Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exercise testing without interruption of medication for refining the selection of mildly symptomatic patients for prognostic coronary angiography.

OBJECTIVE--To examine how exercise testing on background medical treatment affects the ability of the test to predict prognostically important patterns of coronary anatomy in patients with a high clinical probability of coronary artery disease but who are well controlled on medication. DESIGN--Prospective study. SETTING--Regional cardiothoracic centre and referring district general hospital. PATIENTS--84 patients with a history of typical angina or definite myocardial infarction and mild symptoms who had been placed on the waiting list for prognostic angiography. INTERVENTION--Maximal exercise electrocardiography and radionuclide ventriculography performed off and on medication, followed by angiography within three months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE--Prognostically important coronary artery disease for which early surgery might be recommended purely on prognostic grounds, irrespective of symptoms. RESULTS--Coronary artery disease was present in 71/84 (85%) patients; in 28/84 (33%) patients this was prognostically important. When the result was strongly positive, the predictive accuracy for prognostically important disease was 0.46 off and 0.62 on medication for the exercise electrocardiogram and 0.71 off and 0.82 on medication for exercise radionuclide ventriculography. The likelihood ratio was 1.00 off and 1.36 on medication for exercise electrocardiography and 2.54 off and 10.5 on medication for exercise radionuclide ventriculography. In stepwise logistic regression, the test identified as the strongest predictor of prognostically important disease was exercise radionuclide ventriculography on medication for which the improvement chi 2 was 28 (p < 0.0001). With the regression model, the probability of important disease is 92% if exercise radionuclide ventriculography on medication is at least strongly positive, compared with 16% if the result is normal or just positive. CONCLUSION--In patients likely to have coronary disease, exercise testing should be performed without interruption of medication to optimise its ability to identify those with prognostically important disease, and to help to avoid unnecessary or premature angiography in those who are well controlled on medical treatment.
Epidemiology, ecology and gene pool of influenza A virus in Egypt: Will Egypt be the epicentre of the next influenza pandemic?

Outside Asia, Egypt is considered to be an influenza H5N1 epicentre and presents a far greater pandemic risk than other countries. The long-term endemicity of H5N1 and the recent emergence of H9N2 in poultry call attention to the need for unravelling the epidemiology, ecology and highly diverse gene pool of influenza A virus (IAV) in Egypt which is the aim of this review. Isolation of a considerable number of IAV subtypes from several avian and mammalian hosts was described. Co-infections of poultry with H5N1 and H9N2 and subclinical infections of pigs and humans with H1N1 and H5N1 may raise the potential for the reassortment of these viruses. Moreover, the adjustment of IAV genomes, particularly H5N1, to optimize their evolution toward efficient transmission in human is progressing in Egypt. Understanding the present situation of influenza viruses in Egypt will help in the control of the disease and can potentially prevent a possible pandemic.
Increased Accumulation of Carbohydrates and Decreased Photosynthetic Gene Transcript Levels in Wheat Grown at an Elevated CO2 Concentration in the Field

Repression of photosynthetic genes by increased soluble carbohydrate concentrations may explain acclimation of photosynthesis to elevated CO2 concentration. This hypothesis was examined in a field crop of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown at both ambient (approximately 360 [mu]mol mol-1) and elevated (550 [mu]mol mol-1) atmospheric CO2 concentrations using free-air CO2 enrichment at Maricopa, Arizona. The correspondence of steady-state levels of mRNA transcripts (coding for the 83-kD photosystem I apoprotein, sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase, phosphoribulokinase, phosphoglycerokinase, and the large and small subunits of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) with leaf carbohydrate concentrations (glucose-6-phosphate, glucose, fructose, sucrose, fructans, and starch) was examined at different stages of crop and leaf development and through the diurnal cycle. Overall only a weak correspondence between increased soluble carbohydrate concentrations and decreased levels for nuclear gene transcripts was found. The difference in soluble carbohydrate concentration between leaves grown at elevated and current ambient CO2 concentrations diminished with crop development, whereas the difference in transcript levels increased. In the flag leaf, soluble carbohydrate concentrations declined markedly with the onset of grain filling; yet transcript levels also declined. The results suggest that, whereas the hypothesis may hold well in model laboratory systems, many other factors modified its significance in this field wheat crop.
Early Hyperdynamic Sepsis Alters Coronary Blood Flow Regulation in Porcine Fecal Peritonitis

Background: Sepsis is a common condition known to impair blood flow regulation and microcirculation, which can ultimately lead to organ dysfunction but such contribution of the coronary circulation remains to be clarified. We investigated coronary blood flow regulatory mechanisms, including autoregulation, metabolic regulation, and endothelial vasodilatory response, in an experimental porcine model of early hyperdynamic sepsis. Methods: Fourteen pigs were randomized to sham (n = 7) or fecal peritonitis-induced sepsis (n = 7) procedures. At baseline, 6 and 12 h after peritonitis induction, the animals underwent general and coronary hemodynamic evaluation, including determination of autoregulatory breakpoint pressure and adenosine-induced maximal coronary vasodilation for coronary flow reserve and hyperemic microvascular resistance calculation. Endothelial-derived vasodilatory response was assessed both in vivo and ex vivo using bradykinin. Coronary arteries were sampled for pathobiological evaluation. Results: Sepsis resulted in a right shift of the autoregulatory breakpoint pressure, decreased coronary blood flow reserve and increased hyperemic microvascular resistance from the 6th h after peritonitis induction. In vivo and ex vivo endothelial vasomotor function was preserved. Sepsis increased coronary arteries expressions of nitric oxide synthases, prostaglandin I2 receptor, and prostaglandin F2α receptor. Conclusion: Autoregulation and metabolic blood flow regulation were both impaired in the coronary circulation during experimental hyperdynamic sepsis, although endothelial vasodilatory response was preserved.
Relationships Between Childhood Health Experience and Depression Among Older People: Evidence From China

The assessment of childhood health experience helps to identify the risk of depression among older people. Poor childhood experience is generally associated with depression in adulthood. However, whether such association can be extended to older people’ life remains unclear. The history of parental mental health was obtained from 2014 CHARLS Wave 3 (Life History Survey) data while other data from 2011 CHARLS Wave 1 baseline data. The study involves 4,306 respondents. The depression was assessed by the Chinese version of Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scales (CES-D) using logistic regression model. More than 40% of older people suffered from depression, 25% of whom experienced poor childhood self-reported health. Nearly 20% of their mothers and more than 10% of their fathers had a history of poor mental health. Poor childhood health experiences have shown to be associated with higher odds of depression (good self-reported health OR: 0.732, p = 0.000, 95% CI: 0.633–0.847; poor mother’s mental health OR: 1.391, p = 0.001, 95% CI: 1.138–1.699; poor father’s mental health OR: 1.457, p = 0.003, 95% CI: 1.141–1.862). There is a high rate of depression among the older adults in China. In China, older people with poor childhood health experiences are more likely to suffer from depression.
Usefulness of a Serological Panel Test in the Assessment of Gastritis in Symptomatic Children

Background: Non-invasive methods are advisable for the detection of Helicobacter pylori-related chronic gastritis in pediatric patients. Serum pepsinogens I and II (sPGII and sPGII), gastrin-17 (G-17) and anti-H. pylori antibodies (IgG-Hp) have been proposed as a ‘serological gastric biopsy’. Aim: To assess H. pylori infection and to evaluate gastric mucosa status in a pediatric population by means of serological parameters such as sPGI, sPGII, G-17 and IgG-Hp. Methods: 45 consecutively children evaluated for upper gastrointestinal symptoms were analyzed. All children were submitted to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with biopsies. Serum samples were analyzed for IgG-Hp, sPGII, sPGI and G-17 (Biohit, Helsinki, Finland). Results: 18 children had H. pylori-related mild or moderate non-atrophic chronic gastritis. They presented significantly higher mean levels of sPGII and of IgG-Hp than negative ones, eitherunder or up to 10 years. sPGI showed significantly increased levels in H. pylori-positive patients only over 10 years. G-17 levels were not different between H. pylori-positive and -negative ones. The best cut-offs of IgG-Hp, sPGII and of product IgG-Hp·sPGII, to identify H. pylori infection, were 30 IU/l, 9 µg/l, and 241 IU/l·µg/l, respectively. The product IgG-Hp·sPGII identified H. pylori infection with a 100% sensitivity, 92% specificity, 90% positive predictive value and 100% negative predictive value. IgG-Hp and IgG-Hp showed a correlation (r = 0.94; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Combined analysis of sPGII and IgG-Hp antibody levels could be recommended as a non-invasive panel for the assessment of H. pylori-related histological alterations of gastric mucosa in childhood.
Morpho‐Physiologic Characteristics of Dorsal Subicular Network in Mice after Pilocarpine‐Induced Status Epilepticus

The goal of this study was to examine the morpho‐physiologic changes in the dorsal subiculum network in the mouse model of temporal lobe epilepsy using extracellular recording, juxtacellular and immunofluorescence double labeling, and anterograde tracing methods. A significant loss of total dorsal subicular neurons, particularly calbindin, parvalbumin (PV) and immunopositive interneurons, was found at 2 months after pilocarpine‐induced status epilepticus (SE). However, the sprouting of axons from lateral entorhinal cortex (LEnt) was observed to contact with surviving subicular neurons. These neurons had two predominant discharge patterns: bursting and fast irregular discharges. The bursting neurons were mainly pyramidal cells, and their dendritic spine density and bursting discharge rates were increased significantly in SE mice compared with the control group. Fast irregular discharge neurons were PV‐immunopositive interneurons and had less dendritic spines in SE mice when compared with the control mice. When LEnt was stimulated, bursting and fast irregular discharge neurons had much shorter latency and stronger excitatory response in SE mice compared with the control group. Our results illustrate that morpho‐physiologic changes in the dorsal subiculum could be part of a multilevel pathologic network that occurs simultaneously in many brain areas to contribute to the generation of epileptiform activity.
Sequential activation of p75 and TrkB is involved in dendritic development of subventricular zone‐derived neuronal progenitors in vitro

Dendritic arbor development of subventricular zone‐derived interneurons is a critical step in their integration into functional circuits of the postnatal olfactory bulb. However, the mechanism and molecular control of this process remain unknown. In this study, we have developed a culture model where dendritic development of purified subventricular zone cells proceeds under serum‐free conditions in the absence of added growth factors and non‐neural cells. We demonstrate that the large majority of these cells in culture express GABA and elaborate dendritic arbors with spine‐like protrusions but they do not possess axons. These neurons expressed receptors for neurotrophins including p75, TrkB and TrkC but not TrkA. Application of exogenous neurotrophins, including brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin‐3 (NT3) and nerve growth factor (NGF), to cultures stimulated dendritic growth and led to more complex dendritic arbors during the initial 3 days in culture. Our results suggest that these effects are independent of Trk receptors and mediated by the p75/ceramide signaling pathway. We also show that brain‐derived neurotrophic factor is the only neurotrophin that is able to influence late‐phase dendritic development via TrkB receptor activation. These results suggest that dendritic arbor development of subventricular zone‐derived cells may be regulated by neurotrophins through the activation of p75 and the TrkB receptor signaling pathways in a sequentially defined temporal pattern.
Housing Price Dynamics in the Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Region

This study finds evidence for a ripple effect in the housing prices in five southern California counties in the Los Angeles metropolitan region. Specifically, housing prices in Los Angeles County and Orange County, the traditional business centers in the region, Granger-cause those in Ventura County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County. However, there is no Granger-causal relation in housing prices between Los Angeles County and Orange County. Empirical evidence also shows that housing prices in several metropolitan statistical areas in the Los Angeles metropolitan region are co-integrated, which makes it possible to exploit the long-run equilibrium relation in forecasting housing prices within the region.
White blood cell scintigraphy for differentiation of infection and aseptic loosening: A retrospective study of 76 painful hip prostheses

Background Diagnosis of an infected arthroplasty is often difficult. Fever, abnormal physical findings, radiographic changes, findings at bone scintigraphy, an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, CRP, and leucocytosis are not specific enough. We evaluated the diagnostic value of white blood cell scintigraphy. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 76 cases (66 patients) admitted for white blood cell scintigraphy with a clinical suspicion of infection in a hip prosthesis during the period 1995–2003. The leukocytes were labeled with 99mTc-HMPAO or with 111In-oxin. Anterior and posterior views were taken of both hip joints at 3 different time points after injection: 1 h, 3 h, and 22 h. Infection was verified by means of bacteriological cultures, histopathological findings, intraoperative frozen sections, and follow-up (up to 3.5 years). Results Of 76 scintigraphies, 51 were negative and 25 were positive. There were 81% true positive, 94% true negative, 6% false positive, and 19% false negative outcomes. Interpretation White blood cell scintigraphy with additional late imaging is an effective tool for differentiation between loosening and infection in painful hip arthroplasty.
Pointwise linear regression for evaluation of visual field outcomes and comparison with the advanced glaucoma intervention study methods.

OBJECTIVE To investigate pointwise linear regression (PLR) for longitudinal evaluation of visual fields and to compare results with those of the Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study (AGIS) criteria. METHODS We selected 509 eyes (401 patients) from the AGIS with 3 or more years of follow-up, 7 or more visual field examinations, and an AGIS reference score of 16 or lower. Visual field change at test locations was defined as a change of threshold sensitivity of 1 dB/y or higher and P<or=. 01. Several sets of criteria were investigated for defining change of visual field series with PLR. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Progression or improvement of visual field series with PLR and AGIS criteria. RESULTS Mean (SD) follow-up time and baseline AGIS score were 7.4 (1.7) years and 7.7 (4.4), respectively. Pairwise agreement between AGIS and various PLR criteria ranged from 52% to 64% with the kappa statistic varying between 0.22 (95% confidence interval, 0.15-0.29) and 0.30 (95% confidence interval, 0.22-0.38). One hundred thirty-eight (27%) and 151 (30%) eyes progressed (85 eyes or 17% detected by both methods) while 72 (14%) and 11 (2%) eyes improved (5 eyes or 1% detected by both methods) based on AGIS and the most rigorous PLR criteria, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Based on rigorous, clinically relevant criteria, PLR detects progression in a similar proportion of eyes compared with AGIS criteria. Pointwise linear regression may be superior to AGIS methods since it identifies fewer visual field series as improving.
Comparison of Machine Learning Approaches to Improve Diagnosis of Optic Neuropathy Using Photopic Negative Response Measured Using a Handheld Device

The photopic negative response of the full-field electroretinogram (ERG) is reduced in optic neuropathies. However, technical requirements for measurement and poor classification performance have limited widespread clinical application. Recent advances in hardware facilitate efficient clinic-based recording of the full-field ERG. Time series classification, a machine learning approach, may improve classification by using the entire ERG waveform as the input. In this study, full-field ERGs were recorded in 217 eyes (109 optic neuropathy and 108 controls) of 155 subjects. User-defined ERG features including photopic negative response were reduced in optic neuropathy eyes (p < 0.0005, generalized estimating equation models accounting for age). However, classification of optic neuropathy based on user-defined features was only fair with receiver operating characteristic area under the curve ranging between 0.62 and 0.68 and F1 score at the optimal cutoff ranging between 0.30 and 0.33. In comparison, machine learning classifiers using a variety of time series analysis approaches had F1 scores of 0.58–0.76 on a test data set. Time series classifications are promising for improving optic neuropathy diagnosis using ERG waveforms. Larger sample sizes will be important to refine the models.
Estimating loss functions of experts

ABSTRACT We propose a new and simple methodology to estimate the loss function associated with experts’ forecasts. Under the assumption of conditional normality of the data and the forecast distribution, the asymmetry parameter of the lin–lin and linex loss function can easily be estimated using a linear regression. This regression also provides an estimate for potential systematic bias in the forecasts of the experts. The residuals of the regression are the input for a test for the validity of the normality assumption. We apply our approach to a large data set of SKU-level sales forecasts made by experts, and we compare the outcomes with those for statistical model-based forecasts of the same sales data. We find substantial evidence for asymmetry in the loss functions of the experts, with underprediction penalized more than overprediction.
Mechanically Reconfigurable, Dual-Band Slot Dipole Antennas

Mechanically reconfigurable dual-band slot dipole antennas with wide tuning ranges are developed in this communication. The dual-band operation is achieved by inserting parallel slots with different lengths and the tuning is realized by incorporating a dual rack and pinion mechanism to slide parasitic patches to vary the slot lengths and the frequency of operation of each band. To demonstrate the proposed approach, two frequency-tunable antennas are prototyped. The first design uses two motors to tune the frequency band ratio between 1 and 2.6. The second design uses one motor to maintain a constant frequency band ratio of 2 over the tuning range of 2-3 GHz for the lower band and 4-6 GHz for the upper band. Both designs show minimal variation in gain, polarization, and radiation pattern over the tuning range.
Advances in Behavioral Finance, Volume II

Advances in Behavioral Finance recoge en su segundo volumen una recopilación de los artículos más destacados que han surgido durante la segunda década de investigación, en el área de comportamiento financiero. El colapso financiero ocurrido el 19 de octubre de 1987 fue el punto de partida para la investigación financiera en este área. La caída de los precios en bolsa de un 20% en un solo día, sin que fuera debido a ninguna noticia destacable, hizo que muchos economistas empezaran a tomar en serio la incidencia que el comportamiento de los agentes podría tener en los movimientos financieros. La gran importancia de este hecho radica en que dio lugar a pensar que, como menciona el editor, si se quiere entender cómo se comportan los precios es preciso entender cómo se comportan los inversores. Este libro repasa las últimas investigaciones realizadas en el área de comportamiento financiero a través de la recopilación de los artículos más destacados en las principales áreas financieras. Las seis partes en las que el libro clasifica los artículos son las siguientes:
Genetic Relatedness of Type 1 and Type 2 Herpes Simplex Viruses

The extent of homology between herpes simplex virus1 and2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was measured in two ways: (i) by determination of the relative rate of hybridization of labeled HSV-1 and HSV-2 DNA to excess unlabeled HSV-1 or HSV-2 DNA immobilized on filters and (ii) by determination of the rate of hybridization of labeled HSV-1 and HSV-2 DNA to excess unlabeled HSV-1 or HSV-2 DNA in solution. Approximately 40% of HSV-1 and HSV-2 DNA is homologous at hybridization temperatures 25 C below the melting temperature (Tm) of HSV DNA (liquid-filter annealing). Lowering the temperature to 34 C below the Tm increased the extent of homology to 46% (liquid annealing). The extent of base-pairing in HSV-1-HSV-2 heteroduplex DNA was determined by thermal chromatography on hydroxyapatite. Heteroduplexes of HSV-1 and HSV-2 DNA eluted in a single peak whose midpoint (Te50) was 10 C below that of the homoduplex. Conspicuously absent were heteroduplexes that eluted at more than 15 C below the Te50 of the homoduplex. The data indicate the existence of a variable region of DNA (54%) with very little, if any, homology and an invariable region (46%) with relatively good (85%) matching of base pairs.