Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Skin Reactions During Anti-TNF&agr; Therapy for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A 2-year Prospective Study

Background:Although the development of therapy-related skin reactions is common along with an increase in the number of adult patients receiving anti-TNF&agr;, there are few studies on pediatric inflammatory bowel disease; hence, this prospective study focuses on skin reactions related to infliximab therapy. Methods:All pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease undergoing infliximab therapy were prospectively screened for the presence of skin manifestations at the time of each infusion between March 1, 2011 and March 31, 2011 at Children's Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. Blood inflammatory markers and fecal calprotectin levels were measured at the time of infusions. Results:During the study period, 84 children with inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's n = 64) received infliximab infusions (the median duration of therapy 12.2 mo). Almost every other patient (n = 40; 47.6%) presented chronic skin reactions, 23% with lesions considered severe. Most commonly, the patient's ear lobes and scalp were affected with psoriasis-like manifestations, followed by their eyelids, perioral and pubic area, trunk, and the extremities. However, an HLA-Cw*0602 genotype associating with psoriasis was rare. Interestingly, most patients with skin reactions had a low degree of intestinal inflammation based on their fecal calprotectin levels (median level, 133 &mgr;g/g versus 589 in unaffected patients; P < 0.016). Seven patients (8.3% of all patients but 17% of those with skin lesions) discontinued the given therapy due to a skin reaction. Conclusions:Skin reactions are common during maintenance therapy with infliximab in pediatric patients. For most patients, skin reactions seem to correlate with a low level of intestinal inflammation. Although potentially harsh, skin lesions mostly allow continuation of infliximab.
Multiparametric or practical quantitative liver MRI: towards millisecond, fat fraction, kilopascal and function era

ABSTRACT Introduction: New advances in liver magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may enable diagnosis of unseen pathologies by conventional techniques. Normal T1 (550–620 ms for 1.5 T and 700–850 ms for 3 T), T2, T2* (>20 ms), T1rho (40–50 ms) mapping, proton density fat fraction (PDFF) (≤5%) and stiffness (2-3kPa) values can enable differentiation of a normal liver from chronic liver and diffuse diseases. Gd-EOB-DTPA can enable assessment of liver function by using postcontrast hepatobiliary phase or T1 reduction rate (normally above 60%). T1 mapping can be important for the assessment of fibrosis, amyloidosis and copper overload. T1rho mapping is promising for the assessment of liver collagen deposition. PDFF can allow objective treatment assessment in NAFLD and NASH patients. T2 and T2* are used for iron overload determination. MR fingerprinting may enable single slice acquisition and easy implementation of multiparametric MRI and follow-up of patients. Areas covered: T1, T2, T2*, PDFF and stiffness, diffusion weighted imaging, intravoxel incoherent motion imaging (ADC, D, D* and f values) and function analysis are reviewed. Expert commentary: Multiparametric MRI can enable biopsyless diagnosis and more objective staging of diffuse liver disease, cirrhosis and predisposing diseases. A comprehensive approach is needed to understand and overcome the effects of iron, fat, fibrosis, edema, inflammation and copper on MR relaxometry values in diffuse liver disease.
Effect of multilevel laboratory rat caging system on the well-being of the singly-housed Sprague Dawley rat

Current regulations emphasize that good husbandry practices allow animals to engage in species appropriate postural adjustments without touching the enclosure walls. This study evaluated the well-being of rats housed in a commercially available multilevel rat caging system, with or without access to the upper level of the caging. The evaluation methodologies included assessment of behavioral observations in the home cage, physiological assessment of metabolism and immune function, and determination of the affective state using a spatial cognitive bias assay. The study determined that rats that were provided access to the full multilevel cage during testing after initial restriction to the lower level of the cage demonstrated behavioral changes consistent with a positive affective state, while those with no changes to their housing situation had no significant differences in their affective states. Rats that were consistently housed with access restricted to the lower level of the cage exhibited a tendency to increased neutrophil:lymphocyte ratios as compared with those provided with access to all levels of the multilevel cage. There were no differences in body weight demonstrated between the experimental groups. Overall use of the cage space, as documented through analysis of behavioral observations in the home cage, demonstrated no significant differences in preferred location in the cage during the light or dark cycles, though rats with access to both levels of the cage were significantly more active during the light cycle. The results of this study suggest that the use of a multilevel caging system may improve the well-being of rats used in research.
Value At Risk, Minimum Capital Requirement And The Use Of Extreme Value Distributions: An Application To BRICS Markets

This paper uses closing prices of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) financial markets to implement a risk model that generates point estimates of both Value at Risk (VaR); and Expected Shortfall (ES). The risk model is thereafter backtested using three techniques namely the Basel II green zone, the unconditional test, and the conditional test. We first filter the log-return data using an Autoregressive Regression model (AR) of order one for the conditional mean and an Exponential Generalised Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity of order one (EGARCH 1,1) for the conditional variance. We thereafter fit the filtered returns by using the Generalised Pareto Distribution (GPD) model before we compute both VaR and ES estimates. We find that the use of the GPD is well suited to financial markets that are highly exposed to global financial risks. Our results show that both VaR and ES estimates for South Africa are very low when compared with those of other BRICS financial markets. We argue that South Africa’s credit and loan regulations, pioneered by the National Credit Regulator (NCR), might have decreased its exposure to global financial risks. The resulting minimum capital requirement values are found to be significantly different depending on whether the Variance-Covariance or the GPD methodology is used. The backtesting methodologies show that the VaR model used in the paper is more robust and practically reliable.
China's policies on foreign‐invested travel agencies upon its entry to the WTO: What can foreign investors do?

Purpose – Based on the commitments made when it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, China began to allow the establishment of foreign‐invested travel agencies. During this transition period, China promulgated travel service‐related policies and paid a great deal of attention to this specific business market. This paper aims to analyze the said tourism policies and provide suggestions to foreign investors for their future business activities in this promising market.Design/methodology/approach – The study uses both primary and secondary data to specify China's policies on foreign‐invested travel agencies upon its accession to the WTO and discuss foreign investors' entry modes and operating strategies for joining the market. Hall's model is employed to examine the policy‐making process, including policy demands, policy decisions, policy outputs, and policy impacts.Findings – Some foreign investment‐related tourism policies were implemented ahead of the schedule to which China committed upon i.
Corporate entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship related to innovation behaviour among employees

Corporate entrepreneurship is recognised as a strategy which organisations can exercise to achieve innovation and growth, likewise intrapreneurship is recognised as a tool for employees who want to realise their entrepreneurial vision. This article compares the definitional issues of these two terms and relates them to innovation behaviour among employees. Terms describing organisational change related to innovation behaviour among employees are used inconsistently and interchangeably. When theoretical terms are broadly defined, they have the tendency to exhibit low internal consistency and researchers have difficulties using them adequately. It is therefore valuable to specify and contrast the used terms with their relatives. This theoretical article utilises three brief case studies to show the implications of the definitions of corporate entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship and employee innovation behaviour. The article argues that the theoretical models that are used in studies of innovation behaviour determine the findings and the explanations possible.
Technology and healthcare costs

Medicine in the 21st century is increasingly dependent on technology. Unlike in many other areas, the cost of medical technology is not declining and its increasing use contributes to the spiraling healthcare costs. Many medical professionals equate progress in medicine to increasing use of sophisticated technology that is often expensive and beyond the reach of the average citizen. Pediatric heart care is very technology-intensive and therefore very expensive and beyond the reach of the vast majority of children in the developing world. There is an urgent need to address this situation through development and use of appropriate technology in accordance with the needs and priorities of the society. A number of simple and inexpensive quality measures that have the potential of improving outcomes substantially without the need for expensive equipment should be instituted before embracing high-end technology. Innovations to reduce costs that are commonly used in limited resource environments should be tested systematically.
Economic growth and the environment in China: An empirical analysis of productivity

China is an economic powerhouse with annual economic growth averaging close to 9% over the last 25 years. However, as a result of this extremely rapid economic growth, the scale and seriousness of its environmental problems are clearly evident. Consequently, a number of environmental problems, including growing energy consumption, heavy reliance on coal and increasing air pollution are threatening China's sustainable future. The principal focus of this paper is to measure total factor productivity within a joint-production model that considers both market and environmental pollution variables and employs unique province-level secondary industry data over the period 1992-2003. The results indicate that although China began implementing new environmental policies in the late 1970s, and although the stringency of these regulations is increasing, there is no short-term positive benefit associated with their implementation. However, some environmental productivity measures, such as wastewater treatment, have exhibited an increase in managerial efficiency.
Clival marrow changes in AIDS: findings at MR imaging.

PURPOSE To determine the prevalence and clinical significance of marrow changes in the clivus identified at magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). MATERIALS AND METHODS MR images of the head of 119 patients with AIDS and 119 control subjects were retrospectively reviewed. Marrow signal intensity patterns in the clivus of each patient were evaluated and scored as type 1 (homogeneous high signal intensity on T1-weighted images [normal]), type 2 (heterogeneous low signal intensity on T1-weighted images [abnormal]), or type 3 (homogeneous low signal intensity on T1-weighted images [abnormal]) and correlated with clinical parameters including CD4 counts, evidence of previous systemic disease, and presence of coexistent disease on corresponding MR head images. RESULTS Abnormal clival signal intensity (type 2 and 3) was observed in 64 (54%) patients with AIDS and nine (7.5%) control subjects (P < .001), correlating with both a marked decrease in CD4 count (P < .001) and the presence of systemic disease (P < .001). CONCLUSION Clival marrow signal abnormality is commonly identified in patients with AIDS and may be a marker of advanced disease.
Indicators and Tests of Sustainability: The Italian Case

The issue of sustainability of Italian fiscal policy in the period 1970-2006 is studied with two instruments: indicators and tests. The indicators Primary Gap, Tax Gap developed by Chouraqui et al. (1990) and S2 by the European Commission show a nonsustainable fiscal policy. Tests of sustainability following Trehan and Walsh (1988), Hakkio and Rush (1991) and Bohn (2008) show an opposite result accepting the sustainability path of fiscal variables. According to the strategy proposed by De Luzenberger and Marini (1993) a Chow-type test, that confirms a systematic change of fiscal policy in 1992-1993, permits to discern the two conflicting results in favour of the indicators’ response.
On Using Linear Regressions in Welfare Economics

It is argued that ordinary least squares regression coefficients are weighted average of slopes between adjacent sample points. When applied to linear regressions, with income as the independent variable, the coefficients depend heavily on the slopes of high income groups. This may be undesirable, if the regression is used for welfare analysis, because the marginal propensities to consume attributed to the commodities are determined by the high-income groups. Alternative estimators that enable the investigator to control the weighting scheme and to incorporate his social views into the weighting scheme of the estimators are proposed.
Transfer of Teacher Training Skills in Classroom

Teacher training helps to increase teaching and learning process in the classroom. Its impact in classroom situation brings a good result in all teaching learning process and children’s overall development. However, in spite of the intensive teacher training, the public school’s achievements seem poor day by day in the context of Nepal. Many factors play the role to transfer the training skills to the classroom successfully. The effect of training in teaching and learning denotes the betterment of overall situation of classroom activities. So this article highlights on the existing situation of teacher training and the transfer of its skills in the classroom. Academic Voices, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012, Pages 69-73 DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3126/av.v2i1. 8292
Use of Microfluidic Technology To Analyze Gene Expression during Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm Formation Reveals Distinct Physiological Niches

ABSTRACT The Staphylococcus aureus cid and lrg operons play significant roles in the control of autolysis and accumulation of extracellular genomic DNA (eDNA) during biofilm development. Although the molecular mechanisms mediating this control are only beginning to be revealed, it is clear that cell death must be limited to a subfraction of the biofilm population. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that cid and lrg expression varies during biofilm development as a function of changes in the availability of oxygen. To examine cid and lrg promoter activity during biofilm development, fluorescent reporter fusion strains were constructed and grown in a BioFlux microfluidic system, generating time-lapse epifluorescence images of biofilm formation, which allows the spatial and temporal localization of gene expression. Consistent with cid induction under hypoxic conditions, the cid::gfp fusion strain expressed green fluorescent protein predominantly within the interior of the tower structures, similar to the pattern of expression observed with a strain carrying a gfp fusion to the hypoxia-induced promoter controlling the expression of the lactose dehydrogenase gene. The lrg promoter was also expressed within towers but appeared more diffuse throughout the tower structures, indicating that it was oxygen independent. Unexpectedly, the results also demonstrated the existence of tower structures with different expression phenotypes and physical characteristics, suggesting that these towers exhibit different metabolic activities. Overall, the findings presented here support a model in which oxygen is important in the spatial and temporal control of cid expression within a biofilm and that tower structures formed during biofilm development exhibit metabolically distinct niches.
The soft foundation of the critical success factors on TQM implementation in Malaysia

The literature review concludes that TQM is a proven systematic approach to the improvements of the organisation’s overall business process, including quality of products and services. Organisational lack of information and data on the critical success factors are an obstacle in implementing TQM effectively and successfully. This study has developed a TQM soft model which is fit for application. It has considered the needs and limitation of Malaysian industries and facilitates TQM activities. The study has examined the relationship between the soft elements of critical success factors on TQM tangible effects, influences by soft elements activities such as culture, trust, teamwork, employment continuity, education and training, top management leadership for quality and continuous improvement, employee involvement and customer satisfaction/ involvement. Three main research methods were adopted in developing the TQM soft model: a postal questionnaire survey, a structured interview and the practical implementation of the model at a manufacturing company. Multiple regression analysis and binomial testing are used to analyse the data.
Parasitic Enteritis in Superb Lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae)

Ten free-living superb lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae) from forest habitat in southern Victoria, Australia were examined at necropsy over a 10 yr period. The acantho-cephalan Plagiorhynchus menurae was identified in two lyrebirds from forest habitat in southern Victoria, Australia. There was necrotic enteritis in the duodenum associated with the acanthocephalans, with secondary bacterial involvement. The lesions probably resulted in the observed emaciation and debilitation of the birds. Probably the forest-floor habitat and insect diet of lyrebirds exposes them to these infections.
The topography and significance of extratemporal hypometabolism in refractory mesial temporal lobe epilepsy examined by FDG‐PET

Purpose: This study aims to map the temporal and extratemporal 18‐fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG‐PET)–defined hypometabolism in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). We hypothesize that quantitative analysis will reveal extensive extratemporal glucose hypometabolism (EH), that the EH is related to seizure propagation beyond the temporal lobe, hypometabolism restricted to one temporal lobe predicts a good outcome following surgery, and EH predicts a poor outcome.
Moral Hazard with Soft Information

We study a model of moral hazard with soft information: the risk-averse agent takes an action and she alone observes the stochastic outcome; hence the principal faces a problem of ex post adverse selection. High-power contracts may not be appropriate when information is soft. The optimal truth-telling mechanism with audit requires a two-part tariff to be offered to the agent. The fixed component affords the agent a constant ex post information rent, which weakens the ex ante incentives for effort. We then establish an equivalence between a truthful mechanism and the general mechanism, for the agent’s payoff set and action choice. For the principal a truth-telling mechanism strictly dominates because it shields the agent from variations in the ex post payoffs. In that sense the optimal contract is unique.
Dynamics of Leadership in Public Service: Theory and Practice

Eminently readable, current, and comprehensive, Dynamics of Leadership in Public Service sets a new standard for instruction in college and professional courses on leadership, management, and organizational effectiveness. The text is exceptionally well organized, with key sections on leader assessment, characteristics, behaviors, styles, leadership theory, and evaluation and development. The author's comprehensive leadership action cycle provides an easy-to-follow theme for the entire book.
Post-extinction conditional stimulus valence predicts reinstatement fear: Relevance for long-term outcomes of exposure therapy

Exposure therapy for anxiety disorders is translated from fear conditioning and extinction. While exposure therapy is effective in treating anxiety, fear sometimes returns after exposure. One pathway for return of fear is reinstatement: unsignaled unconditional stimuli following completion of extinction. The present study investigated the extent to which valence of the conditional stimulus (CS+) after extinction predicts return of CS+ fear after reinstatement. Participants (N = 84) engaged in a differential fear conditioning paradigm and were randomised to reinstatement or non-reinstatement. We hypothesised that more negative post-extinction CS+ valence would predict higher CS+ fear after reinstatement relative to non-reinstatement and relative to extinction retest. Results supported the hypotheses and suggest that strategies designed to decrease negative valence of the CS+ may reduce the return of fear via reinstatement following exposure therapy.
Ensemble of SVM for Accurate Traffic Sign Detection and Recognition

Automatic traffic sign detection and recognition plays a very significant role in advance driver assistance system and intelligent transportation system. In this paper, approach for circular traffic sign detection and recognition is proposed. The entire performance of the proposed system is calculated on German Traffic Sign Detection Benchmark (GTSDB) and German Traffic Sign Recognition Benchmark (GTSRB) datasets. Traffic signs are detected on color images based on RGB color thresholding technique and further detecting circle using circular Hough Transform. In traffic sign recognition, features are extracted using Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HOG) and strong components of the image are selected by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and classified using Ensemble of SVM as the size of the dataset is increasing day by day. Results obtained undergoes statistical test showing the better performance of the algorithm proposed.
COST FUNCTIONS AND COST EFFICIENCY IN ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION: A STOCHASTIC FRONTIER APPROACH

The paper develops a cost frontier model of electricity distribution and estimates it on data for the 12 regional electricity companies of England and Wales. It is found that some significant cost drivers in cross-section estimation are insignificant when the model is estimated on panel data, highlighting the well-known drawbacks of cross-section estimation. Panel data estimation suggests that the main determinants of distribution operating costs are the number of customers in the area and simultaneous maximum demand. These results and the efficiency rankings of the companies are not sensitive to changes in error distribution assumptions and sample size. There is also significant evidence of economies of scale. There is a small but significant effect on cost efficiency from privatization, but this is as likely to be due to the changes in accounting policies as the time of privatization as any real effect. Copyright 1996 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the Board of Trustees of the Bulletin of Economic Research