Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Giving Firms an “E” for Effort: Consumer Responses to High-Effort Firms

This research shows that consumers reward firms for extra effort. More specifically, a series of three laboratory experiments shows that when firms exert extra effort in making or displaying their products, consumers reward them by increasing their willingness to pay, store choice, and overall evaluations, even if the actual quality of the products is not improved. This rewarding process is defined broadly as general reciprocity. Consistent with attribution theory, the rewarding of generally directed effort is mediated by feelings of gratitude. When consumers infer that effort is motivated by persuasion, however, they no longer feel gratitude and do not reward high-effort firms. (c) 2005 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc.
The antecedents and outcomes of work-family enrichment amongst female workers

Orientation: Women are involved in both a work and a family domain. Work-family enrichment is a concept that describes how these domains can enrich each other through the transfer of resources from one domain to the other. Research purpose: The objective was to determine the relationship between work resources,home resources, work engagement, family engagement and work-family enrichment. The aim was also to test two models representing work-to-family and family-to-work enrichment as mediators. Motivation for the study: By investigating work-family enrichment, as a new research concept,and its antecedents and outcomes, this study will add to the positive side of the work-family interface literature and provide information to organisations.Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional survey design was used in this study with a sample of female workers ( N = 420) in South Africa. Polychoric correlations, fit indices, structural equation modelling and testing mediation were used to analyse the data.Omegas and alpha coefficients were employed to determine the reliability. Main findings: A positive relationship between work-family enrichment and its antecedents and outcomes was found. Furthermore, work-family enrichment (W-FE) mediated (large effect)the relationship between work resources and work engagement and family-work enrichment mediated (small effect) the relationship between home resources and family engagement. Practical/managerial implications: The results provide more insight and understanding to organisations and female workers on the benefits of being involved in both the domain of work life and the domain of family life. Contribution/value-add: The study contributes to the limited research undertaken on work family enrichment within the South African context. The present study also contributes to the literature on the use of the newly developed MACE Work-Family Enrichment Instrument.
Outcomes of simultaneous placement of an inflatable penile prosthesis and a male urethral sling through a single perineal incision.

INTRODUCTION Synchronous implantation of an inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) and a bulbourethral sling single via a single perineal is a unique approach in managing erectile dysfunction and stress urinary incontinence. AIM This article describes our surgical approach and reviews the operative time, length of hospital stay (LOS), estimated blood loss (EBL), and cost of synchronous dual prosthetic implantation compared with the implants performed individually. Additionally, we review the short-term outcomes in patients with dual sling and penile prosthesis synchronous implants. METHODS Fifty-eight patients with IPP, 53 slings, and eight simultaneous dual implantations between January 2000 and July 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. Operative times, EBL, length of stay, cost, and complications were compared in three groups (group 1, IPP; group 2, slings; group 3, dual implants). Additionally, we reviewed pre- and postoperative Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) scores and pad use in group 3. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Review of operative times, EBL, LOS, cost, and complications. RESULTS Dual implantation had similar operative times compared with the total time for the individual procedures (98 +/- 24 minutes for IPP; 86 +/- 24 minutes for sling; 177 +/- 17 minutes for dual implant, P > 0.05). EBL was reduced (57 +/- 30 mL for IPP; 48 +/- 59 mL for sling; 49 +/- 5 mL for group 3). LOS was also reduced (1.2 +/- 0.45 days for IPP, 0.7 +/- 0.48 days for sling; and 1.1 +/- 0.50 days for dual implant). Dual implantation was associated with approximately $9,000 in savings. With a mean follow-up of 13.6 months, group 3 reported SHIM increase from 1.3 +/- 0.5 to 23.5 +/- 0.6 and a decrease in pad use from three pads per day (range 2-6) down to a mean of one pad per day (range 0-2). One sling erosion and one sling infection occurred in group 2. One patient in group 3 had acute urinary retention resolved with 5 days of catheter drainage. CONCLUSION Dual penile prosthesis and bulbourethral sling implantation through a single perineal incision is safe, efficient, and cost-effective.
Performance Analysis of OCDMA PONs Supporting Multi-Rate Bursty Traffic

Optical Code Division Multiple Access (OCDMA) provides increased security communications with large dedicated bandwidth to end users and simplified network control. We analyse the call-level performance of an OCDMA Passive Optical Network (PON) configuration, which accommodates multiple service-classes with finite traffic source population. The considered user activity is in accordance with the bursty nature of traffic, so that calls may alternate between active (steady transmission of a burst) and passive states (no transmission at all). Parameters related to multiple access interference, additive noise, user activity and number of traffic sources are incorporated to our analysis, which is based on a two-dimensional Markov chain. An approximate recursive formula is derived for efficient calculation of call blocking probability. Furthermore, we determine the burst blocking probability; burst blocking occurs when a burst delays its returning from passive to active state. The accuracy of the model is completely satisfactory and is verified through simulation. Moreover, we reveal the consistency and necessity of the proposed model.
Lightweight consistency enforcement schemes for distributed proofs with hidden subtrees

In distributed proof construction systems, information release policies can make it unlikely that any single node in the system is aware of the complete structure of any particular proof tree. This property makes it difficult for queriers to determine whether the proofs constructed using these protocols sampled a consistent snapshot of the system state; this has previously been shown to have dire consequences in decentralized authorization systems. Unfortunately, the consistency enforcement solutions presented in previous work were designed for systems in which only information encoded in certificates issued by certificate authorities is used during the decision-making process. Further, they assume that each piece of certified evidence used during proof construction is available to the decision-making node at runtime. In this paper, we generalize these previous results and present lightweight mechanisms through which consistency constraints can be enforced in proof systems in which the full details of a proof may be unavailable to the querier and the existence of certificate authorities for certifying evidence is unlikely; these types of distributed proof systems are likely candidates for use in pervasive computing and sensor network environments. We present modifications to one such distributed proof system that enable two types of consistency constraints to be enforced while still respecting the same confidentiality and integrity policies as the original proof system. Further, we detail a performance analysis that illustrates the modest overheads of our consistency enforcement schemes.
Rat/MgrA, a Regulator of Autolysis, Is a Regulator of Virulence Genes in Staphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT We have previously identified mgrA (rat) as a regulator of autolysis in Staphylococcus aureus. Besides its effect on autolytic activity, we recently found alterations in the expression of regulator and target virulence genes in the mgrA mutant. Northern analysis and transcription fusion assays showed that inactivation of mgrA has led to the downregulation of RNAIII of agr and hla and upregulation of sarS and spa. Although both SarA and agr are activators of α-hemolysin and a repressors of protein A synthesis, we found that the transcription of sarA was not affected in the mgrA mutant and vice versa, indicating that MgrA likely regulates hla and spa in a SarA-independent manner. Previously we have shown that SarT, a SarA homolog, is a repressor of hla and an activator of spa, presumably by activating SarS, however, analysis of the double sarT mgrA mutant for hla and spa transcription indicated that the mgrA-mediated effect is not mediated via sarT. Our results further demonstrated that the mgrA gene product regulates hla and spa expression in a dual fashion, with the first being agr dependent and the second agr independent. In the agr-independent pathway, MgrA binds directly to hla and the sarS promoter to modulate α-hemolysin and protein A expression. Thus, our studies here have defined the nature of interaction of mgrA with other regulators such as agr, sarS, and sarT and its role in regulating hla and spa transcription within the virulence regulatory network of S. aureus.
Effect of gender on the interactions between mothers and their medically at‐risk infants

This study examined effects of gender on interactions between mothers and their medically at‐risk infants: 108 premature infants, 67 medically fragile infants, and 83 infants seropositive for HIV. Systematic observation and the HOME Inventory were used to describe the mother–infant interaction. General Linear Mixed Models were used to determine whether the effect of gender was longitudinally related to the interactions between mothers and each sample of medically at‐risk infants after controlling for maternal demographics. No gender‐differentiated mother–infant interactions were found; however, premature infants and infants seropositive for HIV showed less negativism, while medically fragile infants showed more social behaviours over time. Mothers of premature and medically fragile infants were increasingly restrictive to their infants, while HIV‐positive mothers did not show this tendency. Mothers who were older, had more years of education, and married were more attentive and less restrictive to their infants than mothers who were younger, had fewer years of education, and unmarried. In addition, there were three significant interactions. Married mothers with higher education of medically fragile infants showed more attention than married mothers with lower education. Also, younger HIV‐positive mothers with fewer years of education showed the least amount of attention to their infants.
The role of the unaffected hemisphere in motor recovery after stroke

The contribution of the ipsilateral (nonaffected) hemisphere to recovery of motor function after stroke is controversial. Under the assumption that functionally relevant areas within the ipsilateral motor system should be tightly coupled to the demand we used fMRI and acoustically paced movements of the right index finger at six different frequencies to define the role of these regions for recovery after stroke. Eight well‐recovered patients with a chronic striatocapsular infarction of the left hemisphere were compared with eight age‐matched participants. As expected the hemodynamic response increased linearly with the frequency of the finger movements at the level of the left supplementary motor cortex (SMA) and the left primary sensorimotor cortex (SMC) in both groups. In contrast, a linear increase of the hemodynamic response with higher tapping frequencies in the right premotor cortex (PMC) and the right SMC was only seen in the patient group. These results support the model of an enhanced bihemispheric recruitment of preexisting motor representations in patients after subcortical stroke. Since all patients had excellent motor recovery contralesional SMC activation appears to be efficient and resembles the widespread, bilateral activation observed in healthy participants performing complex movements, instead of reflecting maladaptive plasticity. Hum Brain Mapp, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Picturing defiance

Photographs of international events influence the understanding viewers develop of the world. Emphasis on specific aspects of an event means other prominent aspects are overlooked. This study examines the visual framing in photographs related to Iran’s 2009 presidential election, comparing images photographers identified as their best work to those judged to be the Pictures of the Year. The analysis shows that while photographers primarily covered events leading up to the election and the violence that followed afterwards, they communicated a variety of frames through their images. The award-winning photographs, which set a standard for photojournalists, mainly depicted violent events, ignoring the civil participation of a wide range of Iranian citizens.
Controlling motion sickness and spatial disorientation and enhancing vestibular rehabilitation with a user‐worn see‐through display

An eyewear mounted visual display (“User‐worn see‐through display”) projecting an artificial horizon aligned with the user's head and body position in space can prevent or lessen motion sickness in susceptible individuals when in a motion provocative environment as well as aid patients undergoing vestibular rehabilitation. In this project, a wearable display device, including software technology and hardware, was developed and a phase I feasibility study and phase II clinical trial for safety and efficacy were performed.
Levetiracetam for the Treatment of Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome: A Multicenter, Prospective, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Background: Treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) with benzodiazepines is limited by risk of abuse, intoxication, respiratory problems, and liver toxicity. Alternatives such as carbamazepine and valproate may also have safety problems, such as hepatotoxicity or central nervous adverse effects. We therefore investigated the safety and efficacy of levetiracetam (LV), a newer antiepileptic with a potentially favorable adverse-effect profile, for the treatment of AWS. Methods: One hundred six patients were enrolled in a prospective, randomized, double-blind, multicenter, placebo-controlled trial. Levetiracetam was administered in a fixed dose schedule over 6 days. Diazepam was added when symptom triggered as rescue medication. Severity of the AWS was measured with the AWS and Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment Scale. Results: Although tolerability and safety data were similar in the LV group when compared with placebo, the total daily and weekly dose of diazepam as rescue medication and the severity of alcohol withdrawal symptoms did not differ significantly between groups. Conclusion: Our data so far do not support an additional effect of LV on the reduction of alcohol withdrawal symptoms.Abbreviations: AE - adverse event, AED - antiepileptic drug, AWS - alcohol withdrawal syndrome, AWSS - Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome Scale, BDZ - benzodiazepines, CGI - Clinical Global Impression, CIWA-Ar - Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment-Alcohol revised, DSM-IV - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, GAF - Global Assessment of Functioning Scale, HAM-A - Hamilton Anxiety Scale, HAM-D - Hamilton Depression Scale, ICD-10 - International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, SAE - serious adverse event, VASC - Visual Analog Scale for Craving, VASE - Visual Analog Scale for Withdrawal, UCB - global biopharm
Efficacy and safety of rilpivirine in treatment-naive, HIV-1-infected patients with hepatitis B virus/hepatitis C virus coinfection enrolled in the Phase III randomized, double-blind ECHO and THRIVE trials.

OBJECTIVES The efficacy and hepatic safety of the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors rilpivirine (TMC278) and efavirenz were compared in treatment-naive, HIV-infected adults with concurrent hepatitis B virus (HBV) and/or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the pooled week 48 analysis of the Phase III, double-blind, randomized ECHO (NCT00540449) and THRIVE (NCT00543725) trials. METHODS Patients received 25 mg of rilpivirine once daily or 600 mg of efavirenz once daily, plus two nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors. At screening, patients had alanine aminotransferase/aspartate aminotransferase levels ≤5× the upper limit of normal. HBV and HCV status was determined at baseline by HBV surface antigen, HCV antibody and HCV RNA testing. RESULTS HBV/HCV coinfection status was known for 670 patients in the rilpivirine group and 665 in the efavirenz group. At baseline, 49 rilpivirine and 63 efavirenz patients [112/1335 (8.4%)] were coinfected with either HBV [55/1357 (4.1%)] or HCV [57/1333 (4.3%)]. The safety analysis included all available data, including beyond week 48. Eight patients seroconverted during the study (rilpivirine: five; efavirenz: three). A higher proportion of patients achieved viral load <50 copies/mL (intent to treat, time to loss of virological response) in the subgroup without HBV/HCV coinfection (rilpivirine: 85.0%; efavirenz: 82.6%) than in the coinfected subgroup (rilpivirine: 73.5%; efavirenz: 79.4%) (rilpivirine, P = 0.04 and efavirenz, P = 0.49, Fisher's exact test). The incidence of hepatic adverse events (AEs) was low in both groups in the overall population (rilpivirine: 5.5% versus efavirenz: 6.6%) and was higher in HBV/HCV-coinfected patients than in those not coinfected (26.7% versus 4.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Hepatic AEs were more common and response rates lower in HBV/HCV-coinfected patients treated with rilpivirine or efavirenz than in those who were not coinfected.
A study on the effects of the hydroalcholic extract of the aerial parts of Alhagi camelorum on prolactin and pituitary-gonadal activity in rats with hypercholesterolemia.

BACKGROUND Although endocrine disorders are not a common cause of infertility, in some cases, testing thyroid function, and hypothalamus - pituitary - gonadal axis can determine the cause of infertility. We aimed to investigate the effect of the aerial parts of Alhagi camelorum extract on prolactin, cortisol and pituitary - gonadal axis activities in rats with hypercholesterolemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study, 35 male wistar rats in 5 groups (n = 7) were assigned as: control group with normal diet, the sham group with fat diet and three experimental groups of hypercholesterolaemic animals which received Alhagi camelorum extract at a minimum dose of 100 mg/kg, average dose of 200 ml/kg and maximum dose of 300 mg/kg over a period of 21 days. At the end of the period, blood samples were collected from all groups and blood factors were then measured and analyzed. RESULTS In the sham group compared to the control, cholesterol levels increased and FSH levels decreased, whereas cholesterol levels reduced in the experimental groups. Alhagi camelorum extract also reduced testosterone level and increased prolactin and gonadotropins. CONCLUSION Alhagi camelorum extract at low and average doses reduced cortisol, testosterone and cholesterol and increased gonadotropins. So it can cause reproductive disorders in male rats. The extract at maximum dose can increase cortisol and prolactin. As these two hormones work together to produce milk, this plant can help to boost breastfeeding.
A Low-Overhead Cooperative Retransmission Scheme for IR-UWB Networks

The UWB unique properties such as fine ranging and immunity to small scale fading are utilized in order to exploit the multiuser diversity in UWB networks. The optimal cooperation strategies in the absence of control packet overhead are analyzed in the proactive and reactive settings. It is shown that the proposed method achieves a considerable diversity gain while minimizing the overhead of control packet exchange that is required for coordination among the relays.
Acid-base balance and nutrition in peritoneal dialysis.

Acidosis has been implicated in increased protein catabolism and malnutrition of dialysis. The present study examines the effect of acid-base balance on the nutrition status of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. We followed 43 PD patients for one year. Blood chemistries were measured monthly. Patients were divided on the basis of subjective global assessment (SGA) into well-nourished (A), mildly-to-moderately malnourished (B), and severely malnourished (C) groups. Mean serum bicarbonate and albumin concentrations were, for group A (n = 16), 23.5 mmol/L and 3.96 g/dL respectively; for group B (n = 17), 27.2 mmol/L and 3.50 g/dL respectively; and for group C (n = 10), 25.9 mmol/L and 2.9 g/dL respectively. In group A, mean serum bicarbonate was significantly lower, and albumin concentration significantly higher as compared with the other groups. Interestingly, of 9 patients with serum HCO3 < 22 mmol/L, 6 were in group A and 2 were in group B. Of 6 patients with serum HCO3 > 29 mmol/L, 5 were in group B and 4 were in group C. The data suggest that well-nourished PD patients tend to be more acidotic. Malnutrition in alkalotic PD patients may be due to low protein intake resulting in decreased acid production; however, an effect of alkalosis on protein metabolism cannot be excluded.
Tumours associated with BAP1 mutations

Summary BAP1 (BRCA1-Associated Protein 1) was initially identified as a protein that binds to BRCA1. BAP1 is a tumour suppressor that is believed to mediate its effects through chromatin modulation, transcriptional regulation, and possibly via the ubiquitin-proteasome system and the DNA damage response pathway. Germline mutations of BAP1 confer increased susceptibility for the development of several tumours, including uveal melanoma, epithelioid atypical Spitz tumours, cutaneous melanoma, and mesothelioma. However, the complete tumour spectrum associated with germline BAP1 mutations is not yet known. Somatic BAP1 mutations are seen in cutaneous melanocytic tumours (epithelioid atypical Spitz tumours and melanoma), uveal melanoma, mesothelioma, clear cell renal cell carcinoma, and other tumours. Here, we review the current state of knowledge about the functional roles of BAP1, and summarise data on tumours associated with BAP1 mutations. Awareness of these tumours will help pathologists and clinicians to identify patients with a high likelihood of harbouring germline or somatic BAP1 mutations. We recommend that pathologists consider testing for BAP1 mutations in epithelioid atypical Spitz tumours and uveal melanomas, or when other BAP1-associated tumours occur in individual patients. Tumour tissues may be screened for BAP1 mutations/loss/inactivation by immunohistochemistry (IHC) (demonstrated by loss of nuclear staining in tumour cells). Confirmatory sequencing may be considered in tumours that exhibit BAP1 loss by IHC and in those with equivocal IHC results. If a BAP1 mutation is confirmed in a tumour, the patient's treating physician should be informed of the possibility of a BAP1 germline mutation, so they can consider whether genetic counselling and further testing of the patient and investigation of their family is appropriate. Recognition and evaluation of larger numbers of BAP1-associated tumours will also be necessary to facilitate identification of additional distinct clinico-pathological characteristics or other genotype-phenotype correlations that may have prognostic and management implications.