Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical Utility of Wireless Capsule Endoscopy: Experience With 200 Cases

Goals: To evaluate the indications and diagnoses made with 200 small bowel capsule endoscopies in an academic medical center. Background: Wireless capsule endoscopy (PillCam SB) has recently become available as a new tool in the evaluation of patients with small bowel diseases. Its impact on patient care and usefulness in clinical practice has steadily been gaining ground, yet there are few studies that evaluate large numbers of patients. Methods: A retrospective review of wireless capsule endoscopies was performed between September 2003 and January 2005. Reviewed are the indications for the studies, number of complete and incomplete examinations, evaluation of gastric and small bowel transit times, findings made on examination, and the percent of diagnoses made and diagnoses suspected for each study indication. Results: A total of 200 cases were reviewed. Indications included anemia (66% of cases), gastrointestinal hemorrhage (31% cases), abdominal pain (21% cases), diarrhea (11% cases), and other indications such as evaluation of abnormal radiographic findings or surveillance of inflammatory bowel disease (9% cases). The average patient age was 61.5 years (SD ± 19.1 years). Males comprised 49% of patients. The wireless capsule endoscopy study completely evaluated the entire small bowel in 87% of cases. The most common cause for an incomplete examination was premature battery failure in 8% of cases. Only 9.5% of studies were normal without findings. Small bowel ulcerations were present in 38% of studies. Vascular ectasias were present in 23% of studies. Overall, a diagnosis was made in 23% of all studies, whereas a diagnosis was suspected based on the findings in an additional 31% of studies. The indication with the highest percentage of diagnoses made or suspected was gastrointestinal hemorrhage, with a diagnostic yield of 65%, followed by anemia 61%, diarrhea 36%, and pain 17%. Conclusions: Wireless capsule endoscopy is a valuable diagnostic tool in the evaluation of occult small bowel lesions, and was most effective in patients with gastrointestinal hemorrhage and anemia.
An Empirical Model For The Turkish Trade Balance: New Evidence From Ardl Bounds Testing Analyses

In this paper, the determinants of the Turkish trade balance are tried to be analyzed in an empirical modelling approach. For this purpose, the contemporaneous ARDL-based bounds testing has been used to examine the existence of a long run co-integration relationship between the variables of our interest. The estimation results indicate that real exchange rate depreciations improves the trade balance in a strong and significant way, that domestic real income affects the trade balance negatively, and that trade balance is strongly improved due to an increase in foreign real income. No significant effect of crude oil prices can be observed on trade balance. The error correction modeling gives results in line with the long run findings of the co-integration analysis.
Nursing students’ perspectives on clinical education

Introduction: The importance of optimal clinical nursing education in professional skills development is undeniable. In clinical education, nursing students are often faced with problems. Recognizing nursing students’ perception on clinical education is the first step to remove the barriers of this challenge. Methods This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the nursing students’ perspectives on clinical education. 150 nursing students were selected randomly from nursing and midwifery schools (Tehran). Data collection instrument was a researcher made questionnaire consisting of five domains: objective and curricula, instructor, feedback to student in clinical field, clinical environment, supervision and evaluation. Mean and standard deviation were calculated for each item, using SPSS, ver.14. Chi- square test was used to compare the nursing students’ perspectives on clinical education based on age, sex and the work experience. The significance level was considered 0.05. Results: Mean age of the students was 21.58±26.97 students (66%) were male. 44 students (30.1%) had work experience (3.58±6.48 month). Male and female students had different perceptions in domains of clinical education (p<0.05). Nursing student had different perceptions as to objectives and curricula (p=0.039), how to deal with students in the clinical environment (p=0.032), supervision, and evaluation (p<0.001) with respect to their work experience duration. The most positive responses were in clinical instructor (81.5%) and the most negative ones were the clinical environment (33.66%), respectively. Conclusion: Providing an optimal clinical environment and improving the supervision and evaluation of student practice should prioritized in schools of nursing and midwifery.
Amino acid function relates to its embedded protein microenvironment: A study on disulfide‐bridged cystine

In our previous study, we have shown that the microenvironments around conserved amino acids are also conserved in protein families (Bandyopadhyay and Mehler, Proteins 2008; 72:646–659). In this study, we have hypothesized that amino acids perform similar functions when embedded in a certain type of protein microenvironment. We have tested this hypothesis on the microenvironments around disulfide‐bridged cysteines from high‐resolution protein crystal structures. Although such cystines mainly play structural role in proteins, in certain enzymes they participate in catalysis and redox reactions. We have performed and report a functional annotation of enzymatically active cystines to their respective microenvironments. Three protein microenvironment clusters were identified: (i) buried‐hydrophobic, (ii) exposed‐hydrophilic, and (iii) buried‐hydrophilic. The buried‐hydrophobic cluster encompasses a small group of 22 redox‐active cystines, mostly in alpha‐helical conformations in a –C‐x‐x‐C‐ motif from the Oxido‐reductase enzyme class. All these cystines have high strain energy and near identical microenvironments. Most of the active cystines in hydrolase enzyme class belong to buried hydrophilic microenvironment cluster. In total there are 34 half‐cystines detected in buried hydrophilic cluster from hydrolases, as a part of enzyme active site. Even within the buried hydrophilic cluster, there is clear separation of active half‐cystines between surface exposed part of the protein and protein interior. Half‐cystines toward the surface exposed region are higher in number compared to those in protein interior. Apart from cystines at the active sites of the enzymes, many more half‐cystines were detected in buried hydrophilic cluster those are part of the microenvironment of enzyme active sites. However, no active half‐cystines were detected in extremely hydrophilic microenvironment cluster, that is, exposed hydrophilic cluster, indicating that total exposure of cystine toward the solvent is not favored for enzymatic reactions. Although half‐cystines in exposed‐hydrophilic clusters occasionally stabilize enzyme active sites, as a part of their microenvironments. Analysis performed in this work revealed that cystines as a part of active sites in specific enzyme families or folds share very similar protein microenvironment regions, despite of their dissimilarity in protein sequences and position specific sequence conservations. Proteins 2016; 84:1576–1589. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Community organizing for urban school reform

* Acknowledgments * Introduction * Part I. Origins *1. The Contemporary Context *2. Moving Schools into the Power Arena * Part II. Developing Civic Capacity *3. Morningside Middle School: Starting a Path for Change *4. Jefferson Davis High School: The Struggle for Reform *5. Ysleta Elementary School: From Parental Engagement to a New School *6. Zavala Elementary School: Learning the Tools of Democracy *7. San Antonio: Building Networks of Reform throughout the City *8. Texas: Alliance Schools throughout the State * Part III. Analysts and Critique *9. Resistance to Change *10. The Pursuit of Success *11. "A Great Truth Wants to Be Criticized" *12. Building Laboratories of Democracy * Notes * Bibliography * Index
Does FDI inflow crowd out domestic investment in Korea

This paper provides empirical evidence on the dynamic relationship between inward foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth and domestic investment in Korea for the period 1985‐1999. By employing a vector autoregression model and the innovations accounting techniques, we explore dynamic interactions between inward FDI, domestic investment and output. We find that FDI has some positive effects on economic growth, but its effects seem to be insignificant. On the other hand, economic growth is found to have statistically significant and highly persistent effects on the future level of FDI. Although FDI is exogenous contemporaneously, we find that FDI shows strong dynamic endogeneity to domestic macroeconomic conditions, which has not been uncovered in previous works. Our finding does not support the view that FDI crowds out domestic investment in Korea.
Sub-lethal Effects of Diazinon on Hematological Indices and Blood Biochemical Parameters in Indian Carp, Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton)

Indian carp (Cirrhinus mrigala) exposed to two sub-lethal concentrations (0.815 mg/L and 1.63 mg/L) of diazinon for 30 days showed a significant decrease in erythrocyte count, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, plasma levels of total protein, albumin, globulin, activity of enzyme acetylcholinesterase and a significant increase in plasma glucose levels when compared with controlled fish (P<0.05). Compared to the controlled fish, leukocyte count decreased significantly in fish exposed to both sub-lethal concentrations and the plasma activities of enzyme asparate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase increased significantly after 20 and 30 days in fish exposed to 0.815 mg/L of diazinon, while the activities of these enzymes in fish exposed to 1.63 mg/L of diazinon increased significantly at all sampling periods (P<0.05). On the other hand, the plasma activity of the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase decreased significantly in both diazinon treated fish groups after 10 days of exposure (P<0.05) and returned to the normal value after 20 and 30 days of exposure. In conclusion, long-term exposure to diazinon at sub-lethal concentrations induces severe physiological alterations in C. mrigala that may potentially disrupt their survival in their natural habitat.
The Benefits of Structured Data across the Information Supply Chain: Initial Evidence on XBRL Adoption and Loan Contracting of Private Firms

A growing body of literature documents how different parties benefit from structured data across the information supply chain. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of voluntary adoption of the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) on price and non-price terms of loan contracting. Using a sample of Belgian private firms, the analyses provide evidence that banks charge lower interest rate spreads to voluntary adopters as compared to non-adopters. The results also show that loan sizes are larger in comparison for voluntary adopters of XBRL. Further, the effect of XBRL adoption is stronger for opaque firms. The results are robust to using different estimation approaches as well as additional tests. The findings are in line with the view that XBRL data filings reduce information processing costs, and contribute to our understanding of the impact of structured data on loan contracting – an implication that may be of interest to regulators and other parties interested in the benefits of structured data across the information supply chain.
Amiodarone and Itraconazole: A Rational Therapeutic Approach for the Treatment of Chronic Chagas’ Disease

In the Americas, approximately 20 million people suffer from the chronic phases of Chagas’ disease, of which chagasic cardiomyopathy is the most important clinical feature. The elimination of Trypanosoma cruzi is a pivotal step in arresting the evolution of the disease. Unfortunately, currently available chemotherapy is mostly ineffective due to its limited efficacy and toxic side effects. The following case highlights the efficacy of new diagnostic and follow-up methods in the evaluation of novel trypanocidal compounds such as amiodarone and itraconazole.
Promoter polymorphism of the erythropoietin gene in severe diabetic eye and kidney complications

Significant morbidity and mortality among patients with diabetes mellitus result largely from a greatly increased incidence of microvascular complications. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and end stage renal disease (ESRD) are two of the most common and severe microvascular complications of diabetes. A high concordance exists in the development of PDR and ESRD in diabetic patients, as well as strong familial aggregation of these complications, suggesting a common underlying genetic mechanism. However, the precise gene(s) and genetic variant(s) involved remain largely unknown. Erythropoietin (EPO) is a potent angiogenic factor observed in the diabetic human and mouse eye. By a combination of case–control association and functional studies, we demonstrate that the T allele of SNP rs1617640 in the promoter of the EPO gene is significantly associated with PDR and ESRD in three European-American cohorts [Utah: P = 1.91 × 10−3; Genetics of Kidneys in Diabetes (GoKinD) Study: P = 2.66 × 10−8; and Boston: P = 2.1 × 10−2]. The EPO concentration in human vitreous body was 7.5-fold higher in normal subjects with the TT risk genotype than in those with the GG genotype. Computational analysis suggests that the risk allele (T) of rs1617640 creates a matrix match with the EVI1/MEL1 or AP1 binding site, accounting for an observed 25-fold enhancement of luciferase reporter expression as compared with the G allele. These results suggest that rs1617640 in the EPO promoter is significantly associated with PDR and ESRD. This study identifies a disease risk-associated gene and potential pathway mediating severe diabetic microvascular complications.
Business angels in Japan

The Japanese economy, which produced continued strong results through the 1980s on the basis of the competitiveness of Japanese big business, has stagnated since the early 1990s and has recently headed into recession. It is widely felt that Japan should encourage the development of new venture businesses as a new motor of economic growth and both government policy-makers and the Japanese private sector are making efforts to encourage the emergence of entrepreneurial businesses. In this context, the role of 'business angels'persons who provide initial start-up capital to entrepreneurial businesses- has attracted attention but, thus far, no research has been undertaken on this topic in Japan. This paper, which is the first detailed study of this subject, profiles potential and active Japanese business angels, examines their characteristics and evaluates their potential to spark the development of new venture businesses. The paper concludes by comparing Japanese business angels with their counterparts in North America and Western Europe.
On Knightian uncertainty models : optimal behavior in presence of model uncertainty

In the framework of Knightian uncertainty more precisely in the model introduced by Epstein and Schneider (2003) 3 different questions concerning the optimal behavior in presence of ambiguity are studied. The first part reformulates and solves Best Choice Problems in the multiple prior framework: An ambiguity averse decision maker aims to choose the best among a fixed number of applicants that appear sequentially in a random order. It shows that as in the classical case the derived stopping strategy is simple. However, ambiguity can lead to substantial differences to the classical threshold rule leading to later or earlier stopping. Second part analyzes several exotic options of American style in a multiple prior setting. It studies the optimal exercise strategy from the perspective of an ambiguity averse buyer in a discrete market model. The section provides the explicit form of worst-case measure for different classes of exotic options exploiting the observation that the options can be decomposed in simpler event-driven claims. The last part analyzes a static partial equilibrium model where the agents are not only heterogeneous in their beliefs about the return on risky assets but also in their attitude to it. While some agents in the economy are subjective utility maximizers others behave ambiguity averse in the sense of Knight (1921). If ambiguity averse agents meet overly optimistic subjective utility maximizers in the market lower equity premia can arise in the equilibrium than in a purely subjective utility framework.
Application of Photon-Counting X-ray Computed Tomography to Aluminum-Casting Inspection

One of the issues in the aluminum-alloy die casting industry is the space occurring inside the casting, and the improvement of the verification technology is expected. The purpose of this research is to seal holes inside the aluminum metal by resin and verify them by photon-counting X-ray computed tomography (CT) using an energy-discrimination 64-channel cadmium-telluride (CdTe) line detector. Moreover, it is important to estimate the image of the effective atomic number and the electronic density by the energy mapping of the attenuation coefficient utilizing photon-counting X-ray CTto distinguish both the aluminum metal and the resin filler in the aluminum hole. As a result, the energy discrimination of the resin filler in the space of aluminum casting has been attained. We could observe the atomic number image utilizing dual-energyX-ray CTmethod with the 64-channel CdTe photon-counting detector.
Toxicity and Repellency of Hot Pepper Extracts to Spider Mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch

Increasing concern about persistence and environmental impact of synthetic pesticide residues require development of biodegradable and environmentally safe alternatives. The potential of using fruit extracts of hot pepper as alternatives to synthetic acaricides for controlling the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is explored in this study. Twenty-four Capsicum accessions (Solanaceae) were screened for their toxicity and repellency to the spider mites. Crude extracts from fruits of C. chinense, C. frutescens, C. baccatum, C. annuum, and C. pubescens were prepared in methanol and tested for their acaricidal properties. Spider mite mortality was greatest (45%) when fruit extract of accession Grif-9169 (C. annuum) was used. Results from diving board bioassays indicated that mites avoided filter paper strips treated with hot pepper extracts from accessions PI-596057 (C. baccatum), PI-195299 (C. annuum), and Grif- 9270 (C. annuum). This investigation suggests that methanolic extracts of these three accessions may have a great potential for repelling spider mites and should be field-tested on a large-scale to assess their value in managing populations of spider mites, which could reduce reliance on synthetic acaricides. An attempt was made to correlate repellency with chemical constituents of fruit extracts of the most repellent accessions to identify chemical sources of repellency. Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, the pungent components of pepper fruit, were not correlated with toxicity or repellency, indicating that these are not likely related to the toxicity or repellency of the pepper fruit extracts. Other, unidentified chemicals are likely responsible for toxicity and repellency to the two-spotted spider mite
HRM in the SME sector: valuable employees and coercive networks

Although the productivity and survival of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may be enhanced if they adopt human resource management (HRM) practices, there is a far greater degree of informality in employment practices in SMEs than in larger workplaces. The aim of this paper is to assess the extent to which a range of factors both internal and external to the workplace predict the extent to which HRM practices have been adopted in SMEs. Using data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey, the analysis reveals that differences in workforce skill-mix, unionization and the customer base are important influences, with the first of these influences being particularly strong. As such, we suggest SMEs may lack the capability to develop HRM practices, but they are more likely to adopt such practices if they employ highly skilled employees and are networked to other organizations
Semiparametric quantile Engel curves and expenditure elasticities: a penalized quantile regression spline approach

This article estimates nonparametric Engel curves and expenditure elasticities by quantile for an exhaustive set of household expenditure categories using a novel estimation approach. Engel curves and expenditure elasticities are vital inputs to evaluating the effects of public policies. This article examines whether Engel curves and expenditure elasticities evaluated for an average individual are importantly different from the Engel curves and expenditure elasticities at the upper and lower quantiles.
Association between Helicobacter pylori infection and acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy

The aim of this study was to investigate a possible association between Helicobacter pylori infection and acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP). Of 17 consecutive patients with Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS), 13 patients (six females; mean age 50 ± 24 years) with AIDP were investigated. Clinical status was evaluated according to Hughes’ score, and electrophysiological tests were performed within 2 weeks from disease onset. Helicobacter pylori infection was detected histologically and serum H. pylori‐specific IgG antibodies were analysed by ELISA. Twenty asymptomatic patients (12 females; mean age 63 ± 8 years), undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for investigation of mild iron deficiency anaemia, served as controls. Helicobacter pylori was found in 12 of 13 AIDP patients (92%), and in 10 of 20 controls (50%), (P = 0.02). Electrophysiological studies showed demyelination in all AIDP patients. High levels of anti‐H. pylori IgG antibodies correlated with advanced clinical status. Five of seven AIDP patients with high levels of anti‐H. pylori IgG antibodies had delayed F‐wave latencies, indicating affection of proximal segments of peripheral nerves. Helicobacter pylori infection seems to be more frequent in AIDP patients. Anti‐H. pylori titre might reflect advanced clinical status. Anti‐H. pylori IgG antibodies are also associated with involvement of the proximal parts of peripheral nerves in AIDP.