Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adverse outcomes and opioid analgesic administration in acute abdominal pain.

UNLABELLED To the authors' knowledge, no outcome-based, randomized clinical trial of the safety of opioid analgesics in acute abdominal pain exists. OBJECTIVES 1) To assess the feasibility of a randomized clinical trial of opioid safety by estimating the adverse outcome rate among patients with abdominal pain severe enough to necessitate opioid analgesics. 2) To explore the association of opioid administration with adverse outcomes in acute abdominal pain. METHODS The authors conducted a prospective observational study of emergency department (ED) abdominal pain patients, and followed them by telephone at three weeks to determine whether an adverse outcome occurred (defined as obstruction, perforation, ischemia, hemorrhage, peritonitis, sepsis, or death). A logistic regression of factors predicting adverse outcome was performed. RESULTS Adverse outcomes occurred in 67 of 860 abdominal pain patients (7.8%, 95% CI = 6.1% to 9.8%), and 252 of 860 (29%) received opioids. The adverse outcome rate was 12.7% (95% CI = 9.0% to 17.0%) among patients who received opioids. Variables predictive of adverse outcome in logistic regression included: ED diagnosis of adverse outcome (OR 12.4), age (OR 1.6 per decade), fever (OR 4.6), received opioids (OR 2.1), pain duration (OR 1.5 per day), and leukocytosis (OR 2.0). CONCLUSIONS A clinical trial would need to randomize more than 1,500 patients to establish the equivalent adverse outcome rates of opioids and placebo: the sample size of all existing studies combined is insufficient to make such a conclusion. Although opioids were associated with a higher adverse outcome rate in this logistic regression, the authors believe this may be due to confounding by pain severity. They emphasize that the study's design precludes conclusion of a causal link. No change in clinical practice is warranted. A randomized clinical trial of sufficient size to definitively resolve this issue is needed.
Should the Treatment of Peritoneal Carcinomatosis by Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy Still be Regarded as a Highly Morbid Procedure?: A Systematic Review of Morbidity and Mortality

Background:Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has been offered in many institutions worldwide since the 1990s. Despite its existence of more than 10 years, this treatment has received heavy criticism for its morbidity and mortality rates. This consequentially resulted in a lack of randomized trials being conducted and translates into a lack of the most reliable form of scientific evidence in clinical research, hence limiting its general acceptance. Objective:To report the morbidity and mortality outcomes of CRS and HIPEC from all institutions performing this treatment as a prelude toward establishing the safety of this treatment for peritoneal carcinomatosis. Methods:A systematic review of relevant studies before August 2008 was performed. Each study was appraised using a predetermined protocol. The quality of studies was assessed. The morbidity and mortality of the treatment were synthesized through a narrative review with full tabulation of results of all included studies. Conclusions:The morbidity and mortality outcomes of CRS and HIPEC are similar to a major gastrointestinal surgery, such as a Whipple's procedure. To derive the maximal benefit of this treatment, careful patient selection with an optimal level of postoperative care must be advocated to avoid undesirable complications of this treatment.
A review of the potential mechanisms for the lowering of colorectal oncogenesis by butyrate

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of preventable cancer deaths worldwide, with dietary factors being recognised as key risk modifiers. Foods containing dietary fibre are protective to a degree that the World Cancer Research Fund classifies the evidence supporting their consumption as ‘convincing’. The mechanisms by which fibre components protect against CRC remain poorly understood, especially their interactions with the gut microbiome. Fibre is a composite of indigestible plant polysaccharides and it is emerging that fermentable fibres, including resistant starch (RS), are particularly important. RS fermentation induces SCFA production, in particular, relatively high butyrate levels, and in vitro studies have shown that this acid has strong anti-tumorigenic properties. Butyrate inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of CRC cell lines at physiological concentrations. These effects are attributed to butyrate's ability to alter gene transcription by inhibiting histone deacetylase activity. However, the more recent discovery of G-protein coupled receptors that bind butyrate and other SCFA and data obtained from proteomic and genomic experiments suggest that alternative pathways are involved. Here, we review the mechanisms involved in butyrate-induced apoptosis in CRC cells and, additionally, the potential role this SCFA may play in mediating key processes in tumorigenesis including genomic instability, inflammation and cell energy metabolism. This discussion may help to inform the development of strategies to lower CRC risk at the individual and population levels.
Phytoextraction: a review on enhanced metal availability and plant accumulation

A fitoextracao e uma tecnologia emergente para despoluicao de solos contaminados por metais pesados que usa plantas para transferir metais do solo para a parte aerea, a qual pode ser removida da area poluida. Esta revisao apresenta uma sintese do atual conhecimento sobre fitoextracao de metais pesados do solo e sua acumulacao em plantas. O objetivo e integrar em uma mesma discussao os avancos relacionados a quimica do solo (exsudacao radicular e adicao de agentes quelantes para aumentar a absorcao) e a biologia (tolerância a metais e melhoramento genetico) visando sugerir futuras pesquisas na area. Embora promissor, o atual estado de desenvolvimento da fitoextracao ainda nao permite estabelece-la como uma tecnologia comercial. A pesquisa ainda nao encontrou agentes quelantes facilmente biodegradaveis que possam substituir o EDTA na solubilizacao de metais pouco disponiveis em solos. Entretanto, significativos progressos tem sido feitos no entendimento dos mecanismos fisiologicos e moleculares de tolerância e acumulacao de metais em plantas. Uma abordagem multidisciplinar dos varios aspectos que envolvem a fitoextracao podera tornar essa tecnologia economica e ambientalmente viavel a medio prazo.
Cerebral Blood Flow Determined by Hydrogen Clearance During Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Unanesthetized Monkeys

Unanesthetized macaque monkeys were subjected to middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion. Local cerebral blood flow (ICBF) was measured with a hydrogen clearance technique. Mean arterial blood pressure, arterial blood gases, and intracranial pressure were monitored serially. Two weeks after ischemic insult, a neuropathologic examination documented cerebral infarction and its relation to CBF recording sites. Unanesthetized monkeys hyperventilated and became hypocapneic, particularly after MCA occlusion (mean Paco2 fell from 33 to 26 mm Hg). Intracranial pressure remained normal except in massive fatal infarction, where it rose dramatically. Responses to MCA occlusion were strikingly variable; some animals showed little ICBF reduction and no deficit or infarction, while others sustained marked ICBF reduction with hemiplegia and massive fatal infarction. Extent of ICBF reduction correlated well with infarct size. Since the extent of ICBF reduction reflects collateral circulation, variation in collateral supply appears responsible for variation of infarction. Re-opening of MCA occlusion always led to restoration of normal or above normal ICBF. Thus, no evidence for impaired reperfusion was observed. Post-ischemic CBF markedly above normal was associated with eventual severe infarction. Restoration of MCA flow led to improvement of hemiparesis after moderate reduction in ICBF, but fatal infarction occurred despite restored flow after severe reduction in ICBF. "No reflow" was not observed. When ICBF fell below 12cc/100gm/min for 2 hours or longer, local infarction resulted. Flow above this infarction threshold prevented irreversible damage.
The Effect of Put Option Issuing on Risk Adjusted Return

This research investigates the relation between put option issuing and risk adjusted return in Iran capital market for the period 2002-2016. Because data were not available before 2002, data from the period 2002 to 2016 were studied. All data gathered from Tehran Stock Exchange database the sample include 36 issuing events. The Event Study method was implied for 5 days. The empirical result shows that there is a significant relation between issuing options and abnormal return for the company stock, furthermore there is an approved relation between that abnormal return and stock liquidity, but the relation between option volume and that rerun was not approved.
Design and control of the phase shift full bridge converter for the on-board battery charger of the electric forklift

This paper describes the design and control of phase shift full bridge converter with a current doubler, which can be used for the on-board charger for the lead-acid battery of the electric forklift. Unlike the common resistance load the battery has a large capacitance element and it absorbs the entire converter output ripple current thereby shortening the battery life and degrading the system efficiency. In this paper the phase shift full bridge converter with a current doubler has been adopted to decrease the output ripple current and the transformer rating of the charger. The charge controller is designed by using small signal model of the converter considering the internal impedance of the battery. The stability and performance of the battery charger is then verified by the constant current(CC) and constant voltage(CV) charge experiments using an actual lead-acid battery bank for the electric forklift.
Advanced glycation end products up-regulate gene expression found in diabetic glomerular disease.

Several lines of evidence suggest that the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix in the glomeruli of diabetic kidneys may be due to reactive intermediates forming between glucose and matrix proteins called advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Normal mice received AGE-modified mouse serum albumin i.p. for 4 weeks, and glomerular extracellular matrix, growth factor mRNA levels, and morphology were examined. We found that AGE induced an increase in glomerular extracellular matrix alpha 1(IV) collagen, laminin B1, and transforming growth factor beta 1 mRNA levels, as measured by competitive PCR, as well as glomerular hypertrophy. The AGE response was specific because the coadministration of an AGE inhibitor, aminoguanidine, reduced all these changes. We conclude that AGEs affected expression of genes implicated in diabetic kidney disease and may play a major role in nephropathy.
Regional patterns of risk for sexually transmitted infections in British Columbia.

BACKGROUND Although rates of sexually transmitted infection (STI) tend to be higher in urban Canada, the province of British Columbia has recently seen above-average rates in the northern health regions. DATA AND METHODS Data from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey were used to examine sexual behaviour risks by geography and age in British Columbia. Two outcomes were investigated: ever diagnosed with an STI, and did not use a condom during last sexual intercourse. Region was categorized as metropolitan and non-metropolitan (Northern, representing more rural and remote communities, and Southern). Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine associations between the two outcomes and region, age, and other socio-demographic variables. Normalized weights accounted for sampling design. RESULTS In adjusted analysis, older age (25 to 49) and being female were significantly associated with previously having an STI and not using a condom during last sex. Being a non-drinker was inversely associated with the former outcome, and being an occasional drinker was inversely associated with both outcomes, compared with being a regular drinker. When stratified by region, the relationship between older age and not using a condom was particularly strong in Northern non-metropolitan regions. INTERPRETATION The results highlight the importance of considering older individuals in the design of STI preventive interventions, particularly in non-metropolitan and rural and remote regions, where access to testing and treatment may be limited.
VEGF-A, VEGF-D and VEGF-D(DeltaNDeltaC) induced intimal hyperplasia in carotid arteries.

BACKGROUND The role of vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) in intimal hyperplasia and atherogenesis remains unknown. Several studies have suggested that some members of the VEGF family reduce intimal hyperplasia, but others have proposed that VEGFs accelerate restenosis and atherosclerosis. This investigation conducted a comparative study with adenoviruses encoding different VEGFs in a rabbit carotid artery collar model of intimal hyperplasia in order to analyze the role of VEGFs in the formation of intimal hyperplasia. MATERIALS AND METHODS Intimal hyperplasia was induced in the carotid arteries of cholesterol fed New Zealand White rabbits using a silastic collar. Adenoviral vectors encoding VEGF-A, VEGF-B, VEGF-C, VEGF-C(DeltaNDeltaC), VEGF-D and VEGF-D(DeltaNDeltaC) were delivered to the adventitia using the collar as a gene delivery device. Adeno-LacZ was used as a control. RESULTS A significant (P < 0.01) increase in the intima/media ratio was observed in the arteries transduced with VEGF-A, VEGF-D and VEGF-D(DeltaNDeltaC). There was a significant increase in the number of proliferating cells in the adventitia, media and intima of the VEGF-A, VEGF-D and the VEGF-D(DeltaNDeltaC) transduced arteries. The majority of medial smooth muscle cells in these arteries had a synthetic phenotype. The presence of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 in the VEGF-A, VEGF-D and the VEGF-D(DeltaNDeltaC) transduced arteries was significantly increased. A significant positive correlation was observed between adventitial angiogenesis and intimal hyperplasia. CONCLUSIONS Adventitial delivery of adenoviruses encoding VEGF-A, VEGF-D and VEGF-D(DeltaNDeltaC) increased intimal hyperplasia in the rabbit collar model. Adventitial angiogenesis correlated positively with the intimal hyperplasia. These results indicated that efficient adventitial production of VEGF-A, VEGF-D and VEGF-D(DeltaNDeltaC) can cause thickening of the inner layer of the artery in rabbits.
Influences of environmental demand on maternal behavior and infant development

Research has shown that in conjunction with genetic factors, significant aspects of non‐human primate development are influenced by the infant's physical and social environment. In addition to the direct impact of the environment on the infant, the infant's attachment relationship with the mother is seen as the primary mediating factor in shaping these influences. When the mother is able to cope with environmental demands, as a reflection of her responsivity to her infant's needs, she may prepare infants for periodic interuptions in her attention, ameliorate distress during disruptive periods and, most importantly, compensate for these disruptions with enhanced attention to her infant once they are ended. Our recent work shows that when the mother's survival requirements increase, and her coping capacities are exceeded, both short and long‐term deleterious effects on her developing offspring may emerge. Particularly when confronted with an unpredictable environment, mothers are less able to maintain effective, stress‐buffering, maternal‐coping mechanisms which can preserve a stable attachment relationship and permit normal infant development. When these coping mechanisms are insufficient, infants may show manifest disturbances, such as depression, during development or reveal more latent disturbances, such as reduced sociability and timidity, when psychologically challenged, even as young adults. Evidence now suggests that these long‐term effects may, at least in part, be the product of altered neurodevelopment of the serotonergic and noradrenergic systems.
N-myc gene amplification in rhabdomyosarcoma detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization: its correlation with histologic features.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was applied to 15 alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas (A-RMSs) and 14 embryonal RMSs (E-RMSs) to detect N-myc (also called MYCN) oncogene amplification. The results were compared with histologic characteristics and clinical factors. The number of surviving patients in each subtype was 5 of 15 with A-RMS and 5 of 14 with E-RMS. N-myc amplification was detected in 9 of the 15 A-RMSs but in none of the 14 E-RMSs. Tumor cells exhibiting N-myc amplification were identified only in the alveolar area in two A-RMSs, and they demonstrated a histologic mixture of alveolar and embryonal patterns. The remaining seven cases with an amplified N-myc showed a conventional alveolar pattern. Among the 15 A-RMSs, the survival rate of patients with tumors showing nonamplified N-myc and amplified N-myc oncogene was 4 (66%) of 6 and 1(11%) of 9, respectively (P < .05). No significant difference was observed between the other clinical findings (age, primary sites, clinical stages) of the N-myc-amplified and nonamplified tumors. Therefore, we concluded that the N-myc gene amplification, which is characteristic of a particular subtype of A-RMS, might be useful as a prognostic factor for an unfavorable outcome.
Frequency Response Analysis (FRA) in power transformers: An approach to locate inter-disk SC fault

One of the most powerful and accurate tool for winding deformation detection in power transformers is Frequency Response Analysis (FRA). But the interpretation of FRA plots still needs a higher level of expertise to identify and quantify faults as there is no FRA interpretation code widely accepted yet. Currently only magnitude plot is used for detection of the fault using FRA. This work presents an approach of FRA signature interpretation for identifying the location of inter-disk short circuit fault in transformers by using polar plot along with bode plot. Inter-disk short circuit fault across HV side was simulated and bode plot and polar plot of the transfer function was studied. Two parameters, Area parameter and magnitude corresponding to the point at last resonance where the phase of transfer function becomes 180° for the first time were identified. An equation was formed with which, the location of the fault can be identified using area parameter obtained.
TRUST AND REPUTATION: A STUDY ABOUT HOW REPUTATION IS PERCEIVED IN TRUST INTERORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

This study purpose is to explore how project managers whose in projects involve interorganizational relationships of trust perceive the reputation of the partner organization in these relationships. This research was realized in a brazilian software company and sought to examine the participants perception about the reputation interorganizational relationships that involve trust. The methodological strategy for this study, was based on the use of vignettes technique (Barter & Renold, 1999) focusing on the identification of cultural repertoires (Swidler, 2001) , more particularly, in the set of behaviors that includes meaning of symbols and practices used selectively by the social actors in the construction of action strategies. Data from this research, were analyzed in a systematic content, to collect qualitative data, using NVivo software, version 10. The results suggest the existence of factors related to perception of reputation that affect trust in collaborative interorganizational relationships. We found three types of reputational factors: reputational factors that predispose trust; reputational factors that maintains trust and; reputational factors that reduce trust. This work suggests that results have implications for both theory and pratice to establish a better understanding of trust and reputation in interorganizational relationships.
The clinical significance of diurnal blood pressure variations. Dippers and nondippers.

In this issue of Circulation, Verdecchia et al' suggest that the diurnal pattern of blood pressure, evaluated by noninvasive ambulatory monitoring, may be an important factor in determining the extent of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in hypertensive patients. It illustrates the point that the introduction of a new diagnostic technique often raises as many questions as answers. The rationale for the introduction of ambulatory monitoring as a clinically useful diagnostic tool was provided by both the increasing awareness of the intrinsic variability of blood pressure and the disturbing fact that the conventional clinic measurements of pressure, which have formed the mainstay of our knowledge of the risks associated with hypertension, may in some patients be quite unrepresentative of their overall level of pressure.2,3
Investigations of Wireless Sensor Networks for Indoor Particulate Matter Monitoring

Precise measurement of indoor mass concentration of particulate matter is criticially important for the health risk evaluation since modern people spend more than 90% of their life indoors. For the sake of accuracy, long-term monitoring systems should be deployed among which wireless sensor network is a sound solution. However, most of the wireless sensor networks are battery powered and thus energy management scheme should be implemented to prolong the lifetime of the whole network. Meanwhile, sample sites must be selected carefully to avoid the results bias. In this paper, the importance of sample interval as well as sample locations is investigated theoretically and practically. Results show that by adopting efficicent power management scheme, more than 67% of energy can be saved. Finally, methods of sample interval configuration as well as sample sites selection are proposed. DOI : http://dx.doi. org/10.11591/telkomnika.v12i6. 5494 Full Text: PDF
Mixed Reality @ Education

Augmented reality is a new way that augments virtual and artificial objects on the real environment. The aim of this paper is to show the integration of this technology in the education. Can we improve our lessons by using this technology or is it only a hype and consequently worthless for us? Different examples using the AR approach will be presented. Finally, we show the advantages and disadvantages of this technology.
Epitaxially-encapsulated polysilicon disk resonator gyroscope

We present a 0.6 mm diameter, 20 μm thick epitaxially-sealed polysilicon disk resonator gyro (DRG). High Q (50,000) combined with electrostatic mode-matching and closed-loop quadrature null performed by dedicated electrode sets enables a scale-factor of 0.286 mV/(°/s) and Angle Random Walk (ARW) of 0.006 (°/s)/√Hz. Without precise control of temperature, the minimum Allan deviation is 3.29 °/hr.
Sensitivity Analysis of Core Specialization Techniques

The instruction footprint of OS-intensive workloads such as web servers, database servers, and file servers typically exceeds the size of the instruction cache (32 KB). Consequently, such workloads incur a lot of i-cache misses, which reduces their performance drastically. Several papers have proposed to improve the performance of such workloads using core specialization. In this scheme, tasks with different instruction footprints are executed on different cores. In this report, we study the performance of five state of the art core specialization techniques: SelectiveOffload [6], FlexSC [8], DisAggregateOS [5], SLICC [2], and SchedTask [3] for different system parameters. Our studies show that for a suite of 8 popular OS-intensive workloads, SchedTask performs best for all evaluated configurations.