Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Behavioral Symptoms in Dementia Patients on Depression in Daughter and Daughter-in-Law Caregivers.

BACKGROUND One caregiver relationship that has been neglected in caregiver depression research is the daughter-in-law. Compared with Western countries, in which those who are closer in familial relationships such as the spouse or child usually take care of the patient, in many Asian countries, the daughter-in-law often assumes the caretaker role. However, not much research has been done on how this relationship may result in different caregiver outcomes. We sought to identify whether the association between patient characteristics and caregiver depressive symptoms differs according to the familial relationship between caregiver and patient. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ninety-five daughter (n = 47) and daughter-in-law (n = 48) caregivers of dementia patients were asked to report their own depressive symptoms and patient behavioral symptoms. Patients' cognitive abilities, daily activities, and global dementia ratings were obtained. Hierarchical linear regression was employed to determine predictors of depressive symptoms. RESULTS Daughters-in-law had marginally higher depressive scores. After adjusting for caregiver and patient characteristics, in both groups, greater dependency in activities of daily living and more severe and frequent behavioral symptoms predicted higher caregiver depressive scores. However, greater severity and frequency of behavioral symptoms predicted depression to a greater degree in daughters compared with daughters-in-law. CONCLUSIONS Although behavioral symptoms predicted depression in both caregiver groups, the association was much stronger for daughters. This suggests that the emotional relationship between the daughter and patient exacerbates the negative effect of behavioral symptoms on caregiver depression. The familial relationship between the caregiver and dementia patient should be considered in managing caregiver stress.
An Empirical Investigation of Short-Run Performance of Ipos in India

Initial Public Offering (IPO), is a way for companies to go public and meet its financing needs. IPOs are known to provide the initial abnormal returns to its investors. Therefore, this present paper is analyzing the short-run market adjusted performance of 100 IPOs listed on National Stock Exchange (NSE) from the period April 2008 to March 2011(3 years). This study found that Indian IPO market provides positive abnormal return to investors on short-run basis (1st and 7th day) like as observed in past literature. The returns diminished at the end of 30th day showing the negative return. The average market adjusted return for the 1st, 7th and 30th day is 7.23%, 2.09%, and -8.58% respectively. T-Statistic has been used to know the significance of these market adjusted returns. The wealth relative model has also been applied for analyzing the short run performance of IPOs, which provided the same results. The wealth relative index is 1.07, 1.02 and . 91 for 1st, 7th and 30th day respectively. The performance of IPOs on yearly basis has also been presented. The results confirm that year 2009-10 showed exceptional performance; that investors can earn 7.03%, 6.44% and 4.21% average return if they sell these stocks at the end of 1st, 7th and 30th day respectively.
Top Line and Bottom Line Forecasts: A Comparison of Internet Firms During and after the Bubble

Analysts' forecasts of revenue and how they compare to reported revenues is now a standard part of financial analysis surrounding earnings releases for internet firms. In this paper, we examine the characteristics and relative information content of revenue and earnings news for such firms during and after the internet bubble. First Call analysts tend to be pessimistic in their forecasts of both revenues and earnings for internet firms. However, after the crash, the quality of revenue forecasts improves: the bias declines and they become significantly more accurate. This improvement is predominantly driven by forecasts made for firms reporting losses. For these firms, we find that stock prices respond to revenue, but not earnings, surprises both during and after the bubble. In contrast, for firms reporting profits, stock prices respond to earnings surprises both during and after the bubble but to revenue surprises only during the bubble - and then only weakly. Thus, analysts appear to have improved revenue forecasts for those firms for which top line surprises are most relevant to the market
IPOs and Other Nontraditional Fund-Raising Methods of Private Equity Firms

We initiate a discussion on the new trends in private equity fundraising practices. Private equity industry in the U.S. has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years fueled by the availability of cheap credit during the early 2000s. However, a combination of tightening credit conditions and the eagerness of existing investors to sell out led private equity firms to look for alternate sources of funds such as listing their shares on stock markets and attracting investments from passive investors like Sovereign Wealth Funds. We review the short-term performance of IPOs of Blackstone group and Fortress group, two leading private equity firms in the U.S. While the initial evidence on the success of these IPOs is not encouraging, we argue that the prevailing market conditions played an important role in explaining their underperformance. We substantiate our claim by analyzing the long-term performance of 3i group, a U.K. based private equity firm which has been listed on the London Stock Exchange for over 15 years. Finally, we briefly discuss the evolution and structure of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) and their impact on the private equity industry. SWFs are acting as both complements and substitutes to private equity industry by being a source of funds and at the same time by buying equity interests in individual companies.
Comparative study of supraclavicular axillary nerve block with or without clonidine as an adjuvant

Background: Local anesthetics administered as regional nerve blocks are utilized in providing postoperative pain relief in many surgical procedures by blocking signal traffic to the dorsal horn. Certain drugs like opioids, alpha2 adrenergic agonist, sodium bicarbonate, neostigmine, adrenaline, ketamine etc. are used as adjuvant to local anesthetics to lower doses of each agent and enhance analgesic efficacy while reducing the incidence of adverse reactions. Clonidine is a selective alpha 2 adrenergic agonist with some alpha 1 agonist property. In clinical studies, the addition of clonidine to local anesthetic solutions improved peripheral nerve blocks by reducing the onset time, improving the efficacy of the block during surgery and extending postoperative analgesia. In clinical studies, the addition of clonidine to local anesthetic solutions improved peripheral nerve blocks by reducing the onset time, improving the efficacy of the block during surgery and extending postoperative analgesia. Clonidine possibly enhances or amplifies the sodium channel blockade action of local anesthetics by opening up the potassium channels resulting in membrane hyper polarization, a state in which the cell is unresponsive to excitatory input. Material and methods: Present study was carried to evaluate efficacy of injection clonidine (150 μg) as adjuvant to supraclavicular brachial plexus block (30 ml lignocaine adrenaline 1.5%, 10 ml bupivacaine 0.5%) in adult patients (ASA Grade I and II). Patients of both groups were assessed in terms of: Onset time of sensory blockade, Onset time of motor blockade, Perioperative hemodynamic status, Duration of post-operative analgesia, Time of 1 st rescue analgesia, Adverse effects of drugs if any. Prajapati J, Parmar H. Comparative study of supraclavicular axillary nerve block with or without clonidine as an adjuvant. IAIM, 2015; 2(12): 39-44. Page 40 Results: The mean time of onset of sensory and motor block was significantly lower in Group B compared to Group A. Mean duration of motor block and sensory block were significantly longer in Group B than in Group A. Mean time for analgesic requirement for Group B was 11.85 ± 1.54 hours and it was significantly longer than that in Group A (5.62 ± 0.358) hours (p <0.05). No incidence of nausea, vomiting, hypotension, tachycardia or bradycardia was observed in any group. One patient in Group B had pulse rate <60/min which was clinically not significant and did not require treatment. No incidence of decline in SPO2 perioperatively. Conclusion: When clonidine 150 μg is added to local anesthetic solution in supraclavicular brachial plexus block, it provides rapid onset of block, better analgesia, good hemodynamic stability and profound and longer analgesia without any adverse effects. Clonidine is a good adjuvant to local anesthetic agent for brachial plexus block via supraclavicular approach for various upper limb surgeries.
Public Procurement Audit Process in Practice A Case Study of the Public Procurement Authority Office in Kumasi and the Procurement Unit of the Kumasi Polytechnic

This study aimed at making information available on how public procurement audit is carried out in practice in Ghana’s public sector establishments. The coverage of this study is limited to the Northern Zonal Office of the Public Procurement Authority and the procurement unit of Kumasi Polytechnic. A survey was conducted on these two Ghanaian public sector institutions and responses were obtained with regards to the methods and procedures used in auditing public procurement activities. Five main stages of audits were outlined by the respondents, these stages are: audit notification; pre-audit meeting; auditing activities; exit conference; and presentation of audit report. Main auditing activities include: interviewing relevant stakeholders; documentary audits; questionnaires; and various discussions with all those whose information are relevant to the audit exercise. Findings also indicate that: public procurement entities are audited at least once every year; the Ghana Audit Service are the main auditors of public entities; and the procurement audit process is relatively easy and simple from the point of view of the auditees.
Determinants of inter-individual cholesterol level variation in an unbiased young male sample.

QUESTION UNDER STUDY Affected by individual life style, the total cholesterol serum level is a major morbidity and mortality risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). We present total cholesterol values and their possible aetiological factors of young Swiss conscripts. Particularly, we study varying impact of these factors depending on different levels of individual cholesterol. METHODS Male conscripts (n = 19,272) of the 2005 census of the conscripts have been examined, reflecting ca. 59% of a total Swiss male birth cohort. Quantile regression allows us to analyse responses of arbitrary quantiles with respect to variables of interest. RESULTS Eleven percent of all conscripts show clinically important increased total cholesterol levels. There is a major association of high individual cholesterol level with French regional language. The largest socio-economic subsample--agricultural and construction workers--show significantly higher individual cholesterol levels than employees in the industry sector and students, respectively. CONCLUSIONS We were able to find that culture, as indicated by the mother tongue, and socioeconomic status as indicated by profession/vocation, influence individual total cholesterol levels while climate as indicated by altitude does not have an influence on cholesterol levels. Such a broad screening programme offers a unique opportunity to target persons at high-risk for CVD morbidity and mortality already early in life.
Graded Auditory Stroop Effects Generated by Gender Words

Two auditory Stroop experiments requiring identification of the speaker's sex were conducted. An auditory Stroop effect was expected, analogous to visual effects found in Stroop literature. In Exp. 1 the speaker's sex was identified faster when sex labels (“male” and “female”) and words that imply a sex (e.g., father, grandmother) were congruent with the speaker's sex. In Exp. 2, an auditory semantic gradient was established in which words that were more meaningfully tied to a particular sex produced more Stroop interference. This auditory semantic gradient is analogous to effects found in the visual Stroop literature of a semantic gradient related to color.
Zinc Finger Nuclease and Homing Endonuclease-Mediated Assembly of Multigene Plant Transformation Vectors1[OA]

Binary vectors are an indispensable component of modern Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated plant genetic transformation systems. A remarkable variety of binary plasmids have been developed to support the cloning and transfer of foreign genes into plant cells. The majority of these systems, however, are limited to the cloning and transfer of just a single gene of interest. Thus, plant biologists and biotechnologists face a major obstacle when planning the introduction of multigene traits into transgenic plants. Here, we describe the assembly of multitransgene binary vectors by using a combination of engineered zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) and homing endonucleases. Our system is composed of a modified binary vector that has been engineered to carry an array of unique recognition sites for ZFNs and homing endonucleases and a family of modular satellite vectors. By combining the use of designed ZFNs and commercial restriction enzymes, multiple plant expression cassettes were sequentially cloned into the acceptor binary vector. Using this system, we produced binary vectors that carried up to nine genes. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) protoplasts and plants were transiently and stably transformed, respectively, by several multigene constructs, and the expression of the transformed genes was monitored across several generations. Because ZFNs can potentially be engineered to digest a wide variety of target sequences, our system allows overcoming the problem of the very limited number of commercial homing endonucleases. Thus, users of our system can enjoy a rich resource of plasmids that can be easily adapted to their various needs, and since our cloning system is based on ZFN and homing endonucleases, it may be possible to reconstruct other types of binary vectors and adapt our vectors for cloning on multigene vector systems in various binary plasmids.
Liver proteomics for therapeutic drug discovery: Inhibition of the cyclophilin receptor CD147 attenuates sepsis-induced acute renal failure*

Objective:Sepsis-induced multi-organ failure continues to have a high mortality. The liver is an organ central to the disease pathogenesis. The objective of this study was to identify the liver proteins that change in abundance with sepsis and subsequently identify new drug targets. Design:Proteomic discovery study and drug target validation. For the proteomics study, three biological replicate mice were used per group. Setting:Research institute laboratory. Subjects:Three-month-old C57BL/6 mice. Interventions:We used a mouse model of sepsis based on cecal ligation and puncture, but with fluid and antibiotic resuscitation. Liver proteins that changed in abundance were identified by difference in gel electrophoresis. We compared liver proteins from 6-hr post–cecal ligation and puncture to sham-operated mice (“early proteins”) and 24-hr post–cecal ligation and puncture with 6-hr post-cecal ligation and puncture (“late proteins”). Proteins that changed in abundance were identified by tandem mass spectrometry. We then inhibited the receptor for one protein and determined the effect on sepsis-induced organ dysfunction. Results:The liver proteins that changed in abundance after sepsis had a range of functions such as acute phase response, coagulation, endoplasmic reticulum stress, oxidative stress, apoptosis, mitochondrial electron transfer proteins, and nitric oxide metabolism. We found that cyclophilin increased in abundance after cecal ligation and puncture. When the receptor for this protein, CD147, was inhibited, sepsis-induced renal dysfunction was reduced. There was also a significant reduction in serum cytokine production when CD147 was inhibited. Conclusion:By applying proteomics to a clinically relevant mouse model of sepsis, we identified a number of novel proteins that changed in abundance. The inhibition of the receptor for one of these proteins, cyclophilin, attenuated sepsis-induced acute renal failure. The application of proteomics to sepsis research can facilitate the discovery of new therapeutic targets.
Issues Faced by Human Resources Managers of Multinational Hotels in China

The purpose of the present study was to investigate human resource managers’ perceptions of HR management issues in China’s multinational luxury hotel industry. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 hotel human resources managers. Qualitative methodology was utilized to identify themes regarding difficulties human resources managers encountered in their daily work. Four overall themes emerged from the analysis of the data which included, issues encountered in recruitment and retention, dealing with expatriates, multinational brand perception, and government and cultural issues. Coping strategies and underlying factors were analyzed. Findings from this study offer hotel managers and human resources managers new insights in dealing with human resources issues in China.
TGF-β causes Docetaxel resistance in Prostate Cancer via the induction of Bcl-2 by acetylated KLF5 and Protein Stabilization

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. As a first line treatment for hormone-refractory prostate cancer, docetaxel (DTX) treatment leads to suboptimal effect since almost all patients eventually develop DTX resistance. In this study, we investigated whether and how TGF-β affects DTX resistance of prostate cancer. Methods: Cytotoxicity of DTX in DU 145 and PC-3 cells was measured by CCK-8 and Matrigel colony formation assays. Resistance to DTX in DU 145 cells was examined in a xenograft tumorigenesis model. A luciferase reporter system was used to determine transcriptional activities. Gene expression was analyzed by RT-qPCR and Western blotting. Results: We found that KLF5 is indispensable in TGF-β-induced DTX resistance. Moreover, KLF5 acetylation at lysine 369 mediates DTX resistance in vitro and in vivo. We showed that the TGF-β/acetylated KLF5 signaling axis activates Bcl-2 expression transcriptionally. Furthermore, DTX-induced Bcl-2 degradation depends on a proteasome pathway, and TGF-β inhibits DTX-induced Bcl-2 ubiquitination. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that the TGF-β-acetylated KLF5-Bcl-2 signaling axis mediates DTX resistance in prostate cancer and blockade of this pathway could provide clinical insights into chemoresistance of prostate cancer.
Maternal Stress, HPA Activity, and Fetal/Infant Outcome a

Preliminary conclusions from our research include the possibility that each of the HPA products evaluated, even though correlated (e.g., ACTH and beta E), may be linked to unique and specific outcomes. Maternal stress during the 28-30 weeks of gestation is associated with birth outcome. Increased levels of psychosocial stress were significantly related to gestational age at birth and infant birth weight. Maternal stress during the third trimester was associated with increased maternal plasma levels of ACTH and cortisol. This finding is consistent with possible mechanisms whereby psychosocial stress influences birth outcome. CRH controls the timing of labor and delivery. Precocious elevation of CRH is related to the risk of preterm delivery. This system may be "stress-sensitive. " Even though pregnant women may be immunized from stress, the stress signal that is transmitted (release of ACTH and cortisol) is amplified by the placental release of CRH. This possibility has at least two consequences: (1) influencing the timing of delivery and (2) desensitization of hypophyseal corticotrophs and further "protection" of the pregnant women from the results of stress (i.e., release of ACTH and beta E). Beta E appears to influence fetal learning and perhaps the developing nervous system.
Thoracoscopic Treatment of Congenital Diaphragmatic Eventration in Children: Lessons Learned After 15 Years of Experience

Abstract Introduction We present our experience with the thoracoscopic treatment of congenital diaphragmatic eventration (CDE) in children through 15 years to evaluate the efficiency of the procedure and the potential risk of recurrence. Materials and Methods We reviewed the medical files of patients treated for CDE through thoracoscopy from 2000 to 2011. Age at surgery, sex, side of the lesion, procedure's details, postoperative course, and complications were analyzed. Mean follow-up was 12 months. Results In this study, eight patients (five males and three females) aged from 6 months to 7 years underwent thoracoscopic plication for six right and two left eventrations; one conversion was necessary due to a too small operative field. Mean operative time was 60.5 minutes. A chest drainage was placed in six patients. We observed two recurrences from which the first one was treated thoracoscopically by endostapler resection/suturing and the other one by laparotomy. At follow-up, all patients were asymptomatic with a correct level of the diaphragm. Conclusions Thoracoscopic plication is feasible and safe, and we consider this approach as the gold standard for the treatment of CDE. However, we still need to carefully consider the possibility of introducing certain modifications to reduce the potential risk of recurrence.
The Valuation Effects of Firm Voluntary Adoption of International Accounting Standards

This paper documents a positive, statistically and economically significant effect of increased disclosure, in general, and IAS adoption, in particular, on firm value. We find strong positive abnormal returns at the announcement of IAS adoption and an economically significant long-run reduction in the cost of capital. This result is consistent with the theoretical literature, which documents the potential benefits of increased disclosure on the cost of capital and firm value. In addition, we find strong evidence that firms with lower valuations and higher growth opportunities experience greater valuation effects. Finally, we document a statistically significant increase in the number of analysts issuing recommendations as well as a significant upgrade in their recommendations after the IAS adoption announcement. These results highlight the importance of increased disclosure on minority shareholder protection and are consistent with IAS adoption being a positive signal of firm value.