Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A prospective investigation of the natural history of the long-term weekly symptomatic status of bipolar II disorder.

BACKGROUND This is the first prospective longitudinal study, to our knowledge, of the natural history of the weekly symptomatic status of bipolar II disorder (BP-II). METHODS Weekly affective symptom status ratings for 86 patients with BP-II were based on interviews conducted at 6- or 12-month intervals during a mean of 13.4 years of prospective follow-up. Percentage of weeks at each symptom severity level and the number of shifts in symptom status and polarity were examined. Predictors of chronicity for BP-II were evaluated using new chronicity measures. Chronicity was also analyzed in relation to the percentage of follow-up weeks with different types of somatic treatment. RESULTS Patients with BP-II were symptomatic 53.9% of all follow-up weeks: depressive symptoms (50.3% of weeks) dominated the course over hypomanic (1.3% of weeks) and cycling/mixed (2.3% of weeks) symptoms. Subsyndromal, minor depressive, and hypomanic symptoms combined were 3 times more common than major depressive symptoms. Longer intake episodes, a family history of affective disorders, and poor previous social functioning predicted greater chronicity. Prescribed somatic treatment did not correlate significantly with symptom chronicity. Patients with BP-II of brief (2-6 days) vs longer (> or =7 days) hypomanias were not significantly different on any measure. CONCLUSIONS The longitudinal symptomatic course of BP-II is chronic and is dominated by depressive rather than hypomanic or cycling/mixed symptoms. Symptom severity fluctuates frequently within the same patient over time, involving primarily symptoms of minor and subsyndromal severity. Longitudinally, BP-II is expressed as a dimensional illness involving the full severity range of depressive and hypomanic symptoms. Hypomania of long or short duration in BP-II seems to be part of the same disease process.
Value Creation from the Innovation Environment: Partnership Strategies in University Spin‐Outs

University spin‐out (USO) companies play an increasingly important role in generating value from radical, generic technologies, but this translation requires significant resources from other players to reach the market. Seven case studies illuminate how relationships with each type of partner can be leveraged to help the firm create value. We find that most firms in the sample are aware of the importance of corporate partners and actively seek to cultivate these relationships, but may not be taking full advantage of the resources available through nonparent academic institutions and other USOs with similar or complementary technologies.
Appearance, site of occurrence, and physical and clinical characteristics of oral carcinoma in Torino, Italy

The appearance, site of occurrence, and selected physical and clinical characteristics are reported for 102 symptomatic carcinomas diagnosed during a 30‐month period in Torino, Italy. Erythroplasia was a more significant visual component than leukoplakia, confirming the results of a previous study on asymptomatic cancer in a US population. Floor of the mouth, oral tongue, and soft palate complex accounted for 75% of all sites and 84% of sites if posterior pillar is excluded. Seventeen percent of the lesions were T1, 60% T2, and 23% larger than T2. Size of the lesion was associated with anterior or posterior position and the mobility of the structure, as well as with ulceration, bleeding, and lymphadenopathy (55% of cancers had no nodal involvement). Tumefaction, burning, and pain were the most frequently reported symptoms. About 50% of patients experienced a time lapse between onset of symptoms and final diagnosis of less than 3 months, and this proportion was higher among patients with T1 cancers.
Women Lawmakers, State Mandates and Women's Health

Abstract This research examines whether states with higher female representation in the legislature will be innovators in women's health policy. The issue of health policy was chosen due to increasing state legislative activity in health care, especially in response to citizen dissatisfaction with HMOs and PPOs. We use nine health policies to create an index of women's health mandates for the fifty states and Ordinary Least Squares Regression to test a number of explanations for policy adoptions. Previous research suggests women state legislators play an important role in placing policy issues of concern to women on the political agenda. Contrary to the literature and our expectations, female representation and leadership in state legislatures, the presence of a women's caucus, women chairs of health care committees, and the pace at which women have been elected to state legislatures over the past four decades were not related to policy adoptions. Similarly, the growth and size of the managed care industry did not explain the pattern of policy adoptions. What did seem to matter was the size of the medical establishment and Democratic party control. While women's interest groups may be critical in increasing awareness of the issues, findings of the empirical study suggest women's health policy is widely supported by both men and women state lawmakers. When the policies were disaggregated by type, the percentage of women in leadership positions was associated with the adoption of specific women's health policies with a univer-sal appeal, such as reconstructive breast surgery and extended maternity stays.
Strategic question in Indian banking sector: are Indian bank managers achievement oriented?

Purpose – David C. McClelland attributed India's slow economic development to the lack of people with the need for achievement (n‐ach). His argument is simple: if a nation develops a large number of people – especially managers, leaders and entrepreneurs – who are driven by motives to achieve, to build and develop things, then that resource (achievement‐oriented people) will generate economic development. India today is on a growth trajectory. It has a vast repertory of engineering, technical and managerial talents. But does the country have the so‐called achievement‐oriented managers to lead its enterprises to excel and compete in the emerging world order? This study is an inquiry into this phenomenon.Design/methodology/approach – The study draws a national sample of managers working in the banking sector and attempts to measure the distribution of achievement among them. The linkage between the achievement orientation of managers and their performance effectiveness is also explored.Findings – Though lim.
Impact of quality and environmental investment on business competitiveness and profitability in small service business: the case of travel agencies

There are few studies in the literature that examine the combined effect of quality and environmental policies on the financial performance of small service businesses. This gap becomes more evident in highly competitive segments with high mortality rates. This is the case of travel agencies in Spain. This study was carried out by analysing 198 surveys answered by managers of travel agencies, which represents the 5% of the sector. The data obtained were treated with structural equations. The results of this analysis do not find a direct relationship between the implementation of quality policies and financial performance. However, the data show a positive and indirect relationship between them, being both the improvement of the competitiveness as the implementation of environmental policies the mediators between quality and finance. In this sense, this study provides evidence that the commitment to sustainability can be a valid strategy to improve the financial performance of the company.
Antimicrobial susceptibilities of enterococci isolated from faeces of broiler and layer chickens

Enterococci were isolated from faecal droppings of chickens in broiler and layer farms and the susceptibilities to nine therapeutic antimicrobial agents and six growth‐promoting antibiotics were determined by the agar dilution method. Resistance to therapeutic antimicrobial agents such as ampicillin, clindamycin, erythromycin, streptomycin, tetracycline or tylosin was more frequent in enterococcal isolates from broiler farms than in those from layer farms. Resistance to ofloxacin was rare, occurring in only one (0·7%) of the Enterococcus faecium isolates from broiler farms. Resistance to growth‐promoting antibiotics such as avilamycin, salinomycin and virginiamycin was common among isolates from broiler farms. Of the E. faecium isolates from broiler farms, 12·4% were resistant to avilamycin and 27·4% were resistant to virginiamycin. Resistance to salinomycin was detected in all enterococcal species, ranging from 12·4% of E. faecium isolates to 50% of E. hirae isolates.
Short‐segment nerve conduction studies in ulnar neuropathy at the elbow

The aim of the study was to assess the diagnostic value of short‐segment nerve conduction studies (NCS) at 2‐cm intervals from 4 cm above to 4 cm below the medial epicondyle in a large group of patients with ulnar neuropathy at the elbow (UNE). Furthermore, we wanted to compare electrodiagnostic and clinical findings. We evaluated 73 arms in 70 patients with UNE and observed the following abnormalities on short‐segment NCS: focal conduction block (CB) in 1, focal CB with increased latency change in 34, and increased latency change alone in 25. Short‐segment NCS had an additional localizing value in 28 arms of the 37 patients (76%) with motor conduction velocity (MCV) slowing across the elbow only or with nonlocalizing electrodiagnostic findings. The lesion was located above the elbow in 32 arms (53%), at the epicondyle in 16 arms (27%), and below the epicondyle in 12 (20%) of the 60 arms with focal CB or increased latency change on short‐segment NCS. Patients with CB on routine and short‐segment NCS had muscle weakness significantly more often than patients without CB. Thus, short‐segment NCS are useful in localizing the lesion in patients with UNE and CB on routine NCS and have additional diagnostic value in patients with MCV slowing across the elbow or with nonlocalizing signs on routine nerve conduction studies. We recommend its use in all patients in whom UNE is suspected. Muscle Nerve, 2005
Teaching Children About Skin Cancer: The Draw‐and‐Write Technique as an Evaluation Tool

Abstract: Childhood exposure to sunlight is a risk factor for melanoma. To formulate a meaningful program to educate children about the ill effects of the sun, their extant knowledge base must be determined. We have used the “draw‐and‐write” technique to assess children's perceptions about the sun, suntans, and skin cancer. A total of 693 school children aged 4 to 13 years were asked to draw pictures and label them in response to a series of carefully worded questions. Awareness of the need to apply sunscreen increased from 44% in children aged 4 to 6 years to 95% in children aged 9 to 10 years. Ten percent of children aged 4 to 6 years already perceived a suntan as attractive. While almost all children were aware of the negative immediate effects of sun exposure, namely sunburn, just 30% of American children aged 11 to 13 were aware that sun exposure is a risk for skin cancer. No differences between boys and girls were seen. The “draw‐and‐write” technique allows assessment of the attitudes and perceptions of children regarding the sun and skin cancer. It also provides valuable information on which to base health education and evaluate its cost‐effectiveness.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a systematic review.

CONTEXT Throughout the past 40 years, a vast and sometimes contradictory literature has accumulated regarding hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a genetic cardiac disease caused by a variety of mutations in genes encoding sarcomeric proteins and characterized by a broad and expanding clinical spectrum. OBJECTIVES To clarify and summarize the relevant clinical issues and to profile rapidly evolving concepts regarding HCM. DATA SOURCES Systematic analysis of the relevant HCM literature, accessed through MEDLINE (1966-2000), bibliographies, and interactions with investigators. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION Diverse information was assimilated into a rigorous and objective contemporary description of HCM, affording greatest weight to prospective, controlled, and evidence-based studies. DATA SYNTHESIS Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a relatively common genetic cardiac disease (1:500 in the general population) that is heterogeneous with respect to disease-causing mutations, presentation, prognosis, and treatment strategies. Visibility attached to HCM relates largely to its recognition as the most common cause of sudden death in the young (including competitive athletes). Clinical diagnosis is by 2-dimensional echocardiographic identification of otherwise unexplained left ventricular wall thickening in the presence of a nondilated cavity. Overall, HCM confers an annual mortality rate of about 1% and in most patients is compatible with little or no disability and normal life expectancy. Subsets with higher mortality or morbidity are linked to the complications of sudden death, progressive heart failure, and atrial fibrillation with embolic stroke. Treatment strategies depend on appropriate patient selection, including drug treatment for exertional dyspnea (beta-blockers, verapamil, disopyramide) and the septal myotomy-myectomy operation, which is the standard of care for severe refractory symptoms associated with marked outflow obstruction; alcohol septal ablation and pacing are alternatives to surgery for selected patients. High-risk patients may be treated effectively for sudden death prevention with the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. CONCLUSIONS Substantial understanding has evolved regarding the epidemiology and clinical course of HCM, as well as novel treatment strategies that may alter its natural history. An appreciation that HCM, although an important cause of death and disability at all ages, does not invariably convey ominous prognosis and is compatible with normal longevity should dictate a large measure of reassurance for many patients.
Curcumin suppresses inflammatory cytokines and heat shock protein 70 release and improves metabolic parameters during experimental sepsis

Abstract Context: Curcumin has been reported to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and hypoglycaemic properties, besides reducing mortality in sepsis. Objective: This study evaluates the biological activities of a curcumin dispersion formulated by spray-drying in experimental sepsis. Materials and methods: Male Wistar rats were subjected to sepsis by caecal ligation and puncture (CLP), controls were sham operated. The animals were treated with curcumin dispersion (100 mg/kg, p.o.) or water for 7 days prior to CLP and at 2 h after surgery. One group was used to analyze curcumin absorption through HPLC; another had the survival rate assessed during 48 h; and from a third group, blood was collected by decapitation to analyze metabolic and inflammatory parameters. Results: The plasma curcumin levels reached 2.5 ng/mL at 4 h, dropped significantly (p < 0.001) at 6 h (1.2 ng/mL), and were undetectable at 24 h in both groups. Curcumin temporarily increased the survival rate of the septic rats by 20%. Moreover, it attenuated glycaemia (p < 0.05) and volemia (p < 0.05) alterations typically observed during sepsis, and decreased the levels of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-6 in plasma (p < 0.001) and peritoneal lavage fluid (p < 0.05) of septic rats. Serum HSP70 levels were decreased (p < 0.01) at 24 h after CLP. Discussion and conclusion: Our results show that the curcumin dispersion dose employed was not detrimental to the septic rats. In fact, it temporarily increased their survival rate, improved important metabolic parameters, reduced proinflammatory cytokines and HSP70 production.
Modelling Inflation Volatility

This paper discusses estimation of US inflation volatility using time varying parameter models, in particular whether it should be modelled as a stationary or random walk stochastic process. Specifying inflation volatility as an unbounded process, as implied by the random walk, conflicts with priors beliefs, yet a stationary process cannot capture the low frequency behaviour commonly observed in estimates of volatility. We therefore propose an alternative model with a change-point process in the volatility that allows for switches between stationary models to capture changes in the level and dynamics over the past forty years. To accommodate the stationarity restriction, we develop a new representation that is equivalent to our model but is computationally more efficient. All models produce effectively identical estimates of volatility, but the change-point model provides more information on the level and persistence of volatility and the probabilities of changes. For example, we find a few well defined switches in the volatility process and, interestingly, these switches line up well with economic slowdowns or changes of the Federal Reserve Chair. Moreover, a decomposition of inflation shocks into permanent and transitory components shows that a spike in volatility in the late 2000s was entirely on the transitory side and a characterized by a rise above its long run mean level during a period of higher persistence.
When Firms Talk, Do Investors Listen? The Role of Trust in Stock Market Reactions to Corporate Earnings Announcements

We examine whether the level of trust in a country affects investors' perception and utilization of information transmitted by firms through financial disclosure. Specifically, we investigate the effect of societal trust on investor reactions to corporate earnings announcements. We test two competing hypotheses. On the one hand, corporate earnings announcements are perceived as more credible by investors in more trusting societies and, therefore, elicit stronger investor reactions. On the other hand, societal trust mitigates outside investors' concern of moral hazard and reduces the value of corporate earnings announcements to them, thereby weakening their reactions to these events. We analyze the abnormal trading volume and abnormal stock return variance during the earnings announcement period in a large sample of firm-year observations across 25 countries, and we find that both measures of investor reactions to earnings announcements are significantly higher in more trusting countries. We also find that the positive effect of societal trust on investor reactions to earnings news is more pronounced when a country's investor protection and disclosure requirements are weaker, suggesting that trust acts as a substitute for formal institutions; when a country's average education level is lower, consistent with less educated people relying more on trust in making economic decisions; and when firm-level information asymmetry is higher, supporting the notion that trust plays a more important role in poorer information environments.
Impact of Third‐Party Contract Enforcement in Agricultural Markets—A Field Experiment in Vietnam

We study the effect of alleviating the information asymmetry regarding product quality that is widespread in contracts between agricultural producers and buyers in developing countries. Opportunistic buyers may underreport quality levels to farmers to reduce the price that they have to pay. In response, farmers may curb investment, thereby negatively affecting farm productivity. In an experiment, we entitle randomly selected smallholder dairy farmers in Vietnam, who are contracted by a large company, to independently verify milk testing results. Results indicate that treatment farmers use 12% more inputs, and they also increase their output significantly. Some wider research and policy implications are discussed.
Macrolide antibiotics allosterically predispose the ribosome for translation arrest

Significance Translation arrest regulated by nascent peptides and small cofactors controls expression of important genes, including medically relevant macrolide antibiotic resistance genes. The role of the cofactor for triggering this mechanism has remained enigmatic. Previous studies suggested that extensive interactions between the nascent chain and the antibiotic molecule juxtaposed in the ribosomal exit tunnel were critical for halting translation. However, here we show that the antibiotic induces stalling, even without significant contacts with the peptide, by allosterically altering the peptidyl transferase center. This finding unveils a previously unknown role of cofactors for translation arrest and demonstrates the existence of a functional link between the exit tunnel and the catalytic center of the ribosome. Translation arrest directed by nascent peptides and small cofactors controls expression of important bacterial and eukaryotic genes, including antibiotic resistance genes, activated by binding of macrolide drugs to the ribosome. Previous studies suggested that specific interactions between the nascent peptide and the antibiotic in the ribosomal exit tunnel play a central role in triggering ribosome stalling. However, here we show that macrolides arrest translation of the truncated ErmDL regulatory peptide when the nascent chain is only three amino acids and therefore is too short to be juxtaposed with the antibiotic. Biochemical probing and molecular dynamics simulations of erythromycin-bound ribosomes showed that the antibiotic in the tunnel allosterically alters the properties of the catalytic center, thereby predisposing the ribosome for halting translation of specific sequences. Our findings offer a new view on the role of small cofactors in the mechanism of translation arrest and reveal an allosteric link between the tunnel and the catalytic center of the ribosome.
Reliability and validity of the SKAMP rating scale in a laboratory school setting.

In children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the effects of methylphenidate were investigated in a pharmacodynamic comparison of placebo and the standard b.i. d. administration of methylphenidate. In each of these conditions, teachers completed ratings in classroom settings at times chosen to coincide with expected "peaks" and "troughs" of serum concentrations in the b.i. d. condition. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) revealed the expected differences between the two conditions in the laboratory classroom setting using standard rating scales (Conners and the IOWA Conners) and a new rating scale (the SKAMP), which specifically measures the classroom manifestation of ADHD. The psychometric properties of the SKAMP were evaluated by calculating test-retest reliability and by calculating correlations with the standard rating scales to establish concurrent validity.
Household ecological footprinting using a new diary-based data-gathering approach

Abstract Although the household level is recognized as a potentially important area for the application of ecological footprint (EF) analysis, almost no work has been reported in the academic literature on EF analysis at this level. This paper describes the application of a new, diary-based data acquisition methodology used in a component approach to estimate the EF of a small number of households in Aberdeen, Scotland. Feedback from householders indicated that the diary proved useful in educating participants about their environmental impacts and made EF findings convincing. The methodology was, however, time consuming for both participants and researchers, and it is concluded that future household level applications of EF analysis might combine a simplified diary with other forms of data acquisition. Findings also suggest that the presentation of EF results alone is unlikely to promote more environmentally conscious attitudes amongst householders unless specific EF components are identified for the householder to act upon.