Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parenteral nutrition-associated hyperglycemia in noncritically ill inpatients is associated with higher mortality.

BACKGROUND Hyperglycemia is a marker of poor clinical outcomes in studies evaluating hospitalized critically ill patients. OBJECTIVES To identify whether glycemic control is associated with health outcomes including acute coronary events, renal failure, infection, hospital length of stay, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, sepsis and mortality in noncritically ill patients administered parenteral nutrition (PN), and to compare the current standard of care for glucose monitoring at the Foothills Medical Centre (Calgary, Alberta) with the 2009 American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition guidelines. METHODS A retrospective chart review of 100 adult (18 years of age or older) non-ICU inpatients who received PN for seven days or longer at the Foothills Medical Centre was conducted. RESULTS Seventeen patients (17%) had a mean blood glucose level of 10.0 mmol/L or greater. PN patients with a mean blood glucose level of 10 mmol/L or greater had a higher rate of mortality than patients with a mean blood glucose level of less than 10 mmol/L (OR 7.22; 95% CI 1.08 to 48.29; P=0.042). Hyperglycemia was independently and significantly associated with mortality when adjusted for age and sex. Acute coronary events, renal failure, infection, hospital length of stay, ventilator use and ICU admissions were not associated with hyperglycemia. Only one-half of those with hyperglycemia, and none of the patients in the euglycemic group, received adequate glucose monitoring during the first two days of PN. CONCLUSION Hyperglycemia in noncritically ill inpatients receiving PN was found to be a risk factor for increased mortality.
The Impact of High School Financial Education on Financial Knowledge and Choices: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Spain

We conducted a randomized controlled trial where 3,000 9th grade students coming from 78 high schools received a financial education course at different points of the year. Right after the treatment, test performance increased by 16% of one standard deviation, treated youths were more likely to become involved in financial matters at home and showed more patience in hypothetical saving choices. In an incentivized saving task conducted three months after, treated students made more patient choices than a control group of 10th graders. Within randomization strata, the main impacts are also statistically significant in public schools, which over-represent disadvantaged students.
Nonhuman primates: a critical role in current disease research.

This review article emphasizes the critical role of nonhuman primates (NHPs) in biomedical research. It focuses on the most recent contributions that NHPs have made to the understanding, treatment, and prevention of important infectious diseases (e.g., acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, hepatitis, malaria) and chronic degenerative disorders of the central nervous system (e.g., Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases). The close phylogenetic relation of NHPs to humans not only opens avenues for testing the safety and efficacy of new drugs and vaccines but also offers promise for evaluating the potential of new gene-based treatments for human infectious and genetic diseases.
A comparison of self-reported utilization of ophthalmic care for diabetes in managed care versus fee-for-service.

PURPOSE To assess the association between structural factors in the health care delivery system and self-reported utilization of ophthalmic services by patients with diabetes in the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS). METHODS Self-reported utilization of ophthalmic services within the 6 months preceding enrollment into the MOS among 522 of 567 individuals with diabetes in the MOS longitudinal panel was measured. Use of eye care services was regressed (logistic model) on patient demographics, geographic location, physician specialty, type of practice, and finance plan (prepaid or fee-for-service). RESULTS None of the variables was significantly associated with a higher or lower likelihood of having used ophthalmic services in the preceding 6 months. Thus, no difference between prepaid or fee-for-service plans or among solo practice, large multispecialty groups, or HMOs were identified. Having seen an internist, family practitioner, or diabetes specialist for diabetes care was not related to use of ophthalmic services. CONCLUSIONS Despite a presumed greater interest in preventive health, prepaid health plans were no more or less likely than the fee-for-service sector to have patients with diabetes reporting an eye examination within the prior 6 months. Thus, steps to improve the rate of eye examinations of diabetics may need to focus beyond the structural elements of the health care delivery system.
Pigs are the most important animal reservoir for Tunga penetrans (jigger flea) in rural Nigeria

We examined the domestic animals and rodents in a community in rural Nigeria. Of the 133 animals examined, 29 (21.8%) were infested, the highest prevalence of infestation and highest parasite load was found in the pigs (prevalence 54.8%, median = nine embedded parasites), followed by dogs (45.5%; median = 4), Rattus rattus (29.4%; median = 2) and Mus minutoides (15.4%; median = 1.5). Of all the tungiasis lesions identified 83% were found in pigs. Our data confirm that tungiasis is a zoonotic disease, and that pigs are its most important animal reservoir in this endemic community.
Le rôle de l'apprentissage de la lecture dans le développement de la mémoire de travail

Cette etude predictive vise a explorer le developpement de la Memoire de Travail ainsi que le role joue par l’identification des mots ecrits dans ce developpement. La population concernee par ce travail est composee de deux groupes : un groupe d’enfants tout-venant de GSM, de CP et de CE1 qui ont participe a l’etude longitudinale et un groupe de sujets presentant des troubles de la lecture de CE1 qui ont ete evalue une seule fois. Les resultats concernant les donnees des sujets tout-venant revelent une amelioration progressive des performances aux epreuves evaluant les differents composants de la MT (modele de MT de Baddeley & Hitch, 1974) entre la GSM et le CE1 ainsi qu’une differentiation progressive de la MT pendant cette periode du developpement. De plus, les resultats montrent que l’entree dans l’ecrit est impliquee dans le developpement et la differentiation de la MT et que les liens entre la lecture et la MT ne sont pas dus exclusivement a l’implication de facteurs linguistiques, phonologiques ou metaphonologiques generaux dans les tâches mesurant ces deux habiletes. Enfin, les resultats provenant de l’analyse des donnees des sujets dyslexiques soutiennent l’hypothese selon laquelle la lecture jouerait un role primordial dans le developpement de la MT en montrant que ces sujets presentent une organisation structurale de la MT differente de celle des sujets tout-venant du meme niveau scolaire.
International New Venture Performance: Role of International Entrepreneurial Culture, Marketing and Positional Advantage

Over the past two decades, the growth of international new ventures (INVs) has stimulated a great deal of interest among international entrepreneurship (IE) scholars to understand how these entrepreneurial start-ups internationalize given their resource deficiencies. However, the literature exhibits considerable gaps related to how INVs, can overcome their asset-constrained positions to enhance performance. Employing the concept of international entrepreneurship culture (IEC), which provides a holistic operationalization of IE, this dissertation develops and tests a conceptual framework to better understand how INV’s entrepreneurial culture and entrepreneurial marketing actions of opportunity-based discovery and –exploitation impact their performance in global markets. The methodology and tests incorporated into this research provide a foundation upon which to better understand international entrepreneurial culture and entrepreneurial marketing as key inputs for positioning and performance of INVs. Additionally, this dissertation focuses on INVs from emerging markets, specifically India, where the emphasis on understanding the mechanisms that have driven more than a quarter of the world’s firms to go international early in their existence. Therefore, this study contributes to the calls for more early internationalization research from emerging market firms.
"BRCAness" syndrome in ovarian cancer: a case-control study describing the clinical features and outcome of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.

PURPOSE We evaluated the clinical impact of germ-line BRCA1/2 mutations in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) on responses to first and subsequent lines of chemotherapy, treatment-free interval (TFI) between each line of therapy, and overall survival (OS). PATIENTS AND METHODS Twenty-two EOC patients with germ-line BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations (BRCA-positive) were selected from our database and matched (1:2) with 44 nonhereditary EOC controls (defined by no associated personal history of breast cancer and no family history of breast and ovarian cancer or an uninformative BRCA mutation test) for stage, histologic subtype, age, and year of diagnosis. All patients received primary platinum-based chemotherapy. Statistical comparisons included responses after first-, second-, and third-line treatment (chi(2)/Fisher's exact test) and median OS (Kaplan-Meier method/log-rank test). RESULTS Compared with controls, BRCA-positive patients had higher overall (95.5% v 59.1%; P = .002) and complete response rates (81.8% v 43.2%; P = .004) to first line treatment, higher responses to second and third line platinum-based chemotherapy (second line, 91.7% v 40.9% [P = .004]; third line, 100% v 14.3% [P = .005]) and longer TFIs. A significant improvement in median OS in BRCA-positive patients compared with controls was observed from both time of diagnosis (8.4 v 2.9 years; P < .002) and time of first relapse (5 v 1.6 years; P < .001). BRCA status, stage, and length of first response were independent prognostic factors from time of first relapse. CONCLUSION BRCA-positive EOC patients have better outcomes than nonhereditary EOC patients. There exists a clinical syndrome of BRCAness that includes serous histology, high response rates to first and subsequent lines of platinum-based treatment, longer TFIs between relapses, and improved OS.
Aristotle and Aristotelianism in medieval Muslim, Jewish, and Christian philosophy

Aristotle and Aristotelianism in Medieval Muslim, Jewish, and Christian Philosophy attempts, through its interpretation of Aristotle by Muslim as well as Jewish and Christian thinkers, to explain the reasons for the revival of Aristotelian thought in the West. Kassim discusses Aristotle's main philosophical concepts and analyzes these concepts by gradually exploring Aristotelian thought in its interactions with the Medieval Muslim, Jewish, and Christian speculative systems of thought. He shows from the writings of individual thinkers in these three different traditions how, and in what form, the continuity of Aristotelian thought is sustained in medieval philosophy. Among the scholars that Kassim studies in this work are such great thinkers as Avicenna, Plotinus, Proclus, Maimonides, and Thomas Aquinas. This book will be of great interest to classical, metaphysical and epistemological philosophers, as well as religious scholars.
Of Governance and Revenue: Participatory Institutions and Tax Compliance in Brazil

Traditionally, governments seek to mobilize tax revenues by expanding their enforcement of existing tax regimes and facilitating tax payments. However, enforcement and facilitation can be costly and produce diminishing marginal returns if citizens are unwilling to pay their taxes. This paper addresses gaps in knowledge about tax compliance, by asking a basic question: what explains why citizens and businesses comply with tax rules? To answer this question, the paper shows how the voluntary adoption of two different types of participatory governance institutions influences municipal tax collection in Brazil. Municipalities that voluntarily adopt participatory institutions collect significantly higher levels of taxes than similar municipalities without these institutions. The paper provides evidence that moves scholarship on tax compliance beyond enforcement and facilitation paradigms, while offering a better assessment of the role of local democratic institutions for government performance and tax compliance.
Transmitter leakage from motor nerve endings

When endplates of anti-esterase treated frog muscle are subjected to a massive ionophoretic dose of curare, a small local hyperpolarization is recorded in many fibres, amounting on the average to about 40 μV. The origin of this effect may be attributed to leakage of cytoplasmic acetylcholine (ACh) from nerve terminals, building up an ACh concentration of the order of 10-8 M in the synaptic cleft and causing a minute steady depolarization of the endplate. It is calculated that such a steady leakage of ACh, although producing a barely detectable electrical effect, could exceed the efflux due to spontaneous quantal discharges by two orders of magnitude, and account for the assayed amounts of ACh release from resting muscle.
Analysis of Book-Tax Difference’s Effect on Audit Fees: Corporate Governance as a Moderating Variable

This study aims to examine the association between book-tax differences and audit fees in Indonesia. This study also examines the effect of corporate governance as a variable to moderate the association. The sample used is companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2012 until 2016, which consist of 309 observations. The results indicate that book-tax differences have no significant effect on audit fees. Corporate governance is also not proven to weaken the association. Interpretation of the results might imply that book-tax differences have not been seen by auditors as a risk factor in determining the audit fees, probably due to the low potential of earnings management from such differences.
Maternal serum soluble adhesion molecule levels at 11+0–13+6 weeks and subsequent development of pre-eclampsia

Objectives. We sought to examine whether the maternal serum concentration of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (sVCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM-1) at 11+0–13+6 weeks of gestation could improve the prediction for subsequent development of pre-eclampsia. Methods. A nested case–control prospective study of pregnancies having uterine artery Doppler routinely at 11+0–13+6 weeks of gestation was conducted to determine the maternal serum concentration of sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in peripheral blood samples obtained from 18 women who later developed pre-eclampsia and 60 unaffected women. Results. The mean uterine artery pulsatility index was higher (2.2 ± 0.6 vs. 1.8 ± 0.5, p < 0.05) in the pre-eclampsia compared with the unaffected pregnancies. There were no significant differences between the groups in the mean serum concentration of either adhesion molecule. Conclusions. These results suggest that there is no endothelial activation before the appearance of clinical signs of pre-eclampsia. Therefore, these biochemical markers are unlikely to become early predictors of this condition.
Company Profits in Italy

We provide insights into the macro and microeconomic underpinnings of company profitability developments in Italy. We show that the average ROA (returns on assets) of Italian companies declined slightly between 1993 and 2005 and then contracted sharply during the economic crisis before starting a slow recovery in 2013. While the pattern in Italy before 2009 was very similar to the pattern in Germany; during the crisis it became more similar to the pattern in Spain, with both countries performing relatively worse than Germany and France. This decline appears to be attributable to a fall in productivity, rather than a rise in labour costs. Indeed, notwithstanding the substantial deterioration that began in 2000, unit labour costs (labour costs over value added) in Italy are still lower than in Germany, France and Spain. Within Italy, we document large cross-sectional differences. Micro firms and firms located in the South are tend to exhibit the lowest ROA, while the ROA of firms from the North-West dropped dramatically between the mid-1990s and 2010. Interestingly, firms with the highest innovation intensity (measured by intangibles over total assets) tend not to have the highest ROA, particularly if they are small and operating in low-tech and/or low competition sectors. We interpret our results in terms of ‘active’ (based on innovation and higher expenditure on intermediate goods and labour) and ‘passive’ (based on cost control) business models, with the latter exemplified by domestic and usually small-sized and family-owned firms. From this perspective, subsidising innovation could treat the symptom rather than the disease. Instead, medium-tolong term policies should focus on increasing the share of firms with ‘active’ business models. Our econometric analysis suggests possible instruments: increasing the efficiency of the market for corporate control; reducing the government ownership of firms; increasing the degree of competition in sectors where barriers are still present; and improving the effectiveness of the education system to raise the human capital endowment available to businesses.
UC Berkeley Earlier Faculty Research Title Prices , capacities and service quality in a congestible Bertrand

We study the duopolistic interaction between congestible facilities that supply perfect substitutes. Firms are assumed to make sequential decisions on capacities and prices. Since the outcomes directly affect consumers’ time cost of accessing or using a facility, the capacity sharing rule is endogenous. We study this two-stage game for different firm objectives and compare the duopoly outcomes with those under monopoly and at the social optimum. Our findings include the following. First, for profit maximizing firms both capacity provision and service quality, defined as the inverse of time costs of using the facility, are distorted under duopoly: they are below the socially optimal levels. This contrasts with the monopoly outcome, where pricing and capacity provision are such that the monopolist does provide the socially optimal level of service quality. Second, duopoly prices are lower than monopoly prices, but higher than in the social optimum. Hence, while price competition between duopolists yields benefits for consumer, capacity competition is harmful. Third, price-capacity competition implies that higher capacity costs may lead to higher profits for both facilities. Finally, if firms also care about output, this mainly affects pricing behavior; strategic interaction in capacities are much less affected. If duopolists attach a higher weight to output and a correspondingly lower weight to profits, this leads to a deterioration of the quality of service.
Inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 production in infected peripheral blood mononuclear cells by human leukocyte antigen class I-specific antibodies: evidence for a novel antiviral mechanism

A well-characterized mechanism by which anti-HLA class I monoclonal antibodies (MAb) inhibit human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) propagation in in vitro cell cultures is the neutralization of the virus through interactions with HLA molecules associated with the virion envelope. Yet, the possibility that another mechanism of inhibition might affect a postbinding stage of the virus life cycle has been strongly suggested by our previous investigations. To demonstrate that the interaction of MAb B1-1G6 with the light chain of cell surface-expressed HLA class I molecules inhibits a postbinding step of the HIV-1 life cycle, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were exposed to viruses grown in HLA class I-negative, CD4-positive cells (these viruses, which did not carry HLA class I molecules, cannot be neutralized by anti-HLA MAb during the first round of infection), and PCR was used at various times postexposure to search for the different forms of HIV-1 DNA and RNA in virus-exposed PBMCs cultured in either the presence or [correction of] absence of MAb B1-1G6. Although viral DNA was found in MAb B1-1G6-treated cells, spliced HIV-1 mRNA could not be detected in those cells. In contrast, HIV-1 gene expression was found in HIV-1-infected PBMCs treated with B9-12-1, another HLA class I-specific MAb which prevents infection of cells by cell-free viruses but which fails to inhibit cell-to-cell transmission of HIV-1. These results highlight a second antiviral mechanism by which anti-HLA MAb inhibit in vitro HIV-1 propagation.
Students’ Motivation to Participate via Mobile Technology in the Classroom: A Uses and Gratifications Approach

E-learning applications have been rapidly adopted by instructors inside and outside of the classroom. As a result, some researchers have started to assess their usefulness applying uses and gratifications (U&G) theory. This study expands the existing research trend exploring students’ motivation to use a mobile polling application in the classroom. Qualitative data were collected in a marketing research course, and U&G-based categories and themes were identified. An inductive analysis rendered five main motivational categories: (a) knowledge acquisition and learning; (b) expression of self and others; (c) interaction, engagement, and enjoyment; (d) convenience; and (e) annoyance. Five motivational themes emerged for knowledge acquisition and learning category, whereas for expression of self and others, four themes were identified. The other three categories, interaction, engagement, and enjoyment; convenience; and annoyance resulted in three motivational themes per category. A discussion on how the study findings compare to previous student response systems and e-learning research as well as a presentation of testable propositions conclude this article.