Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Platelet activation in major surgical stress: influence of combined epidural and general anaesthesia

Platelets are activated in surgery releasing vasoactive substances such as serotonin and thromboxane. Platelets become temporarily hypoaggregable during surgery followed by a postoperative hyperaggregability. Local anaesthetics are known to inhibit platelet function but earlier reports are conflicting. In order to study the impact of the combined use of general and regional anaesthesia on platelet function during major surgery 16 otherwise healthy patients were randomised to either general anaesthesia (GA) (n = 8) or GA combined with epidural anaesthesia (GA + EPI) (n = 8) for elective upper abdominal surgery. Cyclic 3′5′adenosine monophosphate, plasma glucose, plasma Cortisol and the rate pressure product (RPP) were markers of the stress response. ADP–induced platelet aggregation and the release products β‐thromboglobulin, serotonin and thromboxane 2 were measured in plasma before and during as well as for 3 days after surgery.
North-South Trade and Uneven Development in a Classical Conventional Wage Share Growth Model

This study presents a model of North-South trade and uneven development, and investigates the growth rates of both countries under the trade pattern such that the North specializes in investment goods while the South specializes in consumption goods. In contrast to existing studies, we close the model by fixing each countries' income distribution, specifically, the ratio of labor share to capital share. Using the model, we conduct the following two analyses. First, assuming that both countries already engage in international trade and that the North specializes in investment goods while the South specializes in consumption goods, we investigate the dynamics of both countries' growth rates and the terms of trade. Second, we investigate the condition under which such a trade pattern holds, and compare equilibrium variables under autarky and equilibrium values under free trade. From the first analysis, it follows that both countries grow at the same rate in the long run. From the second analysis, however, it follows that in the first place, the terms of trade must lie within the interval between the relative prices of both countries and that both countries' growth rates may not equalize as long as both countries engage in trade.
The Contact Caveat

Contact researchers have largely overlooked the potential for negative intergroup contact to increase prejudice. In Study 1, we tested the interaction between contact quantity and valence on prejudice toward Black Australians (n = 1,476), Muslim Australians (n = 173), and asylum seekers (n = 293). In all cases, the association between contact quantity and prejudice was moderated by its valence, with negative contact emerging as a stronger and more consistent predictor than positive contact. In Study 2, White Americans (n = 441) indicated how much positive and negative contact they had with Black Americans on separate measures. Although both quantity of positive and negative contact predicted racism and avoidance, negative contact was the stronger predictor. Furthermore, negative (but not positive) contact independently predicted suspicion about Barack Obama’s birthplace. These results extend the contact hypothesis by issuing an important caveat: Negative contact may be more strongly associated with increased racism and discrimination than positive contact is with its reduction.
Regulation and dysregulation of innate immunity by NFAT signaling downstream of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs)

Innate immunity is the most ancient form of response to pathogens and it relies on evolutionary conserved signaling pathways, i.e. those involving the NF‐κB pathway. Nevertheless, increasing evidence suggests that factors that have appeared more recently in evolution, such as the nuclear factor of activated T‐cell transcription factor family (NFATc), also contribute to innate immune‐response regulation in vertebrates. Exposure to inflammatory stimuli induces the activation of NFATc factors in innate immune cells, including conventional dendritic cells (DCs), granulocytes, mast cells and under pathological circumstances, also macrophages. While the evolutionary conserved functions of innate immunity, such as direct microbial killing and interferon production, are expected to be NFATc independent, other aspects of innate immunity, including collaboration with adaptive immunity and mechanisms to limit the tissue damage generated by the inflammatory process, are presumably controlled by NFATc members in collaboration with other transcription factors. In this article, we discuss the recent advances regarding the role of the NFATc signaling pathway in regulating DC, neutrophil and macrophage responses to specific inflammatory stimuli, including lipopolysaccharide and β‐glucan‐bearing microorganisms. We also discuss how NFATc signaling influences the interactions of myeloid cells with lymphocytes.
E-Public Engagement: Formulating a Citizencontent Engagement Model

Governments around the world are increasingly using the internet to inform, interact and communicate with their citizens, thereby fostering e-public engagement. A significant research focus has been restricted to how governments use the internet, the policies surrounding its use, and how it impacts or benefits governance and public engagement. However, there is a need for studies to investigate–from the citizens’ perspective–factors that may influence citizens’ engagement with governments’ contents on the internet. This study, therefore, investigates citizens-content engagement using a qualitative approach. Findings indicate that there are five main factors that influence such engagement: information need, attributes of the contents, the perception of the writer, trust in government, and citizens' affinity for governments’ online platforms. With these five factors, this study formulates a citizen-content engagement (C-CE) model.
Formal explorations in collective and individual rationality

This thesis addresses several questions regarding what rational agents ought to believe and how they ought to act. In the first part I begin by discussing how scientists contemplating several mutually exclusive theories, models or hypotheses can reach a rational decision regarding which one to endorse. In response to a recent argument that they cannot, I employ the tools of social choice theory to offer a ‘possibility result’ for rational theory choice. Then I utilize the tools of judgment aggregation to investigate how scientists from across fields can pool their expertise together. I identify an impossibility result threatening such a procedure and prove a possibility result which requires that some scientists sometimes waive their expertise over some propositions. In the second part I first discuss the existing justifications for a restricted principle of indifference that mandates that two agents whose experiences are subjectively indistinguishable should be indifferent with respect to their identities. I argue that all existing justifications rely on the same mistaken reasoning behind the ‘staying’ strategy in the Monty Hall problem. Secondly, I show this mistake is more widespread and I identify it in arguments purporting to show the failure of two reflection-like principles. In the third part I look at a recent argument that fair policy makers face a dilemma when trying to correct a biased distributive process. I show the dilemma only holds if the correction has to happen in one-shot. Finally, I look at how we ought to design public restrooms so that we reduce the discrimination faced by minority groups. I make the case for opening our public restrooms to all genders.
Job strain, blood pressure and response to uncontrollable stress.

OBJECTIVE The association between cardiovascular disease risk and job strain (high-demand, low-control work) may be mediated by heightened physiological stress responsivity. We hypothesized that high levels of job strain lead to increased cardiovascular responses to uncontrollable but not controllable stressors. Associations between job strain and blood pressure reductions after the working day (unwinding) were also assessed. DESIGN Assessment of cardiovascular responses to standardized behavioral tasks, and ambulatory monitoring of blood pressure and heart rate during a working day and evening. PARTICIPANTS We studied 162 school teachers (60 men, 102 women) selected from a larger survey as experiencing high or low job strain. METHODS Blood pressure, heart rate and electrodermal responses to an externally paced (uncontrollable) task and a self-paced (controllable) task were assessed. Blood pressure was monitored using ambulatory apparatus from 0900 to 2230 h on a working day. RESULTS The groups of subjects with high and low job strain did not differ in demographic factors, body mass or resting cardiovascular activity. Blood pressure reactions to the uncontrollable task were greater in high than low job-strain groups, but responses to the controllable task were not significantly different between groups. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure did not differ between groups over the working day, but decreased to a greater extent in the evening in subjects with low job strain. CONCLUSIONS Job strain is associated with a heightened blood pressure response to uncontrollable but not controllable tasks. The failure of subjects with high job strain to show reduced blood pressure in the evening may be a manifestation of chronic allostatic load.
Transgenic overexpression of amphiregulin induces a mitogenic response selectively in pancreatic duct cells.

BACKGROUND & AIMS The epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor family and the corresponding ligands are frequently overexpressed in pancreatic cancer. To compare the biological effects of transforming growth factor (TGF)-alpha and amphiregulin (AR) on growth and differentiation of the exocrine pancreas, we have generated transgenic mice overexpressing AR under control of the elastase promoter. METHODS Two independently generated transgenic mouse lines overexpress 50-, 43-, 28-, 26-, and 16-kilodalton AR forms in the pancreas. RESULTS Morphologic and immunohistochemical examinations suggest that small intralobular duct and centro-acinar cells proliferate in response to AR in these mice. AR transgenic mice display increased Ras, Erk1/2, cyclin D/CDK4, and cyclin E/CDK2 activity and G1/S progression in pancreatic duct cells. In contrast to TGF-alpha transgenic mice, AR neither induced tubular complex formation nor elicited a strong fibrogenic response. AR induced a slight induction of ErbB2 on duct cells, whereas TGF-alpha resulted in overexpression of the EGF receptor in cells within tubular complexes. Furthermore, AR and TGF-alpha displayed different effects on differentiation of isolated acini in vitro comparable to the situation in vivo. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that AR induces a mitogenic response selectively in small duct cells through activation of Ras, CDK2, and CDK4, respectively. The closely related EGF receptor ligands, AR and TGF-alpha, display different biological effects when overexpressed in the exocrine pancreas in vivo.
Gender differences in the pre-competition temporal patterning of anxiety and hormonal responses.

AIM This study examined gender differences in the pre-competition temporal patterning of anxiety and hormonal responses. METHODS Six male and 6 female field hockey players completed the modified Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2, including both intensity and direction subscales, and provided saliva and urine samples 24, 2, and 1 hour prior to competition. These samples were analyzed for cortisol, and noradrenaline and adrenaline, respectively. RESULTS Two x 3 repeated measures ANOVAs revealed significant gender x time interactions for cognitive and somatic anxiety intensity and adrenaline and noradrenaline, but not cortisol. While males' anxiety and hormonal responses demonstrated no significant changes, significant increases in females' anxiety, and significant decreases in their adrenaline and noradrenaline were observed over time. Moreover, while males' anxiety and hormonal responses mirrored each other, this was not the case for the females with increases in females' cognitive and somatic anxiety intensity levels accompanied by decreases in adrenaline and noradrenaline. CONCLUSIONS Although this study has extended this line of research by adopting a psycho-physiological approach and measuring anxiety intensity and direction in male and female athletes, replication is required with larger samples from a greater diversity of sports.
Differentiating benign and malignant salivary gland tumours: diagnostic criteria and the accuracy of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI with high temporal resolution.

OBJECTIVE To determine the optimal diagnostic criterion of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) for predicting salivary gland malignancy using a dynamic sequence with high temporal resolution, as well as the accuracy of this technique. METHODS The DCE-MRI findings of 98 salivary gland tumours (74 benign and 24 malignant) were reviewed. MR images were sequentially obtained at 5-s intervals for 370 s. Two parameters, peak time and washout ratio (WR) were determined from the time-signal intensity curve. The optimal thresholds of these parameters for differentiating benign and malignant tumours were determined, along with the diagnostic accuracy of the criterion using these thresholds. RESULTS A peak time of 150 s and a WR of 30% were identified as optimal thresholds. As the criterion for malignancy, the combination of peak time <150 s and WR <30% provided a sensitivity of 79% (19/24), specificity of 95% (70/74) and an overall accuracy of 91% (89/98). Three of the five false-negative cases were malignant lymphomas of the parotid gland. CONCLUSION Peak time <150 s with WR <30% comprised the optimal diagnostic criterion in predicting salivary gland malignancy, providing a sensitivity of 79% and specificity of 95%. The use of high temporal resolution might improve the accuracy of DCE-MRI. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE Although several studies have reported the usefulness of DCE-MRI in the differential diagnosis of salivary gland tumours, the specific diagnostic criteria employed have differed widely. We determined the optimal criterion and its accuracy using a dynamic sequence with high temporal resolution.
Dose-response of intrathecal morphine when administered with intravenous ketorolac for post-cesarean analgesia: a two-center, prospective, randomized, blinded trial.

BACKGROUND The appropriate dose of intrathecal morphine for post-cesarean analgesia is unclear. With the inclusion of routine non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the required dose of morphine may be significantly less than the 200-300μg common a decade ago. We performed a two-center, prospective, randomized, blinded trial comparing three doses of intrathecal morphine, combined with routine intravenous ketorolac, in 144 healthy women undergoing elective cesarean delivery. METHODS Patients received an intrathecal injection of hyperbaric bupivacaine 12mg, fentanyl 15μg and a randomized dose of 50, 100, or 150μg morphine in a volume of 2.2mL. Patients received intravenous ketorolac 30mg before leaving the operating room and 15mg intravenously every 6h for the duration of the study (24h). All received postoperative patient-controlled intravenous morphine. The primary endpoint was total intravenous morphine administered postoperatively over 24h, analyzed using mixed model regression. RESULTS There were no differences between dose groups (or institutions) in intravenous morphine use over 24h. Visual analog scale scores for pain and nausea did not differ. Pruritus was greater in the 100 and 150μg groups than the 50μg group at 6h and 12h, but there was no difference between groups in nausea or pruritus treatments. Respiratory depression or significant sedation did not occur. CONCLUSION The dose-response relationship of intrathecal morphine for multimodal post-cesarean analgesia suggests that 50μg produces analgesia similar to that produced by either 100μg or 150μg.
X-ray vector radiography for bone micro-architecture diagnostics

The understanding of large biophysical systems at the systems level often depends on a precise knowledge of their microstructure. This is difficult to obtain, especially in vivo, because most imaging methods are either limited in terms of achievable field of view, or make use of penetrating ionizing radiations such as x-rays, in which case the resolution is severely limited by the deposited dose. Here, we describe a new method, x-ray vector radiography (XVR), which yields various types of information about the local orientation, anisotropy and average size of the sample microstructures. We demonstrate the feasibility by showing first experimental XVRs of human vertebra bone samples, giving information on the trabecular structures even with a pixel resolution of half a millimetre, much larger than the structures themselves. This last point is critical for the development of low-dose measurement methods which will allow for in vivo studies and potentially in the future for new medical diagnostics methods of bone metabolic disorder diseases such as osteoporosis.
AN ANALYSIS OF MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON STAFF PRODUCTIVITY: A CASE OF WAJIR COUNTY GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conduct an analysis of managerial competencies and their influence on staff productivity in Wajir County government. Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive case study research design. The target population comprised of all the 2000 employees working with the Wajir county government. A sample size of 244 obtained by applying the Yamane formula was used. The study used stratified random sampling and simple random sampling technique to come up with the sample. The study used primary data collected through the administration of questionnaires. The statistics generated included descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The particular descriptive statistics included frequencies and percentages while the particular inferential statistics included correlation analysis and regression. Results: The possession of technical skills, conceptual skills, human skills and informational skills by managers was found to have a positive and significant effect on staff productivity. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommended that urgent measures be undertaken to ensure that at least everyone in management had acquired some basic technical skills in their assigned task. It was also necessary to continuously improve the existing technical skills of those in management within the county government through regular on job training for the management. The study also recommended that short courses such as conflict resolution, strategic leadership and mentorship programs should be included the county government staff development agenda as well as team building activities where those in management should be highly encouraged to avail themselves. It was also recommended that it was necessary for those in management positions to constantly acquire the needed information on the staff activities and performance in order to constantly and effectively monitor and evaluate the performance of staff in the county government to ensure that they were actively involved in activities that led to increased productivity. It was also necessary for the management to improve how and the ways in which they disseminated information at levels in the county government to ensure that barriers in communication do not hinder the progress of the county government agendas.
Company’s indebtedness trend for the growth andsurvival

The purpose of this paper is to verify the impact of a series of company’s variables in small and medium-sized companies, which affect their debts degree. We referred to Giacosa (2015) and Broccardo et al. (2016) as a framework, which identified some company’s variables which impact on its financial structure. Our sample contains small and medium-sized enterprises, belonging to the Italian manufacturing sector. The choice of the manufacturing context is linked to the fact that this sector is the one with the highest population in the Italian economic context and is therefore, a representative of the Italian economy. We identified a series of variables affecting the company’s indebtedness, working in a systemic perspective. Indeed, the company has been considered as a system, in which different factors have specific roles in the business (Ferrero, 1968, 1987) and are linked not through a simple cause-effect relationship; but through a sort of concatenation, and this relationship impacts on the debts recourse. In particular, by observing the survey of the reference sample, a relationship between main variables identified by the literature emerged that permits illustration of the company’s debts degree. Key words: Company’s indebtedness, debts degree, small and medium companies, financial structure.
Low Number of Peripheral Blood B Lymphocytes in Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis

The cellular immune response plays a critical role in the containment of persistent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection; however, the immunological mechanisms that lead to its control are not completely identified. The goal of this study was to evaluate B (CD19+) and T (CD3+) peripheral blood lymphocyte profiles and T-cell subsets (CD4+ and CD8+) in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Percentages (p = 0.02) and absolute numbers (p = 0.005) of B cells were significantly lower in patients with pulmonary TB than in healthy donors. In contrast, percentages (p = 0.12) and absolute numbers (p = 0.14) of T cells were similar in TB patients and healthy donors. No significant differences in percentages of CD4+ (p = 0.19) or CD8+ (p = 0.85) T cells between patients and healthy donors were observed. In summary, patients with pulmonary tuberculosis had a lower number of peripheral blood B lymphocytes than healthy controls.
Double-Stranded RNA Analog Poly(I:C) Inhibits Human Immunodeficiency Virus Amplification in Dendritic Cells via Type I Interferon-Mediated Activation of APOBEC3G

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is taken up by and replicates in immature dendritic cells (imDCs), which can then transfer virus to T cells, amplifying the infection. Strategies known to boost DC function were tested for their ability to overcome this exploitation when added after HIV exposure. Poly(I:C), but not single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) or a standard DC maturation cocktail, elicited type I interferon (IFN) and interleukin-12 (IL-12) p70 production and the appearance of unique small (15- to 20-kDa) fragments of APOBEC3G (A3G) and impeded HIVBal replication in imDCs when added up to 60 h after virus exposure. Comparable effects were mediated by recombinant alpha/beta IFN (IFN-α/β). Neutralizing the anti-IFN-α/β receptor reversed poly(I:C)-induced inhibition of HIV replication and blocked the appearance of the small A3G proteins. The poly(I:C)-induced appearance of small A3G proteins was not accompanied by significant differences in A3G mRNA or A3G monomer expression. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) knockdown of A3G could not be used to reverse the poly(I:C)-induced protective effect, since siRNAs nonspecifically activated the DCs, inducing the appearance of the small A3G proteins and inhibiting HIV infection. Notably, the appearance of small A3G proteins coincided with the shift of high-molecular-mass inactive A3G complexes to the low-molecular-mass (LMM) active A3G complexes. The unique immune stimulation by poly(I:C) with its antiviral effects on imDCs marked by the expression of IFN-α/β and active LMM A3G renders poly(I:C) a promising novel strategy to combat early HIV infection in vivo.