Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-invasive evaluation of the liver disease severity in children with chronic viral hepatitis using FibroTest and ActiTest – comparison with histopathological assessment

Aim of the study Was to evaluate liver disease severity in children with chronic viral hepatitis using the FibroTest and ActiTest (FT/AT), and compare the results with the liver biopsy. Material and methods The study included 11 treatment-naïve children [mean age, 9.0 ± 3.0 years, 10 infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), and 1 with hepatitis B virus (HBV)] who underwent an FT/AT. Ten of the children underwent a liver biopsy. The histopathological evaluation was based on the METAVIR scoring system. The FT/AT and METAVIR scores were considered concordant if the necroinflammatory activity or the fibrosis did not differ by more than one grade or stage. To analyze the agreement between the FT/AT and the histopathological evaluation, the inter-rater agreement (kappa) was used. Results In the histopathological evaluation, most children presented with mild necroinflammatory activity (METAVIR A1) and with minimal to mild fibrosis (METAVIR F1-2). Both the AT and FT values did not show any linear increases with advancing METAVIR scores A and F, respectively. A discordance between the FT and METAVIR scores was observed in 3/10 (30%) cases; concordance between the AT and METAVIR scores was found in 9/10 cases. The inter-rater agreement test showed poor agreement between the FT/AT and the histopathological evaluation (kappa for AT: 0.0667, and kappa for FT: 0.176). Conclusions The FT and AT values poorly correlate with histopathological evaluation. Further studies on non-invasive methods to evaluate liver disease severity in children with chronic viral hepatitis are needed.
Genetic, geographic, and linguistic variation among South American Indians: possible sex influence.

To better understand the relationship between genetic variability, geographical distance, and linguistic affiliation in South Amerinds, and to elucidate whether the migration rate is the same for both sexes, spatial autocorrelation, Mantel's test, and F(ST) analyses were performed in four sets of populations and alleles (group 1: 48 populations, 12 alleles; group 2: 16 (all belonging to the Tupi linguistic group) and 12; group 3: 21 and 17; and group 4: 28 and 4 haplotypes). Groups 1-3 included blood group and protein (i.e., serum protein, red cell enzymes, and immunoglobulin systems), while group 4 was concerned with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) only. The latter set was also subjected to a molecular analysis of variance (AMOVA) evaluation. The frequencies of statistically significant correlograms were lower than those obtained in other populations when the blood groups and protein systems were considered, but 3 of the 4 mtDNA haplogroups gave suggestions of population structure. The variability in this organelle is also significantly correlated with language when geography is held constant. Migration per generation is generally low, but higher estimates were obtained for females. The AMOVA results suggest that populations whose members speak the same language are genetically homogeneous and may be viewed as the ultimate evolutionary unit at this level of analysis.
Continuous and Jump Betas: Firm and Industry Level Evidence

This paper examines the behavior of industry-level betas and its implications for industry-based portfolio diversification. With the recent advances in disentangling continuous and jump price movements using high frequency data, we are able to estimate the time-varying betas towards both the continuous and jump systematic risk for firms from different industries. Our results show that both beta estimates vary considerably over the sample period of 2003 to 2011. There is strong evidence of structural change in the continuous betas for most sectors during the global financial crisis. In general the continuous betas are usually much smaller than the jump betas. Distinct behaviors in both the continuous and jump betas between sectors suggest a certain degree of clustering of firms in the same sector. These findings provide new insights in cross-industry risk diversification.
Trends in antimicrobial drug prescribing among office-based physicians in the United States.

OBJECTIVE To assess changes in oral antimicrobial drug prescribing by office-based physicians from 1980 through 1992, with emphasis on the treatment of otitis media and sinusitis and on the possible impact of demographic variables on such use. DESIGN The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey is a sample survey of office-based physicians in the United States conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. SETTING Physicians' offices. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS Physicians sampled for the 1980, 1985, 1989, and 1992 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys, which included groups of 2959, 5032, 2540, and 3000 physicians, respectively. Sample physicians responding in 1980, 1985, 1989, and 1992 reported data for 46,081, 71,594, 38,384, and 34,606 sample office visits, respectively, including information on antimicrobial drug prescribing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Trends in the antimicrobial drug prescription rates. RESULTS From 1980 through 1992, increasing prescribing measured by the annual drug prescription rate per 1000 population, was found for the more expensive, broad-spectrum antimicrobial drugs, such as the cephalosporins; decreasing rates were observed for less expensive antimicrobial drugs with a narrower spectrum, such as the penicillins. No trend was found for trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, the erythromycins, or the tetracyclines. During the decade, an increasing trend in the visit rate to office-based physicians for otitis media was observed, while the visit rate for sinusitis among adults was found to be higher in 1992 than in each of the other study years. CONCLUSIONS The increased use of broader-spectrum and more expensive antimicrobial drugs have implications for all patients because of the impact on health care costs and the potential for the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. The data suggest that the incidence of otitis media and sinusitis is increasing.
The structure of death anxiety: a factor analytic study.

University students in Canada (n = 255) and Northern Ireland (n = 315), graduate nursing students (n = 124), funeral service students (n = 79), and members of the Unitarian Fellowship (n = 83) completed Templer's Death Anxiety Scale (DAS). The responses of each group were subjected to principal components factor analysis using varimax rotational procedures and the factor scores derived from this analysis were then contrasted using multiple discriminant function analysis. Results indicated that there was more commonality than uniqueness in the factor patterns for these groups. Four common death anxiety patterns were classified as follows: (a) cognitive-affective concerns; (b) concern about physical alterations; (c) concern about the passage of time; and (d) concern about stressors and pain. These factors are consistent with and extend the views expressed in previous research (i.e., Pandy, 1974-75; Pandy & Templer, 1972.
Single yeast cell vacuolar milieu viscosity assessment by fluorescence polarization microscopy with computer image analysis

This study was undertaken to evaluate the apparent viscosity within the vacuoles of single Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells by steady‐state fluorescence anisotropy measurements of quinacrine, using wide‐field fluorescence polarization microscopy combined with computer image analysis. Quinacrine was shown to be rather specifically accumulated within the vacuoles of the cells. This accumulation was effectively reversed by ATP depletion of the cells, with no detectable binding of the dye within the vacuoles. Quinacrine fluorescence anisotropy in the sucrose solutions of various viscosities obeyed the Perrin equation. The fluorescence anisotropy of quinacrine was measured in the vacuoles of 39 cells. From cell to cell, this parameter changed in the range 0.032–0.086. Using the Perrin plot as a calibration curve, apparent viscosity values of the vacuolar milieu were calculated for each cell. The population of the cells studied was heterogeneous with regard to vacuolar viscosity, which was in the range 3.5 ± 0.4–14.06 ± 0.64 cP. There was a characteristic distribution of the frequencies of cells with apparent viscosities within certain limits, and cells with viscosity values in the range 5–6 cP were the most frequent. No relationship was found between the sizes of the vacuoles and their apparent viscosities. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Investment Decisions by European Firms and Financing Constraints

We reinvestigate the question of whether corporate investment during the financial crisis depended to a significant extent, and differently than in the pre-crisis period, on firms' short-term liquidity and indebtedness. Using data on listed firms in the euro area and the United Kingdom, we employ a correlated random coefficient panel data model estimated with instrumental variables in order to address potential endogeneity concerns. First, we find that to attain plausible identification, we must allow for the possibility that the unobserved firm-specific component of investment changed with the onset of the financial crisis. Second, our results suggest that neither cash reserves nor short-term debt, considered separately, were significant determinants of investment. However, we do find evidence of a negative conditional dependence between corporate investment and short-term debt net of cash reserves.
The role of redox signaling in epigenetics and cardiovascular disease.

SIGNIFICANCE The term epigenetics refers to the changes in the phenotype and gene expression that occur without alterations in the DNA sequence. There is a rapidly growing body of evidence that epigenetic modifications are involved in the pathological mechanisms of many cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which intersect with many of the pathways involved in oxidative stress. RECENT ADVANCES Most studies relating epigenetics and human pathologies have focused on cancer. There has been a limited study of epigenetic mechanisms in CVDs. Although CVDs have multiple established genetic and environmental risk factors, these explain only a portion of the total CVD risk. The epigenetic perspective is beginning to shed new light on how the environment influences gene expression and disease susceptibility in CVDs. Known epigenetic changes contributing to CVD include hypomethylation in proliferating vascular smooth muscle cells in atherosclerosis, changes in estrogen receptor-α (ER-α) and ER-β methylation in vascular disease, decreased superoxide dismutase 2 expression in pulmonary hypertension (PH), as well as trimethylation of histones H3K4 and H3K9 in congestive heart failure. CRITICAL ISSUES In this review, we discuss the epigenetic modifications in CVDs, including atherosclerosis, congestive heart failure, hypertension, and PH, with a focus on altered redox signaling. FUTURE DIRECTIONS As advances in both the methodology and technology accelerate the study of epigenetic modifications, the critical role they play in CVD is beginning to emerge. A fundamental question in the field of epigenetics is to understand the biochemical mechanisms underlying reactive oxygen species-dependent regulation of epigenetic modification.
In patients undergoing fast track total knee arthroplasty, addition of buprenorphine to a femoral nerve block has no clinical advantage

Background: Several adjuvants have been proposed to prolong the effect of peripheral nerve blocks, one of which is buprenorphine. In this randomized double blinded placebo controlled trial we studied whether the addition of buprenorphine to a femoral nerve block prolongs analgesia in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty in a fast track surgery protocol. Methods: The treatment group (B) was given an ultrasound-guided femoral nerve block with ropivacaine 0.2% and 0.3mg buprenorphine. We choose to use 2 control groups. Group R was given a femoral nerve block with ropivacaine 0.2% only. Group S also received 0.3 mg buprenorphine subcutaneously. Only patients with a successful block were enrolled in the study. Results: We found no difference in our primary outcome parameter of time to first rescue analgesic. We found lower opioid use and better sleep quality the first postoperative night in patients receiving buprenorphine perineurally or subcutaneously. Buprenorphine did not lead to any significant change in pain or mobilization. We found a high overall incidence of nausea and vomiting. Conclusion: In patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, in the setting of a fast track surgery protocol, the addition of buprenorphine to a femoral nerve block did not prolong analgesia.
Characterization and Nickel Sorption Kinetics of a New Metal Hyper-accumulator Bacillus sp

Abstract The heavy metal-resistant bacterial strain SJ-101 has been isolated from fly ash contaminated soil. Based on the morphological and biochemical characteristics, the isolate SJ-101 was presumptively identified as Bacillus sp. The adsorption isotherms revealed the absolute adsorption capacity (Q°) of 244 mg Ni g−1 dry cell mass vis-à-vis 161 mg Ni g−1 synthetic resin (Amberlite IR-120). The higher relative adsorption capacity (K F ) of 7.37, and the intensity of adsorption (1/n) of 0.58 with dry cell biomass suggested higher affinity of Bacillus cells towards nickel ions. The data conform to the Langmuir adsorption model relatively better than the Freundlich model. The thermodynamic parameters indicated the feasibility, endothermic, and interactive nature of nickel adsorption process on the cell surface. Higher Ni tolerance and sorption capacity of Bacillus sp. SJ-101, explicitly signifies its implications in Ni bioremediation process.
OIL-ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION AND HUMAN SECURITY IN THE NIGER-DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA: CHALLENGES AND POSSIBILITIES

The Niger-delta region has continued to attract scholarly attention in view of devastation of its environment and people due to failure to manage the negative consequences of oil exploitation and underdevelopment it has spawned in the region. The problem of oil environmental degradation and human insecurity it has elicits have not been lost to the federal government and its oil-petrol dollar partners. Yet, not much have been done to control the effect of oil exploitation in the region that has left the environment desecrated and the people in abject poverty. Also, development of the region has been almost non-existence in spite, of the enormous revenue accruing to the federal, state and local governments from the region. Recent oil spill and slow pace of development in the area have revived calls for human security in this part of Nigeria. The Paper submitted that although the present civilian administration has made major efforts to ameliorate the suffering of the people of the region, their conditions remain pitiable and unless the present government’s efforts are directed towards improving the peoples’ socio-economic and political conditions, the restiveness and violence in the Niger-Delta region in particular and Nigeria in general would continue unabated.
Toward chaperone‐assisted crystallography: Protein engineering enhancement of crystal packing and X‐ray phasing capabilities of a camelid single‐domain antibody (VHH) scaffold

A crystallization chaperone is an auxiliary protein that binds to a target of interest, enhances and modulates crystal packing, and provides high‐quality phasing information. We critically evaluated the effectiveness of a camelid single‐domain antibody (VHH) as a crystallization chaperone. By using a yeast surface display system for VHH, we successfully introduced additional Met residues in the core of the VHH scaffold. We identified a set of SeMet‐labeled VHH variants that collectively produced six new crystal forms as the complex with the model antigen, RNase A. The crystals exhibited monoclinic, orthorhombic, triclinic, and tetragonal symmetry and have one or two complexes in the asymmetric unit, some of which diffracted to an atomic resolution. The phasing power of the Met‐enriched VHH chaperone allowed for auto‐building the entire complex using single‐anomalous dispersion technique (SAD) without the need for introducing SeMet into the target protein. We show that phases produced by combining SAD and VHH model‐based phases are accurate enough to easily solve structures of the size reported here, eliminating the need to collect multiple wavelength multiple‐anomalous dispersion (MAD) data. Together with the presence of high‐throughput selection systems (e.g., phage display libraries) for VHH, the enhanced VHH domain described here will be an excellent scaffold for producing effective crystallization chaperones.
Estimation of number of follicles, volume of colloid and inner follicular surface area in the thyroid gland of rats

Volume is an important variable in assessing the growth and involution of the thyroid gland. The functional unit in the thyroid is the follicle, which consists of thyrocytes surrounding colloid. The size of a follicle depends on the number of cells and the amount of colloid. These are interchangeable and vary according to biological activity. Direct measurements of these variables provide information on structures involved in thyroid hormone synthesis, storage and secretion, and also on changes at the morphological and functional levels. Stereological methods are developed to obtain information on three‐dimensional structures from two‐dimensional sections and to achieve information on an entire organ by examining a minor part of it. Full‐grown male Sprague–Dawley rats were used to develop a set of methods relying on unbiased stereological principles to determine the number of follicles, the total volume of colloid and the inner follicular surface area in the thyroid gland. The total volume of colloid was positively correlated (P < 0.021) with the number of follicles and the inner follicular surface area (P < 0.002) but not to the mean volume of colloid in each follicle. Thus under physiological conditions an increase in the total volume of colloid is associated with an increased number of follicles with a constant size distribution rather than a larger volume of colloid in each follicle. This implies that under physiological conditions there is equilibrium in the size distribution of the volume of colloid in each follicle.
Physico-chemical properties and extrusion behaviour of selected common bean varieties.

BACKGROUND Extrusion processing offers the possibility of processing common beans industrially into highly nutritious and functional products. However, there is limited information on properties of extrudates from different bean varieties and their association with raw material characteristics and extrusion conditions. In this study, physico-chemical properties of raw and extruded Bishaz, K131, NABE19, Roba1 and RWR2245 common beans were determined. The relationships between bean characteristics and extrusion conditions on the extrudate properties were analysed. RESULTS Extrudate physico-chemical and pasting properties varied significantly (P < 0.05) among bean varieties. Expansion ratio and water solubility decreased, while bulk density, water absorption, peak and breakdown viscosities increased as feed moisture increased. Protein exhibited significant positive correlation (P < 0.05) with water solubility index, and negative correlations (P < 0.05) with water absorption, bulk density and pasting viscosities. Iron and dietary fibre showed positive correlation while total ash exhibited negative correlation with peak viscosity, final viscosity and setback. Similar trends were observed in principal component analysis. CONCLUSION Extrudate physico-chemical properties were found to be associated with beans protein, starch, iron, zinc and fibre contents. Therefore, bean chemical composition may serve as an indicator for beans extrusion behaviour and could be useful in selection of beans for extrusion. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.
The Cyclical Component of Labor Market Polarization and Jobless Recoveries in the US

We analyze quarterly occupation-level data from the US Current Population Survey for 1976-2013. Based on common cyclical employment dynamics, we identify two clusters of occupations that roughly correspond to the widely discussed notion of "routine" and "non-routine" jobs. After decomposing the cyclical dynamics into a cluster-specific ("structural") and an occupationspecific ("idiosyncratic") component, we detect significant structural breaks in the systematic dynamics of both clusters around 1990. We show that, absent these breaks, employment in the three "jobless recoveries" since 1990 would have recovered significantly more strongly than observed in the data, even after controlling for observed idiosyncratic shocks.
Bibliometric visualisation: an application in tourism crisis and disaster management research

A limited number of studies have applied bibliometric visualisation to explore the network structure of scholarly tourism knowledge. This study uses CiteSpace to analyse and visualise the intellectual structure of the tourism crisis and disaster management (TCDM) field. The use of new bibliometric visualisation techniques makes a methodological contribution to the mapping and presentation of bibliometric data in tourism research. Potentials for using these methods to provide new insights into research patterns and gaps are illustrated with an analysis of the TCDM literature. The study demonstrates how bibliometric visualisation can provide new insights into an area of literature by better communicating key findings, facilitating the exploration of data, and providing rich information to readers. Findings indicate that TCDM research has moved from broader topics to more specific issues, with a more recent focus on resilience and economic crises. The visualisation of co-authorship networks reveals that major collaborative networks are based on geographic and institutional proximity, dominated by scholars in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Seven major research clusters are identified from the visualisation of a co-citation network. The identification of structural holes and bridging papers draws attention to research gaps and future research opportunities in the TCDM field.
Coronary vasoconstriction in vitro in the hearts of polyarthritic rats: effectiveness of in vivo treatment with the endothelin receptor antagonist SB 209670

Here we demonstrate that perfused hearts removed from polyarthritic rats develop a pronounced coronary vasoconstriction ex vivo. This vasoconstriction is almost entirely blocked by in vivo pretreatment of the rats with the endothelin receptor antagonist, SB 209670. Thus, inflammatory states may be associated with an increased activity of the endothelin system, leading to vascular dysfunction and vasoconstriction.
Allergic sensitization to cat in childhood as major predictor of incident respiratory allergy in young adults

Background: Little is known on the predictive value of sensitization to specific aeroallergens in children with respect to asthma and hay fever incidence in young adulthood. We followed the incidence of asthma and hay fever in children (mean age 11 years) over 9 years, and analyzed the predictive value of sensitization to five common aeroallergens.