Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of FCRL3 Genetic Polymorphisms With Endometriosis-Related Infertility Risk

AbstractThe Fc receptor-like 3 (FCRL3) gene was reported to be linked to a variety of autoimmune diseases, including endometriosis-related infertility. However, this linkage has not been studied in Chinese population and there has been no meta-analysis on the interrelationship of FCRL3 gene and endometriosis-related infertility. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between FCRL3 genetic polymorphisms and the risk of endometriosis-related infertility in Han Chinese, and a further meta-analysis was conducted to confirm our results.Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs7528684 [FCRL3_3], rs11264799 [FCRL3_4], rs945635 [FCRL3_5], and rs3761959 [FCRL3_6]) on FCRL3 gene were genotyped in a case–control cohort composed of 217 patients suffering from endometriosis-related infertility and 220 healthy controls using cleaved amplification polymorphism sequence-tagged sites (polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism, PCR–RFLP). Odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to evaluate the association quantitatively. Furthermore, a meta-analysis of previous studies including the present study was implemented through Stata 11.0 (Stata Corporation, College Station, TX). We found an approximately 1.4-fold significantly increased frequency of the FCRL3_3 variant in women with endometriosis-related infertility over the controls (OR = 1.41 [95% CI = 1.08–1.84], P = 0.013). However, no significant difference was found between women with endometriosis-related infertility and controls for FCRL3_4, FCRL3_5, and FCRL3_6. Regardless of the symptoms and the revised classification of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (rASRM) stage of endometriosis, there was a significant association between FCRL3_3 variant and an increased risk of endometriosis-related infertility. Meta-analysis of previous studies combined with the present study further confirmed the association between FCRL3_3 and the risk of endometriosis-related infertility.In summary, the present study suggested that FCRL3_3 variant was associated with an increased risk of endometriosis-related infertility, regardless of symptoms, and rASRM stage of the patients. Meta-analysis of previous studies combined with the present study further confirmed our results. Further large-scale studies in the future are warranted to explore the association between FCRL3 genetic polymorphisms and endometriosis-related infertility, as well as other human diseases, in Asian and other ethnicities.
Threshold Differences on Figure and Ground: Gelb and Granit (1923)

In 1923, Gelb and Granit, using a method of adjustment for a small red light, reported a lower threshold for the target when presented on a ground region than on an adjacent figural region. More recent work in perceptual organization has found precisely the opposite—a processing advantage seems to go to items presented on the figure, not the ground. Although Gelb and Granit continue to be cited for their finding, it has not previously been available as an English translation. Understanding their methodology and results is important for integrating early Gestalt theory with more recent investigations.
Knowledge of risk factors, beliefs and practices of female healthcare professionals towards breast cancer, Morocco

Background Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women in Morocco. Screening for early detection has led to reduction in mortality from the disease. It is known that female healthcare professionals have greater influence on women's positive perception of breast cancer and motivation to practice screening methods for early detection of the disease. This study aims to investigate knowledge of breast cancer risk factors, beliefs about treatment and practice of screening methods among a cohort of female healthcare professionals in Morocco. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire to assess the knowledge of breast cancer risk factors, beliefs about treatment and practice of screening methods among 136 female doctors and nurses working in the university hospital of Rabat, Morocco. Stratified random sampling method was employed. Chi square test, analysis of variance and Mantel-Haenszel test were performed in data analysis using SPSS v19.0. Results Female doctors were the only professional group that had satisfactory knowledge of risk factors while the nurses had an unsatisfactory knowledge with a mean score of 43%. A half of participants believed that that herbal therapy can cure breast cancer. 75% practice breast self-examination once a month and only 15% have ever had a mammogram. Age, profession and beliefs were not significantly associated with rate of BSE in this study; however this rate is influenced by knowledge of breast cancer risk factors. Conclusion Results from this study suggest the need for continuing medical education programs aimed at improving knowledge of breast cancer among the nurses.
Listeria ivanovii Infection in Mice: Restricted to the Liver and Lung with Limited Replication in the Spleen

Listeria monocytogenes (LM) vectors have shown much promise in delivery of viral and tumor antigens for the development of vaccines. L. ivanovii (LI) is a closely related bacterium with a similar intracellular life cycle that may offer advantages over LM because it is not a human pathogen, but can infect other animal species. Recent studies show that recombinant LI expressing Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens is effective in inducing protective immunity in mouse models, demonstrating the potential of LI as a live vaccine vector. However, a key barrier in the development of LI into a live vaccine vector is that its pathogenic and immunogenic characteristics have yet to be fully understood. Therefore, in this research, C57BL/6J mice were inoculated with LM or LI intravenously or intranasally, and bacterial loads, histopathologic changes, and cytokine production were determined at indicated days post inoculation. Results showed that after intravenous infection with LM or LI, bacteria were found proliferating in the liver, spleen, and lung. However, LI could only reach a heavy burden in the liver and its ability to multiply and to resist host immunity seemed limited in the spleen and lung. After intranasal inoculation with LI, bacteria were mainly localized in the lung and failed to infect liver or spleen, while LM could. In organs with heavy LI burden, lesions were isolated, localized and densely packed, compared to lesions caused by LM, which were invasive. In the liver of intravenously inoculated mice and lung of intranasally inoculate mice, LI was able to elicit comparable cytokine production with LM and cause less severe histopathologic damages, and thus could be considered as a vector for treating or preventing hepatic or pulmonary diseases.
Solar ultraviolet radiation: properties, characteristics and amounts observed in Brazil and South America*

The beneficial and harmful effects of human exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation (UV-R) are topics that arouse great interest not only among physicians and scientists, but also the general public and the media. Currently, discussions on vitamin D synthesis (beneficial effect) are confronted with the high and growing number of new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer and other diseases of the skin and eyes (harmful effect) diagnosed each year in Brazil. However, the lack of scientific knowledge on the UV-R in Brazil and South America leads to adoption of protective measures based on studies conducted in Europe and USA, where the amounts of UV-R available at surface and the sun-exposure habits and characteristics of the population are significantly different from those observed in Brazil. In order to circumvent this problem, the Brazilian Society of Dermatology recently published the Brazilian Consensus of Photoprotection based on recent studies performed locally. The main goal of this article is to provide detailed educational information on the main properties and characteristics of UV-R and UV index in a simple language. It also provides: a) a summary of UV-R measurements recently performed in Brazil; b) a comparison with those performed in Europe; and, c) an evaluation to further clarify the assessment of potential harm and health effects owing to chronic exposures.
Dynamic CT perfusion imaging with acetazolamide challenge for evaluation of patients with unilateral cerebrovascular steno-occlusive disease.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Perfusion CT (PCT) has the ability to measure quantitative values and produce maps of cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV), and mean transit time (MTT). We assessed cerebral hemodynamics by using these parameters and acetazolamide challenge in patients with cerebrovascular steno-occlusive disease. METHODS Fifteen patients underwent PCT with acetazolamide challenge. Comparison of mean CBF, CBV, and MTT was determined between hemispheres and before and after acetazolamide challenge. Hemispheric ratio and percent change due to acetazolamide administration were also calculated. Absolute values and percent changes 2 SDs outside the mean from the nonstenotic hemispheres were defined as abnormal. RESULTS Significant decreases in CBF (-25.1%, P = .003) and significant increases in MTT (47.1%, P < .001) were found in stenotic hemispheres. After acetazolamide challenge, significant changes in CBF (-39.5%, P < .001) and MTT (92.9%, P < .001) were also seen. The acetazolamide test significantly decreased CBF hemispheric ratio (-20.3%, P < .001) and increased MTT hemispheric ratio (30.8%, P = .002), making both maps more asymmetric. Significance in CBF and MTT percent changes (P < .001 and P = .005, respectively) was found between hemispheres. When CBF percent changes were assumed to represent the true determinant of hemodynamic impairment, normal ranges of baseline MTT value and MTT percent changes demonstrated sensitivities of 66.7% and 100% and specificities of 58.3% and 75%, respectively, for detecting patients with hemodynamic impairment. CONCLUSION Parameters obtained from PCT with acetazolamide are promising for the evaluation of cerebral hemodynamics in patients with cerebrovascular steno-occlusive disease.
Modelling the dynamics of granular matter

This work presents a new model for the movement of granular matter. It is a synthesis of the Hadeler–Kuttler and of the Savage–Hutter models. The result is a 3 × 3 system of balance laws able to describe the deposition–erosion dynamics, as in the former model, while being compliant with energy dissipation, as in the latter one. First, the basic analytical properties of the new model are described. Then, several numerical integrations allow to compare the different models. The present model appears to provide better descriptions of granular matter behaviour, in particular as soon as the bed’s slope changes sign and deposition–erosion phenomena are relevant.
MOMA: Mapping of memory-intensive software-pipelined applications for systems with multiple memory controllers

In many-core systems, the efficient deployment of computational and other resources is key in order to achieve a high throughput. Current state-of-the-art task mapping schemes balance the computational load among cores while avoiding congestions within the communication links. The problem is that a large number of cores running many memory-intensive tasks may congest memory controllers because their number and bandwidth is constrained. To avoid a high throughput degradation that could result from congested memory controllers, the mapping of tasks must be sensitized to the limited bandwidth of off-chip memory. Designing efficient and effective algorithms to optimize the throughput by jointly considering the load of memory controllers, computation, and communication is very challenging. In this paper, we address this problem by distributing cores among applications and then heuristically map tasks such that the load of the memory controllers is sufficiently balanced. Our heuristic also minimizes the effect of decreased throughput resulting from mapping communicating tasks to cores that belong to different controllers. Our experiments encourage us in that we can reduce the saturation of memory controllers and significantly increase the system throughput compared to employing several state-of-the-art task mapping schemes.
Trust and being “worthy” – the key to creating wealth

Purpose The purposes of this paper are to present a clear model for understanding trust by integrating the diverse viewpoints in the trust literature and to explain how that model enables individuals and organizations to optimize their ability to create value and sustain competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper that integrates the perspectives of many widely regarded scholars and links trust with value creation in organizations. Findings The paper builds on previously established conditions essential to creating trust but suggests that trustworthiness requires an integrative quality which we call “capacity” that enables those who seek to lead to translate trust into action. That integrative quality is the key to effective execution for individuals and organizations. Originality/value Trust is widely acknowledged to be both a critical condition for successful organizations but a missing commodity in many leader-follower relationships. The paper offers insights for scholars and practitioners about the importance of leaders earning trust by being worthy of their followers’ commitment and cooperation.
Enhanced (p)reheating in DBI Inflation

We study preheating in DBI hybrid inflation. Preheating occurs since the matter fields are non-minimally coupled to the inflaton. Despite the coupling being small, preheating happens as a narrow parametric resonance in which matter fields and inflaton modes are exponentially created. We show that, within the approximations used, the process is very efficient at late times. The resonance stage gives way to the decay of the inflaton into bosonic or fermionic degrees of freedom and the corresponding reheating temperature is determined.
Genes, environments, personality, and successful aging: toward a comprehensive developmental model in later life.

BACKGROUND Outcomes in aging and health research, such as longevity, can be conceptualized as reflecting both genetic and environmental (nongenetic) effects. Parsing genetic and environmental influences can be challenging, particularly when taking a life span perspective, but an understanding of how genetic variants and environments relate to successful aging is critical to public health and intervention efforts. METHODS We review the literature, and survey promising methods, to understand this interplay. We also propose the investigation of personality as a nexus connecting genetics, environments, and health outcomes. RESULTS Personality traits may reflect psychological mechanisms by which underlying etiologic (genetic and environmental) effects predispose individuals to broad propensities to engage in (un)healthy patterns of behavior across the life span. In terms of methodology, traditional behavior genetic approaches have been used profitably to understand how genetic factors and environments relate to health and personality in somewhat separate literatures; we discuss how other behavior genetic approaches can help connect these literatures and provide new insights. CONCLUSIONS Co-twin control designs can be employed to help determine causality via a closer approximation of the idealized counterfactual design. Gene-by-environment interaction (G × E) designs can be employed to understand how individual difference characteristics, such as personality, might moderate genetic and environmental influences on successful aging outcomes. Application of such methods can clarify the interplay of genes, environments, personality, and successful aging.
Industry Origins of the American Productivity Resurgence

Abstract This paper analyzes the industry origins of the American growth resurgence by examining output, input, and productivity growth of 85 component industries for the period 1960 to 2005. We use this detailed industry data to examine trends in particular industry groups such as those that produce information technology (IT) or use IT most intensively and to perform a ‘bottom-up’ comparison of alternative aggregation methodologies. The data show that while labor productivity growth was strong throughout the full period after 1995, there were important differences between 1995–2000 and 2000–2005. The period 1995–2000, for example, was marked by strong growth in labor input so aggregate output was robust, while labor input and output growth both declined substantially after 2000. IT remained an important source of both capital deepening and total factor productivity growth after 2000, but the contributions were not as large as during the technology boom of the late 1990s. We also show that the production possibility frontier, which recognizes differences in output prices across industries, remains the most appropriate methodology for aggregating industry data.
Profil Strength of Hope Mahasiswa Calon Guru BK Berdasarkan Faktor Budaya

Hope is a construct that has been revealed and investigated in the process across space and time. Hope as an important aspect in the development and lives of individuals known to correlate with various factors, but have not revealed many factors related to culture, especially in Indonesia. This study aims to reveal the expectations on students of Guidance and Counseling Study Programme FKIP UAD Special Region of Yogyakarta Indonesia. The study was conducted on 123 students of VII semester consisting of 45 men and 78 women. The average age of study participants was 20-22 years old. The instrument used is the Hope Scale, shaped semantic differential scale that is composed of a large selection of 1-8 (1 = very inappropriate, and 8 = very appropriate). Descriptive statistical data analysis used in this study. Results of the study showed no significant difference in the expectations of students are female than male. In the dimension measurement known student agency in Guidance and Counseling Study Programme higher than pathways dimension. Hope Sundanese cultural background of students is the highest and the lowest was followed Javanese students who have a background in Malay culture. While the expectations of the most frequently encountered are related to career, parents and self-oriented (individualism).
Creating Shared Value Through Service-Learning in Management Education

Service-learning has gained strong interest among educators as a model of experiential education through community engagement. Its potential to contribute to multiple stakeholders, including students, community partners, faculty, and university, is well recognized. While research has focused on elements of this teaching model that contribute to the realization of student-related benefits, there has been less emphasis on what aspects enable the creation of shared value to other stakeholders. We describe a postgraduate, elective management consulting course based on service-learning pedagogy, which has been running for 10 years at the University of Technology Sydney Business School leading to the completion of 75 community projects to date, and evaluate how it creates shared value to multiple stakeholders. We identify four main elements of the course that enable it to deliver value to multiple stakeholders: a dedicated role of client engagement coordinator, a coaching program involving industry experts, student autonomy, and authentic assessments. The main challenges in continuously providing value to all involved parties are developing focused and realistic project briefs, managing students’ commitment and differences in students’ skills, and recruiting industry coaches.
Modelling normal returns in event studies: a model-selection approach and pilot study

The choice of model of normal returns in event studies has been widely discussed in the literature. While researchers frequently continue to use an array of alternatives, there is currently some tendency to favour cruder but simpler mean- or market-adjusted returns models. This paper presents a general-to-specific model selection framework for testing the data admissibility of the principal models in current use. Results from a pilot study indicate a strong preliminary preference in favour of the regression-based models, with the market model generally outperforming the capital asset pricing model.
A Complete Approach for Termination Analysis of Linear Programs

We describe powerful computational methods, relying on new decidability results that respond completely to major conjectures on termination analysis of programs with conditional linear loops, on all initial values. Our approach is based on linear algebraic methods: we reduce the verification of the termination problem to checking the orthogonality of a well determined vector-space and a certain vector, both related to the loop. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions from which we provide the first complete method, which determines the termination of such a class of linear programs. Our examples (dealing with a large number of randomly generated linear loops) show the strength of our results, we actually prove that some of them are beyond the limits of other recent approaches.
Incentives for Managers and Inequality Among Workers: Evidence from a Firm Level Experiment

We present evidence from a firm level experiment in which we engineered an exogenous change in managerial compensation from fixed wages to performance pay based on the average productivity of lower-tier workers. Theory suggests that managerial incentives affect both the mean and dispersion of workers' productivity through two channels. First, managers respond to incentives by targeting their efforts towards more able workers, implying that both the mean and the dispersion increase. Second, managers select out the least able workers, implying that the mean increases but the dispersion may decrease. In our field experiment we find that the introduction of managerial performance pay raises both the mean and dispersion of worker productivity. Analysis of individual level productivity data shows that managers target their effort towards high ability workers, and the least able workers are less likely to be selected into employment. These results highlight the interplay between the provision of managerial incentives and earnings inequality among lower-tier workers.
Drivers and impediments of consumer online information search: Self-controlled versus agent-based search in a high involvement context

INTRODUCTIONOne of the most enduring sequences of research effort in consumer behaviour has been thestudy of information search behaviour prior to purchase (Beatty and Smith, 1987; Moorthy etal., 1997; Punj and Staelin, 1983; Srinivasan and Ratchford, 1991). The goal has been toinvestigate drivers and impediments of the search activity as well as search intensity.Since we can observe an increasing use of the WWW as a source of product purchaseinformation, many of these older studies risk to become partially outdated. This is, becausethe new electronic medium promises to considerably reduce traditional search cost relevant inoffline markets (Alba et al., 1997; Bakos, 1997), offers an exciting amount of new productinformation sources and efficiently supports the search process through agent technology(Hauble and Trifts, 2000). Within a few years, the Internet has evolved as a major source ofproduct information retrieval and it is expected to play an even bigger role in the buyingprocess once 2