Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Renal biopsy in patients aged 80 years and older.

BACKGROUND Renal abnormalities discovered in the elderly have often been considered the result of aging, hypertensive changes, and so on. Recently, we noted an increase in renal biopsies among patients 80 years and older. This is a demographic subset with little or no previously reported clinicopathologic correlation between renal biopsy findings and clinical syndromes. METHODS We examined our files for all biopsies performed in patients 80 years and older and report 100 patients of a total of 3,227 biopsies (3.1%) from multiple referral centers. RESULTS Significant differences in the disease spectrum were found in the very elderly, not only compared with studies of adults and children, but also compared with studies of renal biopsies in the elderly. Crescentic glomerulonephritis was the most common diagnosis in patients aged 80 years and older. Although membranous glomerulopathy is the most common cause of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome in studies of the elderly (23% to 38%) and adults (35% to 40%), only 15% of our patients aged 80 years and older with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome had membranous nephropathy. Overall, at least 40 of 100 biopsies performed on the very elderly showed a renal condition that would benefit from therapeutic intervention, and the remaining biopsies provided at least prognostic information and/or ruled out a more severe condition, preventing potentially harmful empiric therapy. CONCLUSION As the population ages, more elderly patients are undergoing diagnostic renal biopsies. This study emphasizes the variance between clinical presentation and expected diagnosis compared with actual biopsy findings in patients aged 80 years and older.
Threshold Effects on the Relationship Between Inflation Rate and Economic Growth in Tunisia

ABSTRACT Using an econometric technique suggested by Hansen [(2001). The new econometrics of structural change: Dating breaks in U.S. Labor productivity. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 15, 117–128], this paper studies the inflation–economic growth nexus in the case of Tunisia for the 1993-01–2012-11 period. The results show that there is one inflation threshold value that does exist for Tunisia. This evidence strongly sustains the view that the relationship between inflation rate and economic growth is non-linear. The estimated threshold regression model suggests that a threshold value of inflation rate below 3.48% fosters economic growth. In addition, above this threshold level, there is a statistically significant negative relationship between inflation rate and economic growth. These results have important implications to policy-makers who should pay attention to the inflation phenomena. Therefore, a new policy that takes into account such a threshold should be set up.
Gracilis muscle transposition for faecal incontinence

Transposition of the gracilis muscle for faecal incontinence was performed in 13 patients. Six gained satisfactory continence, four were improved, two did not benefit from the operation and one patient died from intercurrent disease before closure of a pre‐existing colostomy. Anal manometry compared with a control group showed no alteration in resting anal pressure at a median of 35 mmHg (range 5–63 mmHg), whereas maximum squeeze pressure increased from a median of 38 mmHg (range 5–79 mmHg) to 59 mmHg (range 10–143 mmHg) (P = 0·041) which was, however, significantly lower than 130 mmHg (range 81–236 mmHg) in the control group. All patients who benefited from the operation had an increase in maximum squeeze pressure. The ability to retain a viscous fluid in the rectum was measured in seven patients, four of whom had gained satisfactory continence and three of whom had improved continence. They were able to retain a median volume of 200 ml (range 50–225 ml) without leakage compared with 325 ml (range 250–400 ml) in the control group. These patients could retain the maximum amount of viscous fluid for 5–8 min, whereas all control subjects could do so for more than 15 min. It is concluded that, although gracilis transposition never results in normal continence, acceptable continence may be achieved in selected patients provided careful attention is paid to the technical details of the procedure and provided that systematic postoperative exercises are performed.
Outsourcing governance: states and the politics of a ‘global value chain world’

ABSTRACT Politics, and by extension states, are marginal in debates about the genesis, evolution and functioning of the global value chain (GVC)-based global economy. We contend here that the core complexity of state agency and state power needs to be much more carefully understood in GVC and related debates, as a basis on which the governance of the evolving GVC world can be properly theorised as revolving around the inseparability of economic and political power. We advance a framework for understanding the role of politics and states in the construction and maintenance of a GVC world, using a three-fold typology of facilitative, regulatory and distributive forms of governance, and propose a notion of ‘outsourcing governance’ as an attempt to capture the ways in which states purposefully, through active political agency, have engaged in a process of delegating a variety of governance functions and authority to private actors. Our overarching argument is normative: ‘outsourced governance’ of the form we currently observe is associated with regressive distributional outcomes, and is antithetical to an inclusive and sustainable global economy.
Marketing capability, marketing strategy implementation and performance in small firms

Firm performance depends on many elements. The standard value chain presents value creation flow from inbound goods through operations to outbound goods, with marketing and servicing as final stages, suggesting that marketing capabilities and implementation strategies make significant contributions to firm performance. This study designs and tests a framework to understand relationships among marketing capabilities, marketing strategy, and marketing implementation. Understanding relationships among these variables may help managers to implement a marketing strategy to maximise performance for small firms. This study employs the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theories to examine relationships among marketing capabilities, marketing strategy implementation, and firm performance. A sample of 296 small firms in Kenya was surveyed using self-administered questionnaires. Regression and bootstrap results of the survey support the proposed model. Key results of the study indicate that marketing strategy implementation effectiveness positively moderates the effect of marketing capability on small firm market performance and financial performance.
Social protection in an aspiring ‘developmental state’: The political drivers of community-based health insurance in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has been piloting and scaling up a community-based health insurance scheme for the informal sector since 2011, alongside preparations for the launch of a social health insurance scheme for the formal sector. This paper examines the political drivers of the adoption and implementation of the scheme, based on key informant interviews with key figures involved in its elaboration. The paper argues that efforts to extend access to healthcare are linked to the ruling coalition’s longstanding focus on delivering tangible socioeconomic progress as a means of building its legitimacy and securing political support. Health insurance, meanwhile, has secured elite commitment, primarily due to the ‘ideational fit’ between this policy idea and core paradigmatic ideas underpinning the ruling coalition.
HIV Incidence, Retention, and Changes of High-Risk Behaviors Among Rural Injection Drug Users in Guangxi, China

Abstract Background: A prospective observational study of HIV seroincidence among high-risk injection drug users (IDU) was carried out in Guangxi, China. The primary objectives of this study were (1) to estimate HIV seroincidence, (2) to estimate participant retention rate, and (3) to evaluate changes in drug use and sexual behavior over a one year period. Methods: Five hundred HIV seronegative IDU were enrolled. HIV-1 incidence and retention rates were analyzed as a function of sociodemographic, behavioral, and recruitment variables. Changes in drug use and sexual behavior were analyzed at the baseline, 6-monfh and 12-monfh follow-up visits. Results: At 12 months of follow-up, the HIV-1 incidence rate was 3.1 per 100 person years, [95% CI: (1.6%; 5.2%)] and participant retention rate was 87%. Reported changes in high-risk behaviors over 12-monfhs included significant decreases in the frequency of heroin injection, in direct or indirect sharing of injection equipment, and in the number of sexual partners. Conclusions: HIV incidence is high among IDU in Guangxi, China despite a self-reported decrease in some high risk behaviors over the course of the Study.
The Roles of Interest and Self-Efficacy in the Decision to Pursue Mathematics and Science

Students need both interest and self-efficacy to enter mathematics and science or related fields. Although both constructs are necessary for entering any field, possessing high enough interest and strong enough confidence appears to be particularly critical in the decision to pursue mathematicsand science-related college majors and careers. In this chapter, we report on the mean levels of and the associations between interest and self-efficacy across multiple academic subjects among Korean secondary school students, using two existing data sets. By analyzing gender difference in interest and self-efficacy toward mathematics and science, comparing the strength of the association between interest and self-efficacy in mathematics and science and that in language arts, and estimating the predictive relationship between interest and self-efficacy in mathematics over time, we present evidence that interest and confidence do and should go hand in hand for learning and career decision making in mathematics and science.
Total coronary occlusion of infarct-related arteries in patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary revascularisation.

BACKGROUND The prevalence and impact of total coronary occlusion of an infarct-related artery (IRA) on outcomes in patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) remain unclear. AIM We evaluated the clinical significance of total coronary occlusion in NSTEMI patients. METHODS A total of 2767 patients with NSTEMI enrolled in the Polish Registry of Acute Coronary Syndromes, who underwent percutaneous coronary interventions, were analysed. The patients were divided into two groups according to preprocedural culprit vessel thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flows (TIMI flow 0 - total coronary occlusion [TO]: 728, 26.3% of the patients, and TIMI flow 1-3 - non-total occlusion [non-TO]: 2039, 73.7% of the patients). RESULTS Patients with total occlusion were younger, were more often current smokers, and had lower incidence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus. The left circumflex artery (LCx) was the major IRA in the TO group (48.1%), whereas the left anterior descending artery (LAD) was more commonly the IRA in the non-TO group (38.8%). Multivariate analysis revealed that LCx as the culprit lesion (OR ± 95 CI 1.54 [1.26-1.89], p < 0.0001) was an independent predictor of TIMI flow 0 in IRA. In-hospital and one-month mortality occurred more frequently in the TO group (4.0% vs. 1.7%, p = 0.0005 and 5.5% vs. 3.5%, p = 0.0175, respectively), no differences in the 12-, 24-, or 36-month mortalities were observed between these groups. CONCLUSIONS Only LCx as a culprit lesion was an independent predictor of total occlusion in IRAs. The NSTEMI patients with TO had higher in-hospital and one-month mortalities, but their long-term outcomes were similar to those of non-TO patients.
Effects of transdermal and oral estrogen replacement on lipids and glucose metabolism in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Objective: To compare the effects of oral and transdermal estrogen replacement on lipid and glucose metabolism in postmenopausal women with diabetes mellitus type 2. Design and methods: In an open, randomized, cross-over study, 21 diabetic postmenopausal women were treated with transdermal 17β-estradiol 50 μg or oral conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) 0.625 mg daily, both associated with 300 mg/day of oral micronized progesterone for 12 days monthly during 6 months each. After a 12-h overnight fasting period, blood glucose, insulin, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and lipoprotein profile were evaluated, at baseline and after 6 months of each schedule of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Insulin sensitivity was determined by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA). Results: HRT had no negative influence on glucose metabolism. After 6 months of CEE treatment, there was a significant increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, but also in triglycerides, of 9.0% and 20.7%, respectively (p = 0.04). The levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were unaffected. Transdermal estradiol did not affect the lipid profile. Conclusions: Hormone replacement therapy with either oral or transdermal estrogen plus micronized progesterone has no harmful influence on glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetic postmenopausal women; whether the increase in HDL cholesterol, but also in triglyceride levels, makes oral CEE the better choice remains an open question.
In vitro antibacterial action of Tetraclean, MTAD and five experimental irrigation solutions.

AIM To investigate the antibacterial effect of Tetraclean, MTAD and five experimental irrigants using both direct exposure test with planktonic cultures and mixed-species in vitro biofilm model. METHODOLOGY Tetraclean, MTAD and five experimental solutions that were modifications of existing formulae including MTAD + 0.01% cetrimide (CTR), MTAD + 0.1% CTR, MTAC-1 (Tween 80 replaced by 0.01% CTR in MTAD), MTAC-2 (Tween 80 replaced by 0.1% CTR) and MTAD-D (MTAD without the Tween 80 and no CTR added) were used as disinfectants in the experiments. In the direct exposure test, a suspension of Enterococcus faecalis was mixed with each of the solutions. After 0.5, 1, 3 and 10 min, an inactivator was added and the number of surviving bacteria was calculated. A mixed-species biofilm from subgingival plaque bacteria was grown in brain heart infusion broth in anaerobic conditions on synthetic hydroxyapatite discs. Two-week-old biofilms were exposed to the solutions for 0.5, 1 and 3 min. The samples were observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy after bacterial viability staining. The scans were quantitatively analysed, and the volume of killed cells of all cells was calculated for each medicament. RESULTS Tetraclean and MTAC-2 (0.1% CTR) killed planktonic E. faecalis in <30 s. Complete killing of bacteria required 1 min by MTAC-1, 3 min by MTAD + 0.1% CTR and 10 min by MTAD, MTAD-D and MTAD + 0.01% CTR. In the biofilm test, there were significant differences in microbial killing between the different solutions and times of exposure (P < 0.005). MTAC-2 showed the best performance, killing 71% of the biofilm bacteria in 3 min, followed by MTAC-1 and Tetraclean. MTAD and the three MTAD modifications demonstrated the lowest antibacterial activity. CONCLUSION Tetraclean was more effective than MTAD against E. faecalis in planktonic culture and in mixed-species in vitro biofilm. CTR improved the antimicrobial properties of the solutions, whereas Tween 80 seemed to have a neutral or negative impact on their antimicrobial effectiveness.
Emotional information processing in mood disorders: a review of behavioral and neuroimaging findings

Purpose of review A relatively long history of research has shown that mood disorders are associated with abnormalities in the processing of emotional stimuli. Only the most recent studies, however, have begun to elucidate the specificity and neural basis of these abnormalities. This article reviews and discusses the results of these studies. Recent findings Individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder exhibit an attentional bias toward negative emotional cues (e.g. sad faces), an attentional bias away from positive emotional cues (e.g. happy faces), and an enhanced memory for negative emotional material. Compared with healthy controls, individuals with major depressive disorder show increased neural activity in response to sad faces and diminished neural activity in response to happy faces in emotion-related brain circuits (e.g. amygdala and ventral striatum). Some of these abnormalities in the processing of emotional information persist after symptom remission and they have also been found in healthy individuals who are at heightened risk for the development of mood disorders. Summary The reviewed data show that major depressive disorder involves specific abnormalities in the cognitive and neural processing of emotional information and that these abnormalities may potentially contribute to the vulnerability for negative emotion and onset of depressive episodes.
Dopamine and serotonin release in dorsal striatum and nucleus accumbens is differentially modulated by morphine in DBA/2J and C57BL/6J mice

Numerous studies have demonstrated that genetic factors significantly influence opioid ability to induce behavioral modification in mice. This differential sensitivity has been extensively studied, particularly in the DBA/2J and C57BL/6J strains. In the present study, using the “in vivo” microdialysis technique in these strains, we investigated the effect of morphine administration on the extracellular levels of dopamine (DA), serotonin (5‐HT), and their metabolites in the nucleus accumbens and dorsal striatum—areas thought to be involved in morphine‐induced locomotor hyperactivity. In the nucleus accumbens, morphine (20 mg/kg) significantly increased extracellular levels of DA in both strains. However, in dorsal striatum the morphine‐induced increase of extracellular DA was lower in DBA/2J mice than in C57BL/6J. Moreover, morphine significantly stimulated 5‐HT and 5‐hydroxyindolacetic acid (5‐HIAA) release both in nucleus accumbens and dorsal striatum of C57BL/6J mice, whereas it decreased 5‐HT release without modifying 5‐HIAA levels in DBA/2J mice. These results suggest that the different behavioral and biochemical responses to acute morphine described in these two strains could be mediated by different sensitivity of both the dopaminergic and the serotonergic systems. Synapse 56:29–38, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Synergistic effects of central nervous system‐directed gene therapy and bone marrow transplantation in the murine model of infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis

Infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (INCL) is an inherited childhood neurodegenerative disorder caused by the loss of palmitoyl protein thioesterase‐1 (PPT1) activity. Affected children suffer from blindness, epilepsy, motor dysfunction, cognitive decline, and premature death. The Ppt1−/− mouse shares the histological and clinical features of INCL. Previous single‐therapy approaches using small molecule drugs, gene therapy, or neuronal stem cells resulted in partial histological correction, with minimal improvements in motor function or lifespan. Here, we combined central nervous system (CNS)‐directed adeno‐associated virus (AAV)2/5‐mediated gene therapy with bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in the INCL mouse.
A Structured Exercise Program for Patients with Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Introduction: Exercise improves functional outcome and symptoms for certain cancer populations, but the feasibility, efficacy, and safety of structured exercise in patients with lung cancer is unknown. In this study, we examined the feasibility of a hospital-based exercise program for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Methods: This study included patients with newly diagnosed advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0–1. A physical therapist facilitated twice-weekly sessions of aerobic exercise and weight training over an 8-week period. The primary end point was feasibility of the intervention, defined as adherence to the exercise program. Secondary endpoints included functional capacity, measured by the 6-minute walk test and muscle strength, as well as quality of life, lung cancer symptoms and fatigue, measured by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-lung and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-fatigue scales. Results: Between October 2004 and August 2007, 25 patients enrolled in the study. All participants received anticancer therapy during the study period. Twenty patients (80%) underwent the baseline physical therapy evaluation. Eleven patients (44%) completed all 16 sessions. An additional 6 patients attended at least 6 sessions (range, 6–15), and 2 patients only attended one session. Study completers experienced a significant reduction in lung cancer symptoms and no deterioration in their 6-minute walk test or muscle strength. Conclusions: Although the majority of participants attempted the exercise program, less than half were able to complete the intervention. Those who completed the program experienced an improvement in their lung cancer symptoms. Community-based or briefer exercise interventions may be more feasible in this population.
Governance as Theory, Practice, and Dilemma

The word ‘governance’ is ubiquitous. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund make loans conditional on ‘good governance’. Climate change and avian flu appear as issues of ‘global governance’. The European Union issues a White Paper on ‘Governance’. The US Forest Service calls for ‘collaborative governance’. What accounts for the pervasive use of the term ‘governance’ and to what does it refer? Current scholarship offers a bewildering set of answers. The word ‘governance’ appears in diverse academic disciplines including development studies, economics, geography, international relations, planning, political science, public administration, and sociology. Each discipline sometimes acts as if it owns the word and has no need to engage with the others. Too little attention is given to ways of making sense of the whole literature on governance. At the most general level, governance refers to theories and issues of social coordination and the nature of all patterns of rule. More specifically, governance refers to various new theories and practices of governing and the dilemmas to which they give rise. These new theories, practices, and dilemmas place less emphasis than did their predecessors on hierarchy and the state, and more on markets and networks. The new theories, practices, and dilemmas of governance are combined in concrete activity. The theories inspire people to act in ways that help give rise to new practices and dilemmas. The practices create dilemmas and encourage attempts to comprehend them in theoretical terms. The dilemmas require new theoretical reflection and practical activity if they are to be adequately addressed.