Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
LANGUAGE DISCORDANT HIV AND AIDS INTERACTIONS IN LESOTHO HEALTH CARE CENTRES

This PhD study investigated the organisational structure of medical communicative facilities and the related communicative experiences of health care providers and patients in HIV and AIDS care centres where there is language discordance between physicians and patients. Such discordance refers specifically to communication in contexts where patients and health care providers speak a number of different, mostly mutually unintelligible first languages (L1s) and where speakers have varying levels of proficiency in a lingua franca such as English. This study considers key moments within the organisational communication structure to assess how well the structure meets its communicative aims. The sites of care that provided empirical data in this study, were a public health clinic which is a division of a state hospital, and a privately run day care clinic both located near Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho. The participants were drawn from four categories, namely physicians, nurses, lay interpreters and patients. Data collection was done through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and direct observations of the study sites. The data was later transcribed interpreted and analysed according to insights gained from Organisation Theory on the one hand and Thematic Analysis and Qualitative Data Analysis on the other hand. The most important result of the study is the recognition of organisational fragmentation of care into different units which helps to facilitate communication where patients and physicians show marked language discordance. Further results illuminate several challenges that are encountered by participants in mediating and making meaning where language diversity is such that physicians’ linguistic repertoire does not match the repertoires of patients and local HCPs. The study highlights several institutional and interpersonal strategies that are used to overcome these challenges and to assure effective communication in the particular institutions. It also shows how some of these strategies fail to fully address the communicative challenges identified. The findings of this study suggest that in multilingual clinical contexts there is a need for more dedicated attention to interpreting practices, to the kinds of material distributed among patients and, more generally, to make consultative decisions on improved systems to put in place in order to facilitate communication related to quality health care. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
ETHICAL ISSUES AND QUALITATIVE METHODS IN THE 21 ST CENTURY: HOW CAN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES BE EMBRACED IN THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY?

With the increased use of digital technologies in qualitative research practices encompassing data collection, analysis, and distribution, researchers have expressed a growing concern with the ethical implications of such use. This paper revisits the ethical concerns traditionally associated with qualitative study and then provides an analysis of how these traditional, ethical practices might evolve as digital data becomes an integral part of qualitative research designs.
Developmental states and undervalued exchange rates in the developing world

ABSTRACT This paper investigates why some developing countries maintain weak and undervalued exchange rates while others do not. I argue that one key feature of the ‘developmental state’ – namely, state control over the financial system – contributes to an undervalued exchange rate. However, state control of finance promotes undervaluation under a narrower set of conditions than most developmental state theories suggest. State-owned banks increase support for exchange rate undervaluation from certain interest groups. When those interest groups are politically important, state-owned banks encourage policymakers to undervalue their exchange rates. Two sets of empirical analyses support the argument. Using time-series – cross-sectional data, I show that state-owned banks are associated with undervalued exchange rates, but only in developing countries with large manufacturing sectors. Second, analyses of firm-level survey data reveal that state-owned banks increase the manufacturing sector's support for an undervalued exchange rate. These findings suggest that state institutions influence exchange rate policy, though their effects are contingent upon the configuration of interests in society.
Observations of Leaders Driving Changes in State Government: Leadership Tools and Lessons from Two Work Support Strategies States

Change in state government, as in other large public and private organizations, is an uphill battle. In social and health service agencies, public officials seeking change face myriad challenges, including frequent turnover, limited funding, and lengthy legal and regulatory processes. Despite these obstacles, change is possible and is often driven by strong leaders. In this brief focused on leadership, we examine how state government officials in Colorado and Illinois, two states participating in the Work Support Strategies project, seized opportunities, addressed challenges, and led change.
Discount Rate (Risk-Free Rate and Market Risk Premium): a survey 2015

espanolEl presente articulo contiene las estadisticas resultantes de una encuesta acerca dela tasa libre de riesgo (RF) y de la prima de riesgo del mercado (MRP) utilizada en el ano 2017 en 41 paises. Hemos obtenido respuestas de 68 paises pero solo informamos de los resultados de los 47 de los que hemos recibido mas de 25 contestaciones. La RFpromedio utilizada en 2017 fue inferior que la utilizada en 2015 en 12 paises (en 5 de los cuales la diferencia fue superior a un 1%). En 10 paises la RFpromedio utilizado en 2017 fue superior en mas de un 1% a la utilizada en 2015 (ver tabla 6). El cambio en la media de la prima de riesgo de mercado entre 2015 y 2017 fue superior al 1% en 11 paises (ver tabla 6). La mayoria de las contestaciones procedentes de Europa y UK, revelan la utilizacion de una prima de riesgo de mercado, superior al rendimiento de los bonos del Gobierno a 10 anos. Como consecuencia de la politica de expansion monetaria (Quantitative Easing (QE)), (RF) las Tasas Libres de Riesgo (RF) y las Primas de Riesgo de Mercado (MRP) reportadas para los paises de la zona euro presentan correlaciones negativas (Espana -51 %; Alemania -28%; Francia -47%; Italia -30%). EnglishThis paper contains the statistics of a survey about the Risk-Free Rate (RF)and the Market Risk Premium (MRP) used in 2017 for 41 countries. We got answers for 68 countries, but we only report the results for 41 countries with more than 25 answers. The average (RF)used in 2017 was smaller than the one used in 2015 in 12 countries (in 5 of them the difference was more than 1%). In 10 countries the average (RF) used in 2017 was more than a 1% higher than the one used in 2015 (see table 6). The change between 2015 and 2017 of the average Market risk premium used was higher than 1% for 11 countries (see table 6). Most of the respondents use for Europe and UK a Risk-Free Rate (RF)higher than the yield of the 1O-year Government bonds. Due to Quantitative Easing, the Risk-Free Rate (RF)and the Market Risk Premium (MRP) reported for Euro countries are negatively correlated (Spain -51%; Germany -28%; France -47%; Italy -30%).
Chronic Kidney Disease and Cardiovascular Disease : Pathophysiologic Links LaVonne Burrows

Note: The authors reported no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this continuing nursing education article. The American Heart Association has recognized patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) as having the highest risk for development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Individuals undergoing dialysis were recognized as having an accelerated rate of atherosclerosis as early as 1974 (Lindner, Charra, Sherrard & Scribner, 1974). Foley, Parfrey, and Sarnak (1998) quantified that risk, noting that patients on dialysis have a 10 to 30 times greater CVD mortality compared to age-matched individuals in the general population. Cardiac disease has been recognized as the leading cause of death in patients on dialysis with 45% attributed to CVD (Foley et al., 1998). More recently, it has become apparent that this increase in cardiovascular risk begins in the early stages of CKD (Amann et al., 2003). There are a myriad of CVD risk factors seen in patients with CKD. Risks are classified as classic or traditional risk factors common in many adults, but also additional CKD-related risks that contribute to CVD (see Table 1). In this article, the classic risk factors of hypertension and dyslipidemia as well as the CKD-related risk factors of anemia and abnormalities in bone and mineral metabolism will be reviewed. The pathophysiologic mechanisms by which these risk factors are linked to CVD in the patient population with CKD will be discussed.
Whole-leg duplex mapping for varicose veins: observations on patterns of reflux in recurrent and primary legs, with clinical correlation.

BACKGROUND the variability of venous reflux patterns complicate the management of venous disease. Our study investigates specific variations in venous anatomy and patterns of reflux in varying clinical situations. METHODS prospective analysis of 464 legs in 355 patients was performed by complete duplex venous mapping of both primary and recurrent varicose veins. Hand Held Doppler (HHD) and Duplex Ultrasonography (Duplex US) observations in the popliteal fossa were compared in a subgroup of 89 patients with primary varicose veins. Distribution of venous system disease was correlated with clinical severity in a subgroup of 117 affected legs which was representative of the overall study group. RESULTS sapheno-femoral junction (SFJ) incompetence predominated in both primary and recurrent varicose veins. Only 21% of primary legs and 25% of recurrent legs had sapheno-popliteal junction (SPJ) incompetence. SPJ incompetence was present in only 42% of cases where reflux in the popliteal region on HHD had been demonstrated. A proportion of both primary and recurrent varicose veins had evidence of deep venous incompetence (DVI). Sixty-four percent of primary leg ulcer patients had superficial incompetence alone. In patients with recurrent varicosities and ulceration, 57% had SPJ incompetence, 64% multiple sites and 50% DVI. CONCLUSION the complex variations of varicose vein anatomy and functional pathology in the lower limb are currently best assessed by complete whole-leg venous duplex mapping.
The effects of maternal social phobia on mother-infant interactions and infant social responsiveness.

BACKGROUND Social phobia aggregates in families. The genetic contribution to intergenerational transmission is modest, and parenting is considered important. Research on the effects of social phobia on parenting has been subject to problems of small sample size, heterogeneity of samples and lack of specificity of observational frameworks. We addressed these problems in the current study. METHODS We assessed mothers with social phobia (N = 84) and control mothers (N = 89) at 10 weeks in face-to-face interactions with their infants, and during a social challenge, namely, engaging with a stranger. We also assessed mothers with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) (N = 50). We examined the contribution to infant social responsiveness of early infant characteristics (neonatal irritability), as well as maternal behaviour. RESULTS Mothers with social phobia were no less sensitive to their infants during face-to-face interactions than control mothers, but when interacting with the stranger they appeared more anxious, engaged less with the stranger themselves, and were less encouraging of the infant's interaction with the stranger; infants of index mothers also showed reduced social responsiveness to the stranger. These differences did not apply to mothers with GAD and their infants. Regression analyses showed that the reduction in social responsiveness in infants of mothers with social phobia was predicted by neonatal irritability and the degree to which the mother encouraged the infant to interact with the stranger. CONCLUSIONS Mothers with social phobia show specific parenting difficulties, and their infants show early signs of reduced social responsiveness that are related to both individual infant differences and a lack of maternal encouragement to engage in social interactions.
Estimating the Equity Risk Premium Using Implied Cost of Capital

Research on the implied cost of capital (ICC) has found that the equity risk premium is approximately 3%, on average, much lower than estimates based on the mean of historical stock market returns. The validity of such ICC estimates, however, faces both theoretical and empirical challenges. The theoretical equivalence between ICC and expected return requires the stringent condition that the latter is a constant, which is inconsistent with theory and empirical evidence. The empirical estimation of ICC depends on short-run and long-run earnings forecasts, whose biases can severely limit the validity of the estimates. By employing a forecasting procedure that induces little bias in both short-run and long-run forecasts and taking into account the stochastic nature of expected returns, we show that the average market risk premium ranges between 3% and 6%. We also demonstrate that the results of prior research are affected by input errors that are partially self-canceling.
Oral Health Literacy and Retention of Health Information Among Pregnant Women: A Randomised Controlled Trial.

PURPOSE This study evaluated the effect of oral health literacy (OHL) on the retention of health information in pregnant women. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 175 pregnant women were randomly assigned to standard oral (spoken), written and control intervention groups. With the exception of the control group, the interventions investigated the eating habits and oral hygiene among children under 2 years of age. The participants' answers before the interventions (pre-test), 15 min after the interventions (post-test) and 4 weeks after the interventions (follow-up test) were used to estimate the knowledge score (KS). Information acquisition was determined by comparing pre-test and post-test results, while retention of information was based comparing pre-test and follow-up test results. OHL was analysed by BREALD-30. The data were assessed by nonparametric tests and Poisson regression models with robust variance (α = 0.05). RESULTS By the end of the follow-up period, 162 pregnant women had been assessed. The BREALD-30 mean was 22.3 (SD = 4.80). Regardless of the type of intervention, pregnant women with low OHL had lower knowledge scores in the three assessments. Participants with low OHL showed higher acquisition and retention of information in the standard oral health intervention. Multiple regression models demonstrated that OHL was independently associated with KS, age, socioeconomic status and type of intervention. CONCLUSION The results suggest a negative effect of low OHL on retention of information. Only the standard, spoken oral health intervention could address the differences in literacy levels.
Dysregulated miR-27a-3p promotes nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell proliferation and migration by targeting Mapk10

miRNA-27a-3p is an important regulator of carcinogenesis and other pathological processes. However, its role in laryngeal carcinoma is still unknown. In our previous research, we found that miR-27a-3p expression was upregulated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) using a microarray chip. In the present study, we identified miR-27a-3p as an endogenous promoter of metastatic invasion. The expression levels of miR-27a-3p were correlated with human metastatic progression outcomes and Kaplan-Meier survival. In silico database analyses revealed that Mapk10 is a potential target of miR-27a-3p, and luciferase reporter assay results revealed that miR-27a-3p directly inhibits the Mapk10 3 untranslated region (3′UTR). Real-time PCR and western blotting results ascertained that Mapk10 expression was regulated by miR-27a-3p. In addition, miR-27a-3p gain-of-function promoted cell proliferation, migration and invasion in 5–8 F NPC cells. These effects partially depended on Mapk10, and loss of miR-27a-3p function had the opposite effects.
MYB12 and MYB22 play essential roles in proanthocyanidin and flavonol synthesis in red‐fleshed apple (Malus sieversii f. niedzwetzkyana)

Flavonoids are major polyphenol compounds in plant secondary metabolism. Wild red-fleshed apples (Malus sieversii f. niedzwetzkyana) are an excellent resource because of their much high flavonoid content than cultivated apples. In this work, R6R6, R6R1 and R1R1 genotypes were identified in an F1 segregating population of M. sieversii f. niedzwetzkyana. Significant differences in flavonoid composition and content were detected among the three genotypes by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis. Furthermore, two putative flavonoid-related genes encoding R2R3-MYB transcription factors, designated MYB12 and MYB22, were cloned and characterized. The expression patterns of MYB12 and MYB22 directly correlated with those of leucoanthocyanidin reductase and flavonol synthase, respectively. Their roles in flavonoid biosynthesis were identified by overexpression in apple callus and ectopic expression in Arabidopsis. MYB12 expression in the Arabidopsis TT2 mutant complemented its proanthocyanidin-deficient phenotype. Likewise, MYB22 expression in an Arabidopsis triple mutant complemented its flavonol-deficient phenotype. MYB12 could interact with bHLH3 and bHLH33 and played an essential role in proanthocyanidin synthesis. MYB22 was found to activate flavonol pathways by combining directly with the flavonol synthase promoter. Our findings provide a valuable perspective on flavonoid synthesis and provide a basis for breeding elite functional apples with a high flavonoid content.
"Hey, mom, thanks!": use of focus groups in the development of place-specific materials for a community environmental action campaign.

We examined the relevance of five strategies to reduce the risk of exposure to environmental hazards for African-American and Hispanic children living in Northern Manhattan in New York City. Researchers conducting a community-wide intervention to increase awareness of environmental health hazards identified five strategies for keeping children healthy, preventing asthma, and promoting children's growth and development. These strategies were based on current scientific knowledge of environmental health and were tested and refined through a series of focus groups. The 14 focus groups were conducted with women of childbearing age living in the communities under study. The purpose of the focus groups was to test the relevancy of the five strategies and to obtain data to inform the intervention's social action campaign. Here authors discuss the process of identifying strategies for risk reduction and incorporating community residents' perceptions of risk into health risk messages. The authors argue that broader social and historical contexts are important in shaping community members' interpretations of risk and subsequent response to health education campaigns.
Hepatopulmonary syndrome: Update on recent advances in pathophysiology, investigation, and treatment

Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is an important cause of dyspnea and hypoxia in the setting of liver disease, occurring in 10–30% of patients with cirrhosis. It is due to vasodilation and angiogenesis in the pulmonary vascular bed, which leads to ventilation‐perfusion mismatching, diffusion limitation to oxygen exchange, and arteriovenous shunting. There is evidence, primarily from animal studies, that vasodilation is mediated by a number of endogenous vasoactive molecules, including endothelin‐1 and nitric oxide (NO). In experimental HPS, liver injury stimulates release of endothelin‐1 and results in increased expression of ETB receptors on pulmonary endothelial cells, leading to upregulation of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) and subsequent increased production of NO, which causes vasodilation. In addition, increased phagocytosis of bacterial endotoxin in the lung not only promotes stimulation of inducible NO synthase, which increases NO production, but also contributes to intrapulmonary accumulation of monocytes, which may stimulate angiogenesis via vascular endothelial growth factor pathway. Despite these insights into the pathogenesis of experimental HPS, there is no established medical therapy, and liver transplantation remains the main treatment for symptomatic HPS, although selected patients may benefit from other surgical or radiological interventions. In this review, we focus on recent advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology of HPS, and discuss current approaches to the investigation and treatment of this condition.
Photoabsorption Study of Bacillus megaterium, DNA and Related Biological Materials in the Phosphorus K-Shell Edge Region

Abstract Frigo, S. P., McNulty, I. , Richmond, R. C. and Ehret, C. Photoabsorption Study of Bacillus megaterium, DNA and Related Biological Materials in the Phosphorus K-Shell Edge Region. Radiat. Res. 162, 464–468 (2004). We measured the X-ray transmission spectra of several biologically related samples in the phosphorus K-shell edge absorption region. These include red phosphorus, hydrated sodium phosphate (Na3PO4·12 H2O), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), diolylphosphatidyl choline (DOPC), and Bacillus megaterium spores. Red phosphorus essentially displays an edge-jump. All other spectra are similar in form and energy position: Each is dominated by a narrower, more intense first peak and a broader but less intense second peak. The corresponding K-shell edge absorption thresholds are shifted toward higher energy relative to that for red phosphorus, as expected for increasing degrees of phosphorus oxidation. The B. megaterium spectrum has aspects common to both the phosphate and DNA spectra and is therefore interpreted as a composite of spectra arising from DNA, ribonucleic acid (RNA) and phosphates within the spore. The B. megaterium spore spectrum provides information for resonant radiation damage studies in the phosphorus K-shell edge absorption region by identifying candidate photoexcitations. In addition, the absorption spectra will be useful in X-ray microscopy and macromolecular crystallography studies at the phosphorus K-shell edge.
Portfolios and Politics: The 2004 Presidential Election

First, I examine the link between the voter expectation of the 2004 Presidential Election outcome and stock performance before the Election Day, November 2, 2004. I find that the probability of a Bush-win had been capitalized into the returns of the politically sensitive portfolios from 06/01/2004 to 11/02/2004. Second, using the 90 stocks in the Bush and Kerry sectors, I document that, on the day after the Election, individual stock returns are significantly and positively related to the corporation contributions to Bush. The results suggest that the stock market efficiently incorporates information on electoral prospects and campaign contributions.