Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diagnostic value of serum adenosine deaminase activity in HIV infected patients of Kurdish population.

BACKGROUND Adenosine deaminase (ADA) is a hydrolytic enzyme involved in the deamination of adenosine to inosine. ADA is involved in T-lymphocyte differentiation and development. This study was aimed to determine the diagnostic value of the adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity test for the diagnosis of HIV positive patients in the Kurdish population. METHODS This descriptive analytical case-control study was performed on 30 healthy and 60 HIV positive subjects. Blood CD4+ cell count was recorded and serum total ADA, and ADA1 and ADA2 isoenzyme activities were determined. RESULTS Serum total ADA and ADA2 isoenzyme activity was significantly higher in HIV positive patients than in healthy subjects. CD4+ cell counts markedly decreased in all patients and showed a significant inverse correlation with ADA activities. Using a cut-off level of 36.52 U/L and 30.98 U/L for serum total ADA and ADA2, respectively, sensitivity and specificity were 90.9% and 90.27% for total ADA and 93% and 90% for ADA2, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Serum ADA was significantly increased in HIV infected patients. Therefore, because of its low cost and simplicity to perform, ADA activity might be considered a useful diagnostic tool among the other markers in this disease.
Brokerage and Closure: An Introduction to Social Capital

When writing can change your life, when writing can enrich you by offering much money, why don't you try it? Are you still very confused of where getting the ideas? Do you still have no idea with what you are going to write? Now, you will need reading. A good writer is a good reader at once. You can define how you write depending on what books to read. This brokerage and closure an introduction to social capital can help you to solve the problem. It can be one of the right sources to develop your writing skill.
Idea management for organisational Innovation

Modern organisations are under ever increasing competitive pressure to maintain market share, enhance product range, improve efficiency and reduce cost. The process by which organisations attain these improvements is through innovation. Over recent years, significant research has focused on the issue of managing the process of developing ideas towards eventual organisational innovations. However, the process by which these ideas are generated and effectively managed is one which currently operates in an "ad hoc" fashion. This paper strives to present a structured and holistic approach to managing idea generation. A literary survey of both innovation and creativity is undertaken to determine their inter-relationships and core traits. Following this, a methodology is presented to facilitate the organisational management of the "Idea Generation" process. An integrated software tool to support the process is also introduced. The purpose of this tool is to provide an infrastructure for the effective management of ideas and their transfer to the larger innovation process.
Vasopressin in Rats With Genetic and Streptozocin-Induced Diabetes

Rats were administered streptozocin (STZ; 50 or 75 mg/kg i.v., tail vein) or vehicle. Approximately 2 wk later, venous and arterial catheters were implanted for subsequent (24 h later) vasopressin, electrolyte, and hemodynamic measurements. STZ-induced diabetic (STZ-D) rats demonstrated a dose-dependent increase in the plasma glucose concentration, plasma osmolality, and plasma vasopressin concentration. Mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) was unchanged, but heart rate was reduced. Diabetes-prone BB rats, maintained on or withdrawn from insulin treatment for 24–48 h, and diabetes-resistant rats were instrumented and studied as above. Spontaneous-diabetes–prone rats demonstrated increases in plasma glucose concentration and plasma osmolality similar to STZ-D rats but had significantly greater plasma vasopressin concentrations. The significant decrease in MABP observed in these animals probably contributed to the enhanced vasopressin response. We conclude that both osmotic and cardiovascular parameters play important roles in vasopressin secretion in diabetic rats.
The Causes of Chronic and Transient Poverty and Their Implications for Poverty Reduction Policy in Rural China

The study focuses on two components of total poverty: chronic and transient poverty, and investigates their relative importance in total observed poverty, as well as the determinants of each components. We found that transient poverty accounts for a large proportion of total poverty observed in the poor rural areas of China. By analyzing the determinants of the two types of poverty, we found that household demographic characteristics, such as age of the head of households, family sizes, labour participation ratio, and educational level of the head of the households, are very important to the poverty status of households. These factors matter more to chronic poverty than transient poverty, and have greater impacts on the poverty measured by consumption than that measured by income. Besides the demographic factors of households, other household factors like physical stocks, the composition of income, and the amount of cultivated lands also have significant effects on both chronic and transient poverty. It is also confirmed that change in cash holding and saving and borrowing grain are used by rural households to cope with income variation and smooth their consumption. Attributes of community where the households reside are also important to poverty. With very few exceptions, we did not find that poverty programs have significant impact on poverty reduction at the households' level. We interpreted this as the poverty programs benefiting the wealthy more than the poor in a given poor area. The main reason for this could be that the implementation design of these programs fails to target the poor.
Bioactive tumor necrosis factor in the sputa of cystic fibrosis patients

Eighty sputum samples from 37 cystic fibrosis patients were assayed for tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in the L929 bioactivity assay. In addition, the presence of TNF-alpha-specific mRNA in the sputum was determined by using TNF-alpha-specific DNA probes in a PCR amplification step after reverse transcription of the mRNA to cDNA. Bioactive TNF-alpha was detected in 69 (86%) of the 80 sputum samples tested and, on at least one occasion, in 35 (95%) of the 37 cystic fibrosis patients sampled. The highest levels of TNF-alpha were observed in sputa obtained from patients presenting with an exacerbation of their disease.
From Blaming the Middle to Harnessing its Potential: Creating Change Intermediaries

Middle managers have been under attack as organizational downsizing and reengineering have reduced their number. They are also frequently portrayed as obstructive and resistant to change. However, recent research suggests that managers at middle levels in organizations may be able to make a strategic contribution. Data from research on how managers in an organization undergoing transformation experience change are used to build on this existing research to demonstrate that middle managers fulfil a complex 'change intermediary' position during implementation. The findings reveal that a key aspect of this position is the need for middle managers to engage in a range of activities to aid their interpretation of the change intent. This interpretation activity then informs the personal changes they attempt to undertake, how they help others through change, how they keep the business going during the transition and what changes they implement in their departments. The interpretation aspect of their role is often overlooked, leading to workload issues and role conflict. These findings offer an alternative perspective on perceived middle manager resistance and lead into suggestions for future research and organizational implications.
Serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism in African Americans : allele frequencies and implications for treatment.

BACKGROUND Americans of African ancestry are less likely to receive a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) for treatment of major depressive disorder than Americans of European ancestry. A functional insertion/deletion polymorphism in the promoter of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene SLC6A4 has been shown to modulate SLC6A4 transcription, affecting response to SSRIs. Several studies in populations of predominantly European ancestry have consistently found that the SLC6A4 promoter polymorphism (referred to as the 5-HTT-linked polymorphic region; 5-HTTLPR) long (L) allele is associated with better response to SSRI treatment than the short (S) allele. OBJECTIVE The frequency of SLC6A4 (5-HTTLPR) alleles in 865 black Americans and Afro-Caribbeans was examined to assess possible implications for treatment. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS SLC6A4 (5-HTTLPR) genotypes were determined in individuals with self-identified African ancestry from South Carolina (n = 489), western Pennsylvania (n = 207), and Tobago (n = 169). Frequencies were compared using chi-square analyses. RESULTS It was verified that the L allele is highly prevalent in Americans of African ancestry, ranging from 77% in western Pennsylvania to 87% in South Carolina. The frequency of the SLC6A4-(L) allele is significantly higher in African-Americans than has been reported for European-Americans (typically 56-60%). There are both statistically significant geographic differences and slight deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. CONCLUSIONS Given the potential influence on treatment response, these findings have implications for the use of SSRIs in this population. The results suggest that additional studies to examine the impact of these alleles on treatment response in African-Americans are warranted.
Maturity models: Blueprints for e‐Volution

To maximize the potential for the change to produce positive results, business leaders must appreciate the transformational stages, key interdependencies and interrelationships, and the impact they could have independently or in combination on eventual outcomes. This requires a thorough understanding of all of the factors – human, technological, process, and organizational – that are involved in the change cycle. The author describes a series of maturity models that provide some logic and a framework to support this complex task of continuous adaptation. The models were based on the premise that a true partnership between IT and non‐IT executives is fundamental to success in the twenty‐first century organization. They recognize that information technology and business objectives are interdependent, and therefore, separation of “best‐known practice” into IT and non‐IT categories would generally be counterproductive.
Tumor necrosis factor enhances glucose uptake by peripheral tissues.

Anesthetized dogs received a constant intravenous infusion of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or saline over 6 h. Glucose kinetics were studied by determining the rate of glucose turnover and hindlimb substrate flux. Cardiovascular responses were monitored and concentrations of counterregulatory hormones were also measured. TNF infusion caused a fall in blood glucose concentration from 4.6 +/- 0.1 to 3.9 +/- 0.2 mmol/l by 6 h (P less than 0.05). This mild hypoglycemia was associated with increased circulating levels of cortisol, glucagon, and epinephrine. The rate of glucose production increased from 26.5 +/- 2.1 to 32.5 +/- 0.7 mumol.min-1.kg body wt-1 (P less than 0.05) over the 6-h infusion period; this response was associated with increased glucose disappearance (26.4 +/- 2.2 to 32.7 +/- 0.9 mumol.min-1.kg body wt-1, P less than 0.05) and enhanced clearance (5.7 +/- 0.5 to 9.0 +/- 0.6 ml.min-1.kg body wt-1, P less than 0.05). As blood glucose levels fell, hindlimb glucose uptake and glucose clearance increased markedly in TNF-infused animals as compared with controls despite a 50% fall in mean serum insulin concentration. The exchange of lactate, pyruvate, and total amino acid nitrogen across the hindlimbs was similar in both groups of animals. However, arterial concentrations of lactate and pyruvate rose to two to three times their initial values. The hypoglycemia associated with the infusion of TNF results from a disparity between the rate of glucose appearance and disappearance. There is an increased uptake of glucose across the hindlimb; this response appears to be independent of insulin concentrations and may be related to direct effects of TNF. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Explaining Bank Productivity in Ghana

The objective of this paper is to examine productivity changes among Ghanaian banks. The Malmquist productivity index is employed to estimate total factor productivity changes and its components on a panel of 18 banks from 2003 to 2011. The results indicate that productivity growth was attributable to the catch‐up effect of efficiency changes. We also find productivity growth across three categories of bank size to be driven by efficiency changes. From a panel regression analysis, we identify size, concentration, income diversification and risk as the factors that explain productivity differences among Ghanaian banks. Recommendations for improving bank productivity are derived from the results. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Label Refinery: Improving ImageNet Classification through Label Progression

Among the three main components (data, labels, and models) of any supervised learning system, data and models have been the main subjects of active research. However, studying labels and their properties has received very little attention. Current principles and paradigms of labeling impose several challenges to machine learning algorithms. Labels are often incomplete, ambiguous, and redundant. In this paper we study the effects of various properties of labels and introduce the Label Refinery: an iterative procedure that updates the ground truth labels after examining the entire dataset. We show significant gain using refined labels across a wide range of models. Using a Label Refinery improves the state-of-the-art top-1 accuracy of (1) AlexNet from 59.3 to 67.2, (2) MobileNet from 70.6 to 73.39, (3) MobileNet-0.25 from 50.6 to 55.59, (4) VGG19 from 72.7 to 75.46, and (5) Darknet19 from 72.9 to 74.47.
Age of selection counts: a cross-country analysis of educational institutions

This paper adopts the stratification-standardization framework proposed by Allmendinger (1989) to analyze the effects of educational institutions and the organization of education on the inequality of opportunity and effectiveness of national education systems. The analyses are conducted on OECD countries participating in the Programme for International Student Asssessment (PISA) 2003 study (OECD, 2004c). The results indicate that educational stratification increases inequality of educational opportunity, while in general, standardization enhances equality. Stratification does not improve overall student performance, and the association between standardization and effectiveness is not straightforward. The most policy-relevant finding is that the early age of selection links closely with high inequality of opportunity.
How Reliable are the Findings of ‘Foreign’ Investor Studies that Use TIC Data? A Look from the Host Market

Empirical literature on foreign investors' trading in stock markets heavily relies on US Treasury International Capital (TIC) data. Biases in TIC data and the fact that it represents only one source country raise questions on how reliable the conclusions based on TIC data are. Employing novel data of complete foreign flows compiled at destination, we answer these questions. Although the correlations between net flows derived from TIC and destination-compiled data are low, and visible differences exist in some individual country results, TIC findings are not far off in central tendency. Notably, however, net foreign flows' persistence, positive response to world returns and positive contemporaneous correlation with local returns are more significant than TIC data suggest. Measurement noise in TIC data appears to result in underestimation of these key features.
Posthaemorrhagic ventricular dilatation: new mechanisms and new treatment

Post haemorrhagic ventricular dilatation is associated with a high rate of disability, multiple impairments and adverse effects of shunt surgery for hydrocephalus. Post haemorrhagic ventricular dilatation results initially from multiple small blood clots throughout the cerebrospinal fluid channels impeding circulation and re‐absorption. Transforming growth factor β is released into the cerebrospinal fluid and there is evidence that this cytokine stimulates the laying down of extracellular matrix proteins which produce permanent obstruction to the cerebrospinal fluid pathways. Prolonged raised pressure, pro‐inflammatory cytokines and free radical damage from iron may contribute to periventricular white matter damage and subsequent disability. Interventions such as early lumbar punctures, diuretic drugs to reduce cerebrospinal fluid production and intraventricular fibrinolytic therapy have been tested and, not only fail to prevent shunt dependence, death or disability, but have significant adverse effects. Surgical interventions such as subcutaneous reservoir, external drain, choroid plexus coagulation and third ventriculostomy have not been subject to controlled trial. Ventriculoperitoneal shunt is not feasible in the early phase after intraventricular haemorrhage but, despite the problems with blockages and infections, remains the only option for infants with excessive head expansion over periods of weeks. We have piloted drainage, irrigation and fibrinolytic therapy as a way of removing blood early enough to stop the progressive deposition of matrix proteins, permanent hydrocephalus and shunt dependence.
Arteriovenous fistula thrombosis in patients on regular hemodialysis: a report of 171 patients.

BACKGROUND Fistula thrombosis in patients on maintenance hemodialysis is an important morbidity factor. Arterial or venous thrombotic events have been described as complications in patients on regular hemodialysis. This study was designed to evaluate the risk factors for arteriovenous fistula thrombosis. METHODS One hundred and seventy-one patients with arteriovenous fistula on maintenance hemodialysis were studied prospectively during a period of 14 months for any episode of arteriovenous fistula thrombosis, after anticardiolipin antibodies were assayed by ELISA. Other risk factors for thrombosis such as the presence of diabetes or hypertension, the use of erythropoietin (rhEPO), fistula site, gender, age, ultrafiltration, hypotension during dialysis, and the number of dialysis visits in a week were assessed. RESULTS Fifty-six percent of patients had IgG-anticardiolipin antibodies > or = 10GPL, which was significantly correlated with dialysis duration (23.18 +/- 24.56 months in patients with anticardiolipin antibodies < or = 10GPL vs. 37.73 +/- 36.35 months in patients with 20 < or = IgG-anticardiolipin antibodies < 40GPL). Within the 14 months of follow-up, 36 episodes of arteriovenous fistula thrombosis occurred in 31 patients (18.1%). Considering anticardiolipin antibodies and other risk factors in a Cox proportional hazard model, only fistula site (P = 0.021, RR = 2.48, Cl = 1.14 - 5.37) and erythropoietin (Eprex) use (P = 0.021, RR = 10.92, Cl = 1.43 - 83.02) seemed to have an influence on fistula patency. According to fistula site, the survival of brachiocephalic fistulas were significantly (P = 0.007) better than radiocephalic ones (1- and 3-year survival were 95% and 87% for upper, and 88% and 72% for lower ones, respectively). CONCLUSION Although the incidence of the anticardiolipin antibody was high in our patients, in the presence of other risk factors for thrombosis, we found no correlation between IgG-anticardiolipin antibodies and arteriovenous fistula thrombosis. Instead, erythropoietin (Eprex) use and fistula site seem to have an important role in the correlation between IgG-anticardiolipin antibodies and arteriovenous fistula thrombosis.
Communication in Repeated Games with Private Monitoring

Abstract The paper considers repeated games where each player can be observed by only a subset of the other players, and where players can make public announcements about the behavior of the players they observed. We address the following question: What is the minimal level of observability that is required to obtain efficient outcomes? The main result is that the limit set of sequential equilibrium payoffs, when the discount factor tends to one, contains the set of individual rational payoffs whenever each player is observed by at leasttwoother players.Journal of Economic LiteratureClassification Number: C73.
In Vitro Strand Exchange Promoted by the Herpes Simplex Virus Type-1 Single Strand DNA-binding Protein (ICP8) and DNA Helicase-Primase*

The genome of herpes simplex virus type-1 undergoes a high frequency of homologous recombination in the absence of a virus-encoded RecA-type protein. We hypothesized that viral homologous recombination is mediated by the combined action of the viral single strand DNA-binding protein (ICP8) and helicase-primase. Our results show that ICP8 catalyzes the formation of recombination intermediates (joint molecules) between circular single-stranded acceptor and linear duplex donor DNA. Joint molecules formed by invasion of a 3′-terminal strand displaces the non-complementary 5′-terminal strand, thereby creating a loading site for the helicase-primase. Helicase-primase acts on these joint molecules to promote ATP-dependent branch migration. Finally, we have reconstituted strand exchange by the synchronous action of ICP8 and helicase-primase. Based on these data, we present a recombination mechanism for a eukaryotic DNA virus in which a single strand DNA-binding protein and helicase cooperate to promote homologous pairing and branch migration.
Rural elementary students', parents', and teachers' perceptions of bullying.

OBJECTIVE To examine the prevalence and correlates of bullying in 7 rural elementary schools from students', parents', and teachers' perspectives. METHOD Surveys were completed by 739 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students, 367 parents, and 37 teachers. RESULTS Students tended to report higher prevalence of bullying than did parents or teachers, and their reports were associated with aggression, attitudes toward violence, and perceptions of school safety. CONCLUSION Bullying behavior is prevalent in rural elementary schools and is indicative of aggression and proviolence attitudes. Parents and teachers need to pay closer attention to bullying behavior among schoolchildren and to impart their knowledge to children in a comprehensive, coordinated manner.
Teacher Written Feedback for L2 Learners' Writing Development

The article focuses on the importance of teacher writtenfeedback on L2 students’ writing development including its effects onboth students’ language accuracy and their motivation. It discussesstudents’ feedback preferences in terms of content, compares themethods of giving feedback, and suggests instructional practices tohelp teachers to provide effective written feedback for their students.Feedback can be given directly or indirectly. In order to give effectivewritten feedback, teachers should consider their students’ needs forerror correction and classroom realities. No matter what method is used,it is important for teachers in ESL and EFL settings to give students acrystal clear explanation. Also, teachers should include comments ofpraise and encouragement in their written feedback because positivefeedback can boost student motivation to improve their writing skills. Key Words: Teacher feedback; Writing; L2