Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pregnancy and Multiple Sclerosis

Introduction Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system (CNS). Two-thirds of patients with MS are women of childbearing age, and approximately 10% have disease onset during pregnancy. The pathogenesis of MS involves a combination of inflammation and demyelination in the brain and spinal cord. Increased helper-suppressor T-cell ratios are associated with MS disease activity. Available immune-modulating drugs with proven benefit in the treatment of relapsing remitting MS have aimed to reduce proinflammatory or increase anti-inflammatory cytokines. Although both genetic predisposition and environment contribute to causation, there is no clear understanding of etiology, severity of disability, or variations in the natural history of MS. Observation of a reduction in the serum levels of helper T lymphocytes during pregnancy with a consequent lowering of the helper-suppressor T-cell ratio theoretically has a mediating effect on the course of MS. A number of pregnancy-associated proteins, such as estriol, a-fetoprotein, and pregnancy-associated plasma protein A, have immunosuppressive properties that may be important in pregnancy-related immune suppression. Estriol, an estrogen made by the fetal placental unit, is not present in appreciable amounts during the nonpregnant state and has been identified by Sicotte et al to be the hormone most likely to be responsible for the mediating effects of pregnancy upon MS. Clinical manifestations of MS may be chronic and progressive or, more commonly, may present with relapses followed by remissions. Approximately 85% of patients exhibit a relapsing-remitting course at onset. The remaining 15% will present with a progressive course from onset. Clinically isolated syndromes such as optic neuritis often herald relapsing-remitting MS. Common presenting symptoms include visual loss, diplopia, paresthesias, spasticity, tremors, poor coordination, or paresis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the more useful tests to detect lesions compatible with Correspondence: Kelly A. Bennett, MD, FRCSC, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, B-1100 MCN, Nashville, TN 37232. E-mail: kelly.a. bennett@vanderbilt.edu
The animal‐dependent risk factors in canine T‐cell lymphomas

Malignant lymphomas are one of the most common malignancies occurring in dogs; among them T-cell tumours are less commonly recognized. Recently, many authors have recommended cytology as a sufficient diagnostic method for canine lymphomas, especially if supported by immunocytochemistry or flow cytometry. The aim of the study was to characterize animal-dependent risk factors in canine T-cell lymphomas (TCLs) in Poland, including specific cytological subtypes. Determination of the type and subtype of the tumour was made based on the updated Kiel cytological classification adopted for dogs as previously described. Two breeds turned out predisposed to TCL (dog de Bordeaux and Boxer) while no predisposition to B-cell lymphoma could be evidenced. Dogs with low-grade lymphoma were significantly older than those with high-grade lymphoma.
What about Acceptability of Mobile Money in Sub-Saharan Africa? The Case of Cameroon

The purpose of this article is to identify the factors determining the satisfaction of the users of Mobile money. To do this, we used the triangular approach to collect as much information as possible and to improve the reliability and validity of our results. Thus, we conducted thirty semi-structured interviews and two hundred and thirty questionnaires. The results reveal the positive and statistically significant impact of speed, cost, mobiquity, perceived usefulness, safety and social influence, as well as the negative impact of interoperability, network quality and age.
Quantifying Dispersal of Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) by Immunomarking and Potential Impact of Unmanaged Groves on Commercial Citrus Management

ABSTRACT Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) is an important pest of citrus. It is an efficient vector of three bacterial pathogens that are the presumptive causal agents of huanglongbing (HLB) or citrus greening disease. The movement patterns and dispersal capabilities of D. citri require study to better understand the spread of HLB and to improve management strategies for D. citri. A recently developed immunomarking technique that uses crude food proteins (chicken egg albumin, bovine casein, and soy protein) was evaluated for marking and tracking movement of D. citri in Florida citrus groves. In general, both egg and milk protein markers exhibited longer residual activity (35 d) than the soy protein marker (20 d) when applied to citrus leaves with a residual activity order of egg > milk > soy protein. However, residues of all three protein markers decreased with a simulated rain; this was more pronounced for soy protein than for egg and milk proteins. Temperature did not significantly affect acquisition of markers by adult D. citri. Egg, milk, and soy protein markers were detected on >90% of adult D. citri for up to 10, 10, and 5 d, respectively, after field application. Addition of tetrasodium ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (water softener) and/or Silwet L-77 (wetting agent) to marker solutions did not affect longevity of detection. Each of the protein markers was detected on ≥80% of exposed D. citri for up to 30 d after direct application to adults. A field study was conducted to measure movement of D. citri between replicated pairs of 0.4 ha managed and unmanaged citrus plots separated by 60–100 m. Approximately 70% of captured D. citri were found marked 3 d after application of proteins in the field. Using two marker proteins, it was determined that D. citri moved bi-directionally between managed and unmanaged (abandoned) groves within 3 d with a greater number of D. citri adults moving from unmanaged into managed plots than from managed into unmanaged plots (net movement). These data indicate frequent movement by adult D. citri between groves and suggest that unmanaged groves may act as refuge sites for D citri, leading to reinfestation of nearby managed groves.
Political pressure deflection

Much economic policy is deliberately shifted away from direct political processes to administrative processes—political pressure deflection. Pressure deflection poses a puzzle to standard political economy models which suggest that having policies to ‘sell’ is valuable to politicians. The puzzle is solved here by showing that incumbents will favor pressure deflection since it can deter viability of a challenger, essentially like entry deterrence. U.S. trade policy since 1934 provides a prime example, especially antidumping law and its evolution.
hemical characterization of two morphologically related Espeletia Asteraceae ) species and chemometric analysis based on essential oil omponents uillermo

In this study, a comprehensive phytochemical characterization of two morphologically related species from the genus Espeletia Mutis ex Bonpl. , namely, Espeletia grandiflora Humb. & Bonpl. and Espeletia killipii Cuatrec. , Asteraceae, has been performed by gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization detection, gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to ultraviolet and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Analysis of ethanol extracts (70%, v/v) from leaves and concomitant compound dereplication allowed the identification of major peaks, most of them new reports for the genus Espeletia or the subtribe Espeletiinae. Chemical characterization of resins essential oils indicated several similarities and differences between both species and from other members of the subtribe. Chemometric analysis (hierarchical clustering analysis and orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis) applied to the essential oil composition of 31 species from Espeletihemometric analysis inae furthermore allowed the identification of three primary clusters correlated with the taxonomy. Hence, this study underscored qualitative and semiquantitative differences between the chemical composition of leaves and resins of E. grandiflora and E. killipii, provided information on chemotaxonomy and described the presence of different trends in the essential oil composition from species of Espeletiinae. © 2016 Sociedade Brasileira de Farmacognosia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. This is an open he CC access article under t
On the robustness of TC-DTR UWB receivers to narrow-band interference: Performance analysis and guidelines for system optimization

In this paper, we analyze the performance of a particular class of Transmitted-Reference (TR) receiver for Impulse Radio (IR) Ultra Wide Band (UWB) communication systems, which is called Chip-Time Differential Transmitted- Reference (TC-DTR). The analysis aims at investigating the performance of this receiver in the presence of faded narrow- band interference, and at comparing it with other TR receiver schemes proposed in the literature. It is shown that Tc-DTR receivers can offer a substantial performance gain with respect to other non-coherent receiver architectures, provided that some optimization conditions on code design are satisfied. Guidelines for optimal code and system optimization to reject narrow-band interference are provided in the present manuscript, as well as their effect on system performance. Numerical simulations are also shown to substantiate findings and analytical derivations.
Voluntary disclosure with multiple channels and investor sophistication

This paper studies a voluntary disclosure model in which the manager can choose to disclose across two different disclosure channels: one processed by both informed and uninformed investors, and one processed only by informed investors. Firm value is established in a competitive equilibrium setting with risk averse investors and noisy information, based on participants’ expectations of ﬁrm value given the manager’s disclosure choice. Long-run ﬁrm value is established through a rational expectations equilibrium. This model demonstrates a situation in which a manager will disclose more information to informed investors than to uninformed investors in equilibrium. Compared against a disclosure regime in which the manager only discloses publicly, having both disclosure channels leads the manager to increase disclosure overall while decreasing disclosure to uninformed investors. If the manager only discloses to informed investors, the overall level of disclosure is identical, but expected stock price is maximized by having both channels. The , are included as solid vertical As the price determined by withholding is formed purely based on expectations derived from the endogenously determined cutoffs, the price is constant with respect to the value of the signal. On the far left, this constant value dominates the price that would be obtained through any type of disclosure. For middle values of the signal, the price from partial and full disclosure increases at a rapid rate. As the uninformed investors’ risk-adjusted expectation of ﬁrm value is higher than that of the informed investors, partial disclosure leads to a higher overall price in this region. On the right portion of the graph, the price from full disclosure dominates, as the signal is sufﬁciently high enough to raise the uninformed investor’s risk-adjusted expected value of the ﬁrm compared to the no disclosure case for them. In particular, when no disclosure is visible to the uninformed investors, they endogenously determine a 38.5 percent chance that the ﬁrm is good. Likewise, the rightmost cutoff occurs when full disclosure leads to a 38.5 percent probability that the ﬁrm is good. This is lower than the unconditional probability that the ﬁrm is good of 50 percent.
CAROTENOID-BASED ORNAMENTS AS SIGNALS OF HEALTH STATUS IN BIRDS : EVIDENCES FROM TWO GALLIFORM SPECIES , THE RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE ( ALECTORIS RUFA ) AND THE RED GROUSE ( LAGOPUS LAGOPUS SCOTICUS )

Carotenoids are large lipophilic compounds that can only be produced by plants, fungi and bacteria. Although animals cannot synthesize them de novo, many taxa accumulate them in exposed parts of the body for communication purposes. In many birds, carotenoids are responsible for the bright yellow-red coloration of integuments or plumages, and these have often been shown to advertise an individual’s superior health. Some of the hypotheses aimed at explaining the function of carotenoid-based traits rely on the assumption that carotenoids have key physiological roles in the organism. Specifically, they are hypothesized to be significant antioxidants and immunostimulants, being therefore intimately linked to the anti-parasite defenses and health. The mechanisms and functions of the expression of carotenoid-based traits have been particularly well studied in birds. In this chapter we first review the current hypotheses linking carotenoids, oxidative stress, immune response and parasites, together with the current evidences in support of these key physiological functions. Secondly, we focus on two gallinaceous bird species that have been intensively studied in recent years, either in captivity (the red-legged partridge, Alectoris rufa) or in the wild (the red grouse, Lagopus lagopus scoticus). In both species, ingested carotenoids are metabolized and transformed before being used to color bright red ornaments. The redness of the sexual ornaments relates to the concentration of carotenoids in blood, and varies with infection levels by intestinal parasites and with the ability of individuals to mount an immune response to pathogens. Circulating levels of carotenoids through the blood stream are also negatively affected by physiological stress (oxidative stress and stress hormones), which is partly a consequence of parasite infections and immune responses. The evidence for carotenoids to act as antioxidants and to reduce oxidative stress is still mixed and debated, but some studies highlighted that carotenoid-based ornaments can signal an individual ́s ability to resist oxidative stress. Finally, we identify key open questions that deserve further investigation in this field.
Cerebral ischemia at early postoperative period of direct revascularization for moyamoya disease: a case report and literature review

1Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China. 2China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing 100050, China. 3Department of Neurosurgery, Peking University International Hospital, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 102206, China. 4Center of Stroke, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing 100050, China. 5Beijing Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine for Cerebrovascular Disease, Beijing 100050, China. *Authors contributed equally.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials of thyroid hormone administration to brain dead potential organ donors*

Objectives: To review all published clinical studies of thyroid hormone administration to brain-dead potential organ donors. Methods: A search of PubMed using multiple search terms retrieved 401 publications including 35 original reports describing administration of thyroid hormone to brain-dead potential organ donors. Detailed review of the 35 original reports led to identification of two additional publications not retrieved in the original search. The 37 original publications reported findings from 16 separate case series or retrospective audits and seven randomized controlled trials, four of which were placebo-controlled. Meta-analysis was restricted to the four placebo-controlled randomized controlled trials. Results: Whereas all case series and retrospective audits reported a beneficial effect of thyroid hormone administration, all seven randomized controlled trials reported no benefit of thyroid hormone administration either alone or in combination with other hormonal therapies. In four placebo-controlled trials including 209 donors, administration of thyroid hormone (n = 108) compared with placebo (n = 101) had no significant effect on donor cardiac index (pooled mean difference, 0.15 L/min/m2; 95% confidence interval –0.18 to 0.48). The major limitation of the case series and retrospective audits was the lack of consideration of uncontrolled variables that confound interpretation of the results. A limitation of the randomized controlled trials was that the proportion of donors who were hemodynamically unstable or marginal in other ways was too small to exclude a benefit of thyroid hormone in this subgroup. Conclusions: The findings of this systematic review do not support a role for routine administration of thyroid hormone in the brain-dead potential organ donor. Existing recommendations regarding the use of thyroid hormone in marginal donors are based on low-level evidence.
The Role of Social Proximity in Professional CEO Appointments: Evidence from Caste/Religion-Based Hiring of CEOS in India

Research Summary: The role of homophily in CEO appointments at the largest corporations is an important subject in corporate governance. This subject is particularly important in a country like India where a multitude of religions, castes, and communities form its social fabric. We test for the role of homophily in professional CEO appointments in India by empirically examining the preference for same caste/religion CEOs by the largest firms. Using a unique dataset, assembled by detailed identification of castes/religions from family names and counterfactuals obtained through the Coarsened Exact Matching technique, we find that caste/religion plays a crucial role in CEO selection as a source of information (positive discrimination). The evidence is not consistent with its use to pursue taste-based preferences (negative discrimination). Managerial Summary: We test for the role of homophily in the appointments of CEOs in India by empirically examining the preference for same caste/religion CEOs by the largest firms. We find that caste/religion plays an important role in CEO selection, i.e., as a form of information or “positive discrimination. ” The evidence is not consistent with its use to pursue taste-based preferences or “negative discrimination. ”
Service Robots Rising: How Humanoid Robots Influence Service Experiences and Elicit Compensatory Consumer Responses

Interactions between consumers and humanoid service robots (HSRs; i.e., robots with a human-like morphology such as a face, arms, and legs) will soon be part of routine marketplace experiences. It is unclear, however, whether these humanoid robots (compared with human employees) will trigger positive or negative consequences for consumers and companies. Seven experimental studies reveal that consumers display compensatory responses when they interact with an HSR rather than a human employee (e.g., they favor purchasing status goods, seek social affiliation, and order and eat more food). The authors investigate the underlying process driving these effects, and they find that HSRs elicit greater consumer discomfort (i.e., eeriness and a threat to human identity), which in turn results in the enhancement of compensatory consumption. Moreover, this research identifies boundary conditions of the effects such that the compensatory responses that HSRs elicit are (1) mitigated when consumer-perceived social belongingness is high, (2) attenuated when food is perceived as more healthful, and (3) buffered when the robot is machinized (rather than anthropomorphized).
Spillover Effects and Freemium Strategy in the Mobile App Market

“Freemium,” whereby a basic service level is provided free of charge but consumers are charged for more advanced features, has become a popular business model for firms selling digital goods. However, it is not clear whether the launch of a free version helps or hurts the demand of an existing paid version. The free version may allow consumers to sample the product before making a purchase decision and subsequently increase demand of the paid version, but it may also cannibalize demand of the paid version. We use a comprehensive data set on game apps from Apple’s App Store that tracks the launch of both the paid and the free versions of individual apps on a daily level to identify whether a freemium strategy stimulates or hurts demand of an existing paid version. We estimate the spillover effects between the free version and the paid version of the same app under a difference-in-difference framework, relying on the fact that app developers cannot predict the exact launch date of the free version of the app due to Apple’s review and approval of apps prior to release and accounting for app-level product heterogeneity. We find that the launch of a free version increases demand of the paid version of the same app. Under the main specification, if the daily number of ratings before the free version’s launch is at the mean, then all else equal, the launch of the free version leads to an 8.9% increase in the daily number of ratings. We then describe multiple robustness checks. Finally, we present evidence that the results are driven by consumers sampling the free version as well as enhanced app discovery and explore the relative importance of the two mechanisms. This paper was accepted by Matthew Shum, marketing. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022. 4619 .
Venous Obstruction in Permanent Pacemaker Patients: An Isotopic Study

Isotope venography was used to study the venous circulation proximal to the superior vena cava in two groups of pacemaker patients, one with a single endo‐cavitary electrode and the other with multiple pacing catheters. A control group of patients without pacemakers was also studied. Numerous abnormalities were found, especially in the group with multiple electrodes. These findings suggest that venous obstruction is a common complication of endocardial pacing.
THE PREVALENCE AND CAUSES OF IMPAIRED VISION IN DIABETICS

The prevalence of partial sight and legal blindness was studied in 533 diabetics traced by prescriptions on insulin and oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHA) on the island of Falster (44 498 inhabitants). The prevalence of insulin‐treated diabetics (30 September 1980) was 0.52 per 1000 inhabitants and 0.72 per 1000 inhabitants of OHA‐treated patients. In the insulin‐treated group 106 patients had an onset age of diabetes below 30 years. Legal blindness occurred in 7.9% of 227 investigated insulin‐treated and in 4.9% of 306 OHA‐treated patients. Thus, the overall frequency of blindness in these 533 investigated diabetics was 6.2%. Partial sight was found in 4.9% of insulin‐treated and in 10.5% of OHA‐treated diabetics. In the insulin‐treated patients partial sight and legal blindness was caused by retinopathy (background and proliferative) in 81.8% and 84.8% of patients, respectively. Retinopathy contributed to partial sight in 46.8% and legal blindness in 80% of OHA‐treated diabetics. Proliferative retinopathy and background retinopathy caused visual loss in 48.4% and 36.4%, respectively, of legal blind diabetics. In diabetics with partial sight, background retinopathy was a more frequent cause of impaired vision (44.2% of the patients) than proliferative retinopathy (9.3% of the patients). In 50% of OHA‐treated patients with partial sight maculopathy without diabetic retinopathy (senile maculopathy) was the cause of visual impairment in contrast to 1% of insulin‐treated patients with partial sight. The severity of visual impairment was significantly associated with the duration of diabetes (> 15 years), the current age (> 50 years) and age at onset of diabetes (> 30 years) in insulin‐treated group. Relation between duration of diabetes (> 5 years) current age (> 70 years) and a visual acuity 0.10 could be demonstrated in OHA‐treated patients. Impaired vision was more common among females in both the insulin‐ and OHA‐treated group. In the females no association appeared between the frequency of pregnancies and a visual acuity 0.33. In diabetics with nephropathy, gangrene or amputation impairment of vision occurred more frequently.