Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection of C‐MYC oncogene translocation and copy number change in the normal‐dysplasia‐carcinoma sequence of the larynx by fluorescence in situ hybridization

The aim of this study was to determine the translocation and copy number change of the C‐MYC gene in patients with laryngeal dysplasia and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), and to evaluate the prevalence of such expression in relation to the normal‐dysplasia‐carcinoma sequence. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) was applied on formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded blocks of 93 laryngeal lesion specimens (14 normal epithelium, 15 mild dysplasia, 18 moderate dysplasia, 16 severe dysplasia, 9 carcinoma in situ, and 21 invasive carcinoma). C‐MYC translocation was not observed in all laryngeal tissue. The high frequency for C‐MYC copy‐number increased (100%) in invasive carcinoma: 57.14% amplifications and 42.86% gains, and the positive rate of C‐MYC amplification and copy‐number change increased with the increasing severity of laryngeal lesions (P < 0.0001). The results suggest that C‐MYC may be activated by gain/amplification in LSCC and precancerous lesions. Thus, C‐MYC may play an important role in promoting LSCC progression, and early FISH detection of C‐MYC may be exploited to set a screening test for laryngeal dysplasia. Diagn.Cytopathol. 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effects of conversion of native cerrado vegetation to pasture on soil hydro-physical properties, evapotranspiration and streamflow on the Amazonian agricultural frontier

Understanding the impacts of land-use change on landscape-hydrological dynamics is one of the main challenges in the Northern Brazilian Cerrado biome, where the Amazon agricultural frontier is located. Motivated by the gap in literature assessing these impacts, we characterized the soil hydro-physical properties and quantified surface water fluxes from catchments under contrasting land-use in this region. We used data from field measurements in two headwater micro-catchments with similar physical characteristics and different land use, i.e. cerrado sensu stricto vegetation and pasture for extensive cattle ranching. We determined hydraulic and physical properties of the soils, applied ground-based remote sensing techniques to estimate evapotranspiration, and monitored streamflow from October 2012 to September 2014. Our results show significant differences in soil hydro-physical properties between the catchments, with greater bulk density and smaller total porosity in the pasture catchment. We found that evapotranspiration is smaller in the pasture (639 ± 31% mm yr-1) than in the cerrado catchment (1,004 ± 24% mm yr-1), and that streamflow from the pasture catchment is greater with runoff coefficients of 0.40 for the pasture and 0.27 for the cerrado catchment. Overall, our results confirm that conversion of cerrado vegetation to pasture causes soil hydro-physical properties deterioration, reduction in evapotranspiration reduction, and increased streamflow.
[Fournier's gangrene: analysis of risk factors affecting the prognosis and cost of therapy in 18 cases].

BACKGROUND Fournier's gangrene (FG) is a rapidly progressive, polymicrobial, synergistic necrotizing fasciitis, and the mortality rate is still high. We aimed to determine the risk factors affecting prognosis and treatment cost. METHODS Eighteen patients operated for FG during 2003-2007 were investigated retrospectively. Surviving and exitus groups were compared regarding demographic data, etiological factors, laboratory findings, treatment modality, length of hospital stay, and treatment cost. RESULTS Mean age was 54.5 years, and the female/male ratio was 6/12. Mortality was observed in 6 (33.3%) patients and was significantly high among females (66.6%) (p=0.035). Mean duration of complaint in the exitus group (9+/-3 days) was higher than in survivors (5+/-3 days) (p=0.018). The most frequent comorbid disease was diabetes (39.2%), the most frequent etiology was perianal abscess (55.6%) and the primary location of infection was anorectal region (61.1%). Hyponatremia was significantly high in surviving patients (p=0.039). Mean of FG severity point in the exitus group (6.83) was higher than in survivors (3.17) (p=0.011). The most frequently cultivated microorganism, Escherichia coli (66.6%), was significantly high in the exitus group (p=0.012). The mean number of debridements was 4.67. Fecal diversion was performed in 7 (38.8%) patients. Hospital stay in the surviving group (34.17 days) was higher than in the exitus group (10.50 days) (p=0.002). Treatment cost between groups was indifferent (p>0.05). CONCLUSION Female gender, duration of complaint, FG severity point, and cultivated microorganism (E. Coli) were thought to affect mortality. FG is a disease that might cause extended hospital stay and high treatment cost.
Low Self-Control Among South Korean Adolescents

Theoretical propositions and empirical tests of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory continue to permeate the criminological literature. Nevertheless, the vast majority of studies have been conducted in North America and some European countries. Only a handful of empirical works have been conducted in East Asia. To further test the generality assertion of Gottfredson and Hirschi, the current study examines low self-control’s efficacy in predicting the involvement of South Korean adolescents in typical delinquency, drinking, smoking, Internet addiction, and smartphone addiction. The presented findings largely support the generality hypothesis, although the theorists’ assertion seems to be somewhat overstated.
Dual energy CT with one full scan and a second sparse-view scan using structure preserving iterative reconstruction (SPIR)

Conventional dual-energy CT (DECT) reconstruction requires two full-size projection datasets with two different energy spectra. In this study, we propose an iterative algorithm to enable a new data acquisition scheme which requires one full scan and a second sparse-view scan for potential reduction in imaging dose and engineering cost of DECT. A bilateral filter is calculated as a similarity matrix from the first full-scan CT image to quantify the similarity between any two pixels, which is assumed unchanged on a second CT image since DECT scans are performed on the same object. The second CT image from reduced projections is reconstructed by an iterative algorithm which updates the image by minimizing the total variation of the difference between the image and its filtered image by the similarity matrix under data fidelity constraint. As the redundant structural information of the two CT images is contained in the similarity matrix for CT reconstruction, we refer to the algorithm as structure preserving iterative reconstruction (SPIR). The proposed method is evaluated on both digital and physical phantoms, and is compared with the filtered-backprojection (FBP) method, the conventional total-variation-regularization-based algorithm (TVR) and prior-image-constrained-compressed-sensing (PICCS). SPIR with a second 10-view scan reduces the image noise STD by a factor of one order of magnitude with same spatial resolution as full-view FBP image. SPIR substantially improves over TVR on the reconstruction accuracy of a 10-view scan by decreasing the reconstruction error from 6.18% to 1.33%, and outperforms TVR at 50 and 20-view scans on spatial resolution with a higher frequency at the modulation transfer function value of 10% by an average factor of 4. Compared with the 20-view scan PICCS result, the SPIR image has 7 times lower noise STD with similar spatial resolution. The electron density map obtained from the SPIR-based DECT images with a second 10-view scan has an average error of less than 1%.
Mutations in the Cytoplasmic Tail of Murine Leukemia Virus Envelope Protein Suppress Fusion Inhibition by R Peptide

ABSTRACT During viral maturation, the cytoplasmic tail of the murine leukemia virus (MuLV) envelope (Env) protein undergoes proteolytic cleavage by the viral protease to release the 16-amino-acid R peptide, and this cleavage event activates the Env protein's fusion activity. We introduced Gly and/or Ser residues at different positions upstream of the R peptide in the cytoplasmic tail of the Friend MuLV Env protein and investigated their effects on fusion activity. Expression in HeLa T4 cells of a mutant Env protein with a single Gly insertion after I619, five amino acids upstream from the R peptide, induced syncytium formation with overlaid XC cells. Env proteins containing single or double Gly-Ser insertions after F614, 10 amino acids upstream from the R peptide, induced syncytium formation, and mutant proteins with multiple Gly insertions induced various levels of syncytium formation between HeLa T4 and XC cells. Immunoprecipitation and surface biotinylation assays showed that most of the mutants had surface expression levels comparable to those of the wild-type or R peptide-truncated Env proteins. Fluorescence dye redistribution assays also showed no hemifusion in the Env proteins which did not induce fusion. Our results indicate that insertion mutations in the cytoplasmic tail of the MuLV Env protein can suppress the inhibitory effect of the R peptide on membrane fusion and that there are differences in the effects of insertions in two regions in the cytoplasmic tail upstream of the R peptide.
Once-weekly epoetin alfa for treating the anemia of chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIM Anemia occurs in approximately 47% of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) not on dialysis. Recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO, epoetin alfa) has been proven safe and effective for anemia treatment in patients with CKD using a three times-weekly regimen. The current study was conducted to evaluate the clinical safety and efficacy of a less frequent dosing regimen (once weekly) in this population. METHODS This prospective, multicenter, open-label, non-randomized study enrolled 1,557 adult anemic (hemoglobin (Hb) < or = 10 g/dl) CKD patients not on dialysis. Epoetin alfa 10,000 U was administered subcutaneously once weekly for 16 weeks. Titration to 20,000 U once weekly at week 5 was permitted if patients had an increase in Hb < 1 g/dl. Safety and efficacy were assessed by changes in health-related quality of life (Linear Analog Scale Assessment (LASA) and Kidney Disease Questionnaire (KDQ)), changes in hematologic parameters and transfusion utilization, and incidence and severity of adverse events. RESULTS 1,338 patients were evaluable for efficacy. Mean Hb level increased from 9.1 g/dl at baseline to 11.6 g/dl at study completion (last observed value after baseline) (p < 0.0001). Overall, 89.8% of patients responded to once-weekly dosing, exhibiting an increase in Hb level of > or = 1 g/dl from baseline. The percentage of patients that required transfusion decreased from 11.1% (baseline) to 3.7% (during the study) (p < 0.0001). All quality-of-life parameters improved significantly from baseline (p < 0.0001). Mean LASA scores for energy, activity and overall quality of life increased from baseline to study completion by 27.9 mm (70.5%), 24.5 mm (57.0%) and 22.6 mm (47.4%), respectively. All 5 KDQ domains showed statistically significant improvements (p < 0.0001). Hb change was a strong predictor for all 5 KDQ domains and the overall score (p < 0.0001). Treatment with once-weekly epoetin alfa was well tolerated, similar to that reported with three times-weekly dosing. CONCLUSION Once-weekly epoetin alfa therapy is safe and effective for treating anemia in patients with CKD not on dialysis, and is associated with significant improvements in functional status and quality of life.
Mutations that alter the regulation of the chb operon of Escherichia coli allow utilization of cellobiose

Wild‐type strains of Escherichia coli are normally unable to metabolize cellobiose. However, cellobiose‐positive (Cel+) mutants arise upon prolonged incubation on media containing cellobiose as the sole carbon source. We show that the Cel+ derivatives carry two classes of mutations that act concertedly to alter the regulation of the chb operon involved in the utilization of N,N′‐diacetylchitobiose. These consist of mutations that abrogate negative regulation by the repressor NagC as well as single base‐pair changes in the transcriptional regulator chbR that translate into single‐amino‐acid substitutions. Introduction of chbR from two Cel+ mutants resulted in activation of transcription from the chb promoter at a higher level in the presence of cellobiose, in reporter strains carrying disruptions of the chromosomal chbR and nagC. These transformants also showed a Cel+ phenotype on MacConkey cellobiose medium, suggesting that the wild‐type permease and phospho‐β‐glucosidase, upon induction, could recognize, transport and cleave cellobiose respectively. This was confirmed by expressing the wild‐type genes encoding the permease and phospho‐β‐glucosidase under a heterologous promoter. Biochemical characterization of one of the chbR mutants, chbRN238S, showed that the mutant regulator makes stronger contact with the target DNA sequence within the chb promoter and has enhanced recognition of cellobiose 6‐phosphate as an inducer compared with the wild‐type regulator.
The Role of Human Factors in the Bank Capital Evaluation Framework

The article assesses various versions of «Bank capital» definitions, and the own bank capital definition is suggested by authors. It assumes that bank capital is a monetary value of the bank’s debts and equities. Milestones of managing the bank capital such as formation and application are provided in the paper. Two groups of bank capital users such as external and internal stakeholders are highlighted. The key-note of the paper is defining the role of human capital in evaluating the bank capital. Human capital is suggested to play positive and negative role through the whole bank capital evaluation. Both subjective pros and cons of the human factor are revealed in the paper. Typical errors such as low-skilled staff, non-flexible mind, inconsistent risk policy in decision-making, deficient analytical framework, lack of useful forecasting are defined. Authors also defined a set of advantages of the human factors such as: quality education, professional skills, professional development, and diplomatic, highly analytical and independent mind, stress tolerance, and so on. The paper highlights the concept that entities’ benefits which are in evaluating the bank capital could be structured in importance and effect of the parties concerned. The hierarchical framework of interests completely depends on the person arranging the framework. The paper stresses that interests of the parties concerned should be listed in the bank capital’s evaluation policy. A set of key indicators such as capital profitability rate, adequacy ratio to highlight stakeholders’ interests are defined. Key features of bank capital management are described. Objectives of internal and external stakeholders’ activity are defined. The set of factors indicating the impact of human factors on evaluating the bank capital are discussed.
Control expectancies as predictors of psychotherapy outcome: a systematic review.

PURPOSE Patient expectancies are known as a common factor contributing to psychotherapy outcome. Among expectancies, specific control expectancies (such as the perceived responsibility for change) can be considered of special clinical interest because of their connection with the engagement of patients in therapy. Attempts to study control beliefs in relation to psychotherapy outcome have been made by the locus of control research but received less attention in recent years. Based on findings from the expectancies literature (also including outcome and patient role expectancies), this systematic review proposes ways to reactivate the promising field of control expectancies in the psychotherapy context. METHODS The PsychInfo and PubMed databases were searched with the keywords 'expectancies', 'expectations', 'locus of control', and 'role expectancies'; these terms were cross-referenced with the terms 'patient', 'client', 'psychotherapy', 'treatment', and 'outcome'. A total of 35 studies published in the last 25 years and focusing on the relationship between patient expectancies and psychotherapy outcome were identified and included in this review. RESULTS The review of the literature shows a modest direct relationship between specific expectancies and clinical improvement. Studies focusing on the association between global expectancies and outcome led to rather inconsistent findings. CONCLUSIONS The study of control expectancies in psychotherapy has been neglected in the past years probably due to mixed results. The main reasons for inconsistency can be found in the scarcity of specific assessment measures for treatment expectancies as well as in the limited knowledge about process variables in the past. Implications for future control expectancies research are discussed, and a new rating scale is proposed as a possible tool for measuring control expectancies in the specific context of psychotherapy.
Expression of Claudin7 Is Tightly Associated with Epithelial Structures in Synovial Sarcomas and Regulated by an Ets Family Transcription Factor, ELF3*

Synovial sarcoma, a soft tissue sarcoma that develops in adults, is pathologically subclassified into monophasic spindle synovial sarcoma and biphasic synovial sarcoma with epithelial components. The molecular mechanism building the epithelial components in biphasic synovial sarcoma is totally unknown. Here we investigated claudins, critical molecules in the tight junction, in biphasic synovial sarcoma. Expression profiles of 21 claudins in 17 synovial sarcoma tumor samples, including 9 biphasic tumors, identified claudin4, claudin7, and claudin10 as biphasic tumor-related claudins, and immunohistochemical analyses demonstrated the localization of these claudins in the epithelial component in biphasic tumors, with claudin7 the most closely associated with the epithelial component. The mRNA expression and protein localization of claudin7 coincided with those of the ELF3, an epithelia-specific member of the Ets family of transcription factors. Luciferase reporter assays demonstrated that the presence of the Ets-binding site at -150 in the promoter region of the claudin7 gene was critical for the transcriptional activity, and gel shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays confirmed the binding of ELF3 to the Ets site at -150. Inhibition of ELF3 expression by small interfering RNA simultaneously down-regulated the mRNA expression of the claudin7 gene, and the introduction of ELF3 expression in claudin7-negative cell lines induced mRNA expression of the claudin7 gene. Therefore, the induction of claudin7 expression by ELF3 appears critical to the formation of the epithelial structures in biphasic synovial sarcoma.
The Effects of Regulations on the Performance of Banks: Evidence from the Turkish Banking Industry

Purpose To investigate the effects of regulations, macroeconomic changes, and political events on the efficiency of the Turkish banks during the period 1997-2013, when crucial changes were experienced. To analyze the effects of an extensive set of bank-specific and environmental factors on the efficiency, since the diversions could not only be related to new regulations. Design/methodology/approach A two-stage procedure is employed. First, the productivity changes of each bank and of the whole sector are measured by a DEA-based Malmquist Productivity Index (DEA-MPI). Second, the effects of selected internal and external factors on productivity are analyzed with regression analysis. The sector is especially handled before and after 2001, when one of the most catastrophic crises is observed and moment after which a series of new regulations are implemented. Findings During the period 1997-2001, the efficiency deteriorated due to the 2001 crisis; after the crisis, an improvement was observed. All models indicate the source of improvements as efficiency instead of technological changes. Rather than external, internal factors seem to be more effective on productivity. Therefore, the importance of regulations for the soundness of banks, management quality and monitoring may be more crucial than what is thought. In general, a new macroeconomic environment, particularly new regulations, have positive effects on productivity. Tighter regulations, monitoring, restrictions, strong supervision, more capital, and new reforms have a positive impact on efficiency. Originality/value The study spans a wide period to analyze the sector using three different perspectives. It analyzes the effect of the 2001 financial crisis and subsequent regulations. It handles an extensive set of internal and external factors; and it tests each factor with nine different DEA-MPI models for consistency. Turkey's unique environmental factors, such as the unstable macroeconomic conditions, high inflation and a subsequent disinflation period, high interest rates, new regulations and crisis experience, among others, also make the study distinctive.
Saving energy and water in tourist accommodation: A systematic literature review (1987–2015)

Current climate change policy and sustainable tourism goals require tourist accommodation to make substantial resource savings. This integrated energy and water systematic literature review analysed 110 key papers that contribute to understanding savings potentials and new opportunities. Findings identify substantial gaps that suggest that there is insufficient guidance on how to reduce resources and progress sustainability-oriented innovation. Benchmarks for energy and water were compiled alongside potential resource savings. Findings indicate opportunities for stronger collaborative effort particularly in areas of nonhotel accommodation, water savings, and guest behaviour, which are almost unstudied. A research framework to advance energy and water saving innovations is proposed.
Contribution of CEO’s Image to Organization Performance: A Survey of COYA Awards Nominees in Kenya

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the contributions of CEO’s image to organization performance, a survey of COYA awards nominees in Kenya. Methodology: The current research adopted both quantitative and qualitative approach (mixed method) using the survey research design. The researcher used self-administered questionnaires and in cases where this is not applicable due to time constraints the questionnaires was sent via email as well as interviews with selected CEO’s. The entire population in this research was all corporate companies that have participated in the COYA awards in the last five years. However, the sample population in this study was selected Public Relations departments and selected CEOs whose organizations had successfully been recognized as either top- ranking or bottom ranking the COYA annual awards in the last five years. The sampling approach that was used in this study is non-probability sampling, and the researcher used purposive sampling.The process of data analysis included organizing, analyzing and summarizing all the findings. Data organizing and coding was done by the researcher in the following ways. Quantitative data from the questionnaire was analyzed by the use descriptive statistics and presented in form of frequency tables, charts, and graph. Results: Results led to the inference that CEOs nomination and positive image positively contributes to the performance of an organization. Specifically, the positive CEOs image may lead to financial successes of the organization, contribute to gaining competitive advantage in today competitive markets, affect the overall company reputation and directly influences the stakeholders. Recommendations: The study recommends that since there seems to be appositive relationship between organization performance and the CEOs positive image, then PR departments and CEOs should seriously emphasize on the important role of PR department in shaping the CEOs image. Keywords: CEO’s image, organization performance, COYA awards