important which is located on the center of Northeast Asia considered as the highest potential growth continent in the world air transport market. This study includes comparison on service quality between Gimpo Airport and Incheon Airport which are indicated as multi-airport system in the metropolitan area appraised by passengers from Korea, Japan and China, and analysis on primary factors of airport service which affect the customer satisfaction and loyalty. The service quality appraised in the order of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese and the analysis result indicated that the service quality factors which influence on customer satisfaction and loyalty were all different among passengers from three countries. Information service was the priority factor for customer satisfaction to Chinese and Korean, but Japanese considered that personal service was the most important factor. This research paper tried to provide many current issues and guides to operational strategy including plan for the specialized routes of multi-airport system in domestic metropolitan area.
Bank Runs: Liquidity and Incentives

Diamond-Dybvig [1983] provide a model of intermediation in which bank runs are driven by pessimistic depositor expectations. Models which address these issues are important in the ongoing discussion which weighs the costs (incentive problems) and the benefits (preventing runs) of deposit insurance. In the present paper we extend the Diamond-Dybvig analysis to consider several important questions for evaluating deposit insurance that could not be addressed within their framework. First, we provide conditions for runs when banks can invest in both illiquid and liquid projects. This results in a weakening of the conditions necessary for bank runs relative to the Diamond-Dybvig model in which no liquid investments occur in equilibrium. Second, we characterize how banks respond to the possibility of runs in their design of deposit contracts and investment decisions, particularly through the holding of excess reserves. Finally, we use this framework to evaluate the costs and benefits of deposit insurance and other forms of intervention. To do so, we introduce moral hazard and monitoring into the model to explore the incentive effects of deposit insurance. The implementation of a capital requirement can, along with deposit insurance, support the optimal allocation.
Constitutive and B-cell receptor-induced activation of STAT3 are important signaling pathways targeted by bortezomib in leukemic mantle cell lymphoma

Background The deregulation of several transcription factors contribute to the aggressive course of mantle cell lymphoma. This study focuses on survival signals emanating from the tumor environment and involving the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 through cytokines or antigen recognition. Design and Methods Primary mantle cell lymphoma cells were isolated from 20 leukemic patients. The phosphorylation status of STAT3 was evaluated by immunoblottting and immunofluorescence, the levels of cytokine secretion by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the cell survival signals by apoptosis and cell viability assays. Results STAT3 was constitutively phosphorylated in the Jeko-1 mantle cell lymphoma cell line and in 14 out of 20 (70%) cases of leukemic mantle cell lymphoma as the result of an autocrine secretion of interleukin-6 and/or interleukin-10. In addition, B-cell receptor engagement resulted in an increase of both in vitro cell survival and STAT3 phosphorylation in primary mantle cell lymphoma cells. Inhibition of the Janus-activated kinase/STAT3 pathway increased spontaneous apoptosis and suppressed B-cell receptor-induced cell survival in all cases analyzed. The impact of in vitro exposure to the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib was next evaluated in primary mantle cell lymphoma cells. Bortezomib induced apoptosis and a decrease of both interleukin-6/interleukin-10 secretion and STAT3 phosphorylation. In addition, bortezomib inhibited B-cell receptor-triggered STAT3 phosphorylation and cell survival. Conclusions We demonstrated that STAT3 was activated in primary mantle cell lymphoma cells either constitutively through a cytokine autocrine loop or in response to B-cell receptor engagement, both processes leading to a survival signal inhibited by bortezomib. STAT3 appears, therefore, to play a pivotal role in mantle cell lymphoma and represents a promising therapeutic target.
Uncertain data classification based on the fusion of local and global information

In the complex pattern classification problem, the reliability of classifier output for the patterns located at different regions of the data set may be different. In order to efficiently improve the classification accuracy, we propose a new method to correct the original classifier output using the local knowledge of the classifier performance in different regions. The training data set can be divided into some small clusters corresponding to different regions. The prior knowledge of the classifier performance on each cluster is characterized by a confusion matrix representing the conditional probability of the pattern belonging to one class but committed to another class by the classifier. The matrix associated with each cluster is learnt by minimizing an error criteria using training data, which is assigned different weights to achieve the highest possible accuracy. If the classification accuracy of the training data in one cluster can be improved according to the corrected classification results, the associated confusion matrix becomes valid. Otherwise, the confusion matrix is invalid and patterns in this cluster cannot be modified any more. For each object, if it lies in the cluster with valid confusion matrix, its classification result will be corrected by the matrix before making the class decision. The above correction process can be regarded as the fusion of local and global information. Several experiments are given to test the performance of the proposed method using real data sets, and it shows that the new method is able to efficiently improve the classification accuracy compared with other related methods.
Intelligent Tutoring Methods for Optimizing Learning Outcomes with Embedded Training

Abstract : The advancing state of the art in virtual and constructive computer based tools provides an opportunity to construct increasingly engaging embedded training. However, even with the benefits of training conducted while immersed in the operating environment and coupled with advanced simulation technology, if the key ingredient of tailored performance feedback is absent then learning outcomes may still be limited. This amounts to one of the central challenges for embedded training, where the goal is to deliver instructional benefits in a setting where the availability of human instructors is limited or none. Within such a framework, structured training methods provide a means to achieve learning objectives and concept retention, with minimal instructor involvement. Intelligent structured training applies real-time automated evaluation and feedback methods based on Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) techniques. This paper reviews two case studies of embedded training prototypes developed for the U.S. Army which employ structured training methods to optimize learning without direct instructor involvement. These prototypes include a man-wearable trainer for dismounted operations, and a robotic vehicle control station trainer. This paper also summarizes results from selected preliminary experiments which give indicators for the promise of the structured training approach in the embedded setting, particularly with respect to acquisition of procedural knowledge. Experimental results also highlight areas of friction where technology obstacles in the embedded setting make some task areas more "trainable" than others. Finally, this paper gives an overview of potential directions for enhancing ITS approaches with future embedded training development efforts.
A new logic minimization method for multiplexor-based FPGA synthesis

A new method was presented for the minimization of incompletely specified functions using MBDs (modified binary decision diagrams: ROBDDs with a don't care terminal). The cost function to be minimized is the MBD size, which is an important factor in the case of FPGA synthesis. The method developed is based on a subgraph matching target to reduce the number of nodes of a MBD. The matching relies on the presence of a third terminal value X (don't care) in the MBD in order to represent an incompletely specified function in a single graph. The authors have compared the new method with ESPRESSO with respect to MBD size reduction and multiplexor based synthesis. The results obtained empirically confirm the initial hypothesis that two-level minimization techniques are inadequate for this purpose, and also show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm. <<ETX>>
Information Quality Assurance and Internal Control for Management Decision Making

From the Publisher: This new text reflects Bill Kinney's experience on the special committee of assurance services,The Elliot Committee. The book is not designed to train students to be auditors. Instead,it has a strategic orientation and is intended for future managers,bankers,investment bankers,analysts,investors,IT consultants,and practicing CPAs. It is unique in that it builds upon related courses in finance,strategy,operations management,information technology,and financial and managerial accounting. There are two broad objectives of the book: 1. To introduce business students to the use of auditors and internal control to run a business better by lowering the costs of capital,production and distribution. 2. To assist accounting students by integrating their knowledge of financial and managerial accounting,information technology,and business strategy with the role of professional assurers.
Screening Strategies for Group B Streptococcus in the Third Trimester of Pregnancy

Purpose To identify the best screening protocol to prevent neonatal group B streptococcal (GBS) sepsis through literature review. Data Sources Selected research articles, texts, and Internet sources. Conclusions Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM) have issued guidelines describing methods to identify pregnant women at risk of intrapartum transmission of GBS to their babies. Studies have been conducted to discover the superiority of one prevention method over the other but no consensus has been reached. Implications for Practice Before widely used prevention methods, approximately 8,000 babies each year became infected with GBS; of those, 400 died and many survivors suffered life‐long sequelae. Adoption of an appropriate protocol can prevent transmission of GBS from a colonized mother to her infant. Clinicians should implement either universal culture‐based or risk factor‐based screening guidelines for prenatal diagnosis and intrapartum prophylaxis of GBS disease.
ANALISIS PENGARUH KARAKTERISTIK PERUSAHAAN TERHADAP PENGUNGKAPAN RISIKO(Studi empiris pada perusahan non-finansial yang listingdi Bursa Efek Indonesia Tahun 2010-2012)

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate empirically that product diversification, geographic diversification, company size, type of industry, leverage, profitability, and liquidity have significant effect on the risk disclosure of non-financial companies listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange. The sample taken from companies’ annual reports from 2010 to 2012 with Purposive sampling techniques to obtain 61 firms. The analysis method in this study is descriptive statistics aimed to provide a description of the data of mean, standard deviation, variance, maximum, minimum. The study result indicates that product diversification, geographic diversification, industry type, Leverage and liquidity have effect on the risk disclosure. Whereas level of profitability has no effect on risk disclosure. The regression result shows only 29.3% of the company's disclosure risk is influenced by product diversification, geographic diversification, type of industry, leverage, profitability, liquidity. While 70.7% is influenced by other variables that are not observed in this study. The study results indicate that the independent variable such as Liquidity, profitability, industry type, product diversification, geographic diversification have no significant positive effect on risk disclosure, while the leverage has significant effect on the risk disclosure
Cellulose biosynthesis: current views and evolving concepts.

AIMS To outline the current state of knowledge and discuss the evolution of various viewpoints put forth to explain the mechanism of cellulose biosynthesis. * SCOPE Understanding the mechanism of cellulose biosynthesis is one of the major challenges in plant biology. The simplicity in the chemical structure of cellulose belies the complexities that are associated with the synthesis and assembly of this polysaccharide. Assembly of cellulose microfibrils in most organisms is visualized as a multi-step process involving a number of proteins with the key protein being the cellulose synthase catalytic sub-unit. Although genes encoding this protein have been identified in almost all cellulose synthesizing organisms, it has been a challenge in general, and more specifically in vascular plants, to demonstrate cellulose synthase activity in vitro. The assembly of glucan chains into cellulose microfibrils of specific dimensions, viewed as a spontaneous process, necessitates the assembly of synthesizing sites unique to most groups of organisms. The steps of polymerization (requiring the specific arrangement and activity of the cellulose synthase catalytic sub-units) and crystallization (directed self-assembly of glucan chains) are certainly interlinked in the formation of cellulose microfibrils. Mutants affected in cellulose biosynthesis have been identified in vascular plants. Studies on these mutants and herbicide-treated plants suggest an interesting link between the steps of polymerization and crystallization during cellulose biosynthesis. * CONCLUSIONS With the identification of a large number of genes encoding cellulose synthases and cellulose synthase-like proteins in vascular plants and the supposed role of a number of other proteins in cellulose biosynthesis, a complete understanding of this process will necessitate a wider variety of research tools and approaches than was thought to be required a few years back.
ADHD in the College Setting

Objective: To assess perceptions concerning ADHD among U.S. college healthcare providers. Method: A 37-question survey was conducted from October 4 to December 2, 2010. Participants were contacted via mail or telephone and compensated for participation. Results: Thirty-eight percent of the respondents (physicians, n = 59; nurses, n = 138; directors, n = 101) viewed ADHD as a “problem”/“very much a problem” at their institution. Referrals for evaluation came from students (84%), psychologists/counselors (68%), or the institution (68%). Although 48% of respondents felt “comfortable”/“very comfortable” in their ability to recognize ADHD, 92% referred students for evaluation. Most respondents (>90%) agreed medication use may be warranted; 52% of respondents who treat ADHD or consult with a specialist (from 95% of physicians to 31% of directors) prescribed pharmacotherapy. Conclusion: Although college healthcare providers recognize the importance of treating ADHD, their discomfort in diagnosing and treating ADHD represents a barrier to care for college students.