Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Root compression on MRI compared with clinical findings in patients with recent onset cervical radiculopathy

Objectives To evaluate the occurrence of symptomatic and asymptomatic root compression caused by herniated discs and spondylotic foraminal stenosis by MRI in patients with recent onset cervical radiculopathy. Participants 78 patients with symptoms and signs of cervical radiculopathy of less than one month's duration. Methods The authors determined the clinically suspected level of root compression in each patient. Two neuroradiologists independently evaluated MRIs, blinded for the clinical findings. For each patient, the level of root compression on MRI was compared with the clinically affected level. The authors also examined the cause of compression: herniated disc, spondylotic foraminal stenosis or both. Results In 73% of patients, the clinically affected root was compressed on MRI. In 45%, MRI showed root compression without clinical substrate together with, or to a lesser extent without, the coexistence of compression of the clinically affected root. MRIs were assessed as normal in 13–15% of cases, and in 9–10% only asymptomatic roots were compressed. Herniated discs without spondylosis were more often responsible for root compressions only at the clinically affected level and spondylotic foraminal stenosis for multiple root compression including compression of clinically unaffected roots. Conclusion MRI findings in patients with cervical radiculopathy should be interpreted together with the clinical findings, as false-positive and false-negative MRIs occur rather frequently.
Wideband Circularly Polarized Vortex Surface Modes on Helically Grooved Metal Wires

We report the characteristics of a right-handed helically grooved metal wire waveguide. For the helically grooved waveguide, the normal degenerate HE1 spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) mode could be decomposed into two opposite circularly polarized modes, i.e., HE-1 and HE+1 SSPP modes, due to the chirality of helical grooves. The dispersion characteristics of the nondegenerate HE + 1 SSPP modes were numerically obtained, and their spiral electromagnetic distributions were also presented. It was found that the HE + 1 modes were circularly polarized; they were also vortex modes and possessed an orbit angular monument. In addition, the focusing characteristics of such waves near the waveguide end were investigated. The distinct advantages, such as a relatively long focusing length and the circular polarization of the chiral HE + 1 SSPP modes, make the helically grooved metal wire waveguide a potential for near-field circular dichroism detection.
Economic crisis and regional resilience: Evidence from Greece

Shift-share and input-output models are combined to explore the resilience of Greek regions to economic crisis. Model results indicate that rural regions are more resistant to recessionary shocks than urban regions. The analysis of the space-specific ability of sectors to withstand economic shocks portrayed the resilience of agriculture, while food industry, although its impact overtime declined, managed to increase its employment in seven out of thirteen regions. The tourism sector contracted but showed more resilience in the island regions than in the continental regions. The spatial heterogeneity in the effects of the recessionary shocks re-emphasizes the need for targeted and differentiated regional development policies.
The long arm of justice: U.S. structural power and international banking

How much authority can sovereign states exercise over international banking in times of financial globalization? While most literature on international finance is rather pessimistic, this article argues that in case of US law enforcement, this pessimistic view is increasingly erroneous. The reason is that US authorities can take advantage of international banks’ structural dependence on access to the dollar-based financial system to force banks into punitive agreements or to plead guilty in case of criminal offenses. Using the conflict between the USA and Swiss banks over tax evasion by US persons, this article demonstrates that banks in the liberal economic system can no longer survive without access to the US-controlled, dollar-based financial system, thus giving the USA structural power over banks. In addition, it is shown that US structural power can be used strategically during negotiation processes to apply pressure on banks. Finally, while the use of this structural power was originally restricted to smaller banks, whose collapse would not endanger the world economy, US authorities have recently learnt to manage market expectations in a way that allows them to also target banks that were previously considered “too big to jail. ”
Rapid ventricular induction of brain natriuretic peptide gene expression in experimental acute myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND We have demonstrated that brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a cardiac hormone predominantly synthesized in and secreted from the ventricle. We have also reported that, compared with atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), the plasma concentration of BNP is increased to a greater degree in patients with congestive heart failure and more rapidly in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS AND RESULTS To investigate ventricular gene expression of BNP in AMI, we analyzed plasma and ventricular BNP concentrations along with ventricular BNP mRNA in rats with AMI produced by coronary artery ligation. The BNP concentration in the left ventricle increased about 2-fold as early as 12 hours postinfarction and 5-fold 1 day postinfarction compared with sham-operated rats, whereas left ventricular ANP concentration remained unchanged within 1 day. The tissue concentration of BNP increased in the noninfarcted region as well as in the infarcted region. The surviving myocytes in and around the necrotic tissues in the infarcted region were intensely stained with the anti-BNP antiserum, indicating augmented production in the remaining myocytes in the infarcts. The BNP concentration in the right ventricle also increased about 10-fold 12 hours postinfarction, whereas the ANP concentration remained unchanged within 12 hours. Northern blot analysis revealed that BNP mRNA expression was augmented 3-fold in the left ventricle as early as 4 hours postinfarction. In contrast, ANP mRNA expression was unchanged. Reflecting the rapid induction of ventricular BNP production, the plasma BNP concentration rose to about 100 pg/mL 12 hours postinfarction (sham-operated rats, < 70 pg/mL). CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate the rapid induction of ventricular BNP gene expression in rats with AMI compared with ANP and suggest that BNP gene expression in the ventricle is regulated distinctively from ANP gene expression against acute ventricular overload. They also suggest that the BNP gene can be one of the acutely responsive cardiac genes for the ventricular overload and suggest a possible pathophysiological role of BNP distinct from ANP in AMI.
The Added Worker Effect Differentiated by Gender and Partnership Status – Evidence from Involuntary Job Loss

This paper examines the added worker effect (AWE), which refers to the increase of labor supply of individuals in response to a sudden financial shock in family income, that is, unemployment of their partner. While previous empirical studies focus on married women's response to those shocks, I explicitly analyze the spillover effects of unemployment on both women and men and I also differentiate according to their partnership status (marriage vs. cohabitation). My aim is to evaluate whether intra-household adaptation mechanisms differ by gender and by partnership status. The underlying method is a difference-in-differences setting in combination with an entropy balancing matching procedure. The paper considers plant closures and employer terminations as exogenous forms of unemployment. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study from 1991 through 2013, the empirical investigation finds evidence of the existence of an AWE. The effect is largest when a woman enters unemployment and is mainly driven by changes on the intensive margin (increase of hours).
Endothelial activation and dysregulation in malaria: a potential target for novel therapeutics

Purpose of reviewDespite parenteral artesunate therapy, the fatality rate of cerebral malaria remains high. Adjunctive therapy targeting the underlying pathophysiology of cerebral malaria may further improve the clinical outcome. Endothelial activation and dysfunction is a central process in the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria. An improved understanding of how endothelium is perturbed in cerebral malaria may yield novel strategies to diagnose and intervene. Here, we discuss recent findings on the key molecular mediators of endothelial activation/dysregulation in cerebral malaria, and innovative endothelial-based experimental approaches to improve detection and treatment. Recent findingsBiomarkers of endothelial activation [e.g., angiopoietin (Ang)-1, Ang-2, and a soluble form of the Ang-receptor (soluble Tie-2)] have been shown to be reliable predictors of malarial disease severity and mortality, and may improve clinical triage and management. Moreover, they may represent novel therapeutic targets to improve clinical outcome. Restoring bioavailable nitric oxide by administration of inhaled nitric oxide or its substrate, L-arginine, may rescue endothelial function, decrease Ang-2, and improve disease outcome in cerebral malaria. SummaryInterventions targeting the Ang–Tie-2 axis to promote endothelial quiescence, including agents to improve endothelial nitric oxide, represent potential adjunctive therapies for cerebral malaria.
THE IMPACT OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE ON FINANCIAL MARKETS

Religion plays an important role in peoples’ lives, yet its impact on financial markets is seldom researched. This study examines the effect of religious experience during the Muslim holy days of Ramadan and Ashoura on the daily returns and trading volumes of seventeen financial markets. Muslim holy days are especially conducive to isolating the elusive faith effect and decoupling it from potential contaminants. The study documents statistically significant changes in the daily trading volume and stock returns associated with these religious experiences. This paper utilizes the heterogeneity of worship intensity within the month of Ramadan to validate its hypothesis.
Performance of III–V Solar Cells as Indoor Light Energy Harvesters

Energy-harvesting systems provide power autonomy to individual wireless sensor nodes, allowing simpler deployment, as compared with wired nodes and longer lifetimes than battery-powered ones. Indoor light energy is an abundant source in many applications where solar cells are used to convert the radiant energy to electricity. To allow the greatest functionality in nodes powered by light energy-harvesting systems, the highest power output indoor photovoltaic (PV) devices are required. Amorphous-silicon and dye-sensitized solar cells have been tested extensively as indoor light harvesters due to their wide bandgaps that are optimum for absorption of the spectra from compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs. III-V solar cells are the highest performing PV devices under 1-sun conditions but have not been thoroughly investigated under indoor illumination conditions. Here, we show experimentally that III-V single-junction solar cells made from GaAs and GaInP significantly outperform amorphous-silicon and dye-sensitized solar cells at low illumination intensities with 2× greater measured power densities. Our measured data show that credit-card-sized GaAs and GaInP solar cells will provide ~ 4 mW of power under 1000 lx (i.e., in a bright office space). This is the first thorough presentation of GaInP and GaAs solar cells under CFL and LED illumination and provides a key insight for indoor PV as we move toward wider deployment of these energy efficient bulbs.
An evaluation of a flipped approach to risk training in the operating theatre

Operating departments are high-risk environments in which a safety culture is fundamental to managing inherent risks. Management of risk is an integral part of the local preceptorship course for newly qualified staff. The author has provided training for the preceptorship course in an innovative way to enhance and contextualise learning within the safe environment of a classroom. The training provides information about human error theory and how this interacts with the contextual environment of the operating department, producing risky situations.
Deconstructing the Fiscal Multiplier

Using expectation data from the Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) we decompose the impact of government spending on output into three distinct and theoretically grounded channels: the Keynesian channel, linking current income to current private expenditures; the expected-inflation channel which stresses the need to engineer an inflationary spiral in order to reduces real interest rates; and the expected-output channel in which the persistence of output propagates the effect of current spending by altering expectations of future economic activity. Our findings reveal that the expected-output channel accounts for about 35% of the total impact of government spending on output, while the expected output channel is statistically insignificant with a point estimate of around 7%. While the expected-inflation channel seemingly gain some support by the data, the associated theoretical transmission mechanism is heavily put into question: The effect of expected future inflation on output is negative, and a rise in government spending is associated with a decrease in inflation. This contrasts sharply to the theoretical literature in which expected inflation affect output positively, and a rise in government spending is associated with an increase in inflation.
Discipline and Negotiation

This article examines issues of power and control in learning organizations. The emphasis is on understanding the working environments of learning organizations, taking into consideration the intricacies of power and control. It focuses on the relationship between management and employees and its overall implications in the effective governance of these organizational forms. The paper critically analyses 42 in-depth interviews undertaken at a multinational situated in Botswana to deconstruct the democratic and participative models of learning organizations.
The Production of Audit Services: Evidence from a Major Public Accounting Firm

In this research, we examine the empirical relation between client characteristics and the nature and mix of labor resources used by an international CPA firm to obtain a desired level of assurance that clients' financial statements are free of material misstatement. The level of assurance is the output of an audit, while the input resources measure the effort required to produce that output, under varying client circumstances. We use disaggregated labor hours by rank within the firm (partner, manager, senior, and staff) as the measure of inputs, in order to examine how client characteristics affect both the amount and mix of labor used. To the extent that client characteristics have differential effects on the various types of labor, only disaggregated data can reveal changes in labor mix and may also provide a more powerful test (relative to tests
The effect of psychological distance on automatic goal contagion

ABSTRACT We investigated how psychological distance influences goal contagion (the extent to which people automatically adopt another person’s goals). On the basis of construal-level theory, we predicted people would be more prone to goal contagion when primed with psychological distance (vs. closeness) because they would construe the other person’s behavior in terms of its underlying goal. Alternatively, we predicted people primed with psychological closeness (vs. distance) would be more prone to goal contagion because closeness may increase the personal relevance of another’s goals – a process not mediated by construal level. In two preregistered studies, participants read about a student whose behavior implied either an academic or a social goal. We manipulated (a) participants’ level of mental construal with a mind-set task (Study 1) and (b) their social distance from another person who showed academic or social behaviors (Study 2). We measured performance on an anagram task as an indicator of academic goal contagion. For Study 1, we predicted that participants reading about academic (vs. social) behaviors would show a better anagram performance, especially when primed with an abstract mind-set. For Study 2, we predicted that construal level and relevance effects might cancel each other out, because distance triggers both high-level construal and less relevance. In contrast to the construal-level hypothesis, the mind-set manipulation did not affect goal contagion in Study 1. In accordance with the relevance hypothesis, psychological proximity increased goal contagion in Study 2. We discuss how the findings relate to previous findings on goal contagion and imitation.
Dietary Conjugated Linoleic Acid Protects Against end Stage Disease of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in the NZB/W F1 Mouse

Abstract Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a naturally occurring fatty acid with anti-carcinogenic, anti-atherosclerotic and immune-enhancing activities. Dietary CLA accelerated the onset of proteinuria in autoimmune-prone NZB/W F1 mice but did not affect anti-DNA antibody production. Body weight of the CLA group was decreased compared to the control group at the time proteinuria first developed. CLA group also had slightly earlier mortality than control fed mice, however the mean days of survival did not differ between CLA and control fed mice. Body weight loss between proteinuria onset and death was approximately twice as much in the control group as in the CLA group. Moreover, duration between proteinuria and death was longer in the CLA than in the control group. Our data suggested that dietary CLA may accelerate the autoimmune symptoms of NZB/W F1 mice, however, CLA protected against the disease related body weight loss and prolonged survival after proteinuria.
Swelling and pressure-volume relationships in the dermis measured by osmotic-stress technique.

Water transfer across the extracellular matrix (ECM) involves interstitial osmotic forces in as yet unclear ways. In particular, the traditional values of Starling forces cannot adequately explain fluid transfer rates. Here, we reassess these forces by analyzing fluid transfer in live pig and human dermal explants. Pressure potentials were controlled with inert polymers adjusted by membrane osmometry (range = 3-219 mmHg), and fluid transfer in and out of the explants was followed by sequential precision weighing. Water motional freedom in the dermis was examined by NMR. In pigs, mean hydration pressure (HP; the pressure at which volume did not change) was 107 +/- 22 and 47 +/- 12 (SE) mmHg at 4 degrees C and 37 degrees C (P = 0.012, paired t-test, n = 7). Volume changes observed in response to pressure potential were reversible. The equation, Volume change = V(max)/[1+(time/T(1/2))(d)], where V(max) is maximal volume change; T(1/2), time at volume = 1/2 V(max); and d, a rate parameter, was fitted to experimental progression curves (r(2) > 0.9), yielding V(max) values linearly related to pressure, with mean slopes -3.5 +/- 0.28 and -2.6 +/- 0.21(SE) mul.g(-1). mmHg(-1) at 4 degrees C and 37 degrees C. NMR spin-spin relaxation times (T(2)) varied within 200- to 400-mum distances in directions perpendicular to the epidermis, with slopes reaching 0.03 ms/mum. Results support a mechanism in which fluid transport across the ECM is locally regulated at micrometer scales by cell- and fiber-gel-dependent osmomechanical forces. The large HP helps to explain the fast interstitial in/out flow rates observed clinically.
A GEOMETRY OF UNCERTAINTY Cost and time in intermodal freight competition

The objective of this paper is to determine, what is the best choice to carry a volume of goods between two points? This question does not have a single answer. It depends on, among other things, who answers the question, the volume and nature of the goods, the location of the origin and destination, the hour, and the transportation techniques available. However, it is clear that a motor carrier and the people living along the route do not agree. It is less easy to understand that two carriers or two shippers having exactly the same cargo may use different mode choices even though they have the same selection criteria. The paper discusses a cost comparison between all road and intermodal rail-road door to door services. It shows that one carrier may use intermodal when another carrier may use all road because of the fact that the first carrier has enough clients in the terminal market area and he has a return freight when the second carrier does not. But cost is not the only selection criteria. Freight transportation choice relies on other factors: availability, suitability, time, and quality of service. This paper attempts to answer the question, is it possible to take these parameters into account in the theory of market areas? It uses two selection criteria, time and cost, and presents a case study.
Association of adiponectin gene 276G>T polymorphism with polycystic ovary syndrome in Pakistani women.

Objective: To investigate whether there is association of Adiponectin gene 276G>T polymorphism with the risks of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in selected Pakistani population. Study design: This study included samples from 106 study subjects, out of which 74 were diagnosed with PCOS and 34 were normal controls). The biochemical, Physical and clinical parameters which are assayed for the samples included menstrual problem, Past and present medical and family history, BMI, waist and hip ratio, LH, FSH, TSH and pro-lactin. Single nucleotide polymorphisms of the adiponectin gene 276 (G>T) were analysed using a PCR-RFLP method. Determination of allelic and genotypic variation with the PCOS was carried out by statistical analysis. Results: Results showed no association of adiponectin gene 276G>T polymorphism with the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) because non-significant difference was found between distributions of genotypes and alleles of both polymorphisms in women with PCOS and controls. Levels of LH, FSH, TSH and prolactin were also analysed, and the results showed significant decline in FSH levels and increase in LH levels in PCOS females comparing with controls. A slightly significant increase was also observed in the serum levels of TSH and prolactin in PCOS women when compared with control. Conclusion: Study suggested that obesity plays an important role in hormonal disturbances that are associated with PCOS. Polymorphism at +276 position of adiponectin gene is not associated with the PCOS and no significant link was observed.