Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Evaluation of Ultrasound Features of Breast Fibroadenoma

Background: Breast cancer is among the most common cancers in the world. Ultrasound evaluations of breast have come into attention as an alternative route. Ultrasound features of benign lesions such as fibroadenoma can be overlapping with those in a malignant tumor. Here, we assessed the reports of breast ultrasound in patients with pathologic diagnosis of fibroadenoma. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study and enrolled female patients with confirmed histologic diagnosis of fibroadenoma. Ultrasound studies were performed on the participants to see which sonographic patterns are more frequent in such lesions. Results: In 92 patients with 40.4 ± 9.2 years of age, all participants were classified as stage 4 on Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System scale. The mean ± standard deviation of size for the lesions was 167.4 ± 101.4 mm2. Upper outer quadrants in the breasts had the most number of lesions. Almost lesions were round with only 2.2% were oval. When assessed for the margin definition, 57.8% were circumscribed. Noncircumscribed masses were reported in 21.7%. About 91.3% of cases were hypoechoic in the ultrasound evaluation. Lobulated masses were in 28.3% of the cases. 8.7% of the masses were spongy whereas 9.8% and 2.2% of them had calcification and heterogenic appearance, respectively. Conclusion: The most frequent features include a hypoechoic mass with a circumscribed border; however, complex presentations that overlap malignant masses are also detectable including noncircumscribed margin, lobulation, presence of a posterior shadow, heterogenicity, and micro calcification.
Metabolic responses in a model of insulin resistance: comparison between oral glucose and meal tolerance tests.

The purpose of this investigation was to compare the benefits of a meal tolerance test (MTT) against those of an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in one of the most commonly used models of insulin resistance, the Zucker fatty rat. Comparison of these two oral challenges will facilitate determination of the most effective means of inducing both glucose and insulin responses in this particular model and allow for possible therapeutic benefits to be examined more effectively. Eight-week-old Zucker fatty rats (n = 7 or 8) were used to perform either an OGTT or a MTT following an overnight fast. The OGTT contained a final amount of carbohydrate (CHO) of 1.2 g/kg body weight (BW). The MTT (commercially available liquid meal), in addition to having fat and protein, included a final amount of available CHO and volume to match the OGTT. A saline-treated group served as control. A greater glucose excursion was observed following the OGTT compared to the MTT. The maximal change in glucose from baseline was 140 +/- 10 mg/dL (a 2.1-fold rise) for the OGTT compared to 86.3 +/- 6.1 mg/dL (a 1.7-fold rise) for the MTT (P <.05). The MTT induced a greater change from baseline in insulin response compared to the OGTT (7.5 +/- 1.1 v 3.9 +/- 0.5 ng/mL, MTT v OGTT, respectively; P <.05). The saline challenge induced only minimal glucose and insulin responses in comparison to the other treatments. These results suggest that, in a model of insulin resistance, the MTT is a more potent insulin stimulator than glucose alone. A mixed meal, such as a MTT, provides a complete nutrient challenge (CHO, fat, and protein) that will induce both glucose and insulin responses, enabling a better capacity to detect differences in one of the most often used models of insulin resistance, the Zucker fatty rat.
Unveiling the relationship between e-HRM, impersonal trust and employee productivity

Purpose This study draws upon social exchange theory to explore the role of impersonal trust as an intermediate value-creating factor between electronic human resource management (e-HRM) and productivity. The purpose of this paper is to seek the antecedents and consequences of impersonal trust within organisations to provide a holistic view of e-HRM and employee productivity. This is the first study to examine how impersonal trust mediates the relationship between e-HRM and employee productivity. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected through a large-scale survey of 700 line managers in Pakistani banks. The data were analysed using structure equation modelling. Findings The empirical results validate all of the study’s hypotheses, including the role of impersonal trust, which partially mediates the relationship between e-HRM and employee productivity. The results provide empirical evidence that technology-enabled HRM supports organisations by enhancing organisational trust and productivity outcomes. Originality/value Such findings contribute to the HRM literature: e-HRM and organisational trust are key predictors for improving employee productivity. The existing literature suggests that e-HRM has a positive impact on employees’ trust in the HRM department. The results provide valuable insights for HR practitioners allowing them to enhance employee productivity by using e-HRM to improve employees’ trust in the organisation.
Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility disclosures in insurance companies

Purpose The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the association between corporate governance and the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures in insurance companies, using archival data. Design/methodology/approach The data set comprises 277 listed insurance company-years in Bangladesh for the period of 2008 to 2014. The authors have used a checklist to measure the extent of CSR disclosures. The checklist was developed based on the previous CSR literature. The study uses a multiple regression analysis technique to investigate the association between different governance variables, particularly managerial ownership, institutional ownership, board independence and the proportion of female directors, and the extent of CSR disclosures in Bangladeshi insurance companies. Findings The authors find that board independence and the proportion of female directors have positive associations with the extent of CSR disclosures. However, the results indicate that managerial ownership is negatively associated with the extent of CSR disclosures. Originality/value Unlike most of the prior research that explored CSR disclosures in non-financial companies, the authors focus on financial companies, namely, insurance businesses. The authors provide empirical evidence using archival data that suggests that some governance mechanisms are important determinants of CSR disclosures in the insurance industry.
Impact of Serial Hepatitis B Virus DNA on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis

Objectives: We investigated the pattern of serial HBV DNA levels in known cirrhosis patients and its impact on the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: We analyzed a retrospective case/control study based on 352 HCC patients associated with HBV between 2005 and 2007. Prior to HCC development, 49 cirrhosis patients were tested for HBV DNA levels more than once a year (median 4 times) during the follow-up period. Ninety-eight consecutive cirrhosis patients without HCC, matched for age, sex and HBe Ag status were included as controls. Eighty-three patients in both groups had undergone antiviral therapy. Results: In cirrhosis, the most common HBV DNA pattern was fluctuating (33.3%), followed by persistently high (≧104 copies/ml, 23.8%). Compared to a persistently low pattern (<104 copies/ml), the relative risks of HCC in patients with persistently high and fluctuating patterns were 2.650 and 1.475. At multivariate analysis, a persistently high pattern was an independent risk factor for HCC (hazard ratio 3.135). Patients with sustained HBV DNA suppression during antiviral therapy were less likely to develop HCC than those with viral breakthrough/nonresponse. Conclusions: This study showed that persistent suppression of HBV DNA is also important to prevent the development of HCC in known cirrhosis patients.
Correlation of visual function with health-related quality of life in glaucoma patients.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to assess visual impairment and quality of life (QOL), the relationship between visual function and health-related and vision-related QOL, and to identify factors significantly impacting QOL for glaucoma patients. METHODS One-on-one interviews of 280 glaucoma patients at a regional hospital in Taiwan from 1 April 2005 to 30 September 2005. Data collected included demographics, clinical examinations and treatment status. QOL data collected utilized the Chinese (Taiwanese) version of the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) and the National Eye Institute Visual Function-25 (NEIVFQ-25). RESULTS The majority of study participants had open-angle glaucoma (54.3%) and were classified as moderate stage (33.6%). The higher the health-related QOL scores for both questionnaires, the fewer difficulties experienced by the patients. Moderate correlation was found between the SF-36 and NEIVFQ-25 subscales and visual function. Significant predicting factors for the SF-36 were gender, age, employment status, presence of systemic disease, better-eye visual acuity and better-eye mean defect. For the NEIVFQ-25, these were general vision, near and distance activities, colour vision and peripheral vision scores. CONCLUSIONS A combination of demographic data, clinical examination and QOL questionnaires may help clinicians better ascertain the impact of disease severity on glaucoma patients' QOL. This information may help in patient education, treatment compliance and selection of treatment options.
Verbal Working Memory and Planning: Learning to Compare Movement Durations of Objects

Relations between duration judgments and verbal or visual working memory, between duration judgments and effect of learning to plan the processing of information about such judgments were investigated. A computer monitor was used to present images of two cars traveling in the same direction for various durations and distances. Participants (N = 30) were asked to identify the car that had traveled for the longer duration. Then, participants learned how to solve Piagetian tasks logically. After the learning, they tried to solve the duration judgments task again. Finally, their verbal and visual working memory capacities were assessed. Results indicated the following: (a) numbers of correct answers on the Piagetian tasks were correlated with verbal and visual working memory capacity; (b) the correlations did not significantly decrease after the participants learned how to solve the Piagetian tasks.
Early age of natural menopause in India, a biological marker for early preventive health programs

Objective The objective of the study ‘Women's health at menopause across India’ was to understand the experience of menopause in urban Indian women. The study aimed to ascertain the average age of menopause and its symptomatology, to study the prevalence of chronic diseases, and to understand the health status, health behavior and health needs of Indian women. Methods This is a cross-sectional study of 1765 menopausal women carried out at ten clinical centers managed by gynecologists in urban India. Face-to-face interviews were conducted by gynecologists using a validated structured questionnaire in English. Results A total of 1132 (64.14%) of the 1765 women had a natural menopause and 486 (27.54%) had a surgical menopause; 147 (12.99%) women (mean age 35.89 ± 3. 02 years) were considered to have premature menopause. Out of 1765 women, 192 women were asymptomatic and 1573 reported symptoms. Vasomotor symptoms were reported by 1211 (75.3%) women and psychological symptoms by 999 (62.01%), physical ailments by 515 (32%) and genitourinary symptoms by 250 (15.53%). Diabetes mellitus was reported by 11.7% and hypertension by 21.9%. Conclusion The average age of menopause in the sample studied is 46 years. Chronic diseases are on the rise and osteoporosis presents a decade earlier than in Caucasians. These findings can be a basis for further research and help to understand the symptoms, health status and health needs, to formulate guidelines, and to establish menopause clinics for screening and managing women in the transition phase in India.
Gender-specific effects of the catechol-O-methyltransferase Val108/158Met polymorphism on cognitive function in children.

OBJECTIVE The study aimed to determine the cognitive effect of the Val108/158Met polymorphism in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene in children before and during puberty. This polymorphism affects cognitive function in healthy adults and may contribute to risk for schizophrenia. METHOD COMT genotype was determined for 8,707 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a geographically defined general population cohort of children born between April 1, 1991, and Dec. 31, 1992, in the southwest of England. Fourteen measures of cognitive function--including working memory, verbal and motor inhibition, attentional control, and IQ--were assessed at ages 8 and 10 years. Any pubertal development at age 9 years was reported by parents. Effects of COMT genotype on cognition and interactions with gender and puberty were assessed using general linear models. RESULTS In boys, genotype significantly affected executive function and explained up to 10 points normal variation in verbal IQ. The effects on IQ were significantly greater in pubertal than in prepubertal boys. In girls, there were no significant effects of genotype on cognition. CONCLUSIONS This common polymorphism may be one of the genes of small effect that contribute to normal variation in IQ. The gender-specific nature of the effect and its possible interaction with puberty may be relevant to both normal cognitive and brain development and to abnormal development in disorders such as schizophrenia.
The Impact of Public Mood on the Cross-Section of Stock Returns

This paper studies the impact of public mood, measured by Twitter messages, on the cross-section of U.S. stock returns. Our Twitter-based mood measure is free of endogeneity from financial market influence and distinct from the weather proxy or sentiment indices more commonly used in existing studies. We show that moody stocks that are more sensitive to public mood earn a higher expected excess return than less mood-sensitive sober stocks. Sorting stocks to construct the risk factor portfolio based on mood betas as sensitivity to mood risk, we are the first to quantify the risk premium (0.56% per month) by holding stocks subject to mood risk. Our results are consistent with the theoretical arguments that investors mistakenly use mood as information that biases investors' decision making and trading behaviors, thereby inducing mispricing in asset valuation.
Alcohol slows the brain potential associated with cognitive reaction time to an omitted stimulus.

OBJECTIVE This study uses a missing stimulus paradigm to investigate cognitive effects associated with moderate blood alcohol levels. Specifically, the rate of rise of the omitted stimulus potential (OSP), which is observed when an expected stimulus is omitted, as well as the peak latency of this potential correlate with cognitive premotor reaction time, and thus might involve similar cognitive processes. An acute dose of alcohol has been found to slow the premotor reaction time to a missing stimulus, but no research has tested alcohol effects on the OSP. METHOD A dose of 0.8 g/kg alcohol or a placebo (0 g/kg) was administered in an across-subjects' design in two groups of 15 young men who were tested on a missing stimulus task before and again after alcohol. During a test, active trials required a response to the missing stimulus, and passive trials required no muscle action. Trials were counterbalanced in each group and obtained measures of premotor reaction time, motor reaction time, OSP onset and delay until muscle action, OSP amplitude, rate of rise, and peak latency. The pretreatment and posttreatment change in a measure assessed the alcohol effect. RESULTS Compared with placebo, alcohol slowed premotor reaction time, extended the delay of the OSP before muscle action, and slowed the OSP rate of rise and its peak latency. CONCLUSIONS The similarity between alcohol effects on premotor reaction time and some parameters of the OSP supports the importance of examining how other environmental and pharmacological factors known to alter premotor reaction time might change components of the OSP and other types of event-related potentials.
A study on Extent of Participation and Perception of Farmers on Benefits of IWMP (Integrated Watershed Management Programme)

Watershed is a basin-like landform defined by highpoints and ridgelines that descend into lower elevations and stream valleys. Watershed development involves conservation, regeneration and judicious utilization of natural resources. It aims to bring about an optimum balance between the demand and use of natural resources so that they remain sustainable over time. Ex-post-facto research design was adopted for the study with the objective to find out the extent of participation of watershed farmers in Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) and to find out its benefits. Majority of the watershed farmers had medium level of participation in IWMP followed by low and high participation. The independent variables viz., age, education, farming experience, training received, socio-political participation, efficiency of group leadership, group cohesiveness, decision making pattern and hard work oriented-ness were found positively and significantly related with the extent of participation of watershed farmers in IWMP.
The influence of training on endurance and blood lactate concentration during submaximal exercise.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of short-term training on maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max) and two different measures of endurance performance. Endurance was determined for 15 female subjects (7 training, 8 control) as (1) exercise time to exhaustion at 80% VO2 max (T80%) and (2) the highest relative exercise intensity tolerable during a 30-minute test (T30 min), before and after a 6-week training period. In addition, VO2 max and the work rate equivalent to a blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol.l-1 (OBLA) were determined. Maximum oxygen uptake increased by 24% (p less than 0.01) for the training group (TG) and 7% (p less than 0.01) for the control group (CG). Cumulative average work rate (CAWR) during T30 min increased by 25% for the TG while there was no change for the CG. No significant difference was found pre- and post-training in the %VO2 max (estimated from CAWR) at which the TG and CG performed T30 min. Exercise time to exhaustion on T80% increased by 347% (p less than 0.01) and 16% (NS) for the TG and the CG respectively. Good correlations were found between VO2 max and CAWR (W) (pre-training r = 0.84; post-training r = 0.83), OBLA (W) and CAWR (W) (pre-training r = 0.89; post-training r = 0.88) and change in endurance time and the change in submaximal blood lactate concentration (r = 0.70, p less than 0.01). The results of this study suggest that the ability to sustain a high relative exercise intensity is not enhanced following short-term training.
Insights into the Human CD59 Complement Binding Interface Toward Engineering New Therapeutics*

CD59 is a 77-amino acid membrane glycoprotein that plays an important role in regulating the terminal pathway of complement by inhibiting formation of the cytolytic membrane attack complex (MAC or C5b-9). The MAC is formed by the self assembly of C5b, C6, C7, C8, and multiple C9 molecules, with CD59 functioning by binding C5b-8 and C5b-9 in the assembling complex. We performed a scanning alanine mutagenesis screen of residues 16–57, a region previously identified to contain the C8/C9 binding interface. We have also created an improved NMR model from previously published data for structural understanding of CD59. Based on the scanning mutagenesis data, refined models, and additional site-specific mutations, we identified a binding interface that is much broader than previously thought. In addition to identifying substitutions that decreased CD59 activity, a surprising number of substitutions significantly enhanced CD59 activity. Because CD59 has significant therapeutic potential for the treatment of various inflammatory conditions, we investigated further the ability to enhance CD59 activity by additional mutagenesis studies. Based on the enhanced activity of membrane-bound mutant CD59 molecules, clinically relevant soluble mutant CD59-based proteins were prepared and shown to have up to a 3-fold increase in complement inhibitory activity.
If We Confess Our Sins

I consider a scenario where a social planner suspects that a crime has&#160;been committed. There are many suspects and at most one of them is guilty. &#160;I characterize the optimal mechanism for the social planner under&#160;different assumptions with respect to her commitment power. I find that the&#160;optimal mechanism is a &#8220;confession inducing mechanism&#8221;: Before an&#160;investigation, each agent can confess to being guilty in exchange for a reduced&#160;punishment. I find that these mechanisms do better than the traditional trial&#160;mechanism because of information externalities: When an agent credibly confesses&#160;his guilt, he reveals everyone else's&#160;innocence.
An Integrated Model of Infection Risk in a Health‐Care Environment

Certain respiratory tract infections can be transmitted by hand‐to‐mucous‐membrane contact, inhalation, and/or direct respiratory droplet spray. In a room occupied by a patient with such a transmissible infection, pathogens present on textile and nontextile surfaces, and pathogens present in the air, provide sources of exposure for an attending health‐care worker (HCW); in addition, close contact with the patient when the latter coughs allows for droplet spray exposure. We present an integrated model of pertinent source‐environment‐receptor pathways, and represent physical elements in these pathways as “states” in a discrete‐time Markov chain model. We estimate the rates of transfer at various steps in the pathways, and their relationship to the probability that a pathogen in one state has moved to another state by the end of a specified time interval. Given initial pathogen loads on textile and nontextile surfaces and in room air, we use the model to estimate the expected pathogen dose to a HCW's mucous membranes and respiratory tract. In turn, using a nonthreshold infectious dose model, we relate the expected dose to infection risk. The system is illustrated with a hypothetical but plausible scenario involving a viral pathogen emitted via coughing. We also use the model to show that a biocidal finish on textile surfaces has the potential to substantially reduce infection risk via the hand‐to‐mucous‐membrane exposure pathway.