Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial self medication for reproductive tract infections in two provinces in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Objectives: To describe antimicrobial self medication for reproductive tract infections (RTI) including sexually transmitted infections (STI), and to explore the understanding and use of health information among the adult population self medicating with antimicrobials for RTI/STI in two provinces of Laos. This could contribute to quality improvement of RTI/STI management. Methods: Cross sectional community based study. Structured interviews (household survey) were conducted among 500 subjects aged 18 or more, who had used antimicrobials as self medication for RTI/STI during the past year. They were recruited among 3056 family members in Vientiane capital and Champasak province, divided equally between the two study sites, and between urban and rural areas. Results: Among the 500 respondents reporting self medication for RTI/STI, 91% had bought the antimicrobials from local private pharmacies without a physician’s prescription. 58% of those were advised to buy the drugs from drug sellers. Ampicillin (not recommended as syndromic treatment for RTI/STI) was used in 83% of all cases, in 28% combined with tetracycline. 79% of respondents used antimicrobials for a non-recommended duration of time. Most respondents had access to health messages for RTI/STI, largely from radio/television and drug sellers. However, only 17% of all respondents reported that they had ever used a condom. Conclusions: More than three quarters of respondents, self medicating for RTI/STI with antimicrobials, used inappropriate drugs bought from private pharmacies. There is a need to improve RTI/STI management, including health promotion, through interventions at community level, and to health providers, including private drug sellers.
Differential Use of Medical Care by Sex

Women spend about 50 percent more on average on medical care than men, although men who are hospitalized stay 50 percent longer than women. This study empirically tests several hypotheses that may account for these differences. Results show that these differences are explained by the fact that men may be more able to substitute home for market medical care. Men may also have a lower return to the prior use of medical care because men are more likely to suffer from causes against which medical care is not effective. Potential differences in the value of time do not account for the differences in utilization of medical care.
Control of Boundary Layers for Aero-optical Applications

Abstract : This report presents results of systematic experimental studies of various passive mitigation techniques to reduce aero-optical effects caused be turbulent boundary layers. Parametric studies of Large-Eddy Break-Up devices showed that aero-optical distortions can be suppressed by 45 for several boundary layer thicknesses. It was shown that moderate cooling of the wall also reduces aero-optical distortions by 60 . A model to predict effects of non-adiabatic walls, both full and partial, over a range of subsonic and supersonic Mach numbers was developed and shown to correctly predict experimentally-observed reductions. Heating the wall allows extending the use of wavefront sensors into low subsonic speeds. Using this technique, aero-optical effects of boundary layers at low (1,700-8,000) Reynolds numbers, were investigated. Simultaneous velocity-optical measurements revealed that large-scale vortical structures are mostly responsible for aero-optical distortions and also indicated that the pressure fluctuations inside these vortical structures might be significant.
Dopamine D2 receptor TaqIA and TaqIB polymorphisms in Parkinson's disease

In a case control study, we examined the association of DRD2 Taq1A and Taq1B polymorphisms and risk of PD, and evaluated the strength of linkage disequilibrium of the polymorphisms. The Taq1A and Taq1B polymorphisms were in strong linkage disequilibrium. There was, however, no significant association of the two polymorphisms with PD. © 2003 Movement Disorder Society
Owners' Way or the Highway: Short-Term Expectations and Owner Impatience

Increased media exposure to layoffs and corporate quarterly financial reporting have created arguable a common perception - especially favored by the media itself - that the companies have been forced to improve their financial performance from quarter to quarter. Academically the relevant question is whether companies themselves feel that are exposed short-term pressure to perform even if it means that they have to compromise company's long-term future. This paper studies this issue using results from a survey conducted among the 500 largest companies in Finland. The results show that companies in general feel moderate short-term pressure, with reasonable dispersion across firms. There seems to be a link between the degree of pressure felt, and the firm's ownership structure, i.e. we find support for the existence of short-term versus long-term owners. We also find significant ownership related differences, in line with expectations, in how such short-term pressure is reflected in actual decision variables such as the investment criteria used.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Social‐Cognitive Perspective

This study offers a developmentally sensitive conceptual understanding of trauma by viewing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through the lens of social cognition. First, we justify our focus on social cognition by examining the literature on problematic interpersonal relationships associated with PTSD. Next, we link impaired social cognition to the developmental compromise of mentalizing capacity in attachment relationships. We then integrate the diverse research literature into a social-cognitive model of the development of PTSD. We finally conclude by suggesting directions for future research, as it might be shaped by trends in social-cognitive neuroscience.
Business to Business Marketing: Creating a Community of Customers

1. A New Marketing Vision 2. The Economics of Community 3. Determining External Service Values 4. Communicating with Your Customer 5. The Database as a Marketing Tool 6. Creating the Customer Community Center 7. Retaining and Cultivating Existing Customers 8. Acquiring New Customers 9. Leadership and The New Customer Community
The Conceptual Framework for E-Commerce Adoption Model

Although Malaysia declares "Visit Malaysia Year' from time to time, the Malaysian tourism industry has not improved their on-line booking system. Statistical evidence indicates that only one-third of registered travel agents in Malaysia operate e-commerce websites. Hence, the main objective of the study is to examine the direct and indirect factors which affect the e-commerce adoptions by examining its key predictors in travel agents in Malaysia. The literature also identifies three probable factors (perceived risk, perceived usefulness, trust and perceived ease of use) that could be the causal factors for poor e-commerce adoptions. The proposed methodology is the quantitative approach by collecting primary data from travel agents. The data collected will be analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Product Market Interactions and Corporate Fraud

We examine three information channels through which product market interactions in an industry can affect firms’ incentives to misreport financial information to investors. We find that lower product market sensitivity to individual firm’ information and greater use of relative performance evaluation encourage the commission of financial fraud. Less collection of information about individual firms decreases the probability of fraud detection and increases the probability of fraud commission. We also examine dynamic effects of fraud. Our results suggest that, in fragmented industries, fraud can amplify cyclical fluctuations in the real economy.
Assessing Quality of Food, Service and Customer Experience at a Restaurant: the Case of a Student-Run Restaurant in the USA

In the restaurant business, satisfied customers will return and provide positive word of mouth to peers. Studies have shown that restaurants that generate repeat patronage have six significant attributes in common, namely food quality, service quality, consistency of food and service, menu variety, cost/price-value relationship, atmosphere/ambience, and hygiene/cleanliness. University-level hospitality management programs regard the Student-Run Restaurant (SRR) as an essential part of the curriculum. Despite many such restaurants housed in universities in the USA and across the world, little information is available about how these restaurants assess quality and promote usage and loyalty. This study addresses this subject by identifying the perceptions of the patrons of a SRR, segmenting the customer base, and ascertaining the quality of drivers of repeat and referral patronage. A total of 503 guests were surveyed at a university SRR in the southwestern region of the USA. Overall, patrons were satisfied with the food quality, service quality, value for money, and convenience of location. However, satisfaction levels were lower for convenience of payment methods and portion size. Significant differences were found between males and females, as well as between younger and mature patrons. Significant differences also existed between the perceptions of heavy–users and light-users. These findings suggest the SRR serves distinct segments, which emphasizes a need to focus on customized strategies for customer retention. More information about patrons and the quality of restaurant attributes that drive their choices will assist hospitality faculty in SRRs and restaurateurs to competitively position their restaurants for success in the marketplace.
Pathogenic role of Fgf 23 in Hyp mice

Liu, Shiguang, Jianping Zhou, Wen Tang, Xi Jiang, David W. Rowe, and L. Darryl Quarles. Pathogenic role of Fgf23 in Hyp mice. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 291: E38–E49, 2006. First published January 31, 2006; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00008. 2006. —Inactivating mutations of the PHEX (phosphate-regulating gene with homologies to endopeptidases on the X chromosome) endopeptidase, the diseasecausing gene in X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH), results in increased circulating levels of fibroblastic growth factor-23 (FGF23), a bone-derived phosphaturic factor. To determine the causal role of FGF23 in XLH, we generated a combined Fgf23-deficient enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) reporter and Phex-deficient Hyp mouse model (Fgf23 / /Hyp). eGFP expression was expressed in osteocytes embedded in bone that exhibited marked upregulation of eGFP in response to Phex deficiency and in CD31-positive cells in bone marrow venules that expressed low eGFP levels independently of Phex. In bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) derived from Fgf23 / /Hyp mice, eGFP expression was also selectively increased in osteocyte-like cells within mineralization nodules and detected in low levels in CD31-positive cells. Surprisingly, eGFP expression was not increased in cell surface osteoblasts, indicating that Phex deficiency is necessary but not sufficient for increased Fgf23 expression in the osteoblast lineage. Additional factors, associated with either osteocyte differentiation and/or extracellular matrix, are necessary for Phex deficiency to stimulate Fgf23 gene transcription in bone. Regardless, the deletion of Fgf23 from Hyp mice reversed the hypophosphatemia, abnormal 1,25(OH)2D3 levels, rickets, and osteomalacia associated with Phex deficiency. These results suggest that Fgf23 acts downstream of Phex to cause both the renal and bone phenotypes in Hyp mice.
Status of prerequisite and HACCP program implementation in Iowa and Kansas restaurants: Sanitarians’ perspective

SUMMARY The purpose of this study was to obtain baseline data about the presence of HACCP and prerequisite programs in chain and independent restaurants from the perspective of sanitarians who inspect restaurants and to determine how those programs have changed over the past five years. A three-part written questionnaire was distributed to all Iowa and Kansas sanitarians; 36 Iowa sanitarians (35%) and 18 Kansas sanitarians (41%) responded. The prerequisite program most often lacking in independent restaurants was a system of standardized recipes with critical control points (4%). Sanitarians noted little improvement in prerequisite programs over the past five years. Employee knowledge, time, and manager knowledge are identified as the top three barriers to implementing prerequisite and HACCP programs. Results indicate that important food safety practices need to be implemented in Iowa and Kansas restaurants. Sanitarians play an important role in improving food safety practices in restaurants and if more time were available to conduct inspections, sanitarians could provide referrals and resources specific to the needs of the operations to support food safety improvements.
Future Research Directions in Sleep and ADHD

Objective: To explore relationships between basic and translational science research regarding sleep and ADHD in children. Method: A multidisciplinary group of experts in pediatric sleep medicine and ADHD convened in November 2010 to summarize the current literature, delineate knowledge gaps, and formulate recommendations regarding future research directions and priorities. Results: Six major research areas of interest were identified: (a) brain centers regulating sleep, arousal, and attention; (b) neurotransmitter systems involved in both sleep and attention regulation; (c) alterations of neural systems regulating sleep in ADHD; (d) phenotypic similarities between behavioral, mood, and cognitive manifestations of insufficient/disrupted sleep and ADHD; (e) hypoarousal and sleepiness in ADHD; and (f) external sleep–wake signals that affect sleep regulation in ADHD. Conclusion: An enhanced understanding of the complex mechanisms regulating sleep promotion, wakefulness, and attention may contribute to new insights regarding the core impairments in ADHD and lead to the development of new therapies.
Noninvasive imaging of the human rod photoreceptor mosaic using a confocal adaptive optics scanning ophthalmoscope

The rod photoreceptors are implicated in a number of devastating retinal diseases. However, routine imaging of these cells has remained elusive, even with the advent of adaptive optics imaging. Here, we present the first in vivo images of the contiguous rod photoreceptor mosaic in nine healthy human subjects. The images were collected with three different confocal adaptive optics scanning ophthalmoscopes at two different institutions, using 680 and 775 nm superluminescent diodes for illumination. Estimates of photoreceptor density and rod:cone ratios in the 5°–15° retinal eccentricity range are consistent with histological findings, confirming our ability to resolve the rod mosaic by averaging multiple registered images, without the need for additional image processing. In one subject, we were able to identify the emergence of the first rods at approximately 190 μm from the foveal center, in agreement with previous histological studies. The rod and cone photoreceptor mosaics appear in focus at different retinal depths, with the rod mosaic best focus (i.e., brightest and sharpest) being at least 10 μm shallower than the cones at retinal eccentricities larger than 8°. This study represents an important step in bringing high-resolution imaging to bear on the study of rod disorders.
[Gut-liver axis in inflammatory bowel disease. A retrospective study].

INTRODUCTION Examination of the gut-liver axis came into the spotlight worldwide. Liver enzyme elevations are commonly seen in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which is a diagnostic challenge in everyday clinical practice. Liver and biliary diseases are common extra-intestinal manifestations in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The assessment of routine liver function tests could be an inaccurate reflection of liver damage, so its prevalence could be underestimated. There would be a need for non-invasive biomarkers and/or scoring systems, which would help the diagnosis of liver damage associated with intestinal diseases. AIM In our work we considered to highlight the importance of the gut-liver axis significance. We used data of patients suffering from ulcerative colitis, as a model for bowel diseases to understand the underlying factors of the pathogenesis of hepatobiliary manifestations. METHOD In our retrospective study, we investigated the data of 100 ulcerative colitis patients (male = 46, female = 54) (mean age: 42.5 ± 12.7) and compared to healthy controls (n = 42) (male = 17, female = 25) (mean age: 40.2 ± 13.5). Liver function tests (ALT, AST, GGT, ALP, bilirubin, albumin, thrombocyte), bile acid levels were determinated, and various free radical markers (global, enzymatic) were used to assess the redox homeostasis of patients. Hydrogen donor activity, reducing power, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activity, total antioxidant status and induced chemiluminescence were measured, considering that the patients received 5-aminosalicilate and/or azathioprin and elemental diet treatment. RESULTS Liver function parameters were increased in ulcerative colitis patients, and total antioxidant status, as well. Reducing power significantly decreased, but there was no significant difference compared to the control group of glutathione peroxidase and H-donor activity, we observed only tendentious decrease. The antioxidant protection of more than 54% of patients had a significantly lower rate, according to all the parameters. With chemiluminescence measurement we measured better free radical scavenging capacity, both in plasma and in erythrocytes as a result of the therapy, however, it showed an increase of superoxide dismutase activity, which warns of inflammatory processes. The cause of the decrease in bile acid levels found in the group of ulcerative colitis patients, can be the accelerated peristaltic. CONCLUSIONS In the daily routine, liver enzyme values do not give an accurate picture of liver damage associated with ulcerative colitis. With the help of various specific parameters determined by us, we can estimate the background processes of the gut-liver axis alterations. The decrease in bile acid levels can be a predictive factor in ulcerative colitis. Our work highlights the need of non-invasive screening for liver diseases in inflammatory bowel disease. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(26): 1014-1021.
Economic growth and female labour force participation in India

India has experienced rapid economic growth, structural shifts in the economy, increase in educational attainment levels, and rapid urbanization in the last twenty five years. In the same period there has been a 23% decline in the female labour force participation rate. What’s the relationship between economic growth and women’s economic activity? Is growth enough or does the nature of growth matter in attracting more women to the labour force? This paper explores these questions using state-level employment data spanning the last twenty five years, 1983-84 to 2009-10. Several cross-country and within-country studies suggest female labour force participation tends to decline initially with economic development, plateaus at a certain stage of development before rising again. This is argued to be mainly a result of structural shifts in the economy, changing influence of income and substitution effects, and an increase in education levels of women in the population. Using dynamic panel models, this paper does not find a significant relationship between level of economic development and women’s participation rates in the labour force. Our results also suggest that growth by itself is not sufficient to increase women’s economic activity, but the dynamics of growth matter. These findings are especially important to help design policies to improve women’s labour force participation rate so that India can take complete advantage of its upcoming demographic dividend.
The Placental Changes in Hypertensive Disorder of Pregnancy and Compare with Normal Pregnancy

Objective: The aim of the study is to study the spectrum of placental changes in Hypertensive disorder of pregnancy and correlate with normal pregnancy. Material & Methods: It was an observational study conducted in department of Obs & Gynae in Mahatma Gandhi Medical college, Jaipur Rajasthan on 50 placenta out of which 25 belong to hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (Blood pressure >150/90), and 25 placenta belong to control group (uncomplicated pregnancy). Results : In hypertensive disorder of pregnancy mean placental weight and volume was found to be much lower then the control group. Statically significant difference was found among the group according to weight of placenta with p value 0.027 and volume of placenta with p value 0.032. Macroscopic features like calcification, infarct, retro placental hematoma was found much more then the control group, moreover these are more common in severe form of hypertensive then the milder form of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. No Statically significant difference was found among the group according to shape of placenta with p value 0.88. Incidence of low birth weight and still birth was also more in hypertensive disorder patient then in control group. Conclusion : Placental changes are more common in hypertensive disorder of pregnancy then in control and it is associated adverse fetal outcome i.e. low birth weight and still birth.
Ways of Expressing Results of Human Bone Marrow Progenitor Cell Culture

SUMMARY In human bone marrow culture studies the number of granulocyte progenitor cells (CFUc) is expressed as the numbcr of colonies per 105 incubated, nucleated cells. However, this provides little information on cell proliferation kinetics of granulopoiesis. The ratio of progenitors (CFUc) to end cells (metamyelocytcs or granuloc)‐tcs) is related to the effectiveness of granulopoiesis and this allows an estimate to be made of an amplification factor within the maturing and proliferating compartments. We measured an index equal to the number of CFUc per 105 nietamyelocytes incubated in both normal individuals and in patients. The index falls when a large number of granulocytes is produced by each progenitor cell. This was observed in many patients with a neutropenia. An estimation of the total number of mctamyelocytes is based on the ratio of the number of metamyelocytes to the number of blood granulocytes. This allows an estimate of the total number of CFUcs, which is of clinical interest.