Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microemulsion cyclosporine with C2 monitoring and tacrolimus in liver transplantation with or without hepatitis C virus infection

The introduction of calcineurin inhibitors has improved graft survival in the last 25 years. The superiority of tacrolimus over cyclosporine (CsA) was well established in preventing acute rejection and corticosteroid-resistant rejection from 3 large randomized trials after liver transplantation. However, these differences were studied with a conventional formulation of CsA and CsA monitoring with trough (C0) concentrations. 4-6 In addition, in those three studies, the indication of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related end-stage liver disease is relatively low: it accounts for more than 40% of liver transplantations in the United States. It is now clear that C2 monitoring of CsA better reflects the area under the concentration curve of the drug and has a better safety and efficacy profile in renal transplantation. Also, the microemulsion formulation of CsA (CsA ME) provides more predictable area under the concentration curve, and day-to-day fluctuations in concentration are less common. In liver transplantation, diversion of bile affects the absorption of CsA, which is less affected with CsA ME formulation. In vitro studies have shown anti-HCV activity of CsA at higher concentrations. Thus, several questions emerge. Does microemulsion formulation of CsA with C2monitoring provides better safety and efficacy in liver transplant patients as compared with tacrolimus? And is there any benefit of CsA ME with C2 monitoring over tacrolimus in HCV-positive patients undergoing liver transplantation? Both of these questions are important to clinicians in order to provide the best possible options for their patients. In a U.S. multicenter trial, Wiesner showed that the survival benefit of tacrolimus over CsA was maintained even in patients who were HCV positive with up to a 5-year follow-up. Ghobrial et al. reported the results of a retrospective data analysis of 190 CsA-treated and 132 tacrolimus-treated HCV-positive liver transplant recipients, with median follow-up of 22 months, and found no difference in patient or graft survival. In their study, conventional CsA and CsA ME were grouped together. A randomized study by Martin et al. of 77 patients examined the difference between CsA-treated or tacrolimus-treated HCV-positive liver transplant recipients. Although HCV RNA viral load in the CsA group were higher, histologically diagnosed HCV recurrence rate and survival rate were not different. However, CsA dose was not based on C2 monitoring. Similarly, Zervos et al. reported the results of a prospective study of tacrolimus-treated HCV-positive liver transplant recipients (n 25) with CsA ME–treated HCV-positive liver transplant recipients (n 24) with a median follow-up of 14 months. They found an increased incidence of acute rejection with CsA ME compared with tacrolimus but did not find any difference in patient survival or graft survival. A prospective study conducted in Europe, which included more than 600 cases, found a benefit with tacrolimus over CsA ME. However, in both studies, C0 concentrations were measured. 22,23
The Relevance of Intangibles Disclosure for Market Risk: An Exploratory Study of US Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Industry

The healthcare and pharmaceutical industry in the United States has its primary resources tied up in the form of intangibles. Therefore, the main risk factors of such firms are directly associated with the management of such idiosyncratic resources. Reporting on intangibles has always been controversial because of the persistent conceptual and regulatory challenges, yet voluntary disclosures represent a non-negligible portion of the annual report of such firms. This study explores the reporting environment of intangibles for firms belonging to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry in the US and analyzes whether these non-financial disclosures on the annual report have an impact on those companies’ market risk. The evidence suggests that disclosure of intangibles vary considerably in the content, and that this type of information does not have an impact on the market risk of healthcare and pharmaceutical firms. However, R&D intensity clearly has a statistically significant effect on the market risk. These results are consistent with the previous findings of Lev and Zarowin (1999), who found that the usefulness of earnings information in annual reports has been deteriorating over the years.
Cocreating the Arab Spring

This article examines the transformation of service systems through actors’ resource integration and value cocreation in contention. It is based on a netnographic study focusing on the use of information and communications technology (ICT) tools by online activists during the “Arab Spring. ” The transformation of service systems is conceptualized on the basis of existing service research and on the theory of strategic action fields. Focusing on Syria, the findings suggest that activists transformed four interdependent service systems—the media, the social movement, health care, and the financial service systems—during the Arab Spring by means of integrating resources and cocreating value within several ICT tools. A key contribution to transformative service research is the fact that the positive transformation of service systems derives from the conflict between two types of actors, namely, incumbents and challengers. This article also contributes to our knowledge of triggers of service system transformation, what motivates actors to transform service systems, how service system transformation is enabled by actors’ integration and use of ICT tools serving as opportunity spaces, and the transformative roles actors adopt. In addition, this article contributes to the conceptualization of service systems and to the understanding of resource integration and value cocreation.
Implementation of ISO-22000 in Spain: obstacles and key benefits

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the status of the implementation of ISO 22000 in the food industry in Spain. The study identifies the main difficulties faced by firms during the adoption process, the benefits obtained, and the most influential benefits on firms overall satisfaction with ISO 22000. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was developed to identify the difficulties and benefits for ISO 22000 implementation. Data were collected among 189 Spanish certified firms. Factor analysis and multiple linear regression were used. Findings – ISO 22000 is used by firms operating in all links of the food chain (FC). Size of the firm is not a factor that determines its implementation. Exporter firms are more attracted to ISO 22000 certification. All sample firms experienced difficulties throughout the implementation process, being those related with time and money the most relevant. The benefits which most contributed to the firms’ satisfaction were internal in nature, in particular,.
Customer Perceptions of Loyalty Programs in an Emerging Market Context

Difficult economic conditions place pressure on organisations to attract new customers and retain existing ones. One strategy employed to realise this goal is the use of loyalty programs. This paper sought to determine the drivers of customer participation and non-participation in loyalty programs and to determine customer perceptions of loyalty programs. Based on a sample of 181 respondents, the findings show that the main drivers of customer participation in loyalty programs include quality and price while the main reasons for non-participation include lack of offers of membership and the perception that the benefits of participation are not worth the effort. Customer perceptions of loyalty programs were found to be aligned with previous findings in the literature and focussed on rewarding frequent shoppers and ensuring repeat patronage. The study findings were mainly consistent with the literature. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014. v5n23p278
Spectroscopic Study of Anode Plasmas in a Microsecond Electron Beam Diode

Experiments have been performed to investigate the visible emissions (370-600 nm) from long-pulse electron-beam-driven carbon anode plasmas, and to correlate the spectroscopic evidence for ions with deviations of the diode current and voltage from Child-Langmuir behavior. Electron beams had peak voltages of -0.8 MV, current densities approaching 103 A/cm2, and pulselengths of about 1 ¿s. Diode closure resulted in three phases of the beam/plasma evolution. In stage I the deposited electron dose was smaller than that required for anode plasma optical emission (¿5250 J/gr). No deviations of the diode operation from conventional Child-Langmuir scaling were observed. In stage II, the electron dose was large enough for anode plasma formation before shorting (¿350J/gr), and low-intensity optical emission was primarily from CII and CIII. During stage II, two types of non-Child-Langmuir diode behavior occurred due to the presence of an anode plasma. An anomalous voltage peaking behavior occurred at an average dose of 740 J/gr, at about 80 percent of the diode shorting time. The diode impedance was constant during this voltage peaking behavior, contrary to the impedance collapse expected from Child-Langmuir behavior in a closing diode. This voltage peaking was accompanied by an increase in continuum emission, particularly at shorter wavelengths. A bipolar impedance level was occasionally observed before voltage peaking, at an average dose of 410 J/gr,at about 66 percent of the predicted shorting time.
Modeling service friendship and customer compliance in high‐contact service relationships

Purpose – The success of many high‐contact services depends on customers' compliance with providers' instructions. While existing service marketing literature urges increased attention to customer compliance, there is, to date, little research investigating its role of compliance in service settings. Based on social cognitive theory, this study aims to fill this important research gap, developing and testing a model to explore the antecedents and consequences of customer compliance in high‐contact service settings. Service friendship is included as a mediator between the antecedents and compliance. Two control variables, relationship duration and contact frequency, were also included in the model.Design/methodology/approach – A research framework is proposed to suggest the antecedents and consequences of both service friendship and customer compliance. Extant research from various research streams is reviewed, deriving 11 hypotheses. Data collected from customers of high‐contact service industries are exa.
MicroRNA-122 as a Novel Non-Invasive Marker of Liver Fibrosis in Hepatitis C Virus Patients.

BACKGROUND Noninvasive evaluation of hepatic fibrosis is a growing scientific effort in medicine and is of particular interest as early diagnosis is important for the timely prevention and treatment of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Non-invasive markers of liver fibrosis have recently been developed as an alternative to liver biopsy. Aim of the work: The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of serum microRNA 122 in Egyptian chronic hepatitis C virus infected patients. This may be a useful tool as a non invasive diagnostic test to detect early stages of fibrosis in comparison to 4 non invasive indexes (APRI, Forns, FIB-4, and FI) vs. control and their ability to differentiate between mild and moderate fibrosis stages. METHODS This study was conducted on 40 chronic hepatitis C patients diagnosed by liver biopsy and PCR and 20 apparently healthy volunteers who served as control group (III). Liver fibrosis was staged according to the METAVIR scoring system and consequently patients were classified in two groups of liver fibrosis: mild fibrosis (I) and moderate fibrosis (II). RESULTS The mean expression level of microRNA-122 was significantly higher in both patient groups (I and II) as compared to the control group (III) (p < 0.001 for each). While there was no statistically significant difference in serum miR-122 expression level between group I compared to group II, microRNA 122 and 4 non invasive indexes (APRI, Forns, FIB-4, and FI) were statistically significant for prediction of fibrosis. MicroRNA 122 had the best performing ROC curve for prediction of fibrosis followed by APRI, FI, Forns, and FIB-4. The AUROCs ranged from 0.912 for FIB-4 to 1 for microRNA 122. While FIB-4 and Forns were statistically significant in differentiating mild and moderate fibrosis, FIB-4 had a better AUROC than Forns (0.75 and 0.71, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The study concluded that there was increased expression of mcroiRNA-122 in Egyptian chronic hepatitis C virus (CHCV) infected patients. MicroRNA 122 has a strong potential to serve as one of the novel noninvasive markers of early liver fibrosis.
Prevalence of and risk factors for lifetime suicide attempts in the National Comorbidity Survey.

BACKGROUND General population survey data are presented on the lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts as well as transition probabilities to onset of ideation, plans among ideators, and attempts among ideators either with or without a plan. Risk factors for these transitions are also studied. METHODS Data are from part II of the National Comorbidity Survey, a nationally representative survey carried out from 1990 to 1992 in a sample of 5877 respondents aged 15 to 54 years to study prevalences and correlates of DSM-III-R disorders. Transitions are estimated using life-table analysis. Risk factors are examined using survival analysis. RESULTS Of the respondents, 13.5% reported lifetime ideation, 3.9% a plan, and 4.6% an attempt. Cumulative probabilities were 34% for the transition from ideation to a plan, 72% from a plan to an attempt, and 26% from ideation to an unplanned attempt. About 90% of unplanned and 60% of planned first attempts occurred within 1 year of the onset of ideation. All significant risk factors (female, previously married, age less than 25 years, in a recent cohort, poorly educated, and having 1 or more of the DSM-III-R disorders assessed in the survey) were more strongly related to ideation than to progression from ideation to a plan or an attempt. CONCLUSIONS Prevention efforts should focus on planned attempts because of the rapid onset and unpredictability of unplanned attempts. More research is needed on the determinants of unplanned attempts.
Caffeine: its effect on catecholamines and metabolism in lean and obese humans.

1. The metabolic response of lean and obese women to caffeine was studied to see if caffeine could be used to demonstrate the subnormal thermogenesis in obesity previously shown after standard meals or intravenous infusions of noradrenaline. 2. The rise in resting metabolic rate with caffeine was similar in the lean and obese groups and beta-adrenoceptor blockade did not reduce the increment in metabolic rate in either group. These responses did not, therefore, correspond with the other subnormal thermogenic responses of the constitutionally obese. 3. In a post-obese group, i.e. previously obese women who were now of normal weight, there was a reduced response of the resting metabolic rate to caffeine. 4. Monitoring plasma substrate concentrations showed that the change in oxygen uptake corresponded to changes in plasma free fatty acids, so that in adults the metabolic effects of caffeine seem to be mediated by increases in adipocyte lipolysis. This effect seems to be mainly independent of the adrenergic system.
Spontaneous Assembly of Photosynthetic Supramolecular Complexes as Mediated by the Intrinsically Unstructured Protein CP12*

CP12 is a protein of 8.7 kDa that contributes to Calvin cycle regulation by acting as a scaffold element in the formation of a supramolecular complex with glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and phosphoribulokinase (PRK) in photosynthetic organisms. NMR studies of recombinant CP12 (isoform 2) of Arabidopsis thaliana show that CP12-2 is poorly structured. CP12-2 is monomeric in solution and contains four cysteines, which can form two intramolecular disulfides with midpoint redox potentials of –326 and –352 mV, respectively, at pH 7.9. Site-specific mutants indicate that the C-terminal disulfide is involved in the interaction between CP12-2 and GAPDH (isoform A4), whereas the N-terminal disulfide is involved in the interaction between this binary complex and PRK. In the presence of NAD, oxidized CP12-2 interacts with A4-GAPDH (KD = 0.18 μm) to form a binary complex of 170 kDa with (A4-GAPDH)-(CP12-2)2 stoichiometry, as determined by isothermal titration calorimetry and multiangle light scattering analysis. PRK is a dimer and by interacting with this binary complex (KD = 0.17 μm) leads to a 498-kDa ternary complex constituted by two binary complexes and two PRK dimers, i.e. ((A4-GAPDH)-(CP12-2)2-(PRK))2. Thermodynamic parameters indicate that assembly of both binary and ternary complexes is exoergonic although penalized by a decrease in entropy that suggests an induced folding of CP12-2 upon binding to partner proteins. The redox dependence of events leading to supramolecular complexes is consistent with a role of CP12 in coordinating the reversible inactivation of chloroplast enzymes A4-GAPDH and PRK during darkness in photosynthetic tissues.
Secondary-Side Phase-Shift-Controlled ZVS DC/DC Converter With Wide Voltage Gain for High Input Voltage Applications

In this paper, a soft-switching dc/dc converter with secondary-side phase-shift control strategy is proposed to improve the conversion efficiency and minimize the primary switch voltage stress in the high input voltage applications. Zero-voltage-switching performance is achieved for both the primary- and secondary-side power devices in a wide load range to reduce the switching losses due to the secondary-side phase-shift control scheme. Furthermore, compared with the conventional phase-shift control mechanism, the circulating current at the freewheeling stage is effectively suppressed as well to minimize the conduction losses. Moreover, the voltage stress of the primary switches is only half of the input voltage by employing the improved three-level structure, which makes the low-voltage rated power devices available to improve the circuit performance. In addition, the converter can work in the buck, balance, and boost modes to achieve a relatively wide input voltage range, which is an expected advantage for the communication power system to minimize the electrolytic capacitors with an acceptable hold-up time. The operation principle is analyzed and experimental results of a 1-kW 100-kHz prototype are provided to verify the effectiveness and the advantages of the proposed converter.
The Missing Link: Early Methane (“T”) Dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We report the discovery of three cool brown dwarfs that fall in the effective temperature gap between the latest L dwarfs currently known, with no methane absorption bands in the 1-2.5 μm range, and the previously known methane (T) dwarfs, whose spectra are dominated by methane and water. The newly discovered objects were detected as very red objects in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey imaging data and have JHK colors between the red L dwarfs and the blue Gl 229B-like T dwarfs. They show both CO and CH4 absorption in their near-infrared spectra in addition to H2O, with weaker CH4 absorption features in the H and K bands than those in all other methane dwarfs reported to date. Due to the presence of CH4 in these bands, we propose that these objects are early T dwarfs. The three form part of the brown dwarf spectral sequence and fill in the large gap in the overall spectral sequence from the hottest main-sequence stars to the coolest methane dwarfs currently known.
Intangible Factors Influencing Firm Performance in Developing Countries: Malaysian Evidence

This study, which is conducted in Malaysia, develops hypotheses, first to examine how the CEOs upper echelon variables, leadership style and belief in budgetary participation influences their organizational commitment, and then examines if these same explanatory variables help predict high firm performance. Based on the survey of 102 CEOs and senior managers the study finds that there is an association between CEOs profiles particularly, the CEOs age and education level are associated with their level of organizational commitment. The CEOs preference for the level of budget participation is also significantly and positively associated with their level of organizational commitment. With regard to firm performance, our results suggests that longer the CEOs tenure in their current job and higher the level of education the lower the firm performance, but the greater the CEOs organizational commitment the higher the firm performance. Additionally, we find that the task oriented leadership style is more significant than considerate leadership style in being associated with high firm performance. Prior studies in leadership, participation and organizational commitment as well as the organizational and institutional contexts of Malaysia are used to explain these findings.
Induced Autocrine Signaling through the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Contributes to the Response of Mammary Epithelial Cells to Tumor Necrosis Factor α*

In contrast to the well known cytotoxic effects of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α in many mammary cancer cells, we have found that TNF stimulates the proliferation and motility of human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs). Since the response of HMECs to TNF is similar to effects mediated by epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation, we explored the potential role of cross-talk through the EGFR signaling pathways in mediating cellular responses to TNF. Using a microarray enzyme-linked immunoassay, we found that exposure to TNF stimulated the dose-dependent shedding of the EGFR ligand transforming growth factor α (TGFα). Both proliferation and motility of HMECs induced by TNF was prevented either by inhibiting membrane protein shedding with a metalloprotease inhibitor, by blocking epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase activity, or by limiting ligand-receptor interactions with an antagonistic anti-EGFR antibody. EGFR activity was also necessary for TNF-induced release of matrix metalloprotease-9, thought to be an essential regulator of mammary cell migration. The cellular response to TNF was associated with a biphasic temporal pattern of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation, which was EGFR-dependent and modulated by inhibition of metalloprotease-mediated shedding. Significantly, the late phase of ERK phosphorylation, detectable within 4 h after exposure, was blocked by the metalloprotease inhibitor batimastat, indicating that autocrine signaling through ligand shedding was responsible for this secondary wave of ERK activity. Our results indicate a novel and important role for metalloprotease activation and EGFR transmodulation in mediating the cellular response to TNF.
The Importance of Context Towards Mobile Services Adoption

Along with the popularity of mobile devices and advances in wireless technology, mobile services have become more and more prevalent. Although many analysts have predicted that mobile systems will become mainstream, the adoption of mobile services has been slower than expected. The main objective of this research is to study the influence of context on mobile services adoption. The importance of context towards mobile services adoption was explored by looking at two newly developed mobile services. The findings from the exploratory study demonstrate that context is a significant factor to affect people's adoption of mobile services.