Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Therapeutic significance of a D-dimer cut-off level of >3 µg/ml in colorectal cancer patients treated with standard chemotherapy plus bevacizumab.

OBJECTIVE The risk of venous thromboembolism has been reported to increase when receiving bevacizumab. Many cancer patients are reported to have elevated D-dimer levels. It is not clear what D-dimer level might indicate an increased risk of venous thromboembolism in the colorectal cancer patients treated with bevacizumab-containing chemotherapy. METHODS The D-dimer levels and any event concurrent with an elevated D-dimer level were evaluated in patients receiving bevacizumab. The D-dimer cut-off level was determined using the receiver-operating characteristic analysis. The selection criteria were as follows: histologically proven metastatic and unresectable colorectal adenocarcinoma; no prior chemotherapy containing bevacizumab; D-dimer test performed repetitively on the baseline and during bevacizumab administration; no venous thromboembolism identified at the baseline; and enhanced computed tomographic scan performed every 2 months. RESULTS Sixty-nine patients were included. The chemotherapy regimens with bevacizumab included the regimen of 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX), the regimen of 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin and irinotecan (FOLFIRI), and leucovorin-modulated 5-fluorouracil. The median baseline D-dimer level was 1.2 µg/ml. The appropriate D-dimer cut-off level was 3 µg/ml with the negative predictive value of 98% and relative risk of 6.9. Twenty-one of 69 patients showed elevated D-dimer levels of >3 µg/ml, with 11 patients for unknown reasons, 6 with tumor progression, 3 with venous thromboembolism and 1 with sepsis. In the remaining 48 patients whose D-dimer levels were ≤3 µg/ml, only one patient developed a venous thromboembolism. CONCLUSIONS A D-dimer cut-off level of 3 µg/ml might be a useful indicator level to exclude venous thromboembolism or show an increased risk for venous thromboembolism in colorectal cancer patients treated with bevacizumab-containing chemotherapy.
Competition Policy in Small Distant Open Economies: Some Lessons from the Economics Literature

New Zealand is a small open economy that is remote from all major markets. The smallness and remoteness of New Zealand combine to imply that this country has, at least quantitatively, distinctive features for the regulation of economic activity by competition law. The isolation and small size of the economy mean that typically all but exporting firms are small as judged on a world scale, and that domestic markets are small and generally highly concentrated. This paper reviews the economic literature on the implications of an economy’s size and isolation for competition law. The literature suggests that principles underlying competition law do not change for small economies, but that the application of competition law should be different. In small economies, low regulatory and tax barriers to trade dominate the importance of competition law for good economic performance of domestic markets. In these economies, competition law should focus on economic benefit/detriment evaluations of mergers and trade practices rather than rules of thumb of the sort based on measures of market structure and indicators of competition, or those aimed at prohibiting particular practices per se. Producers’ surplus should not be de-emphasised in the calculation of benefits and detriments in small economies; particularly for activities that relate in any way to (potential) export activity. For any economy, particularly in the presence of competition, cooperation enhances economic performance in specific circumstances. In small economies cooperation can be particularly efficient-for example, in achieving scale and thereby export performance-although it may entail interaction among a large fraction of players in an industry. The approach that the literature suggests to the application of competition law in small economies places relatively heavy weight on dynamic efficiency as the criterion for competition law design and enforcement. It is squarely in accord with recommendations in the literature on desirable competition law for the so-called new economy.
Cultural practices and values at the societal level in Estonia in comparison with neighbouring countries

The research question in this paper involves comparing the differences between the actual regional societal culture (cultural practices) and the desired regional societal culture (cultural values) in Estonia with cultural practices in neighbouring countries Russia and Finland. Practices at the organization level are compared with practices and values at the societal level in Estonia. An analysis of results from the GLOBE research project have indicated that Russia and Finland have both had an impact on Estonian culture and practices. Similarities with Finland stem from the shared genetic background and appear in Estonian values. The Soviet heritage can be seen in Estonian societal and organizational practices, which are closer to Russian than Finnish indicators. Change in practices takes time and starts from within and among organizations, but over time this may also spread to the society.
Early Effects of Altered Gravity Environments on Plant Cell Growth and Cell Proliferation: Characterization of Morphofunctional Nucleolar Types in an Arabidopsis Cell Culture System

Changes in the cell growth rate of an in vitro cellular system in Arabidopsis thaliana induced by short exposure to an altered gravity environment have been estimated by a novel approach. The method consisted of defining three structural nucleolar types which are easy and reliable indicators of the ribosome biogenesis activity and, consequently, of protein biosynthesis, a parameter strictly correlated to cell growth in this cellular system. The relative abundance of each nucleolar type was statistically assessed in different conditions of gravity. Samples exposed to simulated microgravity for 200 min showed a significant decrease in nucleolar activity compared to 1g controls, whereas samples exposed to hypergravity (2g) for the same period showed nucleolar activity slightly increased,. These effects could be considered as an early cellular response to the environmental alteration, given the short duration of the treatment. The functional significance of the structural data was validated by a combination of several different well-known parameters, using microscopical, flow cytometry, qPCR and proteomic approaches, which showed that the decreased cell growth rate was decoupled from an increased cell proliferation rate under simulated microgravity, and the opposite trend was observed under hypergravity. Actually, not all parameters tested showed the same quantitative changes, indicating that the response to the environmental alteration is time-dependent. These results are in agreement with previous observations in root meristematic cells and they show the ability of plant cells to produce a response to gravity changes, independently of their integration into plant organs.
Skeletal muscle myofilament adaptations to aging, disease, and disuse and their effects on whole muscle performance in older adult humans

Skeletal muscle contractile function declines with aging, disease, and disuse. In vivo muscle contractile function depends on a variety of factors, but force, contractile velocity and power generating capacity ultimately derive from the summed contribution of single muscle fibers. The contractile performance of these fibers are, in turn, dependent upon the isoform and function of myofilament proteins they express, with myosin protein expression and its mechanical and kinetic characteristics playing a predominant role. Alterations in myofilament protein biology, therefore, may contribute to the development of functional limitations and disability in these conditions. Recent studies suggest that these conditions are associated with altered single fiber performance due to decreased expression of myofilament proteins and/or changes in myosin-actin cross-bridge interactions. Furthermore, cellular and myofilament-level adaptations are related to diminished whole muscle and whole body performance. Notably, the effect of these various conditions on myofilament and single fiber function tends to be larger in older women compared to older men, which may partially contribute to their higher rates of disability. To maintain functionality and provide the most appropriate and effective countermeasures to aging, disease, and disuse in both sexes, a more thorough understanding is needed of the contribution of myofilament adaptations to functional disability in older men and women and their contribution to tissue level function and mobility impairment.
Incidence and Mortality Following Hip Fracture in Korea

The authors evaluated the incidence of hip fracture and subsequent mortality in Korea using nationwide data obtained from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. This study was performed on patient population, aged 50-yr or older who underwent surgical procedures because of hip fracture (ICD10; S720, S721). All patients were followed using patient identification code to identify deaths. Crude hip fracture rates increased from 191.9/100,000 in 2005 to 207.0/100,000 in 2008 in women and from 94.8/100,000 in 2005 to 97.8/100,000 in 2008, in men respectively. Crude mortality within 12 months after hip fracture showed a similar trend (18.8% in 2005 and 17.8% in 2007). The mean of standardized mortality ratio of hip fracture was 6.1 at 3 months, 3.5 at 1 yr, and 2.3 at 2 yr post-fracture. The increasing incidence and the high mortality after hip fracture are likely to become serious public health problems and a public health program should begin to prevent hip fractures in Korea.
The Economics of Inaction: Stochastic Control Models with Fixed Costs

In economic situations where action entails a fixed cost, inaction is the norm. Action is taken infrequently, and adjustments are large when they occur. Interest in economic models that exhibit ''lumpy'' behavior of this kind has exploded in recent years, spurred by growing evidence that it is typical in many important economic decisions, including price setting, investment, hiring, durable goods purchases, and portfolio management. In The Economics of Inaction, leading economist Nancy Stokey shows how the tools of stochastic control can be applied to dynamic problems of decision making under uncertainty when fixed costs are present. Stokey provides a self-contained, rigorous, and clear treatment of two types of models, impulse and instantaneous control. She presents the relevant results about Brownian motion and other diffusion processes, develops methods for analyzing each type of problem, and discusses applications to price setting, investment, and durable goods purchases. This authoritative book will be essential reading for graduate students and researchers in macroeconomics.
Teacher Leadership in Special Education: Exploring Skills, Roles, and Perceptions

Special Education teachers frequently assume formal or informal leadership roles and responsibilities across disciplines (Council for Exceptional Children, 2015a, 2015b). However, despite the increasing attention paid to teacher leadership on an international scale (Wenner & Campbell, 2016), little research exists on the experiences and needs of teacher leaders within the diverse field of Special Education. In this descriptive phenomenological study, we addressed the following questions: 1) What does teacher leadership within the landscape of Special Education look like? 2) How does this work relate to the roles and dispositions laid out in both the Teacher Leader Model Standards (2011) and the Council for Exceptional Children’s Special Education Specialist Preparation Standards (2015a, 2015b)? We found that Special Education teacher leaders primarily demonstrate leadership via support, specifically through the skills of advocacy, facilitating, innovating, and ‘administrating’.
Alcohol use among entrants to a Hong Kong University.

AIM This study of first year entrants to one of the major universities in Hong Kong describes the pattern of their alcohol consumption, their binge drinking, alcohol abuse, and dependence. METHODS A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted. A representative sample of year 1 students 2630/2968 (89%) newly admitted to the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2003 were recruited to participate in a structured self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS First year university students in Hong Kong have low rates of ever drinking alcohol (62%), and the rates of binge drinking and alcohol-related problems were 7 and 0.8%, respectively. The pattern of binge drinking is more common than weekly drinking (2.3%). Binge drinkers are more likely to have experienced alcohol-related interpersonal problems or (95% CI) = 6.5 (1.7-24.5). Males were more likely to drink, to binge drink, and to drink frequently. CONCLUSIONS In contrast with students in the west, the majority of first year university students in Hong Kong are not binge or regular drinkers. However, there is a subgroup who smoke, drink more, and use alcohol as a means of coping with stress. This group may be particularly in need of a brief intervention, such as providing counseling and referral services.
Late-Comers to Mass Emigration: The Latin Experience

The Latin countries -- Italy, Portugal and Spain -- were industrial late-comers and only experienced mass emigration late in the 19th century. When they did join the European mass migration, they did so in great numbers. The fact that they joined the mass migrations late, that they were poor by West European standards, and that so many went to Latin America, has generated a number of debates on both sides of the Atlantic. This paper uses a late 19th century panel data set (including purchasing-power-parity adjusted real wages) for twelve European countries to find that Latin emigration behavior was no different than that of northwestern Europe: for example, Latin emigrant labor supplies were not relatively elastic, contrary to the hypothesis made famous by Sir Arthur Lewis. What made Latin experience different was the underlying economic and demographic fundamentals driving the experience.
Entrepreneurial orientation and the structuring of organizations

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to test the entrepreneurial orientation organization structure‐performance link within the context of the Asian hotel industry.Design/methodology/approach – Performance was designated as the dependent variable while strategic posture and organization structure were considered the independent variables. Correlation and regression analysis were adopted to test relationships.Findings – Results suggest that entrepreneurial strategic posture is positively associated with performance. Contrary to expectations, organic structures were negatively associated with performance. The study findings are in support of previous researchers who have suggested that western theories are not easily generalized to a non‐western context.Research limitations/implications – The cross‐sectional approach adopted in this research does not capture the effects of strategy‐structure alignment over time. The external validity of the results is also limited due to the geographically focused nature .
Time Decomposition for Diagnosis of Discrete Event Systems (Extended Abstract)

Research on future energy systems shows that an electricity network is often tolerant to failures but may collapse after encountering a certain number of failures that take place within a short period of time. The smart grid is the upcoming generation of electricity networks. Challenges faced in the smart grid include prompt, reliable, and informative alarm processing to detect the points of failure. Another aspect is inferring the root cause for failures. Being able to accurately and promptly determine the fault occurrences allows rapid intervention, which leads to faster restoration and lower vulnerability to multiple faults. This work focuses on systems modeled by a Discrete Event System (DES). A DES is a system model representing state dynamics in a discrete manner [Cassandras and Lafortune, 2008]. DES provides a common modeling framework for diagnosis problems retaining the properties with a discrete nature.
The Spatial and Temporal Deployment of Voluntary Attention across the Visual Field

Several studies have addressed the question of the time it takes for attention to shift from one position in space to another. Here we present a behavioural paradigm which offers a direct access to an estimate of voluntary shift time by comparing, in the same task, a situation in which subjects are required to re-engage their attention at the same spatial location with a situation in which they need to shift their attention to another location, all other sensory, cognitive and motor parameters being equal. We show that spatial attention takes on average 55 ms to voluntarily shift from one hemifield to the other and 38 ms to shift within the same hemifield. In addition, we show that across and within hemifields attentional processes are different. In particular, attentional spotlight division appears to be more difficult to operate within than across hemifields.
Mentor and mentee attitudes in mentoring for new entrepreneurs

A national governmental mentoring programme for new entrepreneurs was launched in Sweden in 2005. In Sweden there are now just over 2,000 mentors and mentees involved in the national programme.The purpose of this paper is to report of mentor and mentee attitudes towards participation in this mentoring programme. Data is based on extensive nationwide telephone interviews with 200 of the mentors and mentees involved.These results indicate that mentoring can be used to a much greater extent than was previously considered possible. If we harness the power of mentoring, we will see our new entrepreneurs developing much healthier and stronger enterprises.
Political Trust, Shocks, and Accountability: Quasi-experimental Evidence from a Rebel Attack

How does armed conflict affect accountability and political trust in democratic governments? To answer this question, we present quasi-experimental evidence based on survey data which, coincidentally, were collected in the days surrounding an unanticipated violent attack by a rebel group in Mali. The chance occurrence of the attack five days into the survey demarcates respondents into two groups surveyed before and after the attack and allows us to examine how the attack affected approval of politicians and trust in political institutions. Our results show that people mainly attribute responsibility to the president and not to parliament or local government, while trust in institutions is largely unaffected. We also show that these effects are strongest in the region of the attack. These findings suggest that voters in new democracies are capable of attributing responsibility to individual politicians and governments while maintaining trust in the fundamental political institutions of democracy.
Recovering Nonlinear Dynamics from Option Prices

Using the wavelet-Galerkin method for solving partial integro-differential equations, we derive an implement computationally efficient formula for pricing European options on assets driven by multivariate jump-diffusions. This pricing formula is then used to solve the inverse problem of estimating the corresponding risk-neutral coefficient functions of the underlying jump-diffusions from observed option data. The ill-posedness of this estimation problem is proved, and a consistent estimation technique employing Tikhonov regularization is proposed. Using S&P 500 Index option data, it is shown that the coefficient functions in a stochastic volatility model with jumps are nonlinear, contrary to the affine specification widely used in the literature.
27 DIFFUSION TENSOR IMAGING

The central nervous system (CNS) spans across different levels of organization, covering the gamut from genes to behavior. It is the aim of neuroscience to elucidate all these levels at a gross and an ultrastructural resolution and to define the relationships among them. One of the highest levels of organization is the systems level, which includes the motor, sensory, and central neural systems. Among the central systems are included those related to cognitive function, such as attention, memory, language, and executive function. Each system can be considered as a set of interconnected processors or centers constituted by nerve cells. Their physical connections are composed of axons of different lengths that can form fascicles as they run from origin to destination. Within the neocortex, these connections are selective and architectonic (1). How cytoarchitecture, connections, and function relate within the neocortex is a fundamental problem in neuroscience. This question addresses basic organizational principles of the nervous system and aims to elucidate the mechanisms through which the cerebrum mediates behavior (2,3). Behavior, to a large extent the product of cerebral function and at the same time a modulator of this function, is certainly the key to solving the problem of meaning related to any neural system. To explore thoroughly the behavioral dimension of an organism, it appears necessary to perform studies in vivo. If experi-
The MASP Family of Trypanosoma cruzi: Changes in Gene Expression and Antigenic Profile during the Acute Phase of Experimental Infection

Background Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas disease, a debilitating illness that affects millions of people in the Americas. A major finding of the T. cruzi genome project was the discovery of a novel multigene family composed of approximately 1,300 genes that encode mucin-associated surface proteins (MASPs). The high level of polymorphism of the MASP family associated with its localization at the surface of infective forms of the parasite suggests that MASP participates in host–parasite interactions. We speculate that the large repertoire of MASP sequences may contribute to the ability of T. cruzi to infect several host cell types and/or participate in host immune evasion mechanisms. Methods By sequencing seven cDNA libraries, we analyzed the MASP expression profile in trypomastigotes derived from distinct host cells and after sequential passages in acutely infected mice. Additionally, to investigate the MASP antigenic profile, we performed B-cell epitope prediction on MASP proteins and designed a MASP-specific peptide array with 110 putative epitopes, which was screened with sera from acutely infected mice. Findings and Conclusions We observed differential expression of a few MASP genes between trypomastigotes derived from epithelial and myoblast cell lines. The more pronounced MASP expression changes were observed between bloodstream and tissue-culture trypomastigotes and between bloodstream forms from sequential passages in acutely infected mice. Moreover, we demonstrated that different MASP members were expressed during the acute T. cruzi infection and constitute parasite antigens that are recognized by IgG and IgM antibodies. We also found that distinct MASP peptides could trigger different antibody responses and that the antibody level against a given peptide may vary after sequential passages in mice. We speculate that changes in the large repertoire of MASP antigenic peptides during an infection may contribute to the evasion of host immune responses during the acute phase of Chagas disease.