Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sympathetic skin response: review of the method and its clinical use.

Sympathetic skin response (SSR) represents a potential generated in skin sweat glands; it originates by activation of the reflex arch with different kinds of stimuli. The potential of rapid habituation after repeated stimuli is formed by biphasic or triphasic slow wave activity with relatively stable latency and variable amplitude. In healthy subjects younger than 60 years of age the response is always present in all extremities. SSR is most frequently used in diagnosing the functional impairment of non-myelinated postganglionic sudomotor sympathetic fibers in peripheral neuropathies. In this study a more complex and informative view on the anatomical and physiological substrates of SSR, its character, normal values and technique are presented, focusing on problems in evaluation of the response and factors that have influence on it. Based on personal experience normative latency and amplitude values of SSR in a group of 20 healthy individuals (x +/- SD), upper extremities: 1.48 +/- 0.80 sec. , 444 +/- 167 microV, respectively; lower extremities: 2.06 +/- 0.93 sec. , 203 +/- 87.4 microV, respectively) and recommendations for qualitative evaluation preference--the presence or absence of the response--over quantitative evaluation of latency and amplitude of the response in practical clinical use of the method are presented. (Tab. 1, Fig. 2, Ref. 148.).
Prognosis of chronic and newly diagnosed epilepsy: revisiting temporal aspects

Purpose of reviewThe purpose is to review recent papers on the prognosis of epilepsy, with an emphasis on the importance of considering the temporal aspects of epilepsy. Recent findingsThe review considers five specific points: What is the chance of spontaneous remission without treatment (i.e. what is the natural history of untreated epilepsy)? What is the prognosis of epilepsy in newly diagnosed patients and how effective is therapy in previously drug-naïve patients? Does delaying treatment make long-term prognosis worse? Is the prognosis of chronic established epilepsy inevitably bad? Refractory epilepsy, pharmaco-resistance and the influence of time. SummaryThis paper reviews the recent evidence that has provided data about temporal aspects of prognosis in epilepsy and confirms the importance of taking a synoptical view of prognosis, incorporating temporal aspects, in making clinical prognostic predictions.
Car Racing in a Simulator: Validation and Assessment of Brake Pedal Stiffness

Car racing is a mentally and physically demanding sport. The track time available to train drivers and test car setups is limited. Race car simulators offer the possibility of safe, efficient, and standardized human-in-the-loop training and testing. We conducted a validation study of a race car simulator by correlating the fastest lap times of 13 drivers during training events in the simulator with their fastest lap times during real-world race events. The results showed that the overall correlation was . 57 (p .044). Next, the effect of brake pedal stiffness (soft: 5.8 N/mm vs. hard: 53.0 N/mm) on racing performance was investigated in the simulator. Brake pedal stiffness may have an important effect on drivers' lap times, but it is impractical to manipulate this variable on a race car during a real-world test session. Two independent experiments were conducted using different cars and tracks. In each experiment, participants (N 6 in Experiment 1 and N 9 in Experiment 2) drove alternately with the soft and hard pedal in eight 20-min sessions (Experiment 1) or six 15-min sessions (Experiment 2). Two hypotheses were tested: (1) the soft pedal yields faster cornering times for corners that include a long brake zone, and (2) the hard pedal yields more high-frequency brake forces. Experiments 1 and 2 confirmed the second hypothesis but not the first. Drivers were highly adaptable to brake pedal stiffness, and the stiff pedal elicited higher pedal forces and more high-frequent brake pedal inputs. It is concluded that the racing simulator is a valuable tool for driver assessment and for testing adoptations to the humanmachine interface.
Millennials: America’s cash cow is not necessarily a herd

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the travel motivations, perceived benefits of travel, and the utility of travel mediums among US millennials. Design/methodology/approach In order to further examine the homogeneity of millennial travelers, millennials were put into two subgroups based on their age and annual income. Data were collected in multiple phases, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches. Findings Results revealed that several significant differences exist between the proposed millennial subgroups, labeled “young and free millennials” and “professional millennials. ” Research limitations/implications Implications from this study include direction for both tourism marketers and destination suppliers based on the differences and perceptions of both groups and suggest millennials are not a homogeneous market. Originality/value Millennials are far from being part of a homogenous cohort. Therefore, the current study sought to examine differences in the benefits received from travel and the primary reasons to travel among distinct millennial segments.
Proximal Endovascular Flow Blockage for Cerebral Protection during Carotid Artery Stenting: Results from a Prospective Multicenter Registry

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of cerebral protection during carotid artery stenting (CAS) using the Mo.Ma device, which prevents cerebral embolization by proximal endovascular blockage of blood flow in the internal and external carotid arteries. Methods: In 14 European centers, 157 patients (121 men; mean age 68.0±8.3 years) were enrolled in a prospective registry between March 2002 and March 2003. Eligible patients had a symptomatic (>50%) or asymptomatic (>70%) stenosis of the internal carotid artery suitable for carotid stenting. Protected carotid stenting was performed with the Mo.Ma system, which occludes both the common and external carotid arteries via 2 independently inflatable compliant low-pressure balloons before any device is advanced across the lesion. Blood is aspirated through the catheter intermittently or at the end of the procedure. Results: The device was successfully positioned and stents were implanted in all cases. Diameter stenosis was reduced from 84.1%±7.8% to 6.7%±5.1%. The mean duration of flow blockage was 7.6±5.9 minutes. In 12 (7.6%) patients, transient intolerance to flow blockade was observed, but the procedures were completed successfully. In 124 (79.6%) cases, there was macroscopic evidence of debris after filtering the aspirated blood. In-hospital complications included 4 (2.5%) minor strokes, 8 (5.1%) transient ischemic attacks, no deaths, and no major strokes, resulting in a 2.5% death/stroke rate at discharge. At 30-day follow-up, there was 1 cardiac death, 1 major stroke, and 3 minor strokes, for an overall 5.7% 30-day death/stroke rate and a 30-day major stroke and death rate of 1.3%. Conclusions: Cerebral protection with proximal endovascular blood flow blockage during CAS is feasible, with a high procedural success rate.
Engineering bone: challenges and obstacles

Repair of large bone defects is still a challenge for the orthopaedic, reconstructive and maxillo‐facial surgeon. Availability of pluripotent stem cells from either autologous or allogenic sources and the potential of inducing the osteogenic phenotype is motivating exploration and development of custom‐tailored materials known as “bioengineered bone constructs”. In such cases, the clinical scenario involves either expansion of stem cells in monolayer and loading them into a porous scaffold prior to surgery or direct cell expansion within the scaffold, and implanting this novel construct back into the donor patient. In this review, we delineate, from an engineering perspective, the progress that has been made to date and the challenges remaining in successfully translating this promising (but not yet definitively established) approach from bench to the bedsite.
Should Corporate Pensions Invest in Risky Assets? A Risk-sharing Perspective

Corporate pensions invest aggressively in risky assets, in a gross mismatch with their fixed-income like obligations. Further, firms increasingly shift away from DB plans into defined contribution (DC) plans, thus offloading investment risk of retirement savings to employees. This is in a sharp contrast to the typical risk-sharing within a firm, where employees receive safe wages and shareholders bear the cash flow risk. We provide a model to understand these intriguing phenomena on corporate pensions. In the model, firms make pension investment decisions to maximize shareholder value, subject to employees' participation. Different from the firm-specific risk considered in the typical context of wage contracts, investment risk of diversified pension portfolios are largely systematic. Wealth-constrained employees view systematic pension investment risk differently from shareholders, while sharing the risk with shareholders via the corporate bankruptcy channel and the pension surplus sharing channel. For reasonable parameter values, the model matches key empirical patterns such as the average pension allocation to risky assets and the relation of pension investment risk with a firm's bankruptcy probability. We show that the investment risk sharing under typical DB plans is inefficient, and may cause DB plans to take more risk than what employees will choose for their DC plans. Further, by switching from DB plans to DC plans, firms may substantially reduce their overall pension funding costs without reducing employees' utility.
Performance Evaluation of Optical Multicast Protection Approaches for Combined Node and Link Failure Recovery

Up to now, most research on optical multicast protection has been focused on link failure recovery, due to its predominance. Nevertheless, the impact of node failures is more severe, although they are less frequent. In a network, it might be less cost effective to implement dedicated protection approaches for separate link failure recovery and node failure recovery. A combined node and link failure recovery approach is more cost-effective and very crucial to network survivability. Hence, in this paper, we provide a detailed performance evaluation of several types of optical multicast protection approaches for 100% combined node and link failure recovery. The optical multicast protection approaches considered in this paper include the node-and-link protecting p-cycle based approach, the tree-protecting p -cycle based approach and the optimal path pair based approach. Among them, the node-and-link protecting p-cycle based approach is newly proposed in this paper, which is a novel multicast application of previously reported ordinary p-cycle approach. Simulation results show that the integer linear programming based spare capacity optimization of node-and-link protecting p-cycle algorithm achieves the best capacity efficiency, for static traffic. For dynamic traffic, the efficiency-score based heuristic algorithm of node-and-link protecting p-cycle outperforms the other heuristic algorithms.
Influence of prior exercise on muscle [phosphorylcreatine] and deoxygenation kinetics during high‐intensity exercise in men

31Phosphate‐magnetic resonance spectroscopy and near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) were used for the simultaneous assessment of changes in quadriceps muscle metabolism and oxygenation during consecutive bouts of high‐intensity exercise. Six male subjects completed two 6 min bouts of single‐legged knee‐extension exercise at 80% of the peak work rate separated by 6 min of rest while positioned inside the bore of a 1.5 T superconducting magnet. The total haemoglobin and oxyhaemoglobin concentrations in the area of the quadriceps muscle interrogated with NIRS were significantly higher in the baseline period prior to the second compared with the first exercise bout, consistent with an enhanced muscle oxygenation. Intramuscular phosphorylcreatine concentration ([PCr]) dynamics were not different over the fundamental region of the response (time constant for bout 1, 51 ± 15 s versus bout 2, 52 ± 17 s). However, the [PCr] dynamics over the entire response were faster in the second bout (mean response time for bout 1, 72 ± 16 s versus bout 2, 57 ± 8 s; P < 0.05), as a consequence of a greater fall in [PCr] in the fundamental phase and a reduction in the magnitude of the ‘slow component’ in [PCr] beyond 3 min of exercise (bout 1, 10 ± 6%versus bout 2, 5 ± 3%; P < 0.05). These data suggest that the increased muscle O2 availability afforded by the performance of a prior bout of high‐intensity exercise does not significantly alter the kinetics of [PCr] hydrolysis at the onset of a subsequent bout of high‐intensity exercise. The greater fall in [PCr] over the fundamental phase of the response following prior high‐intensity exercise indicates that residual fatigue acutely reduces muscle efficiency.
Revisión Bibliográfica de la utilización de la Técnica Multicriterio AHP en el Campo del Capital Intelectual

Actualmente en las organizaciones se presentan decisiones a nivel estrategico y tactico que son, cada vez mas, tomadas por un grupo de personas y no a nivel individual. Por lo tanto, la opinion de una unica persona en el proceso de toma de decisiones es considerada como insuficiente cuando se analizan problemas complejos, sobre todo aquellos problemas en donde la solucion puede afectar a muchas otras personas. En estos casos generalmente se presentan diversos criterios que pueden estar en conflictos entre ellos y que requieren de la aplicacion de Metodos de Analisis de Decision Multicriterio (MCDA). Los MCDA describen una coleccion de conceptos, metodos y tecnicas que pretenden ayudar a los individuos o grupos a tomar decisiones que implican diferentes puntos de vista en conflicto y multiples agentes interesados (Rodriguez, 2009).
Business Model Design Methodology for Innovative Product-Service Systems: A Strategic and Structured Approach

The business model is receiving considerable attention these days as companies achieve great success, or suffer damaging failure, by changing their way of doing business. Most of the literature on this subject has looked to establish the taxonomy, architecture, or constituent elements of business models, with the aim of isolating their key characteristics. However, only a few have dealt with supportive methodologies for business model design. The present study aims to provide a structured methodology for business model design. At the core of the methodology lies a design template with which a current business model can be analyzed or reinvented in a systematic manner. The template consists of a set of predefined building blocks that describes a business model's strategic patterns and/or constituent elements, which building blocks were collected and verified through an investigation into more than one hundred real-world business model cases. In addition to the design template, a framework for new business model design also is provided. With the help of the representational schemes and procedures therein defined, one can design a business model in a more structured way. The framework is illustrated by means of a case study of an apparel company that set out to commercialize its newly designed product-service system concept.
HDAC6 at the Intersection of Autophagy, the Ubiquitin-proteasome System, and Neurodegeneration

The two major intracellular catabolic pathways, the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and macroautophagy (autophagy), have each been implicated as playing roles in neurodegenerative proteinopathies1, 2. We have investigated the relationship between the UPS and autophagy using Drosophila models of neurodegenerative diseases. We identified histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) as a genetic modifier of polyglutamine-induced neurodegeneration and determined that its mechanism of action is autophagy-dependent3. The ability of HDAC6 to suppress degeneration has been extended to additional neurodegenerative disease models, including a fly model expressing pathologic Aβ fragments presented here, but is not a universal modifier of degenerative phenotypes. Importantly, HDAC6 was also found to suppress degeneration associated with proteasome mutations in an autophagy-dependent manner, revealing a compensatory relationship between these two degradation pathways. Our findings indicate that HDAC6 facilitates degradation of potentially noxious protein substrates, contributing vitally to the neuroprotective role of autophagy.
Financial inclusion and the fintech revolution: implications for supervision and oversight

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to this Third GPFI-FSI Conference on Global Standard-Setting and Innovative Financial Inclusion. I would like to thank the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) and our Financial Stability Institute (FSI) for once again bringing together representatives from standard-setting bodies, multilateral organisations and national authorities for this biennial event. The theme this year is “New frontiers in the supervision and oversight of digital financial services”.
Chronic Hyperinsulinemia Causes Selective Insulin Resistance and Down-regulates Uncoupling Protein 3 (UCP3) through the Activation of Sterol Regulatory Element-binding Protein (SREBP)-1 Transcription Factor in the Mouse Heart*

The risk for heart failure and death after myocardial infarction is abnormally high in diabetic subjects. We and others have shown previously that mitochondrial uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) improves functional recovery of the rodent heart during reperfusion. Here, we demonstrate that pharmacological induction of hyperinsulinemia in mice down-regulates myocardial UCP3. Decreased UCP3 expression was linked to the development of selective insulin resistance in the heart, characterized by decreased basal activity of Akt but preserved activity of the p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase, and overactivation of the sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP)-1-mediated lipogenic program. In cultured myocytes, insulin treatment and SREBP-1 overexpression decreased, whereas SREBP-1 interference increased, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-stimulated expression of UCP3. Promoter deletion and site-directed mutagenesis identified three functional sterol regulatory elements in the vicinity of a known complex intronic enhancer. Increased binding of SREBP-1 to this DNA region was confirmed in the heart of hyperinsulinemic mice. In conclusion, we describe a hitherto unknown regulatory mechanism by which insulin inhibits cardiac UCP3 expression through activation of the lipogenic factor SREBP-1. Sustained down-regulation of cardiac UCP3 by hyperinsulinemia may partly explain the poor prognosis of type 2 diabetic patients after myocardial infarction.
A model for dsDNA translocation revealed by a structural motif common to RecG and Mfd proteins

RecG protein differs from other helicases analysed to atomic resolution in that it mediates strand separation via translocation on double‐stranded (ds) rather than single‐stranded (ss) DNA. We describe a highly conserved helical hairpin motif in RecG and show it to be important for helicase activity. It places two arginines (R609 and R630) in opposing positions within the component helices where they are stabilized by a network of hydrogen bonds involving a glutamate from helicase motif VI. We suggest that disruption of this feature, triggered by ATP hydrolysis, moves an adjacent loop structure in the dsDNA‐binding channel and that a swinging arm motion of this loop drives translocation. Substitutions that reverse the charge at R609 or R630 reduce DNA unwinding and ATPase activities, and increase dsDNA binding, but do not affect branched DNA binding. Sequences forming the helical hairpin and loop structures are highly conserved in Mfd protein, a transcription‐coupled DNA repair factor that also translocates on dsDNA. The possibility of type I restriction enzymes and chromatin‐remodelling factors using similar structures to drive translocation on dsDNA is discussed.
Pythagorean Fuzzy Information Measures and Their Applications

Pythagorean fuzzy set (PFS), originally proposed by Yager, is more capable than intuitionistic fuzzy set (IFS) to handle vagueness in the real world. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the distance measure, the similarity measure, the entropy, and the inclusion measure for PFSs. The primary goal of the study is to suggest the systematic transformation of information measures (distance measure, similarity measure, entropy, inclusion measure) for PFSs. For achieving this goal, some new formulae for information measures of PFSs are introduced. To show the efficiency of the proposed similarity measure, we apply it to pattern recognition, clustering analysis, and medical diagnosis. Some illustrative examples are given to support the findings and also demonstrate their practicality and effectiveness of similarity measure between PFSs.
Relation Between Cardiovascular Risk Factors at Adult Age, and Physical Activity During Youth and Adulthood: The Leuven Longitudinal Study on Lifestyle, Fitness and Health

This study investigated the relationship between sports participation/physical activity during youth (13 - 18 years of age) and adulthood (30 - 40 years of age), and cardiovascular risk factors (body fat and fat distribution, blood pressure, lipoprotein levels and cardiorespiratory fitness) at 40 years of age. Subjects were 166 Flemish males from "The Leuven Longitudinal Study on Lifestyle, Fitness and Health". Physical activity was assessed by means of a sports participation inventory and the Tecumseh community Health Study Questionnaire. In addition to correlation and multiple stepwise regression analyses, different groups (at risk, not at risk) were contrasted on sports participation/physical activity parameters using ANOVA. Long-term exposure during adulthood to daily physical activity was slightly related to a low/high risk profile for waist circumference, percent body fatness, triglycerides and peak VO(2). Sports participation during adolescence was not related to levels of cardiovascular risk factors at 40 years of age.