Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Testosterone and type 2 diabetes in men

Abstract Objective: To assess from observational data if low testosterone in men is an independent risk factor for high fasting glucose (FG) and for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods: Multivariate analysis of data from 991 male US Air Force veterans who completed six medical examinations over 20 years. Results: Low testosterone was moderately related to high FG, independent of age and obesity. Low testosterone is a very weak predictor of a diagnosis of T2D. Conclusions: In men, low testosterone is an independent risk factor for high FG, comparable to aging and obesity. Low testosterone is a weak predictor of a diagnosis of T2D.
The Relation between the CSR and the Accounting Information System Data in Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries – The Evidence of the Polish Financial Institutions

Financial institutions play a fundamental role in determining the sustainability of economies, both in developed and developing countries. However, the worldwide financial crises made many financial institutions lost their credibility and CSR engagement has been perceived as a remedy. The aim of this paper is to analyze the interrelation between being socially responsible and tangible financial outcome of financial institutions in one of the CEE countries - Poland. Financial and market data of all the public companies from the financial sector in Poland – 116 financial institutions. The analyzed period is 2012-2015 that gives 257 observations. The empirical results reveal that in case of financial institutions in Poland the slack resources are strongly related to CSR involvement, however being socially responsible is not reflected in the bottom line. Polish market and the public are reluctant in considering the CSR importance and the CSR engagement is not rewarded. This undermines the role of CSR commitment in financial institutions in CEECs. It may be assumed that CSR efforts in Poland are not focused properly, or they are not communicated effectively. On the basis of comparative analysis is presented there is a significant difference between CEE countries and other transitional countries in CSR implementation and communication. The findings are important in better understanding of the link between CSR engagement and its tangible outcomes in CEE countries. The conclusions may lead to the improved decision-making processes concerning CSR activities and their communication.
The Distribution of Thai Mental State Examination Scores among Non-Demented Elderly in Suburban Bangkok Metropolitan and Associated Factors.

OBJECTIVE To obtain the distribution of Thai Mental State Examination (TMSE) scores in the Thai population across different age groups and educational levels in men and women aged 50 years and older and its relationship with demographic factors. The different cutpoints in literate and illiterate participants and item performance in both groups were also determined. MATERIAL AND METHOD Community-dwelling participants aged 50 years and over were invited to join the study. Personal information, general health history, and specific illness questionnaires including the activities of daily living, designed by the Survey in Europe on Nutrition and the Elderly, a ConcertedAction (SENECA), and the Thai Mental State Examination (TMSE) were completed in the face-to-face interview. RESULTS There were 4,459 participants with no specific reported conditions that could potentially influence cognitive performance. The mean (SD) age was 64.2 (7.9) years and mostparticipants were women (71.7%). The median (interquartile range) of the TMSE was 27 (25-29) and 23 (19-26) in literate and illiterate participants, respectively. The distribution of TMSE scores were reported here determined by age, gender and educational level. Percentage of correct response in each TMSE item was low in recall and calculation performance. TMSE score declined with age in both genders and had greater variation with increasing age. TMSE score also increased with increasing levels of education and better financial status. Gender was not associated with the TMSE score adjusting for age, educational level, and economic status. CONCLUSION Age, education, and economic status have an influence on the TMSE performance. Controllingfor these three factors, genders does not contribute to significant differences in TMSE performance. Norms adjustedfor these factors should be considered before employing single cutpoints to identify impairment.
Ultrasound screening for asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis after major orthopaedic surgery: the VENUS study

Summary. Background: Venography is currently used to assess the incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in dose‐finding and confirmatory trials of new antithrombotic agents. Centrally adjudicated, complete compression ultrasound (CCUS) could be a non‐invasive alternative to venography. Objectives: A substudy of two, similarly designed, phase IIb trials of a novel, oral anticoagulant for the prevention of venous thromboembolism after elective hip or knee arthroplasty was undertaken to validate CCUS against venography. Patients/Methods: Patients received study drugs until mandatory, bilateral venography was performed 7 ± 2 days after surgery. CCUS was performed within 24 h after venography by sonographers blinded to the venography result. Sonographers were trained and certified for the standardized examination and documentation procedure. Venograms and sonograms were adjudicated centrally at different sites by two independent readers; discrepancies between readers were resolved by consensus. Results: A total of 1104 matching pairs of evaluable venograms and sonograms were obtained from the participants of the two trials (n = 1435): 19% of venograms and 20% of sonograms were not evaluable. The observed frequency of any DVT was 18.9% with venography and 11.5% with CCUS. Sensitivity of CCUS compared with venography was 31.1% for any DVT (95% confidence interval 23.4, 38.9), 21.0% (2.7, 39.4) for proximal DVT, and 30.8% (23.1, 38.6) for distal DVT. The figures for specificity were 93.0% (91.0, 95.1), 98.7% (98.0, 99.5), and 93.3% (91.5, 95.3), respectively. Conclusions: Based on these results, centrally adjudicated CCUS will be unable to replace venography for DVT screening early after major orthopaedic surgery in studies evaluating anticoagulant drugs.
What Iconic Gesture Fragments Reveal about Gesture–Speech Integration: When Synchrony Is Lost, Memory Can Help

The present series of experiments explores several issues related to gesture–speech integration and synchrony during sentence processing. To be able to more precisely manipulate gesture–speech synchrony, we used gesture fragments instead of complete gestures, thereby avoiding the usual long temporal overlap of gestures with their coexpressive speech. In a pretest, the minimal duration of an iconic gesture fragment needed to disambiguate a homonym (i.e., disambiguation point) was therefore identified. In three subsequent ERP experiments, we then investigated whether the gesture information available at the disambiguation point has immediate as well as delayed consequences on the processing of a temporarily ambiguous spoken sentence, and whether these gesture–speech integration processes are susceptible to temporal synchrony. Experiment 1, which used asynchronous stimuli as well as an explicit task, showed clear N400 effects at the homonym as well as at the target word presented further downstream, suggesting that asynchrony does not prevent integration under explicit task conditions. No such effects were found when asynchronous stimuli were presented using a more shallow task (Experiment 2). Finally, when gesture fragment and homonym were synchronous, similar results as in Experiment 1 were found, even under shallow task conditions (Experiment 3). We conclude that when iconic gesture fragments and speech are in synchrony, their interaction is more or less automatic. When they are not, more controlled, active memory processes are necessary to be able to combine the gesture fragment and speech context in such a way that the homonym is disambiguated correctly.
High speed DCT/IDCT using a pipelined CORDIC algorithm

This paper describes DCT (IDCT) computations using the CORDIC algorithm. By rewriting the DCT, for a 1/spl times/8 DCT only 6 CORDIC computations are needed, whereas a 1/spl times/16 DCT requires 22 CORDIC computations. But these can all be pipelined through a single CORDIC unit, so 16/spl times/16 DCT's becomes feasible for HDTV compression. Only some simple adders, registers and a more complicated carry look-ahead adder are needed, end the computing speed can be very high. Limited only by the delay of a carry look-ahead adder, the delay time of the pipelined structure is 2-10 ns and the data rate as 100-500 MHz for an 8/spl times/8 DCT/IDCT and 72.2-366.6 MHz for a 16/spl times/16 DCT/IDCT when using two units. <<ETX>>
Quality of Systematic Reviews of Observational Nontherapeutic Studies

Introduction High-quality epidemiologic research is essential in reducing chronic diseases. We analyzed the quality of systematic reviews of observational nontherapeutic studies. Methods We searched several databases for systematic reviews of observational nontherapeutic studies that examined the prevalence of or risk factors for chronic diseases and were published in core clinical journals from 1966 through June 2008. We analyzed the quality of such reviews by using prespecified criteria and internal quality evaluation of the included studies. Results Of the 145 systematic reviews we found, fewer than half met each quality criterion; 49% reported study flow, 27% assessed gray literature, 2% abstracted sponsorship of individual studies, and none abstracted the disclosure of conflict of interest by the authors of individual studies. Planned, formal internal quality evaluation of included studies was reported in 37% of systematic reviews. The journal of publication, topic of review, sponsorship, and conflict of interest were not associated with better quality. Odds of formal internal quality evaluation (odds ratio [OR], 1.10 per year; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.19) and either planned, formal internal quality evaluation or abstraction of quality criteria of included studies (OR, 1.17 per year; 95% CI, 1.08-1.26) increased over time, without positive trends in other quality criteria from 1990 through June 2008. Systematic reviews with internal quality evaluation did not meet other quality criteria more often than those that ignored the quality of included studies. Conclusion Collaborative efforts from investigators and journal editors are needed to improve the quality of systematic reviews.
Qualitative and quantitative assessment of mites (Acari) in domiciliary dust in rural dwellings in the "Zona da Mata" region, Minas Gerais, Brazil

From July to September, 2000 (winter), and from January to March, 2001 (summer), 30 dust samples were collected for each season, from beds of rural dwellings located in farms in the geographical area named "Zona da Mata", Minas Gerais, Brazil. After being sorted, the mites were identified and quantified. The prevalence of mites in the samples was 100%. 891 mites were found in winter (22.97%), and 2988 in summer (77.03%). In winter, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Trouessart, 1897) was the most prevalent (55.00%), followed by Blomia tropicalis (Bronswijk, Cock & Oshima, 1973) (27.06%), Euroglyphus maynei (Cooreman, 1950) (8.85%), and predator mites from Cheyletidae family (8.07%). In summer, the most prevalent species was B. tropicalis (47.79%), followed by D. pteronyssinus (43.38%), Cheyletidae (6.87%), and E. maynei (1.28%). Few Dermatophagoides farinae (Hughes, 1961), Chortoglyphus arcuatus (Troupeau, 1879), and mites from Tarsonemidae and Cunaxidae families were found, the last two occurring only in summer. No mites from Acaridae family were found. The greatest number of immature forms found in summer suggested a greater breeding activity in this season. It was also noted that different building materials and varied cleaning routines may influence the population size of domiciliary dust mites.
Small interfering RNA against the apurinic or apyrimidinic endonuclease enhances the sensitivity of human pancreatic cancer cells to gemcitabine in vitro

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the downregulation of human apurinic or apyrimidinic endonuclease/redox factor‐1 gene (APE1/Ref‐1) expression by ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) would increase the sensitivity of SW1990 cells to gemcitabine.
Momentum and the Disposition Effect: The Role of Individual Investors

"We hypothesize that disposition effect-induced momentum documented in Grinblatt and Han (2005) should be stronger in stocks with greater individual investors' presence since individual investors are more prone to the disposition effect. We find strong evidence for our hypothesis for a large sample of NYSE/AMEX/NASDAQ stocks from the end of 1980 to 2005. Our results hold across different momentum strategies using alternative ways of defining individual investors' presence in a stock and maintain even after controlling for variables known to drive momentum. Furthermore, we find that our results are stronger for hard-to-value stocks consistent with the findings of Kumar (2009). " Copyright (c) 2010 Financial Management Association International.
How Do Firms Respond to Corporate Taxes

Using a novel empirical approach, a large, newly available administrative dataset on US corporate tax filings, and a structural model, we estimate the corporate elasticity of taxable income in the corporate income tax rate for US firms. In response to a 10.1 percent increase in the expected marginal tax rate, US firms decrease taxable income by 8.9 percent, which indicates a discernibly more elastic response than the prevailing published elasticity estimates. This response reflects a decrease in taxable income of 3.0% arising from real economic adjustments to a firm's scale of operations and 6.0% arising from earnings management. While cash reporting firms are more responsive than accrual accounting firms, and this response is disproportionately driven by earnings management regardless of accounting method. Our estimates suggest that lowering the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25% would increase firm value by 16%.
Demystifying Artificial Intelligence -Exploring how public sector organizations can approach Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years. After decades of lofty promises followed by an inability to realize them, the technology is now having a great and growing impact on our society. However, despite its apparent importance, only a fraction of Sweden’s public entities have a structured approach to Artificial Intelligence. Previous research has not explored the intersection between Innovation Management and Artificial Intelligence. Therefore, this study attempts to help public organizations approach Artificial Intelligence strategically. To investigate the issue, interviews were conducted with ten individuals possessing strong insight into the subject. The empirical findings reveal several recurring factors impeding the strategic utilization of Artificial Intelligence in Sweden’s public sector. These factors include an insufficient understanding of how Artificial Intelligence can be utilized, insufficient degree of overall digitalization, and a severe lack of guidelines regarding legal and ethical dilemmas, among others. The FINT-model is ultimately proposed as a suggestion for how public organizations should approach Artificial Intelligence. The model consists of four elements: Digital Foundation, Identification of Needs, Technology, and Innovation. Implementing the suggested model may enable public organizations to create a structured approach to Artificial Intelligence, leveraging the technology to fulfill the needs of their citizens.
Reaching into Pictorial Spaces

While binocular viewing of 2D pictures generates an impression of 3D objects and space, viewing a picture monocularly through an aperture produces a more compelling impression of depth and the feeling that the objects are “out there”, almost touchable. Here, we asked observers to actually reach into pictorial space under both binocular- and monocular-aperture viewing. Images of natural scenes were presented at different physical distances via a mirror-system and their retinal size was kept constant. Targets that observers had to reach for in physical space were marked on the image plane, but at different pictorial depths. We measured the 3D position of the index finger at the end of each reach-to-point movement. Observers found the task intuitive. Reaching responses varied as a function of both pictorial depth and physical distance. Under binocular viewing, responses were mainly modulated by the different physical distances. Instead, under monocular viewing, responses were modulated by the different pictorial depths. Importantly, individual variations over time were minor, that is, observers conformed to a consistent pictorial space. Monocular viewing of 2D pictures thus produces a compelling experience of an immersive space and tangible solid objects that can be easily explored through motor actions.
Mutational analysis of KISS1 and KISS1R in idiopathic central precocious puberty

Abstract Aim: The genetic background of idiopathic central precocious puberty (ICPP) is not well understood. The genetic activation of pubertal onset is thought to arise from the effect of multiple genes. Familial ICPP has been reported suggesting the existence of monogenic causes of ICPP. Kisspeptin and its receptor are found to be involved in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion and puberty onset. Mutations in their genes, KISS1 and KISSR, have been suggested to be causative for ICPP. Methods: ICPP was defined by pubertal onset before 8 years of age in girls, and a pubertal luteinizing hormone (LH) response to GnRH testing. Twenty-eight girls with ICPP were included in the study [age at diagnosis was 5.72±2.59, with a mean bone age advancement of 1.4 years (–0.1 to 2.8). Height at onset of therapy in SD score was 0.90±1.48 for age]. Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone test was performed in all subjects, and all of them had a pubertal response (LH 20.35±32.37 mIU/mL; FSH 23.32±15.72 mIU/mL). The coding regions of KISS1 and KISS1R were sequenced. Results: No rare variants were detected in KISS1 or KISS1R in the 28 subjects with ICPP. Conclusions: We confirmed that mutations in KISS1 and KISS1R are not a common cause for ICPP.
Signaling via IRAG is essential for NO/cGMP-dependent inhibition of platelet activation

Platelet activation is strongly affected by nitric oxide/cyclic GMP (NO/cGMP) signaling involving cGMP-dependent protein kinase I (cGKI). Previously it was shown that interaction of the cGKI substrate IRAG with InsP3RI is essential for NO/cguanosine monophosphate (GMP)-dependent inhibition of platelet aggregation in vitro and in vivo. However, the role of Inositol-trisphosphate receptor associated cGMP kinase substrate (IRAG) for platelet adhesion or granule secretion was unknown. Here, we analysed the functional role of IRAG for platelet activation. Murine IRAG-deficient platelets displayed enhanced aggregability towards several agonists (collagen, thrombin and TxA2). NO- or cGMP-dependent inhibition of agonist induced ATP- or 5-HT secretion from dense granules, and P-selectin secretion from alpha granules was severely affected in IRAG-deficient platelets. Concomitantly, the effect of NO/cGMP on platelet aggregation was strongly reduced in IRAG-deficient platelets. Furthermore, GPIIb/IIIa-mediated adhesion of platelets to fibrinogen could only weakly be inhibited in IRAG-deficient mice contrary to wild-type (WT) mice. Our results suggest that signaling via IRAG is essential for NO/cGMP-dependent inhibition of platelet activation regarding granule secretion, aggregation and adhesion. This platelet disorder might cause that the bleeding time of IRAG-deficient mice was reduced.
Impact of parental relationships in maximum lod score affected sib‐pair method

Many studies are done in small isolated populations and populations where marriages between relatives are encouraged. In this paper, we point out some problems with applying the maximum lod score (MLS) method (Risch, [1990] Am. J. Hum. Genet. 46:242–253) in these populations where relationships exist between the two parents of the affected sib‐pairs. Characterizing the parental relationships by the kinship coefficient between the parents (f), the maternal inbreeding coefficient (αm, and the paternal inbreeding coefficient (αp), we explored the relationship between the identity by descent (IBD) vector expected under the null hypothesis of no linkage and these quantities. We find that the expected IBD vector is no longer (0.25, 0.5, 0.25) when f, αm, and αp differ from zero. In addition, the expected IBD vector does not always follow the triangle constraints recommended by Holmans ([1993] Am. J. Hum. Genet. 52:362–374). So the classically used MLS statistic needs to be adapted to the presence of parental relationships. We modified the software GENEHUNTER (Kruglyak et al. [1996] Am. J. Hum. Genet. 58: 1347–1363) to do so. Indeed, the current version of the software does not compute the likelihood properly under the null hypothesis. We studied the adapted statistic by simulating data on three different family structures: (1) parents are double first cousins (f=0.125, αm=αp=0), (2) each parent is the offspring of first cousins (f=0, αm=αp=0.0625), and (3) parents are related as in the pedigree from Goddard et al. ([1996] Am. J. Hum. Genet. 58:1286–1302) (f=0.109, αm=αp=0.0625). The appropriate threshold needs to be derived for each case in order to get the correct type I error. And using the classical statistic in the presence of both parental kinship and parental inbreeding almost always leads to false conclusions. Genet. Epidemol. 23:413–425, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Hospitalizations, costs, and outcomes of severe sepsis in the United States 2003 to 2007

Objectives:To assess trends in number of hospitalizations, outcomes, and costs of severe sepsis in the United States. Design:Temporal trends study using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample. Patients:Adult patients with severe sepsis (defined as a diagnosis of sepsis and organ dysfunction) diagnosed between 2003 and 2007. Measurements and Main Results:We determined the weighted frequency of patients hospitalized with severe sepsis. We calculated age- and sex-adjusted population-based mortality rates for severe sepsis per 100,000 population and also used logistic regression to adjust in-hospital mortality rates for patient characteristics. We calculated inflation-adjusted costs using hospital-specific cost-to-charge ratios. We identified a rapid steady increase in the number of cases of severe sepsis, from 415,280 in 2003 to 711,736 in 2007 (a 71% increase). The total hospital costs for all patients with severe sepsis increased from $15.4 billion in 2003 to $24.3 billion in 2007 (57% increase). The proportion of patients with severe sepsis and only a single organ dysfunction decreased from 51% in 2003 to 45% in 2007 (p < .001), whereas the proportion of patients with three or four or more organ dysfunctions increased 1.19-fold and 1.51-fold, respectively (p < .001). During the same time period, we observed 2% decrease per year in hospital mortality for patients with severe sepsis (p < .001), as well as a slight decrease in the length of stay (9.9 days to 9.2 days; p < .001) and a significant decrease in the geometric mean cost per case of severe sepsis ($20,210 per case in 2003 and $19,330 in 2007; p = .025). Conclusions:The increase in the number of hospitalizations for severe sepsis coupled with declining in-hospital mortality and declining geometric mean cost per case may reflect improvements in care or increases in discharges to skilled nursing facilities; however, these findings more likely represent changes in documentation and hospital coding practices that could bias efforts to conduct national surveillance.