Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The link between acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease

Purpose of reviewIt has been argued that the existing epidemiologic data are insufficient to establish a causal link between acute kidney injury (AKI) and subsequent development or progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD), especially given that risk factors for the development of AKI overlap with those for progressive CKD. Recent findingsMultiple studies published over the past 5 years have demonstrated a strong epidemiologic association between episodes of AKI and subsequent development or progression of CKD, including evidence that severity of AKI and repeated episodes of AKI are associated with increased risk of CKD. In addition, animal models have provided evidence for a biological basis linking episodes of AKI with CKD. SummaryThe preponderance of data support a causal link between episodes of AKI and subsequent development or progression of CKD.
Impact of Board Composition on Critical Board Decisions - Evidence from Nigeria

The Securities and Exchange Commission in Nigeria (SEC), in keeping with her mandates of promoting good corporate governance in Nigeria and also complying with the global trend, recommended Code of Corporate Governance for quoted firms in Nigeria in 2003. The code made strong recommendations for the separation of the position of the CEO and the board chair, and the dominance of outside directors, among others for quoted firms in Nigeria. The recommendations are geared towards resolving the principal-agency problem which is grounded in the agency theory. Agency problem arises whenever managers have incentives to pursue self-interest (self-serving behaviour) at the expense of shareholders. Most studies on corporate governance focused on how to effectively monitor the agents (resolving the conflict) against self-serving bahaviour in order to protect shareholders interest. Although it should be conceded that resolving the principal-agent problem is an important issue in the corporate governance of firms, the global financial and economic crisis of 2007/08 exposed other forms of weaknesses in firms’ corporate governance systems, particularly their critical decisions. It has been argued that some corporate boards lacked independence; directors often failed to make meaningful contributions to safeguard the growth and development of the firms. This raises an important question of whether the insufficient representation of outside directors is the possible explanation of boards’ failure to fulfill their monitoring roles. To test empirically whether board composition matters, it has been suggested that, rather than examining a board’s monitoring effectiveness by using the firm financial performance as proxy, a more accurate evaluation can be gained by examining discrete decisions that involve a potential conflict of interest between management and shareholders. To add to the debate, this paper examined the impact of board composition on the critical decisions of Nigerian firms. The survey method was used in generating data for the study while the Product Moment Correlation technique was employed to test the study hypotheses. The result of the correlation coefficients shows that there is a positive correlation between firms’ critical decisions, namely, CEO Compensation, CEO Tenure, Debt Intensity, Unrelated Diversification, Intensity of Expenditure on Research and Development and boards dominated by nonexecutive directors. Based on this positive result, it was recommended that government should enforce the recommendations of Code of Corporate Governance that stipulated a higher proportion of non
Planned Opaqueness in Securitization

Issuers of structured finance products can exploit the informational advantage over potential buyers via two ways. One way is to adopt lax screening standards, and simply pass off the risks to potential buyers. The other way is to make securities intentionally opaque and difficult to evaluate their risks and values through repackaging, and thereby amplifying informational advantage. When the screening standard is exogenously given, repackaging is welfare-reducing. However, we show not only that the issuer chooses to repackage, but also that repackaging mitigates the adverse selection and can be welfare-improving, because the incentive to enjoy additional informational advantage through repackaging improves screening standards.
A study of short term heart rate variability in dipping tobacco users

Background: WHO (2010) reported the rise in the number of smokeless tobacco users in India. Dipping tobacco is a form of smokeless tobacco being used in these region in various trade names. Nicotine in smoking tobacco is found to alter the cardiovascular autonomic functions. As the expected cardiovascular mortality due to tobacco use across the globe is very high, here we studied the effect of dipping tobacco on cardiovascular autonomic function using the short term heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Methods: Five minutes Lead II ECG at rest is aquired from male dipping tobacco moderate users (n=30) and age matched controls (n=30). Frequency and time domain parameters were derived and analysed using the Kubios HRV analysis software. Blood pressure changes were also compared. Unpaired ‘t’ test was done using SPSS 17.0 and statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: Significant changes in certain parameters indicated that there is a developing set back in the sympathetic control over the heart (LF, 383.8+115.8, 952.8+131.1, p<0.01) and also an established increase in diastolic blood pressure (73.1+2.8, 65.48+1.5, p<0.01). Conclusion: Dipping tobacco a form of smokeless tobacco is equally harmful like any smoked tobacco in altering the cardiovascular autonomic function. Thereby the increase in smokeless tobacco users in India or any country is going to add up more to the mortality rate due to tobacco related diseases in near future as estimated by WHO. An immediate measure to stop the production, sale and use of these smokeless tobacco products could curb this menace. Asian Journal of Medical Science, Volume-5(3) 2014: 91-94 http://dx.doi. org/10.3126/ajms.v5i3. 9588
Adult outcome of congenital lower respiratory tract malformations

Congenital malformations of the lower respiratory tract are usually diagnosed and managed in the newborn period, in infancy, or in childhood. To what extent should the adult pulmonologist be experienced in this predominantly paediatric field? There are three ways in which an adult physician may be confronted with this spectrum of disorders. The most frequent type of encounter will be a former paediatric patient, now reaching adulthood, with the history of a surgically treated respiratory malformation; in some of these patients the early loss of lung tissue raises questions of residual damage and compensatory growth. Secondly, there is an increasing number of children in whom paediatric pulmonologists treat respiratory malformations expectantly; these patients eventually become adults with their malformation still in place. Thirdly, there is a small group of patients in whom the malformation goes unrecognised throughout childhood; in these a late complication or the coincidental discovery of a radiographic anomaly may demand a late diagnosis and management in adulthood. All three of these adult presentations will require some expertise on the part of the managing physician. The subsequent text reviews the most common “classical” congenital malformations of the lower respiratory tract from the above three perspectives. ### PAEDIATRIC PRESENTATION TOF usually occurs in association with oesophageal atresia; thus, the outcome is invariably fatal unless the anomaly is surgically repaired in the first days of life. The rare “H type” TOF without oesophageal atresia is an exception to this rule and may persist into later childhood or even adulthood before the diagnosis is established.1 The malformation is explained by the defective progression of a complex system of folds that separate the foregut into trachea and oesophagus.2 Approximately 50% of infants with TOF have associated anomalies, most often involving the urinary, gastrointestinal, and cardiac systems.3 4 The first successful repair of …
Oncologists’ and Intensivists’ Attitudes Toward the Care of Critically Ill Patients with Cancer

Background: Patients with cancer represent an important proportion of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. Oncologists and intensivists have distinct knowledge backgrounds, and conflicts about the appropriate management of these patients may emerge. Methods: We surveyed oncologists and intensivists at 2 academic cancer centers regarding their management of 2 hypothetical patients with different cancer types (metastatic pancreatic cancer and metastatic breast cancer with positive receptors for estrogen, progesterone, and HER-2) who develop septic shock and multiple organ failure. Results: Sixty intensivists and 46 oncologists responded to the survey. Oncologists and intensivists similarly favored withdrawal of life support measures for the patient with pancreatic cancer (33/46 [72%] vs 48/60 [80%], P = .45). On the other hand, intensivists favored more withdrawal of life support measures for the patient with breast cancer compared to oncologists (32/59 [54%] vs 9/44 [21%], P < .001). In the multinomial logistic regression, the oncology specialists were more likely to advocate for a full-code status for the patient with breast cancer (OR = 5.931; CI 95%, 1.762-19.956; P = .004). Conclusions: Oncologists and intensivists share different views regarding life support measures in critically ill patients with cancer. Oncologists tend to focus on the cancer characteristics, whereas intensivists focus on multiple organ failure when weighing in on the same decisions. Regular meetings between oncologists and intensivists may reduce possible conflicts regarding the critical care of patients with cancer.
Colonic pressure data processing based on independent component analysis

The Colonic manometry is an important technique to evaluate human colonic motor functions, which are critical for doctors to understand the pathology of intestinal diseases like slow transit constipation (STC) and colonic inertia (CI). However, in the obtained pressure signals, several patterns of colonic motor activities as well as noises mixed together, which made it difficult to observe the information people really needed. In this article, a new method was proposed to extract patterns of colonic motility from the mixed signals, so that researchers could study them thoroughly. Colonic pressure recordings from 26 volunteers were obtained by the water-perfused manometry catheters. Then independent component analysis (ICA) was introduced, which successfully separated colonic motility patterns and noises into four independent components. And according to the rhythm of contractions examined by ICA, subjects' colonic motility could be divided into three types: regular rhythm (12 subjects), slow rhythm (8 subjects) and disordered (6 subjects), which exactly accorded with their original diagnosis.
Influences of Covariates on Growth Mixture Modeling

This study investigated the influence of including a covariate and/or a distal outcome on growth mixture modeling (GMM). GMM was used to examine patterns of days of heroin use over 16 years among 471 heroin users and the relationship of those patterns to mortality (distal outcome). Comparisons were made among four types of models: without a covariate and a distal outcome (two-stage approach), with a distal outcome, with a covariate, and with a covariate and a distal outcome in conjunction with three different covariates. The two-stage approach and models with the inclusion of a distal outcome resulted in different conclusions when testing the impact of latent trajectory membership on the distal outcome. Differences in membership classifications between unconditional and conditional models were mainly determined by two factors: (1) the associations of the trajectories with the covariate and the distal outcome, and (2) the distribution of the covariate in the study sample.
Socially responsible and small: A quantitative study of corporate social responsibility in small and medium organizations in the United States

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a global imperative supported by governments, industry, and citizens alike. In 2000, the United Nations launched the Global Compact to encourage businesses to adopt socially responsible policies. In tandem, businesses became increasingly attentive to their social practices with the vast majority of executives declaring CSR important to their organization’s success. Despite this increase in attention – which occurred among businesses of all sizes – the academic literature on CSR has focused almost exclusively on large, public companies. Ironically, the majority of businesses in the United States are small, private businesses suggesting the existing CSR field has overlooked a significant segment of business. To address this knowledge problem, this study analyzed pre-existing survey data from 3,005 small and medium enterprises (SME) located in the United States. This research first addressed the various types and levels of CSR by using factor analytic techniques to identify 22 organizational activities that corresponded to five areas of internal CSR and two areas of external CSR. Correlation coefficients and regression analysis were then used to determine the extent to which variation in these CSR activities could be explained by the 22 organizational characteristics identified in the data. The study results indicated that more than 99% of SMEs participated in some form of CSR, although participation rates varied from a low of 5% to a high of 92% for specific CSR activities. Organization size, as measured by number of employees, proved to be the most significant variable with a positive relationship to CSR activity. In addition, leadership characteristics such as longer tenure, a higher percentage of women executives, and more frequent executive-employee meetings were also found to have a positive relationship with CSR activity. Other characteristics including industry type and geographic region showed both positive and negative relationships with CSR. Overall, organization characteristics, including size, explained only 17% of the variation in CSR activity suggesting SMEs of all sizes can and do participate in CSR. It is hoped this study will provide practical data to further encourage SMEs in the United States to pursue CSR for the mutual benefit of business and society.
Antimicrobial susceptibility of microorganisms isolated from the mammary glands of dairy heifers.

Minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined with 1494 microorganisms isolated from the mammary glands of dairy heifers. The antimicrobial agents tested were penicillin, cloxacillin, cephapirin, ceftiofur, novobiocin, enrofloxacin, erythromycin, and pirlimycin. All minimum inhibitory concentrations were expressed as micrograms per milliliter. The isolates tested included 135 Staphylococcus aureus, 1222 Staphylococcus sp. , 42 Streptococcus sp. , 15 Enterococcus sp. , 60 enteric species, and 20 miscellaneous organisms. The minimum inhibitory concentrations for 90% of isolates for the various antimicrobial agents with Staph. aureus were as follows: penicillin, . 13; cloxacillin, . 5; cephapirin, . 5; ceftiofur, 1; novobiocin, . 5; enrofloxacin, . 5; erythromycin, . 5, and pirlimycin, . 5. In comparison, the minimum inhibitory concentrations for 90% of isolates for the Staphylococcus sp. were 1, 1, . 5, 1, . 5, . 5, 1, and . 5 for penicillin, cloxacillin, cephapirin, ceftiofur, novobiocin, enrofloxacin, erythromycin, and pirlimycin, respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentrations for 90% of isolates for the Streptococcus sp. were 2, 32, 2, 2, 8, 1, 64, and 32 for the respective antimicrobial agents; the minimum inhibitory concentrations for 90% of isolates were 4, 64, 32, 64, 4, 1, 4, and 4 for the enterococci. Against the Gram-negative enteric bacilli, only ceftiofur and enrofloxacin were active; minimum inhibitory concentrations for 90% of isolates were 1 microgram/ml for ceftiofur and . 25 microgram/ml for enrofloxacin. Results indicated that the majority of staphylococcal strains were susceptible to the antimicrobial agents tested but that antimicrobial susceptibility varied for Streptococcus sp. Compounds currently available in intramammary infusion products demonstrated poor activity against the enteric organisms.
Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Employee Retention among Healthcare Professionals in the United States

With the endemic health care professional shortage seen both in the United States as well as globally, retaining staff is a high priority. Much like other organizations who rely on human capital, health care professionals are the most important resource for improving patient outcomes, and for achieving organizational performance. Leaders must effectively manage their employees in order to retain top talent and meet organizational goals. One reason for high turnover rates among healthcare professionals is the lack of recognition they are given by their leaders. With this in mind, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between transformational leadership components and turnover intentions of health care professionals. One hundred and twenty-seven healthcare professionals from the United States participated in the survey. Participants were recruited through a LinkedIn group of healthcare professionals. More than 100 healthcare professionals from the United States responded to an online survey that contained the Global Transformational Leadership Scale, The Turnover Intention Scale, and demographic questions to describe the sample. A correlational analysis was conducted to determine the type of relationship between the health care professionali¯s perceptions of their supervisorsi¯ transformational leadership and their intent to turnover. The results of this study support the theory of transformational leadership. The health care professionalsi¯ turnover intentions were negatively correlated with the transformational leadership components, which indicate that as their turnover intentions increased their positive rating of their supervisorsi¯ transformational leadership behaviors decreased.
Good manufacturing practice-compliant cell sorting and large-scale expansion of single KIR-positive alloreactive human natural killer cells for multiple infusions to leukemia patients.

BACKGROUND AIMS Alloreactive natural killer (NK) cells are potent effectors of innate anti-tumor defense. The introduction of NK cell-based immunotherapy to current treatment options in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) requires NK cell products with high anti-leukemic efficacy optimized for clinical use. METHODS We describe a good manufacturing practice (GMP)-compliant protocol of large-scale ex vivo expansion of alloreactive NK cells suitable for multiple donor lymphocyte infusions (NK-DLI) in AML. CliniMACS-purified NK cells were cultured in closed air-permeable culture bags with certified culture medium and components approved for human use [human serum, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-15 and anti-CD3 antibody] and with autologous irradiated feeder cells. RESULTS NK cells (6.0 ± 1.2 x 10(8)) were purified from leukaphereses (8.1 ± 0.8 L) of six healthy donors and cultured under GMP conditions. NK cell numbers increased 117.0 ± 20.0-fold in 19 days. To reduce the culture volume associated with expansion of bulk NK cells and to expand selectively the alloreactive NK cell subsets, GMP-certified cell sorting was introduced to obtain cells with single killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) specificities. The subsequent GMP-compliant expansion of single KIR+ cells was 268.3 ± 66.8-fold, with a contaminating T-cell content of only 0.006 ± 0.002%. The single KIR-expressing NK cells were cytotoxic against HLA-mismatched primary AML blasts in vitro and effectively reduced tumor cell load in vivo in NOD/SCID mice transplanted with human AML. CONCLUSIONS The approach to generating large numbers of GMP-grade alloreactive NK cells described here provides the basis for clinical efficacy trials of NK-DLI to complement and advance therapeutic strategies against human AML.
Dilute-melt, proton-exchange slab waveguides in LiNbO 3 : a new fabrication and characterization method.

A method of dilute-melt proton exchange employing a mixture of glycerol and KHSO4 with lithium benzoate added is used to fabricate planar waveguides in c -cut LiNbO3 . With this exchange melt system the waveguide refractive-index profiles can be fabricated with a high degree of reproducibility. In contrast with the traditional dilute-melt method, which uses benzoic acid and lithium benzoate, the need for sealed containers during the exchange process can be avoided when the glycerol, KHSO4 , and lithium benzoate system is used for the exchange process. A new characterization method for determining the waveguide refractive-index profile from the measured-mode indexes is introduced. The main advantage of this characterization method compared with other methods is that it also applies to single-mode waveguides. Using the new characterization method, we investigate in detail the relation between waveguide refractive-index change and composition of this glycerol, KHSO4 and lithium benzoate exchange melt system.
p38 MAP Kinase Mediates the Cell Death Induced by PrP106–126 in the SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells

Prion diseases are neurodegenerative pathologies characterized by the accumulation in the brain of a protease-resistant form of the prion protein (PrP(c)), named PrP(Sc). A synthetic peptide homologous to residues 106-126 of PrP (PrP106-126) maintains many PrP(Sc) characteristics. We investigated the intracellular signaling responsible for the PrP106-126-dependent cell death of SH-SY5Y, a cell line derived from a human neuroblastoma. In this cell line, PrP106-126 induced apoptotic cell death and caused activation of caspase-3, although the blockade of this enzyme did not inhibit cell death. The p38 MAP kinase blockers, SB203580 and PD169316, prevented the apoptotic cell death evoked by PrP106-126 and Western blot analysis revealed that the exposure of the cells to the peptide induced p38 phosphorylation. Taken together, our data suggest that the p38 MAP kinase pathway can mediate the SH-SY5Y cell death induced by PrP106-126.
Stimulation of 24,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Production by 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3

Vitamin D-deficient rats produce [3H]1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 from [3H]25-hydroxyvitamin D3 regardless of dietary content of calcium or phosphate. A daily dose of 130 picomoles of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 for a period of 5 days reduces production of [3H]1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 to essentially zero and stimulates production of [3H]24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. A daily dose of 325 picomoles of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 has a similar but less dramatic effect. On the other hand, 650 picomoles daily of 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 given to vitamin D-deficient rats had no effect. Thus it appears that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 is an important factor in the regulation of kidney metabolism of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3.
Cartels, Managerial Incentives, and Productive Efficiency in German Coal Mining, 1881-1913

In this paper, we evaluate the impact of cartelisation and managerial incentives on the productive efficiency of German coal mining corporations. We focus on coal mining in the Ruhr district, Germany’s main mining area. We use stochastic frontier analysis and an unbalanced dynamic panel data set for up to 28 firms for the years 1881-1913 to measure productive efficiency. We show that coal was mined with decreasing returns to scale. Moreover, it turns out that cartelisation did not affect productive efficiency. Controlling for corporate governance variables shows that stronger managerial incentives were significantly correlated with productive efficiency, whereas the debt-equity ratio did not influence it.