Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CTLA‐4 gene A–G polymorphism and childhood Graves’ disease

objective Graves’ disease is associated with a polymorphism at position 49 in exon 1 of the cytotoxic T‐lymphocyte‐associated antigen‐4 (CTLA‐4) gene in Caucasians and Japanese. A high incidence of childhood Graves’ disease has been documented in Hong Kong Chinese. The aims of this study were to investigate the CTLA‐4 gene A–G polymorphism association in Chinese children with Graves’ disease.
WAIS Digit Span-Based Indicators of Malingered Neurocognitive Dysfunction

The present study determined specificity and sensitivity to malingered neurocognitive dysfunction (MND) in traumatic brain injury (TBI) for several Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Digit Span scores. TBI patients (n = 344) were categorized into one of five groups: no incentive, incentive only, suspect, probable MND, and definite MND. Performance of 1,063 nonincentive patients (e.g., cerebrovascular accident, memory disorder) was also examined. Digit Span scores included reliable digit span, maximum span forward both trials correct, maximum span forward, combined maximum forward and backward span, Digit Span scaled score, maximum span backward both trials correct, and maximum span backward. In TBI, sensitivity to MND ranged from 15% to greater than 30% at specificities of 92% to 98%. Patient groups with documented brain pathology had higher false-positive error rates. These results replicate previous known-groups malingering studies and provide valuable data supporting the WAIS Digit Span scores in detection and diagnosis of malingering.
Reliability of the 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test in Semiprofessional Soccer Players.

PURPOSE The purpose of this investigation was to determine the reliability of the 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test (30-15(IFT)) in semiprofessional soccer players. METHODS Fourteen male semiprofessional soccer players performed the 30-1(IFT) on 2 occasions separated by 7 d. Reliability was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), typical error of measurement expressed as a coefficient of variation (CV), and smallest worthwhile change (SWC) to determine any significant difference between testing sessions. RESULTS Maximal intermittent running velocity (V(IFT)) demonstrated good reliability (ICC = .80) for between-sessions reliability. The CV was 2.5% for between-sessions reliability of the 30-15(IFT). As the SWC (0.70 km/h) falls within the range in which the individual's true score is likely to lie (1.0 km/h), the usefulness of the VIFT was rated as marginal. Despite the usefulness of the 30-15(IFT) being deemed marginal, a change in performance as small as 1.0 km/h (2 stages) in V(IFT) could be considered substantial or real. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that V(IFT) in the 30-15(IFT) is reliable, resulting in a reliable assessment of team-sport-specific cardiorespiratory fitness, with changes as small as 1.0 km/h (2 stages) in V(IFT) considered meaningful.
Survival in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension treated with first‐line bosentan

Background Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a devastating disease of the small pulmonary arteries and arterioles, characterized by intimal fibrosis, medial hypertrophy and plexiform lesions. When untreated both the idiopathic form (IPAH, formerly termed primary pulmonary hypertension, PPH) and PAH related to various other conditions such as scleroderma (SSc) often take a progressive course with high mortality. There is ongoing search for disease‐specific treatments that are able to improve survival in these patients. The oral dual endothelin (ETA/ETB) antagonist bosentan has been shown to improve exercise capacity, time to clinical worsening, haemodynamics and quality of life in short‐term studies.
Bitter Taste Causes Hostility

The present research tested the novel hypothesis that bitter taste increases hostility. Theoretical background formed the intimate link of the taste-sensory system to the visceral system, with bitter intake typically eliciting a strong aversion response. Three experiments using differential bitter and control stimuli showed that hostile affect and behavior is increased by bitter taste experiences. Specifically, participants who consumed a bitter (vs. control) drink showed an increase in self-reported current hostility (Experiment 1), in hypothetical aggressive affect and hypothetical aggressive behavior (Experiment 2) and in actual hostile behavior assessed using a well-established method for non-physical laboratory aggression (Experiment 3). Furthermore, the effect occurred not only when participants were previously provoked (Experiments 2 and 3) but also when no provocation preceded (Experiment 1 and 3). Importantly, stimulus aversiveness and intensity did not influence the effects observed, ruling them out as explanations. Alternative interpretative frameworks and limitations are discussed.
Airborne multifrequency L- to Ka-band radiometric measurements over forests

Microwave radiometric measurements using airborne instruments in a frequency range from L- to Ka-band were carried out over six broad-leaved and one coniferous forest stands in Tuscany, Italy. Ground measurements of the main tree parameters were performed on the same stands. The analysis of the collected data indicated that the use of microwave emission at the highest frequencies makes it possible to identify some forest types, whereas L-band emission is more closely related to tree biomass. The relationships between emission and some significant tree parameters such as leaf area index, basal area, woody volume, and crown transparency are presented and discussed. The significant relationship between L-band emission and woody volume is further analyzed by means of a first-order radiative transfer model.
The impact of compensation on the job satisfaction of public sector construction workers of jigawa state of Nigeria

Compensation is the reward workers receive for their service or contribution to the organisation. A literature reviewed showed that compensation packages have relationships with workers' job satisfaction. A study established a theoretical framework based on equity theory and used it to examine how different compensation packages might be influencing workers’ job satisfaction. The Positivist paradigm; which holds principles that knowledge is arrived at through the gathering of facts that provide the basis of laws, guided this empirical research, focused on the public construction sector in Jigawa State, Nigeria. A questionnaire was developed, pilot-tested and administered to gather the data on workers’ job satisfaction regarding four compensable aspects, namely: salary, allowance, gratuity and pension. A total of 265 questionnaires were administered and 260 were collected, representing a response rate of 98%. No questionnaire was invalid or returned uncompleted. The respondents were selected using the stratified random sampling technique. The data collected was analysed using structural equation modelling. The findings of the study revealed that compensation impacts positively to workers’ job satisfaction.
Aquatic Hyphomycete Species are Screened by the 1 Hyporheic Zone of Woodland Streams 2 3

48 Aquatic hyphomycetes strongly contribute to organic matter dynamics in streams but their 49 abilities to colonize leaf litter buried in streambed sediments remain unexplored. Here, we 50 conducted field and laboratory experiments (slow-filtration columns and stream-simulating 51 microcosms) to test the following hypotheses: (a) that the hyporheic habitat acting as a 52 physical sieve for spores filters out unsuccessful strategists from a potential species pool, (b) 53 that decreased pore size in sediments reduces species dispersal efficiency in the interstitial 54 water, and (c) that the physicochemical conditions prevailing in the hyporheic habitat will 55 influence fungal community structure. Our field study showed that spore abundance and 56 species diversity were consistently reduced in the interstitial water compared with surface 57 water within three differing streams. Significant differences occurred among aquatic 58 hyphomycetes, with dispersal efficiency of filiform-spore species being much higher than 59 those with compact or branched/tetraradiate spores. This pattern was remarkably consistent 60 with laboratory experiments that tested the influence of sediment pore size on spore dispersal 61 in microcosms. Furthermore, leaves inoculated in a stream and incubated in slow filtration 62 columns exhibited a fungal assemblage dominated by only two species while five species 63 were co-dominant on leaves from the stream-simulating microcosms. Results of this study 64 highlight that the hyporheic zone exerts two types of selection pressure on the aquatic 65 hyphomycete community, a physiological stress and a physical screening of the benthic spore 66 pool, both leading to drastic changes in the structure of fungal community. 67 68 on O cber 2, 2017 by gest ht://aem . sm . rg/ D ow nladed fom
Cloning, sequencing and salt induced expression of PEAMT and BADH in oilseed rape (Brassica napus)

Agriculture productivity is severely hampered by soil salinity, drought and other environmental stresses. Studies on stress-resistant plants (halophytes, xerophytes, accumulating plants for specific toxic ions) have illuminated some mechanisms of stress tolerance in plants at metabolic or molecular levels, which gave some clues on how to genetically engineer stress-tolerant crops. With the isolation of more stress-responsive genes, genetic engineering with modified expression of stress responsive genes may be an effective way to produce stress-tolerant crops. In the present report, two genes (PEAMT and BADH) encoding the corresponding key enzymes for choline and glycine betaine (an important osmoprotectant) biosynthesis in plants were isolated in oilseed rape, an important oil crop in the world. Effects of salt stress on their expression were studied with quantitative PCR and their potential use in the genetic engineering of oilseed rape was discussed.
Experimental staphylococcal mastitis in the mouse: effects of extracellular products and whole bacterial cells from a high-virulence and a low-virulence strain of Staphylococcus aureus.

SUMMARY Cell-free preparations of “toxin” were made from two strains of Staphy-lococcus aureus, one known to be of high virulence and the other of low virulence in the mammary gland of cattle. These preparations were similar in their in-vitro properties and in their clinical and histopathological effect when inoculated into the mammary gland of mice. However, when live staphylococci were inoculated into the mammary gland of mice a difference in virulence corresponding to that seen in cattle was detected by the clinical response, and by the histopathological appearance, the number of organisms, and the amount of α-lysin present in the infected glands. The reasons for the failure of the low-virulence strain to express its potential virulence are discussed.
High temperature piezoelectric single crystals: Sr3NbGa3Si2O14, Sr3TaGa3Si2O14 and GdCa4O(BO3)3

We have successfully grown high quality piezoelectric single crystals of Sr<sub>3</sub>NbGa<sub>3</sub>Si<sub>2</sub>O<sub>14</sub> (SNGS), Sr<sub>3</sub>TaGa<sub>3</sub>Si<sub>2</sub>O<sub>14</sub> (STGS) and GdCa<sub>4</sub>O(BO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub> (GdCOB) by the Czochralski technique. Dielectric, elastic and piezoelectric constants of SNGS and STGS were measured in a temperature range from 25°C to 400°C. Some parameters of SNGS, STGS and GdCOB crystals important for acoustic applications have been investigated also at temperatures up to 940°C. The strong piezoelectric activity of all investigated materials is kept at least up to this high temperature.
Seasonal and Age-Dependent Dietary Partitioning between the Great Black-Backed and Herring Gulls

Abstract. Studies of seabird diets may reveal subtle ways in which sympatric species partition resources to facilitate co-existence. We studied the variability and partitioning of diets between the Herring (Larus argentatus) and Great Black-backed Gulls (L. marinus), both generalist predators, during incubation and early chick rearing on Kent Island, Bay of Fundy, Canada. We assessed diets from pellets collected around nests, regurgitates from captured birds, and stable-isotope analysis of prey items and tissues (blood and feathers) obtained from chicks and adults. Pellet analyses indicated that both species relied primarily on fish (28 to 45% of identified prey items) and crabs (15 to 43%). Stable-isotope analyses showed that the Great Black-backed Gull fed at a higher trophic level than the Herring Gull, both species fed at higher trophic levels during breeding than during nonbreeding, and both species has similar preferences for feeding inshore vs. offshore and in terrestrial vs. marine habitats. Contrary to previous research, we found that chicks were fed from a lower trophic level than where adults feed. Models of isotopic mixing estimating the proportion of assimilated diets were generally consistent with the pellet analysis for adults but revealed that both species fed their chicks more krill (>60%; Meganyctiphanes norvegica) and mackerel (>20%; Scomber scombrus) than adults consumed; adults may selectively provision their young with easily digestible prey and prey of high energy content. Our results reveal evidence of dietary partitioning between species and age classes, and highlight the strengths and biases associated with techniques for sampling gulls' diet.
Nonunions of the humeral shaft.

Fifty-nine patients with nonunion of the humeral shaft were reviewed between Nov. 1980 and Dec 1992, There were 50 atrphic nonunions and 9 hypertrophic nonunions. A total of 64 surgical procedures were performed on 59 patients, an average of 1.1 operations per nonunion. Fifty-three cases were treated with dynamic compression plates and bone grafts, 3with Kuntscher nail and bone graft, 2 with bone graft alone and 1 with interlocking nail alone. Of those treated with dynamic compression plates and bone grafts, 50 were found to be united with 94.3%(50/53)healing rate. Two of three cases treated with Kuntscher nails and bone grafts healed, Both patients treated with bone graft only healed successfully, the overall healing rate was 91.5 %(54/59). It is concluded that the treatment of the humeral shaft nonunion consists of decortication, proper plating and autologous cancellous bone graft.
Rapid eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection

Background/aims: Current Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy for peptic ulcer disease usually involves a 2‐week course of either a bismuth preparation or omeprazole in combination with antibiotics. We have studied a shorter, 7‐day course of treatment to assess efficacy and tolerability.
Equatorial Guinea, a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis hotspot in Central Africa

The national tuberculosis programme (NTP) of Cameroon has recently reported that an alarming number of tuberculosis (TB) patients are border-crossing from neighboring Equatorial Guinea to seek multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment [1, 2]. The World Health Organization (WHO) African Region is reported to bear a low MDR-TB proportion of new tuberculosis cases (2.1%) compared with other WHO regions [3]. Nonetheless, there are big differences between African countries, and data on MDR-TB burden are still lacking from almost half of them. Some could hide true MDR-TB hotspots, brought about by weak diagnostic and control capacities and fueled by health and social factors of vulnerability [4, 5]. A survey of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis in Equatorial Guinea unveiled a hot spot of MDR-TB in central Africa http://ow.ly/YeOl304cqxT
Radiologic appearance of the irradiated larynx. Part II. Primary site response.

PURPOSE To evaluate the computed tomographic (CT) appearance of laryngeal tumors treated with radiation therapy and the ability of CT to depict persistent or residual tumor. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty-one patients with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx or hypopharynx were treated with definitive radiation therapy. CT was performed in all patients before and after treatment. RESULTS In 32 of 41 patients with cancer controlled at the primary site, CT showed complete resolution of tumor, whereas in 10 of 14 patients in whom radiation therapy failed, there was minimal or no reduction in tumor. In a subpopulation of patients who underwent repeat imaging, 18 of 19 with tumor controlled at the primary site had complete resolution of tumor. Overall, in four of 13 patients with 50%-75% reduction in tumor size or persistent substantial asymmetry at CT, therapy eventually failed at the primary site. CONCLUSION Lesions that are reduced by 50% or less at 4-month follow-up CT are highly suspicious for treatment failure. Repeat CT studies every 4 months is recommended in addition to careful clinical follow-up.
Managing Primary Open-angle Glaucoma – Ocular Tolerability, Compliance, Persistence and Patient Outcomes

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is a progressive optic neuropathy that, left untreated, can lead to irreversible damage to the optic nerve and permanent vision loss. To date, intraocular pressure (IOP) is the only modifiable risk factor for disease progression, and topical eye-drops are currently used as the leading non-surgical glaucoma therapy. Despite the efficacy of pharmacotherapy in lowering IOP, success is ultimately defined by patient compliance and patient persistence. Ocular tolerability is a crucial factor in patient compliance and persistence; non-adherence owing to adverse effects can lead to poor control of IOP and treatment failure. Prostaglandin analogues are currently the first-line antiglaucoma agents, with a good tolerability profile and a better IOP-lowering effect compared with β-blockers. Combination therapies have also shown greater efficacy in lowering IOP compared with the individual constituents, with fewer adverse effects. Treatment should be tailored to the individual patient, with a focus on ocular tolerability and its role in adherence, compliance and vision preservation.
Quantitative trait loci for IQ and other complex traits: single‐nucleotide polymorphism genotyping using pooled DNA and microarrays

Similar to other complex traits, it is likely that many DNA polymorphisms of small effect size [quantitative trait loci (QTLs)] are responsible for the high heritability of intelligence, in addition to many rare monogenic disorders known to contribute to lowered intelligence. We review the current status of approaches to identify QTLs associations for intelligence employing genome‐wide strategies using pooled DNA from many individuals and evaluate the innovative approach of microarray analysis to genotype DNA pools for large numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms.
Histopathologic characteristics of early adenocarcinoma in Barrett's esophagus

To elucidate the early events of cancer development in the columnar cell‐lined lower esophagus, 13 esophagectomy specimens with early adenocarcinoma (T1) were histopathologically studied and the morphometry of the lesion was performed on a histologic map. Eleven (84.6%) of the 13 early Barrett's carcinomas were contiguous to both the distinctive specialized‐type Barrett's mucosa and squamous epithelium. Furthermore, ten (76.9%) of the 13 tumors had residual squamous islands on the surface. These data suggest that carcinomas in Barrett's esophagus mostly develop at a place very close to the squamocolumnar epithelial border. The distance from the tumor center to the nearest squamous epithelium, including squamous islands, was 2 cm or less in all cases but one. Therefore, the authors conclude that the primary site of cancer development in Barrett's esophagus is the metaplastic columnar‐lined area, particularly of specialized type, within 2 cm from the squamocolumnar epithelial border.
Perceptions of treatment among offenders with mental health problems and problematic substance use: The possible relevance of psychopathic personality traits

Substance abuse is related to re-offending, and substance abuse treatment may be effective in reducing criminal recidivism. Psychopathy, however, another factor that strongly correlates with re-offending, may be negatively associated with treatment utilization. This qualitative study explored perceptions of substance abuse treatment among offenders with mental health problems, problematic substance use, and various degrees of psychopathic personality traits. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) revealed that some treatment perceptions may vary with degree of psychopathic traits. For instance, participants with low and high degrees of psychopathic personality traits had different views on treatment requirements imposed upon them. Many treatment perceptions were also similar between the two participant groups. Thus, treatment perceptions may not be explained by degree of psychopathic personality traits alone, but the presence of some particular psychopathic traits may be relevant in explaining certain treatment perceptions. The results highlight the complex relationship between the individual and the treatment system, and may give input to future studies on rehabilitation of offenders with multiple treatment needs.
Corporate Governance, Board Diversity, and Firm Value

This study examines the relationship between board diversity and firm value for Fortune 1000 firms. Board diversity is defined as the percentage of women, African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics on the board of directors. This research is important because it presents the first empirical evidence examining whether board diversity is associated with improved financial value. After controlling for size, industry, and other corporate governance measures, we find significant positive relationships between the fraction of women or minorities on the board and firm value. We also find that the proportion of women and minorities on boards increases with firm size and board size but decreases as the number of insiders increases.
Exploring managers' perspectives of the impact of brand management strategies on employee roles within a service firm

Purpose – This study seeks to examine the impact of brand management strategies on the employee role in the deliverance of the service experience consistent with the brand from a management perspective. In doing so, furthers understanding of an area that, to date, has received little empirical attention.Design/methodology/approach – Case study approach with data gathered via in‐depth interviews with managers of a service organization.Findings – Several themes identified provided the foundation for discussion, namely, direction, involvement, employee selection, relevance, employee satisfaction, flexibility, management role, comprehension of differences, influencing role, control, foundation, internal marketing, management role, enhancers and element of control. The themes of relevance and comprehension of differences had not previously been considered in the literature and therefore explored in depth.Research limitations/implications – Limitations of a case study methodology include insufficient precision .