Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Probabilistic Radiographic Atlas of Glioblastoma Phenotypes

Images from over 500 patients with glioblastoma were used to build location atlases corresponding to genetic and biologic abnormalities as well as prognosis based on age. Most glioblastomas grew into the periventricular regions adjacent to the subventricular zone. MGMT promoter methylated tumors occurred more frequently in the left temporal lobe in young patients, in IDH1 mutant tumors, in those having the proneural gene expression subtype, and in tumors lacking loss of PTEN that occurred most frequently in the frontal lobe. MGMT methylated tumors with IDH1 mutation tended to occur in the left frontal lobe. EGFR amplified and EGFR variant 3-expressing tumors were found most frequently in the left temporal lobe. Tumors in the left temporal lobe were associated with favorable response to radiochemotherapy and increased survival. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Tumor location is a significant prognostic factor in glioblastoma, which may reflect the genetic profile of tumor precursor cells. The purpose of the current study was to construct and analyze probabilistic radiographic atlases reflecting preoperative tumor locations and corresponding demographic, “-omic,” and interventional phenotypes to provide insight into potential niche locations of glioblastoma cells of origin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Preoperative anatomic MR images in 507 patients with de novo glioblastoma were analyzed. Images were registered to stereotactic space, tumors were segmented, and the stereospecific frequency of tumor occurrence was analyzed statistically by age, extent of resection, MGMT methylation, IDH1 mutation, gene expression subclassification, PTEN loss, PTEN deficiency, EGFR amplification, EGFR variant 3 expression, progression-free survival from the start of radiochemotherapy, and overall survival from initial diagnosis. RESULTS: Most glioblastomas grow into the periventricular white matter regions adjacent to the subventricular zone. MGMT promoter methylated tumors occur more frequently in the left temporal lobe, in young patients with glioblastoma, in IDH1 mutant tumors, in tumors having the proneural gene expression subtype, and in tumors lacking loss of PTEN occurring most frequently in the frontal lobe. MGMT methylated tumors with the IDH1 mutation tended to occur in the left frontal lobe. EGFR amplified and EGFR variant 3-expressing tumors occurred most frequently in the left temporal lobe. A similar region in the left temporal lobe was associated with favorable response to radiochemotherapy and increased survival. CONCLUSIONS: Radiographic atlases for specific phenotypes provide insight into overlap between prognostic variables and may help to identify niche locations for cancer cells of origin.
Brand Personality of Global Quick-Service Restaurants in Emerging and Developed Markets: A Comparative Study in Brazil and the U.S.

ABSTRACT This study aimed to determine the dimensions of the personality of global quick-service restaurant brands perceived by young consumers in the U.S. and Brazil, and whether these dimensions showed similar configurations in both countries. A survey was carried out with two QSR brands (McDonald's and Subway). Data analysis utilized exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The study identified five personality dimensions for each of the brands studied in each country. Results support the proposition that global brands can carry a common meaning across nations, but also that certain local nuances of brand personalities can differ.
Prehospital and In-Hospital Delays in Acute Stroke Care

Current guidelines emphasize the need for early stroke care. However, significant delays occur during both the prehospital and in-hospital phases of care, making many patients ineligible for stroke therapies. The purpose of this study was to systematically review and summarize the existing scientific literature reporting prehospital and in-hospital stroke delay times in order to assist future delivery of effective interventions to reduce delay time and to raise several key issues which future studies should consider. A comprehensive search was performed to find all published journal articles which reported on the prehospital or in-hospital delay time for stroke, including intervention studies. Since 1981, at least 48 unique reports of prehospital delay time for patients with stroke, transient ischemic attack, or stroke-like symptoms were published from 17 different countries. In the majority of studies which reported median delay times, the median time from symptom onset to arrival in the emergency department was between 3 and 6 h. The in-hospital times from emergency department arrival to being seen by an emergency department physician, initiation and interpretation of a computed tomography (CT) scan, and being seen by a neurologist were consistently longer than recommended. However, prehospital delay comprised the majority of time from symptom onset to potential treatment. Definitions and methodologies differed across studies, making direct comparisons difficult. This review suggests that the majority of stroke patients are unlikely to arrive at the emergency department and receive a diagnostic evaluation in under 3 h. Further studies of stroke delay and corresponding interventions are needed, with careful attention to definitions and methodologies.
Does the EU LEADER Instrument Support Endogenous Development and New Modes of Governance in Romania?: Experiences from Elaborating an MCDA Based Regional Development Concept

The well-known EU LEADER programme aims at using the endogenous potential of rural regions and at improving local governance. Especially since the current funding period doubts are rising about whether the programme actually delivers what it promises. Indeed, translating the LEADER approach is a challenge, not only for new EU member states. This paper looks at the case of post-socialist Romania where the programme is implemented for the first time. Our research questions are (a) in how far an endogenous approach can be practically implemented by local initiatives and (b) how the LEADER implementation contributes to the adoption of new modes of governance. We draw on a case study in which a potential Romanian Local Action Group has been externally supported in elaborating a Regional Development Concept. We observed the participatory decision-making process among local actors, which was facilitated by a Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). MCDA turned out to be instrumental for integrated planning approaches and transparent decision-making with broad public participation. Our results underline that endogenous development and new modes of governance are hampered by provisions of superior administrative bodies due to inadequate translation of the policy instrument’s intervention logic. Reviewing European and national LEADER guidelines seems important for better using the endogenous regional potential and reaching higher positive impact on local governance structures.
enetic population structure of the Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) in the southwest ndian Ocean: Sex-biased differentiation, congruency between markers and its ncidence in a way of stock assessment

Genetic variation was surveyed at 11 microsatellite loci and at 517 bp of the mitochondrial control region to investigate the presence of genetic stock structure in swordfish (Xiphias gladius) in four proximal localities of the southwest Indian Ocean. One aim of this study was to serve as a preliminary examination for congruency of structure detected by these two genetic markers, prior to conducting a more comprehensive basin-wide survey of the Indian Ocean and nearby surrounding areas. Analyses of multilocus microsatellite genotypes and mitochondrial control region sequences both revealed a great homogene-
A synopsis of land and agrarian change in Chipinge district, Zimbabwe

This paper extends the analysis of Zimbabwe's Fast Track land reform to the district of Chipinge in Manicaland province in south eastern Zimbabwe, where particular agro-ecological, political and social dynamics are important. In the three A1 resettlement schemes studied, political loyalty and patronage largely explain how the new beneficiaries acquired land. Most scholarly work, media and advocacy reports acknowledge the role of political patronage in the acquisition of A2 farms but they underplay this on A1 resettlement schemes. Based on empirical data, I argue that some A1 land reform beneficiaries are clients of patronage networks. Even though the new A1 farmers have other legitimate claims to land they are being subordinated to a partisan state and authoritarian ruling party that is willing to exclude other ‘ordinary’ people with ‘wrong’ or weak political ties in a highly politicised landscape. Thus, the paper argues that in these cases the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF)'s governing elite manipulated autochthonous, historical, political, social reproduction and livelihoods grievances among different groups of people to set in motion a party politicised Fast Track Land Reform (Fast Track) project meant to reassert its political hegemony.
Phytoestrogens and breast cancer risk. Review of the epidemiological evidence.

Phytoestrogens are natural plant substances. The three main classes are isoflavones, coumestans, and lignans. Phytoestrogens have anticarcinogenic potential, but they have also significant estrogenic properties. For an evaluation of the effect of phytoestrogens on breast cancer risk we reviewed the analytical epidemiological data. A total of 18 studies were included. Up to now, there are 13 studies that have assessed the direct relation between the individual dietary intake of soy products and the risk of breast cancer. Overall, results do not show protective effects, with the exception maybe for women who consume phytoestrogens at adolescence or at very high doses. Only four of these 13 studies are prospective, and none of them found statistically significant breast cancer reductions. Four studies assessed urinary isoflavones excretion in relation to breast cancer. Three of these are case control studies, where excretion was measured after breast cancer occurrence and thus seriously limiting causal interpretation of the results. The only prospective study with urinary measurements before breast cancer occurrence was done in a Dutch postmenopausal population and showed a non-significant breast cancer risk reduction for high excretion. Three studies measured enterolactone (lignan): two case control studies reported a preventive effect on breast cancer risk, but the only prospective study did not . In conclusion, few prospective studies (n = 5) were done to assess the effects of phytoestrogens on breast cancer risk. None of them found protective effects. However, these prospective studies did not focus on 'age at consumption', which seems to be important based on results from dietary case control studies done so far.
The Housing-led Growth Hypothesis Revisited

This paper investigates the relationship between housing investment and economic growth in China, utilising province-level data via recently developed panel unit root tests and panel co-integration analysis. The empirical results suggest a stable long-run relationship between housing investment, non-housing investment and GDP in China. In addition, the existence is demonstrated of bi-directional Granger causality between housing investment and GDP at the national level. The panel error correction model supports the hypothesis that housing investment appears to have a dual role, acting as both a driver and follower in China’s economic fluctuations. However, the impacts of housing investment on economic growth in three sub-regions are found to be strikingly different.
Inflationary Finance Under Discrepion and Rules

Inflationary finance involves first, the tax on cash balances from expected inflation, and second, a capital levy from unexpected inflation. From the standpoint of minimizing distortions, these capital levies are attractive, ex post, to the policymaker. In a full equilibrium two conditions hold: 1) the monetary authority optimizes subject to people's expectations mechanisms, and 2) people form expectations rationally, given their knowledge of the policymaker's objectives. The outcomes under discretionary policy are contrasted with those generated under rules. In a purely discretionary regime the monetary authority can make no meaningful commitments about the future behavior of money and prices. Under an enforced rule, it becomes possible to make some guarantees. Hence, the links between monetary actions and inflationary expectations can be internalized. There is a distinction between fully-contingent rules and rules of simple form. A simple rule allows the internalization of some connections between policy act ion and inflationary expectations, but discretion permits some desirable flexibility of monetary growth.
Regional Clusters in a Global World: Production Relocation, Innovation, and Industrial Decline

In the wake of globalization, still moreregional clusters are globally outsourcing (purchasing components that wereoriginally manufactured internally) or offshoring (globally relocatingmanufacturing while maintaining ownership control). Policy makers and businessstrategists alike are searching for theoretical frameworks to understand theunderlying dynamics of this global reshuffling of production activities and howthis will affect innovation and competitiveness. This article examines production relocation from a regional perspective. Itshows that the impact of globalization on regional clusters depends on themodularity and digitalization of the regional production activities, whichaffect stickiness and coordination costs. (Publication Abstract)
Diagnosis of amoebic colitis by antigen capture ELISA in patients presenting with acute diarrhoea in Cairo, Egypt

We studied 84 consecutive patients presenting with acute diarrhoea (less than 1 week in duration) at an outpatient tropical medicine clinic in Cairo, Egypt. The diagnosis of amoebic colitis was established by the presence of Entamoeba histolytica galactose‐inhibitable lectin antigen and the presence of occult blood in stool. Controls were 182 healthy regional people and 64 patients complaining of prolonged diarrhoea lasting more than 1 week. Entamoeba histolytica infection was found more frequently in patients with acute diarrhoea (57.1%) than in healthy controls (21.4%) or patients with prolonged diarrhoea (25%) (P < 0.001). There was a higher prevalence of Entamoeba dispar infection in the two control groups (24.2 and 20.3%, respectively, P=0.004 and 0.061) compared with those with acute diarrhoea (8.3%). Of the 84 patients with acute diarrhoea 32 had amoebic colitis (38%), and of these, 31 (97%) had at least one positive assay for serum amoebic antibodies (P < 0.001 compared with control groups). In summary, as determined by antigen‐detection enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, there is an unexpectedly high prevalence of amoebic colitis among patients presenting with acute diarrhoea to a tropical disease clinic in Cairo, Egypt.
Ocular motor characteristics of different subtypes of spinocerebellar ataxia: Distinguishing features

Because of frequent involvement of the cerebellum and brainstem, ocular motor abnormalities are key features of spinocerebellar ataxias and may aid in differential diagnosis. Our objective for this study was to distinguish the subtypes by ophthalmologic features after head‐shaking and positional maneuvers, which are not yet recognized as differential diagnostic tools in most common forms of spinocerebellar ataxias. Of the 302 patients with a diagnosis of cerebellar ataxia in 3 Korean University Hospitals from June 2011 to June 2012, 48 patients with spinocerebellar ataxia types 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, or 8 or with undetermined spinocerebellar ataxias were enrolled. All patients underwent a video‐oculographic recording of fixation abnormalities, gaze‐evoked nystagmus, positional and head‐shaking nystagmus, and dysmetric saccades. Logistic regression analysis controlling for disease duration revealed that spontaneous and positional downbeat nystagmus and perverted head‐shaking nystagmus were strong predictors for spinocerebellar ataxia 6, whereas saccadic intrusions and oscillations were identified as positive indicators of spinocerebellar ataxia 3. In contrast, the presence of gaze‐evoked nystagmus and dysmetric saccades was a negative predictor of spinocerebellar ataxia 2. Positional maneuvers and horizontal head shaking occasionally induced or augmented saccadic intrusions/oscillations in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia types 1, 2, and 3 and undetermined spinocerebellar ataxia. The results indicated that perverted head‐shaking nystagmus may be the most sensitive parameter for SCA6, whereas saccadic intrusions/oscillations are the most sensitive for spinocerebellar ataxia 3. In contrast, a paucity of gaze‐evoked nystagmus and dysmetric saccades is more indicative of spinocerebellar ataxia 2. Head‐shaking and positional maneuvers aid in defining ocular motor characteristics in spinocerebellar ataxias. © 2013 Movement Disorder Society
Design and subsystems tests for the TPM-1U tokamak

A small tokamak (0.45 m major radius, 0.15 m minor radius) is currently being designed and constructed at CICATA Queretaro in Mexico. The purpose of these machines, as is the case of other machines of similar size in operation around the world, is twofold: allow hands-on experience to students in order to gain a practical understanding of magnetically confined hot plasmas, and also to test innovative ideas that may be impractical to put to test in large machines. The present work highlights three efforts towards the realization of this small machine: toroidal field (TF) power system, ohmic transformer (OT) power system and electromechanical design for the TF coil array. All these efforts are focused on achieving the desired parameters of the machine minimizing the infrastructure cost; that is, performing a careful design that makes efficient use of, to name a couple, materials and power storage infrastructure. In the TF power system front, a scheme based on a line-type pulser to generate the required current pulse is being explored and tested in a scaled prototype; detachable toroidal field coils (and vessel sections) are under development to overcome the difficulty of installing and removing in vessel components in small machines; on the OT design, hybrid capacitive/inductive energy storage for powering the central solenoid and its influence on pulse shaping is also being explored in a scaled-down prototype; and finally, finite element simulations of mechanical stresses on TF coils and support structure are also being performed that may allow an adequate mechanical stability to the machine during shots.
Tourism and Social Change: The Case of Israeli Ecotourists Visiting Jordan

This study evaluated the role of tourism as an agent of change between two countries that have been traditionally hostile to each other—Israel and Jordan. Fifty Jewish Israeli ecotourists who traveled to Jordan for the first time were asked to complete a structured questionnaire that measured attitudes toward Jordanian people, their political beliefs, and their institutions. Each tourist was asked to complete the questionnaire before leaving for Jordan and after returning home. A control group of Israeli ecotourists who did not go to Jordan was also asked to complete the questionnaire twice. The results showed that the tourist experience that the Israeli ecotourists encountered significantly altered their opinions and attitudes toward the Jordanian people and their institutions, in the positive direction. Overall, of 33 attitudinal statements, 15 (45.4%) show a positive change as a result of the tourist experience, while none of the attitudes changed in the negative direction.
Antispectrin antibodies stain the oocyte nucleus and the site of fertilization channels in the egg of Discoglossus pictus (Anura)

In Discoglossus pictus eggs, only the dimple contains ionic channels active at fertilization; in particular, chloride channels are found in the central protion of the dimple, which is also the site of sperm penetration. Moreover the dimple hosts an imposing cytoskeleton, consisting of a cortical network and bundles of microfilaments extending from the microvilli. Since spectrin cross links actin and is connected through ankyrin to anion transporters in the plasma membrane of erythrocytes as well as to anion channels in other cells, we studied, in D. pictus egg, the relationship between the localization of spectrin and the high polarization of ionic channels and cytoskeletal organization. By means of immunocytochemistry, we localized spectrin exclusively in the egg dimple. In an attempt to trace back the source of spectrin localization, we immunostained sections of D. pictus ovary and localized spectrin in the nuclei of previtellogenic oocytes, where actin is also present. Antispectrin staining remained until germinal vesicle breakdown. By contrast, a cortical localization was found only when the oocytes divided into two hemispheres and into the germinative area (GA), which, after germinal vesicle breakdown, gives rise to the dimple. At this stage the antispectrin signal was particularly strong in the GA. Using Rho‐pialloidin, we also established that spectrin is generally present where F‐actin is found. However, spectrin and F‐actin do not have the same pattern of fluorescence. In conclusion, our data suggest that spectrin may play a role in oocyte and egg polarity. In eggs, it could be instrumental in anchoring to the cytoskeleton membrane proteins such as receptors and ionic channels, including chloride‐permeable channels.
Management of Varroa destructor by essential oils and formic acid in Apis Mellifera Linn. Colonies

Four essential oils of Thyme (Thymus linearis), Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Mint (Mentha longifolia) and Formic Acid (65%) used at three concentrations (25, 50 and 100%) against Varroa destructor damaging honey bee Apis mellifera colonies in Honeybee Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan. The percentage of infestation by V. destructor on worker brood and adult workers, number of dead fallen Varroa on the sheet, per cent mite mortality and their honey yield (kg) was determined before and after the treatments in the experimental colonies. The results revealed that formic acid and the highest concentrations (100%) of tested essential oils caused effective control of Varroa mites, whereas the infestation reduction percentage with formic acid, lemon grass, thyme, mint and rosemary oils was recorded more than 96% after the end of treatments on both worker brood and adult workers. The highest total number of dead Varroa mites (323) fallen on the sheet was recorded by formic acid followed by lemon grass (306), thyme (263), mint (204) and rosemary (188) respectively. The hives treated with essential oils and formic acid also showed good persistence with mite mortality ranging from 46.97 to 63.41% up to fourth treatment. High mean value for honey yield (14.2 kg) was recorded by formic acid, followed by thyme (13.7 kg), lemon grass, mint (13.0 kg) and rosemary (12.4 kg) per colony as compared with control colonies (6.5 kg) per colony.