Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dipyridamole-thallium scintigraphy and gated radionuclide angiography to assess cardiac risk before abdominal aortic surgery.

BACKGROUND Because many patients with atherosclerotic disease of the abdominal aorta also have coronary artery disease, assessment of cardiac risk before abdominal aortic surgery has received much attention. Our prospective study was designed to identify predictors of cardiac risk in consecutive patients evaluated preoperatively with dipyridamole-thallium single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT) to assess myocardial perfusion and radionuclide angiography to measure left ventricular ejection fraction. METHODS Clinical and scintigraphic data were collected prospectively during hospitalization in 457 consecutive patients undergoing elective abdominal aortic surgery. Adverse cardiac outcomes were predicted with multivariate analyses. RESULTS Eighty-six patients (19 percent) had one or more of the following postoperative complications: prolonged myocardial ischemia (61 patients), myocardial infarction (22), congestive heart failure (20), and severe ventricular tachyarrhythmia (2). Twenty patients died postoperatively (4.4 percent), half of them from cardiac causes. Information about myocardial perfusion obtained from dipyridamole-thallium SPECT did not accurately predict adverse cardiac outcomes. The best correlates of cardiac complications were definite clinical evidence of coronary artery disease (odds ratio, 2.6; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.6 to 4.3) and age greater than 65 years (odds ratio, 2.3; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.4 to 3.6). Measurement of the ejection fraction was useful only in the prediction of left ventricular failure. Age greater than 65 years was the only predictor of death (odds ratio, 26.4; 95 percent confidence interval, 3.5 to 200.0). CONCLUSIONS The presence of definite clinical evidence of coronary artery disease and older age were the most important preoperative predictors of an adverse cardiac outcome after abdominal aortic surgery. These results suggest that the routine use of dipyridamole-thallium SPECT and radionuclide angiography for screening before abdominal aortic surgery may not be justified.
Outsourcing of integrated logistics functions: An examination of industry practices

A survey of 372 logistics managers in different industries revealed multiple outsourcing linkages among logistics activities. These results are consistent with previous findings that suggest that firms can improve customer service and reduce costs by outsourcing multiple logistics functions. The results are also consistent with previous research on the role that improved coordination of information and material flows have in the achievement of economies of scale and economies of scope. Future research developments in the field of logistics outsourcing are also proposed.
Antiviral Action of Immune Lymphocytes in Mice Infected with Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus

Spleen cells from immunized mice were shown to have a strong antiviral action after transfusion into infected recipients. Spleen, liver, and lung titers in recipients were reduced within 24 hr, but there was no detectable effect on brain titer. Spleen cells were active if taken 6 days after infection of donors, when no antibody was detectable. Spleen cell activity was diminished, but by no means abolished, by treatment with potent anti-theta antibody. Immune spleen cells transferred to mice infected 3 days earlier induced early signs of sickness but no change in average survival time. Normal mice injected intracerebrally with a mixture of immune spleen cells plus virus showed unusually early illness and death.
Antitumor Activity of the Glutaminase Inhibitor CB-839 in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Glutamine serves as an important source of energy and building blocks for many tumor cells. The first step in glutamine utilization is its conversion to glutamate by the mitochondrial enzyme glutaminase. CB-839 is a potent, selective, and orally bioavailable inhibitor of both splice variants of glutaminase (KGA and GAC). CB-839 had antiproliferative activity in a triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell line, HCC-1806, that was associated with a marked decrease in glutamine consumption, glutamate production, oxygen consumption, and the steady-state levels of glutathione and several tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates. In contrast, no antiproliferative activity was observed in an estrogen receptor–positive cell line, T47D, and only modest effects on glutamine consumption and downstream metabolites were observed. Across a panel of breast cancer cell lines, GAC protein expression and glutaminase activity were elevated in the majority of TNBC cell lines relative to receptor positive cells. Furthermore, the TNBC subtype displayed the greatest sensitivity to CB-839 treatment and this sensitivity was correlated with (i) dependence on extracellular glutamine for growth, (ii) intracellular glutamate and glutamine levels, and (iii) GAC (but not KGA) expression, a potential biomarker for sensitivity. CB-839 displayed significant antitumor activity in two xenograft models: as a single agent in a patient-derived TNBC model and in a basal like HER2+ cell line model, JIMT-1, both as a single agent and in combination with paclitaxel. Together, these data provide a strong rationale for the clinical investigation of CB-839 as a targeted therapeutic in patients with TNBC and other glutamine-dependent tumors. Mol Cancer Ther; 13(4); 890–901. ©2014 AACR.
Cannabinoid/agonist WIN 55,212‐2 reduces cardiac ischaemia–reperfusion injury in Zucker diabetic fatty rats: role of CB2 receptors and iNOS/eNOS

Diabetes increases cardiac damage after myocardial ischaemia. Cannabinoids can protect against myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury. The aim of this study was to examine the cardioprotective effect of the cannabinoid agonist WIN 55,212‐2 (WIN) against ischaemia/reperfusion injury in an experimental model of type 2 diabetes. We performed these experiments in the Zucker diabetic fatty rat, and focused on the role of cannabinoid receptors in modulation of cardiac inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)/endothelial‐type nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression.
The Quality of Corporate Credit Rating: An Empirical Investigation

The quality of external credit ratings has scarcely been examined. The common thesis is that the rating firms' need for reputation and competitiveness in the rating industry force rating agencies to provide ratings that are efficient with respect to the information available at the time of rating. However, there are several reasons for doubting this thesis. In this paper I use survival analysis to test the quality of S&P corporate credit ratings in the years 1983-1993. Using sample data from 2631 bonds, of which 238 defaulted by 2000, I provide evidence that ratings could be improved by using publicly available information and that some categorizations of ratings were not informative. The results also suggest that ratings as outlined in S&P methodology were not fully adjusted to business cycles. The methodological contribution of this paper is the introduction of proportional hazard models as the appropriate framework for parameterizing the inherent ratings information.
Wages and diversity : evidence from minority MBA job officers

In this thesis, I develop a model for the economic impact of corporate ethnic diversity, and for the relationship between firm diversity and compensation offered to minority workers. I construct a sample of information from a survey of job offers made to graduating African-American MBAs that specifically exploits the presence of individuals with multiple job offers. Only by correcting for the quality of the candidate, can genuine inter-firm comparisons be made. Empirical testing of the data indicates a positive relationship between compensation and the career aspects of diversity (minority retention and promotion) and a negative one for the social, environmental components. This result suggests that diversity initiatives have heterogeneous impacts. While some policies are closely associated with providing worker utility (and thus appearing as a compensating differential), other policies (e.g., those which impact overall career paths) may be associated with increased productivity on the part of minority recruits. Thesis Supervisor: Scott Stern Title: Assistant Professor
MR-T2-weighted signal intensity: a new imaging biomarker of prostate cancer aggressiveness

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common solid neoplasm in males and a major cause of cancer-related death. Behaviour of PCa is dichotomous, as patients may either have an indolent clinical course or rapidly progress towards metastatic disease. Unfortunately, biopsy Gleason score (GS) may fail to predict cancer aggressiveness; tumour heterogeneity and inaccurate sampling during biopsy are major causes of underestimation. As a consequence, this frequently results in over-treatment, i.e. low-risk patients overcautiously undergo radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy, frequently with devastating side-effects. Some patients with PCa could be offered a more conservative approach if it were possible to predict patient risk confidently, especially in subjects lying in the grey zone of intermediate risk (i.e. GS = 7), which are in the majority. Recent studies have demonstrated that magnetic resonance (MR) imaging may help improve risk stratification in patients with PCa, providing imaging biomarkers of cancer aggressiveness. The aim of this study is to implement an automatic algorithm pipeline to discriminate different risks of progression from T2-weighted (T2-w) MR imaging. The obtained results confirm that T2-w signal intensity, together with other imaging biomarkers, may represent a new non-invasive approach to assess cancer aggressiveness, potentially helping to plan personalised treatments, and thus dramatically limiting over-diagnosis and over-treatment risks, and reducing the costs for the national healthcare system.
Predicting homebuyers’ intentions of inhabiting eco-friendly homes: The case of a developing country

Malaysian housing developers are still weighing the costs and benefits of building environmentally sensitive homes as many of them are concerned that there is not enough demand for these homes. The objective of this paper is to examine the relative importance of psychosocial, housing and demographic determinants in influencing intention to inhabit eco-friendly homes. The results indicated that a favorable attitude toward environmentally sensitive homes, high control in the ability to purchase sustainable homes, and the role of identification with green consumerism were statistically significant predictors of intention to inhabit such homes. However, social referents’ opinion relating to green and sustainable homes was not significantly related to the intention of inhabiting. The findings also indicated that owners of gated-guarded and detached dwellings, monthly household income and higher educational attainment were significantly related to the likelihood of residing in eco-friendly homes. Housing developers should have to take the lead to generate awareness of sustainability of green homes through education because increasing awareness creates demand for eco-friendly homes, which would in turn push house buyers to go green.
The Effects of Employment Protection Legislation on Indian Manufacturing

This paper extends an earlier critique (Bhattacharjea 2006) of the empirical literature on labour regulation and industrial performance in India, but focuses more narrowly on the impact of legal restrictions on layoffs, retrenchment and plant closures. After summarizing the earlier paper, it describes in detail the variability of employment protection regimes across Indian states attributable to court judgments, a key factor which other authors have ignored. The earlier literature has also ignored the possibility that firms may adapt to restrictions on labour flexibility via fragmentation and outsourcing of production. Some conclusions of the earlier studies are also undermined by lacunae in the official industrial statistics. The paper concludes by summarizing the results of an empirical exercise based on an alternative methodology.
How Does Foreign Bank Entry Affect Financial Inclusion in Emerging and Developing Economies?

An important dimension of the effects of foreign bank entry on financial sector development relates to that of financial inclusion. Despite its policy significance, the empirical literature offers little evidence on the impact of bank competition generally or foreign bank entry specifically on financial inclusion. This paper examines the relationship between foreign bank entry and financial inclusion for a panel of 57 emerging and developing economies over the period 2004-2009. The empirical findings suggest that foreign banks have a positive impact in furthering financial inclusion, though the relationship turns negative when foreign bank entry is followed by greater banking concentration.
A Theoretical Framework for Strategic Use of the Web among Nonprofit Organizations

The diffusion of advanced Internet-based technologies, in particular the World Wide Web (Web), provides new ways for nonprofits to innovatively and creatively confront the complex challenges faced by their current operating environment. The forces at play include decreased government funding, increased demand for programs and services, decline in civic participation, and increased public demand for greater oversight and accountability. Unfortunately, many nonprofits lack the organizational and technological capacity necessary to exploit the strategic potential of the Web. This phenomenon has been coined the organizational digital divide – the inequalities between organizations in society that can strategically use the Web to support their mission and those that cannot. In order to better understand the factors that contribute to the organizational digital divide, we develop a theoretical framework that explains why some nonprofits can strategically use the Web to advance their mission and goals, while others cannot. We conclude with strategies for bridging the organizational digital divide.
Perinatal risk factors for neurocognitive impairments in preschool children born very preterm

Aim This study aimed to compare a broad array of neurocognitive functions (processing speed, aspects of attention, executive functioning, visual–motor coordination, and both face and emotion recognition) in very preterm and term‐born children and to identify perinatal risk factors for neurocognitive dysfunctions.
The myeloma cell antigen syndecan‐1 is lost by apoptotic myeloma cells

Syndecan‐1 is a cell membrane proteoglycan that binds extracellular matrix components and various growth factors. It is expressed only on malignant plasma cells in bone marrow samples from patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Several reports have suggested that syndecan‐1 was present only on a part of the myeloma cells. By using either IL‐6‐dependent myeloma cell lines or primary myeloma cells stained by annexin V, we report here that syndecan‐1 was rapidly lost by myeloma cells undergoing apoptosis. In the same experimental conditions, expression of other cell membrane antigens such as CD38, HLA class‐I or CD49d on apoptotic myeloma cells was not affected. In addition, we show that syndecan‐1 loss was independent of activation of the gp130 IL‐6 transducer. Dexamethasone induced a strong apoptosis of myeloma cells associated with the loss of syndecan‐1. Finally, by using freshly‐explanted tumoural samples, we show that syndecan‐1 rapidly disappeared from myeloma cells in association with induction of apoptosis. In conclusion we showed that syndecan‐1 is a marker for viable myeloma cells which is rapidly lost by apoptotic cells. These results emphasize the usefulness of anti‐syndecan‐1 antibodies to purge tumoural cells from haemopoietic grafts or to purify these cells for further manipulations for immuno or gene therapies.
Can Demand from China Shield East Asian Economies from Global Slowdown?

This paper quantifies how much of exports from eight East Asian economies were consumed by consumers in China, US, Japan, other developed economies, and the rest of the world. We control for the indirect exports through China, i.e., the parts and components that East Asian economies exported to China and subsequently re-exported to other countries. A unique firm-level database is utilised to get an accurate measure for such indirect exports. The main findings are: (i) US consumers still account for more exports from East Asian economies than Chinese consumers do, and the total gross exports from East Asian economies to China overstate the importance of final demand from China; and (ii) the share of exports from East Asia that were consumed by the US, Japan, other OECD countries, and China did not change drastically from 2000 to 2006. Chinese consumers did become more important, noticeably for Japan and Korea, but even in these two countries, the magnitude of change is only about 5-6 percentage of their total exports. These findings indicate that the final demand side of trade in East Asia has changed only moderately since 2002.
Causes of death of HIV-infected persons in Ottawa, Ontario, 1984-1995.

BACKGROUND Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has become a leading cause of death of young men in the United States. With the introduction of prophylaxes and antiretrovirals for opportunistic infection, there have been significant changes in the clinical history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. OBJECTIVE To determine the cause of death of the patients followed up by our clinic from 1984 to 1995. METHODS A critical chart review was performed on the records of all patients affiliated with the Ottawa General Hospital HIV/AIDS Clinic, Ottawa, Ontario, who died between 1984 and July 15, 1995. Data regarding the cause of death, last CD4 T-lymphocyte cell count before death, medication use at time of death, and location and year of death were collected. Data were analyzed for 1984 through 1988, 1989 through 1991, and 1992 through 1995, corresponding to the evolution of HIV-related medical care. RESULTS The median CD4 T-lymphocyte cell count at death had declined. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia has decreased significantly as cause of death (28.6%-3.8%, P < .001). No other specific attributable terminal illness has decreased in frequency during 11 years. The wasting illnesses, particularly HIV wasting syndrome (3.6%-13.7%, P = .04), and untreatable illnesses have increased in frequency as causes of death. Patients are increasingly likely to die at home (0%-25%, P < .001) and less likely to die in hospital (54%-35%, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS The HIV-infected persons are dying with more advanced HIV immunosuppression. Advances in P carinii pneumonia prophylaxis and treatment have had a dramatic effect on the cause of death of HIV-infected persons. Improved prophylaxis and treatment for non-P carinii pneumonia opportunistic infections and malignancies and HIV wasting syndrome are required.
New paradigms in the management of diverticular disease.

colonic diverticulum is a saccular outpouching of the colonic wall. iverticula may be “false,” containing mucosa and muscularis mucosa, or true,” containing all layers of the bowel wall. Although the terms iverticulosis, diverticulitis, and diverticular disease are often used nterchangeably, in this monograph, diverticulosis refers to the presence f diverticula within the colon in the absence of inflammation. Diverticlitis refers to the presence of peridiverticular inflammation and infection nd diverticular disease refers to the range of problems that may be aused by diverticula. Diverticular disease represents a wide spectrum of conditions ranging rom mild left lower quadrant pain and bloating to free perforation with eritonitis and sepsis. These presentations have typically been classified nto complicated or uncomplicated disease. Complicated presentations of iverticular disease refer specifically to episodes of perforation, obstrucion, stricture, fistula, or hemorrhage. Diverticular hemorrhage is associted with diverticulosis and not diverticulitis. Other presentations includng those patients with fever, leukocytosis, and left-sided abdominal pain ith an inflammatory phlegmon are considered uncomplicated disease. This monograph examines the current evaluation and treatment of acute iverticulitis. The management of this common condition has changed onsiderably since the previous monograph on colonic diverticular isease.
3574 Zebrafish Lmx 1 b . 1 and Lmx 1 b . 2 are required for maintenance of the isthmic organizer

An error in Figure 1 of the article was not corrected before going to press. The sequence of Lmx1b.1 in Fig. 1A has a number of mistakes and, as a result, one entry of the matrix in Fig. 1B is also incorrect, as is the statement about sequence identity in the text on p. 3165. Zebrafish Lmx1b.1 and Lmx1b.2 share 81% identity, and not 77% identity as previously stated. The correct figure is printed below. The authors apologise to readers for these mistakes.
WHERE DO WOMEN FEATURE IN PUBLIC TRANSPORT

This paper addresses women and the public transport business environment. It considers the current position of women, changes that have occurred over time and those that are sought for the future. Women's transport needs are distinct from those of men and they are poorly met by current transport policy and provision. The transport world has been slow to see the relevance of women, women's needs or women's issues to planning and decision-making. To a certain extent, this is because there has been a culture pervading the industry which believed the product should be its focus with people, the staff who produce it or the customers who buy it, being incidental. But no product has value until it is sold. In public transport, we as operators produce vehicle kilometers and then sell a proportion of these as passenger kilometers. It must be our major aim to sell the product rather than to produce it. Service design, therefore, should be about tailoring the service to the customer's needs rather than trying to entice customers to use an inappropriate service. Getting the product right in the urban transit context means supplying the type of service the market wants at a price it is willing to pay. Women are significantly in the majority as public transport users so planning and service design for women is essentially about ensuring the delivery of quality services to the real world. However, for decades transit service designers have focused on producing the product rather than selling the product with the result that they bear no resemblance to what is wanted or needed by women. The fact that women are woefully under-represented as professionals and as service providers in the industry is also a major contributing factor. Workforce gender segregation within public transport management and operations is central to the debate of adequately catering for women's needs both as employees and customers. In examining workforce statistics for 5 major public transit providers from various Australian States, it is hoped to provide an insight on where women do-and don't-feature in the Australian transit industry.