Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combined use of chemotherapeutics and oncolytic adenovirus in treatment of AFP-expressing hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) which is always refractory to most chemotherapeutic agents may result in poor survival of patients with advanced HCC. Oncolytic adenovirus is a new form for cancer gene therapy via its ability to replicate and kill tumor cells in a tumor-specific manner. In order to eradicate tumors effectively, the combination of chemotherapeutic agents and oncolytic adenovirus has been considered. This study aimed to systematically analyze the possibility of synergistic cytotoxicity of oncolytic adenoviruses in combination with chemotherapeutic agents. METHODS Several types of human HCC cell lines were used to determine the specificity and cytotoxicity of oncolytic adenovirus Ad5-HC and Ad5-AFP (IRES) by measuring cell viability in vitro and antitumor efficiency in vivo. The cytotoxicity of Ad5-HC and Ad5-AFP (IRES) combined with chemotherapeutic agents were also assessed by the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay. RESULTS Both Ad5-HC and Ad5-AFP (IRES) were significantly cytotoxic to HCC cells with great specificity in vitro and in vivo. The combination of oncolytic adenovirus with 5-FU, doxorubicin, and paclitaxel was synergistically effective for the killing of HCC cells. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that oncolytic adenovirus sensitize tumors to chemotherapy and the combination therapy of chemotherapeutic agents and oncolytic adenovirus has an enhanced antitumor effect on HCC cells.
Changes in ‘Customary’ Resource Tenure Systems in the Inner Niger Delta, Mali

Abstract It is widely recognized that natural resource policies and laws must build on local concepts and practice, rather than importing one-size-fits-all models. This raises the need to ascertain what is happening to local resource tenure systems in rural Africa. In recent decades, important changes in economies and societies have taken place, including demographic growth, urbanisation, monetarisation of the economy, livelihood diversification, greater integration in the global economy, and cultural change – with major implications for local (‘customary’ but continuously reinterpreted and adapted) tenure systems. This paper explores change in ‘customary’ systems for managing grazing and agricultural lands in the Inner Niger Delta, Mali. It finds that customary rules and institutions have been profoundly affected by a century of change in the ecological, socio-economic and politico-institutional context. The authority and legitimacy of many chiefs have been eroded, resource access relations have become monetarised, and natural resource disputes have increased in both quantity and intensity. In this context, state legislation and greater use of courts have fostered the emergence of hybrids of both customary and statutory norms. The establishment of the rural communes endowed with (still unclear) natural resource management responsibilities has added complexity to the situation. A solid understanding of these issues and a clear vision as to how to tackle them are key to developing appropriate policies on land and resource tenure.
Direct‐to‐consumer prescription drug advertising: a study of consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions

– To determine whether direct‐to‐consumer prescription drug advertising influences consumers' behavioral intentions. , – Gathered data from 288 respondents using a pencil and paper mail survey. Respondents were asked about their knowledge and behavior regarding prescription drugs. , – Indicated that while consumers generally have favorable perceptions of prescription drug advertising, their behavioral intentions are nevertheless influenced by a heightened awareness of specific branded drugs. Consumers feel empowered by the information provided in direct‐to‐consumer advertising and they are concerned about governmental attempts to regulate prescription drug advertising. , – Data was collected from a relatively homogenous sample with respect to ethnicity. Future research efforts could include respondents from diverse ethnic backgrounds and could incorporate questions regarding respondents' actual behaviors with respect to branded prescription drug medications. , – Useful information for researchers, public policy makers and prescription drug manufacturers. Results suggest that consumer motivation to request branded drugs may be impacted by factors related to the quality of advertisements, trust in their physician, and personal competence. Consumer interest in advertised drugs may also depend on the strength of the relationship that they have with their physician. , – This research fills an identified gap in the literature. While researchers have examined consumers' general perceptions of direct‐to‐consumer prescription drug advertising, little research has been done on the link between consumer perceptions and behavioral intentions.
Costs, benefits and effectiveness of worksite physical activity counseling from the employer's perspective.

OBJECTIVES This study evaluated the impact of worksite physical activity counseling using cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses. METHODS Civil servants (N = 299) were randomly assigned to an intervention (N = 131) or control (N = 168) group for 9 months. The intervention costs were compared with the monetary benefits gained from reduced sick leave. In addition, the intervention costs minus the monetary benefits from sick leave reduction were compared with the effects (percentage meeting the public health recommendation for moderate-intensity physical activity, energy expenditure, cardiorespiratory fitness, and upper extremity symptoms). RESULTS The intervention costs were EUR 430 per participant, and the benefits were EUR 125 due to sick leave during the intervention period, for net total costs of EUR 305 for the intervention. During the same 9-month period the year after the intervention, the benefits from sick leave reduction were EUR 635. No statistically significant differences in costs and benefits were found between the groups. As to the cost-effectiveness, improvement in energy expenditure and cardiorespiratory fitness was observed at higher costs. The point estimates of the cost-effectiveness ratios were EUR 5.2 (without imputation of effect data) and EUR 2.7 (with imputation of effect data) per extra kilocalorie of energy expenditure per day and EUR 235 (without imputation of effect data) and EUR 45.9 (with imputation of effect data) per beat per minute of decrease in submaximal heart rate. CONCLUSIONS This study does not provide a financial reason for implementing worksite counseling intervention on physical activity on the short-term. However, positive effects were shown for energy expenditure and cardiorespiratory fitness.
Clusters of circulating tumor cells traverse capillary-sized vessels

Significance Metastasis is responsible for 90% of cancer-related deaths and is driven by tumor cells circulating in blood. However, it is believed that only individual tumor cells can reach distant organs because multicellular clusters are too large to pass through narrow capillaries. Here, we collected evidence by examining clusters in microscale devices, computational simulations, and animals, which suggest that this assumption is incorrect, and that clusters may transit through capillaries by unfolding into single-file chains. This previously unidentified cell behavior may explain why previous experiments reported that clusters were more efficient at seeding metastases than equal numbers of single tumor cells, and has led to a strategy that, if applied clinically, may reduce the incidence of metastasis in patients. Multicellular aggregates of circulating tumor cells (CTC clusters) are potent initiators of distant organ metastasis. However, it is currently assumed that CTC clusters are too large to pass through narrow vessels to reach these organs. Here, we present evidence that challenges this assumption through the use of microfluidic devices designed to mimic human capillary constrictions and CTC clusters obtained from patient and cancer cell origins. Over 90% of clusters containing up to 20 cells successfully traversed 5- to 10-μm constrictions even in whole blood. Clusters rapidly and reversibly reorganized into single-file chain-like geometries that substantially reduced their hydrodynamic resistances. Xenotransplantation of human CTC clusters into zebrafish showed similar reorganization and transit through capillary-sized vessels in vivo. Preliminary experiments demonstrated that clusters could be disrupted during transit using drugs that affected cellular interaction energies. These findings suggest that CTC clusters may contribute a greater role to tumor dissemination than previously believed and may point to strategies for combating CTC cluster-initiated metastasis.
Enterprise Security Architecture: A Business-Driven Approach

Executive Summary SABSA is a methodology for developing risk-driven enterprise information security and information assurance architectures and for delivering security infrastructure solutions that support critical business initiatives. It is an open standard, comprising a number of frameworks, models, methods and processes, free for use by all, with no licensing required for end-user organisations who make use of the standard in developing and implementing architectures and solutions1.
Torsion Sensor with Rotation Direction Discrimination Based on a Pre-twisted In-Fiber Mach–Zehnder Interferometer

We demonstrate a torsion sensor with rotation direction discrimination based on a pre-twisted core-cladding mode Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) fabricated in single mode fiber by twisting the fiber during CO2 laser irradiation to induce a permanent screw-type distortion at the two points of coupling between the core and cladding. The proposed sensor can measure the twist rate with a sensitivity of up to 10.35 nm/(rad/cm) and determine its rotation direction (i.e., clockwise or counterclockwise) simultaneously. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the torsion sensor can be enhanced by increasing the initial shear strain.
An analysis of consumer reactions to green strategies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of three green strategies on key consumer metrics. More specifically, it aims to measure consumers' purchase intentions of new green, recycled/refurbished products, green company processes and a non‐green product/process.Design/methodology/approach – Between subjects 2×2×4 experimental design with two levels of price (high and low), two levels of brand name (known and unknown) and four levels of green strategies.Findings – Purchase intentions for green product and process strategies are significantly higher than non‐green approaches. However, post‐hoc analysis shows no significant advantage of one green strategy over another. Price and brand name do not have significant interactive effects with green strategies.Practical implications – Although it is essential that companies develop green strategies for the eco consumer it is not important what specific strategy is selected i.e. going green is the key. Also, despite the continued growth in t.
Identification of the Major Protein Component of the Pneumococcal Eclipse Complex

ABSTRACT During genetic transformation of Streptococcus pneumoniae, single strands from native donor DNA enter competent cells, where they associate with an unidentified protein with a molecular mass of 15 to 20 kDa to form the eclipse complex. Using Western blotting, we identify the principal protein cofractionating with donor DNA in this complex as SsbB.
Occupational stress and constructive thinking: health and job satisfaction.

BACKGROUND Occupational stress is associated with specific situations, characteristics of the work environment, and individual perceptions and reactions in the context of the workplace, but many nursing studies of occupational stress have tended to analyse aspects related to the job itself. In Brazil nursing is acknowledged as a stressful occupation whose stresses are generally associated with the job itself, while the effects of personal characteristics on an individual's response to occupational stress are dismissed. AIMS The aim of this paper is to describe: (1) occupational stress, job satisfaction and state of health in Brazilian nurses, and (2) the relationship of these variables to a constructive thinking coping style. METHODS A correlational study was performed during 1999 with 461 nurses recruited from the public health and education system in the Federal District of Brazil. Instruments used were the Nursing Stress Inventory, Constructive Thinking Inventory, subscales of the Occupational Stress Indicator, and a researcher-designed questionnaire. RESULTS Normal distributions were found for occupational stress, state of health (physical and psychological), and job satisfaction. Results suggest that nurses have fewer psychological health problems and similar job satisfaction compared with other Brazilian government white-collar workers. Occupational stress was directly associated with state of health, and inversely associated with global constructive thinking and job satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS Brazilian nurses in this study seem to have adapted satisfactorily to their profession, but the finding that constructive thinking was significantly related to psychological ill-health, occupational stress and physical ill-health highlights a need to value individual coping styles in the work environment.
Minimizing supply chain disruption risk through enhanced flexibility

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of a strategic approach (contingency planning) to minimize risk exposure to a supply chain disruption. Specifically, the relationship between several attributes of a contingency planning process and flexibility are examined.Design/methodology/approach – This effort develops a model that will provide both researchers and practitioners a means of determining the attributes with the highest relationship to flexibility. The model is then tested using multiple regression techniques.Findings – Based on the sample used in this survey, top management support, resource alignment, information technology usage, and external collaboration provide the largest contributions to flexibility. Flexibility has been shown to enhance the ability to minimize risk exposure in the event of a supply chain disruption.Research limitations/implications – In this research effort, the multiple regression results produced an R2 of 0.45, indicating that additional variables of in.
Characterization of medroxyprogesterone and DMBA‐induced multilineage mammary tumors by gene expression profiling

Mouse mammary tumors arising during medroxyprogesterone‐DMBA‐mediated mammary carcinogenesis comprised three distinct phenotypes: adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and myoepithelial carcinoma. The molecular signature for each of the three tumor subsets was characterized by gene microarray analysis, and three distinct sets of gene expression profiles were obtained that were corroborated in part by quantitative RT‐PCR and immunohistochemistry. These results suggest that this carcinogenesis and gene expression model will be useful for rapidly assessing the histopathological differences arising in mammary carcinogenesis and the effects of tumor promoting or chemoprevention agents. Published 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Evaluating the Impact of the Payment System Reforms

On 31 October 2003 the average interchange fee for credit card transactions in Australia was lowered in a dramatic way – from 0.95% of transaction value to 0.55% of transaction value as part of a suite of credit card industry reforms, aimed squarely at reducing the attractiveness of credit card use relative to other payment instruments. This paper provides details of a battery of econometric tests indicating that this major set of credit card reforms in Australia failed to induce a negative structural break in credit card use. As well as tests assuming an exogenous break point we perform tests for a unit root versus the alternative of a single endogenously determined structural break and tests for a unit root versus the alternative of two endogenously determined structural breaks. The tests do not support a negative structural break in credit card usage levels, growth rates or market shares at the time of the reforms. They do however suggest a positive structural break in credit card accounts. * Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne. The author is also a casual employee of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The views expressed in this paper represent those of the author and should in no way be construed as representative of the above organizations. Responsibility for all errors and omissions lies with the author.
From Moment to Movement: Empowerment and Resilience as a Framework for Collective Action in Hong Kong

The Transconceptual Model of Empowerment and Resilience (American Journal of Community Psychology, 52, 2013, 333) suggests that a set of resilience and empowerment resources fuel both initial and sustained participation in collective action. Using the case study of a prodemocracy movement in Hong Kong, the present study focused on the subset of those resources that are relevant in ongoing collective action: efficacy, skills, and maintenance. As individuals possess varying combinations of these resources, the present study utilized latent profile analysis to test how patterns of empowerment and resilience resources influence initial and long-term collective action. Five groups were identified: (a) Uncommitted/Uninspired; (b) Committed to Status Quo; (c) Mainstream Populist; (d) Empowered; and (e) Ambivalent. ANOVA and ANCOVA analyses found that there are significant group differences in initial and long-term participation. Groups with higher level of resources reported greater levels of initial participation than their counterparts; however, high resource groups did not uniformly report greater levels of intention to participate in future collective action. Of the maintenance processes tested, collective identity emerged as a particularly important predictor differentiating initial and sustained participation. Findings from the present study raise questions about how individuals with multiple identities can come together and participate in collective action.
/ STRATEGIZING, ECONOMIZING, AND ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION

best strategy. That is not to say that strategizing efforts to deter or defeat rivals with clever ploys and positioning are unimportant. In the long run, however, the best strategy is to organize arid operate efficiently. Business strategy is a complex subject. It not only spans the functional areas in businessmarketing, finance, manufacturing, international business, etc.-but it is genuinely interdisciplinary-involving. as it does, economics, politics, organization theory, and aspects of the law. Business strategy has become increasingly important with the growth of the multinational enterprise and of international trade and competition. Although several different approaches to the substantive aspects of business strategy can be distinguished, the main contestants cluster under two general headings: strategizing and economizing. The first of these appeals to a power perspective; the second is principally concerned with efficiency. Both of these orientations are pertinent to the study . of business strategy, but power approaches have played a role in the recent business strategy literature that belies its relative importance. Partly that may be because the analysis of efficiency is believed to have reached such an advanced state of development that further work of this kind is not needed. Economizing is important, but we know all about that. What we don’t understand, and need to study, goes the argument, is strategizing. Not only is strategizing where many of the novel practices and new issues are said to reside, but the pressing realities of foreign competition are first and foremost of a strategizing kind. I take exception with arguments of both kinds. Thus, although it is true that efficiency analysis of the firm-as-production function genre has reached a high state of refinement, that does not exhaust all that is relevant to the assessment of efficiency. Efficiency analysis properly encompasses governance costs as well as production costs, and the analysis of comparative economic organization (governance) is still in
Advancing Sustainability in Private Higher Education through Quality Assurance: A Study of Two Malaysian Private Universities

This study investigated the motivational constructs expressed by the stakeholders of two private universities in Malaysia and examined how these constructs help in advancing sustainability of the universities through quality assurance. Results were based on the findings from interviews and analysis of the academic programme administrator survey results. The findings revealed that the motivations for the two private universities to implement quality assurance policy can either be extrinsic or intrinsic and they differ according to their institutitonal mission and goals. However, three motivations seemed to be in congruence for the two universities. They were compliance to the Malaysian Qualifications Agency’s requirements, competitiveness in higher education industry and internal continuous improvement which indicated important elements for the private institutions to remain self-sustained in the increasingly challenging industry.
Recognizing the Bias: Financial Cycles and Fiscal Policy

This paper argues that asset price cycles have significant effects on fiscal outcomes. In particular, there is evidence of debt bias—the tendency of debt to increase over the cycle— that is significantly larger for house price cycles than stand-alone business cycles. Automatic stabilizers and discretionary fiscal policy generally respond to output fluctuations, whereas revenue increases due to house price booms are largely treated as permanent. Thus, neglecting the direct and indirect impact of asset prices on fiscal accounts encourages procyclical fiscal policies.
Increasing hirsutism due to a granulosa-cell tumor in a woman with polycystic ovary syndrome: case report and review of the literature

Abstract Background: Granulosa-cell tumors (GCT), rare malignancies that arise from sex-cord stromal cells, account for less than 5% of ovarian tumors. These tumors present with an endocrine syndrome and mass signs. Surgery is the primary treatment approach. The risk of recurrence is more frequent in the juvenile-onset form. Case report: We report the case of an obese 18-year-old Caucasian women with hirsutism and oligomenorrhea. Abdominal palpation revealed a voluminous firm mass. Hormonal evaluation documented severe hyperandrogenism. The ovary-specific tumor marker CA125 was elevated, whereas human-chorionic-gonadotropin was in the normal range. Abdominal imaging examination revealed a 19 cm mass in the left ovary. Twenty-four hours after removal of the mass, menstrual flow reappeared and androgens progressively normalized. Microscopically, the predominant pattern was one of uniform, bland, epithelioid to spindle-shaped cells. After three months, a significant weight loss was recorded, hirsutism had decreased slightly and oligomenorrhea reappeared. Δ4-Androstenedione levels remained elevated (4200 ng/L), whereas CA125 had normalized. In light of the pre-existing polycystic-ovary-syndrome (PCOS), the patient started estrogen-progestin treatment. Conclusion: We report an interesting case of a woman with severe hirsutism due to GCT, and a history of oligomenorrhea caused by PCOS. After surgery, a dramatic clinical improvement was observed, whereas PCOS signs persisted.