Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of Smokeless Tobacco in Medical Students and Hypertension

Tobacco is being used in various forms including cigarette, shisha, cigar and bidi smoking and smokeless tobacco. Smokeless tobacco constitutes various forms of tobacco i-e paan/ betel quid, tobacco with lime, naswar, gutka, qiwam, tobacco tooth powder, minpuri, areca nut (supari) [1,2]. Qiwam consists of thick paste of boiled tobacco mixed with powdered spices such as saffron, cardamom, aniseed and aroma, while paan/ betel quid is a mixture of the leaf of the Piper betle vine, aqueous calcium hydroxide paste [slaked lime] [1,2]. Smokeless tobacco is commonly used in South Asia, where it has become part of South Asian culture. Furthermore, South Asia is a major producer and exporter of tobacco and over one-third of tobacco consumed in South Asia is smokeless [2]. Traditional forms like, tobacco with lime; betel quid and tobacco tooth powder are commonly used among South Asian population [2]. With the passage of time, tobacco usage is increasing not only among men but also among women of reproductive age, children, teenagers, medical and dental students [2].
Does Trafic Management Matter? Evaluating Congestion Effect of Odd-Even Policy in Jakarta

Travel demand restriction is getting popular to disentangle trafic jams in heavily congested urban areas. The policy is easy to implement while reduction in congestion level is perceived to be substantial. We test this hypothesis by evaluating the impact of odd-even policy on congestion level in Jakarta, one of most severe congested cities in the world. Using hourly travel time data at road segment level drawn from GoogleMaps, the odd-even policy reduces the travel time by 3% on average after a month of its implementation. The effect is higher during weekend and at afternoon peak-hour window. Yet, the effect vanishes after the third week of policy introduction. Our result then sheds an indication of ineffective transport demand restriction in Jakarta.
The influence of physical activity on information: processing in consumer decision making

When people engage in physical activity they often report that it alters the way they think and feel. These lay beliefs are generally supported by research on the cognitive benefits of physical activity. But despite the evidence on benefits of physical activity for cognition, little research has investigated whether physical activity has any effect on judgment and decision making, particularly in unrelated domains such as consumer decision making. This thesis presents seven empirical studies which demonstrate that both regular and single bouts of physical activity influence consumers’ product judgments and decision making. Specifically, the key results indicate that physical activity leads decision makers to weigh different product information more appropriately. The results were robust to the inclusion of various control variables. In the first part of this thesis, five studies investigate the effect of physical activity on decision makers’ ability to rely on relevant versus irrelevant information. Past research has shown that when faced with irrelevant product information, consumers often find it difficult to ignore the irrelevant information, and typically dilute their judgments (i.e. their judgments are less extreme). In contrast, the results of this research show that regular physical activity aids people’s ability to focus on relevant information and ignore irrelevant information in product judgments. In the second part of this thesis, three further studies indicate that physical activity influences attribute weighting in consumer decisions that require trade-offs between desirability and feasibility attributes. Decision makers tend to place a lot of emphasis on the desirability attributes, often at the expense of feasibility attributes. The findings of this research indicate that physical activity leads consumers to not overly focus on desirability, and consider feasibility attributes more in choices that require trade-offs between them. The findings have important implications for marketing and public policy since they extend the benefits of physical activity to a novel domain – information processing in consumer decision making.
The association between comprehension of spoken sentences and early reading ability: the role of phonetic representation

ABSTRACT When repeating spoken sentences, children who are good readers tend to be more accurate than poor readers because they are able to make more effective use of phonetic representation in the service of working memory (Mann, Liberman & Shankweiler 1980). This study of good and poor readers in the third grade has assessed both the repetition and comprehension of relative-clause sentences to explore more fully the association between early reading ability, spoken sentence processing and use of phonetic representation. It was found that the poor readers did less well than the good readers on sentence comprehension as well as on sentence repetition, and that their comprehension errors reflected a greater reliance on two sentence-processing strategies favoured by young children: the minimum-distance principle and conjoined-clause analysis. In general, the pattern of results is consonant with a view that difficulties with phonetic representation could underlie the inferior sentence comprehension of poor beginning readers. The finding that these children place greater reliance on immature processing strategies raises the further possibility that the tempo of their syntactic development may be slower than that of good readers.
High-Performance Undoped-Body 8-nm-Thin SOI Field-Effect Transistors

We have fabricated undoped-body short-channel extremely thin silicon-on-insulator (ETSOI) field-effect transistors (FETs) with 8-nm SOI thickness that exhibit the expected short-channel benefit compared with doped partially depleted SOI (PDSOI) FETs. Using a source/drain extension (SDE) last process with the SDE implants activated with diffusionless laser anneal, we demonstrate that the series resistance penalty can be minimized, which leads to ETSOI FET drive currents that are comparable to those of conventional thick-body PDSOI FETs.
Preliminary Application of the Theory of Electroacupuncture Along the Meridian to the Treatment of Cerebral Hemorrhage Hemiparalysis

Hemiparalysis is a common symptom of cerebral hemorrhage. Chinese traditional acupuncture and electroacupuncture are two major treatments for the disease. However, they often fail to achieve satisfactory outcome. It reports here successful treatment of three patients with hemiparalysis using electroacupuncture along the meridian therapy along with prescription medicines to restore the muscle strength. The three patients had a history of hemiparalysis and were diagnosed hemiparalysis due to cerebral hemorrhage based on CT or MRI examinations. Acupuncture was applied to restore the muscle strength with routine treatment and prescription medicines. The patients were treated 20 times with electroacupuncture along the meridian. After 1 months of the treatment, case 1 and case 2 regained the muscle strength, and case 3 was remarkably recovered. It is likely that combining Chinese tradition acupuncture with electroacupuncture is more effective to treat hemiparalysis, although more studies are needed to validate the approach.
Altered Interaction Between PSD‐95 and the NMDA Receptor Following Transient Global Ischemia

Abstract: The postsynaptic density (PSD) is a cytoskeletal specialization involved in the anchoring of neurotransmitter receptors and in regulating the response of postsynaptic neurons to synaptic stimulation. The postsynaptic protein PSD‐95 binds to NMDA receptor subunits NR2A and NR2B and to signaling molecules such as neuronal nitric oxide synthase and p135synGAP. We investigated the effects of transient cerebral ischemia on protein interactions involving PSD‐95 and the NMDA receptor in the rat hippocampus. Ischemia followed by reperfusion resulted in a decrease in the solubility of the NMDA receptor and PSD‐95 in 1% sodium deoxycholate, the decrease being greater in the vulnerable CA1 hippocampal subfield than in the less sensitive CA3/dentate gyrus regions. Solubilization of the kainic acid receptor GluR6/7 and the PSD‐95 binding proteins, neuronal nitric oxide synthase and p135synGAP, also decreased following ischemia. The association between PSD‐95 and NR2A and NR2B, as indicated by coimmunoprecipitation, was less in postischemic samples than in sham‐operated controls. Ischemia also resulted in a decrease in the size of protein complexes containing PSD‐95, but had only a small effect on the size distribution of complexes containing the NMDA receptor. The results indicate that molecular interactions involving PSD‐95 and the NMDA receptor are modified by an ischemic challenge.
Are all customer empowerment strategies equally beneficial? The role of brand familiarity and type of empowerment strategies

Managerial practices of consumer empowerment are increasingly used by companies from consumer goods sector. Two types of strategies have been distinguished empowerment-to-create which enable customers to submit ideas for new products and empowerment-to-select which rely on consumers votes to choose products that will ultimately be marketed. Although academics addressed strong results about conditions of consumer empowerment strategies effectiveness, market research has yet to fully assess relative effectiveness of empowerment strategies on brand variables (word of mouth, brand attitude etc.). As previous works on empowerment strategies have been based on fictional brands, empirical testing remains necessary to understand empowerment initiatives’ impact for real brands. Relying on an experimental design, we show that empowerment practices are more beneficial for low familiarity brands than for highly familiar ones. Secondly, we show that empowerment to create provides higher word of mouth and engagement intentions than empowerment to select.
The expression of the embryonic gene Cripto‐1 is regulated by OCT4 in human embryonal carcinoma NCCIT cells

Cripto‐1 and OCT4, expressed in stem cells and cancers, play important roles in tumorigenesis. Here, we demonstrate that Cripto‐1 expression is regulated by OCT4 in human embryonic carcinoma NCCIT cells. The endogenous expression of Cripto‐1 and OCT4 is significantly reduced during differentiation. Cripto‐1 expression is increased by OCT4 overexpression, but decreased by shRNA‐mediated OCT4 knockdown. OCT4 overexpression significantly activates Cripto‐1 transcriptional activity. A 5′‐upstream minimal promoter sequence in the gene‐encoding Cripto‐1 is significantly activated by OCT4 overexpression. Mutation of the putative OCT4‐binding site abolishes OCT4‐mediated activation of the Cripto‐1 promoter. The OCT4 transactivation domains mediate transcriptional activity of the Cripto‐1 minimal promoter through direct interaction. Taken together, OCT4 plays an important role as a transcriptional activator of Cripto‐1 expression in NCCIT cells.
The structural alignment between two proteins: Is there a unique answer?

Structurally similar but sequentially unrelated proteins have been discovered and rediscovered by many researchers, using a variety of structure comparison tools. For several pairs of such proteins, existing structural alignments obtained from the literature, as well as alignments prepared using several different similarity criteria, are compared with each other. It is shown that, in general, they differ from each other, with differences increasing with diminishing sequence similarity. Differences are particularly strong between alignments optimizing global similarity measures, such as RMS deviation between Cα atoms, and alignments focusing on more local features, such as packing or interaction pattern similarity. Simply speaking, by putting emphasis on different aspects of structure, different structural alignments show the unquestionable similarity in a different way. With differences between various alignments extending to a point where they can differ at all positions, analysis of structural similarities leads to contradictory results reported by groups using different alignment techniques.
Physiological adaptations to reproduction. I. Experimentally increasing litter size enhances aspects of antioxidant defence but does not cause oxidative damage in mice

SUMMARY Life history theory suggests that investment in reproduction can trade off against growth, longevity and both reproduction and performance later in life. One possible reason for this trade-off is that reproduction directly causes somatic damage. Oxidative stress, an overproduction of reactive oxygen species in relation to cellular defences, can correlate with reproductive investment and has been implicated as a pathway leading to senescence. This has led to the suggestion that this aspect of physiology could be an important mechanism underlying the trade-off between reproduction and lifespan. We manipulated female reproductive investment to test whether oxidative stress increases with reproduction in mice. Each female's pups were cross-fostered to produce litters of either two or eight, representing low and high levels of reproductive investment for wild mice. No differences were observed between reproductive groups at peak lactation for several markers of oxidative stress in the heart and gastrocnemius muscle. Surprisingly, oxidative damage to proteins was lower in the livers of females with a litter size of eight than in females with two pups or non-reproductive control females. While protein oxidation decreased, activity levels of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase increased in the liver, suggesting this may be one pathway used to protect against oxidative stress. Our results highlight the need for caution when interpreting correlative relationships and suggest that oxidative stress does not increase with enhanced reproductive effort during lactation.
Effect of doses on the bioavailability of phenytoin from a prompt-release and an extended-release preparation: single dose study.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of doses on the bioavailability of a prompt-release and an extended-release phenytoin capsule after given as single doses. MATERIAL AND METHOD Eight healthy male volunteers were given single oral doses of 100, 200, and 300 mg of a prompt-release preparation (Ditoin) and an extended-release phenytoin (Dilantin Kapseals) preparation in a crossover design with a two weeks washout period after an overnight fast. Serial blood samples were collected over 72 h post-dose. Plasma phenytoin concentrations were determined by HPLC and pharmacokinetic parameters were analyzed by non-compartmental model. RESULTS Rate of phenytoin absorption from the prompt-release preparation was more prolonged after the 300mg dose (T(max) 4.5 h) than those of the 100- and 200-mg doses (T(max) 3.5 and 3 h, respectively). Similarly, the T(max) of the 200- and the 300-mg extended-release preparation (5.5 and 4 h) were more prolonged than the 100-mg dose (3 h). Bioequivalence analysis showed that the C(max) of all doses of the prompt-release preparation were higher than those values of the extended-release preparation with the mean C(max) ratio (90% CI) of 1.32 (1.24-1.40), 1.26 (1.14-1.40), and 1.29 (1.10-1.51) for the 100-, 200- and 300-mg doses, respectively. The extent of absorption (AUC(0-infinity)) of 100-mg phenytoin was bioequivalent between the two preparations [mean AUC ratio (90% CI) of 1.15 (1.11-1.18)], however, for higher doses, the prompt-release products produced higher bioavailability than the extended-release products [mean AUC ratio (90% CI) of 1.19 (1.07-1.33) and 1.17 (0.98-1.38), respectively for the 200- and 300-mg doses]. The difference in the bioavailability did not affect the elimination of phenytoin and their half-lives were comparable (11-13 h). CONCLUSION The bioavailability of phenytoin from both preparations increased proportionally over the dose range of 100-300-mg, however, the bioavailability of the prompt-release preparation was higher than the corresponding doses of the extended-release product.
FDA’s expedited approval programs: evidentiary standards, regulatory trade-offs, and potential improvements

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has several regulatory programs and pathways to expedite the development and approval of therapeutic agents aimed at treating serious or life-debilitating conditions. A common feature of these programs is the regulatory flexibility, which allows for a customized approval approach that enables market authorization on the basis of less rigorous evidence, in exchange for requiring postmarket evidence generation. An increasing share of drugs approved by the FDA in recent years are associated with expedited programs. In this paper, we provide an overview of the evidentiary standards required by FDA’s expedited development and approval programs, summarize the findings of the recent academic literature demonstrating some of the limitations of these programs, and outline potential opportunities to address these limitations. Recent evidence suggests that therapeutic agents in the FDA’s expedited programs are approved on the basis of fewer and smaller studies that may lack comparator groups and random allocation, and rather than focusing on clinical outcomes for study endpoints, rely instead on surrogate markers of disease. Once on the market, agents receiving expedited approvals are often quickly incorporated into clinical practice and evidence generated in the postmarketing period may not necessarily address the evidentiary limitations at the time of market entry. Furthermore, not all pathways require additional postmarketing studies. Evidence suggests that drugs in expedited approval programs are associated with a greater likelihood that FDA will take a safety action following market entry. There are several opportunities to improve the timeliness, information value, and validity of the pre-and postapproval studies of drugs receiving expedited approvals. When use of nonrandomized and uncontrolled studies cannot be avoided prior to market entry, randomized trials should be mandatory in the postapproval period, unless there are strong justifications for not carrying out such studies. In the premarket period, validity of the surrogate markers can be improved by more rigorously evaluating their correlation with patient-relevant clinical outcomes. Opportunities to reduce the duration, complexity, and cost of postmarketing randomized trials should not compromise their validity and instead incorporate pragmatic ‘real-world’ design elements. Despite recent enthusiasm for widely using real world evidence, adaptive designs, and pragmatic trials in the regulatory setting, caution is warranted until large scale empirical evaluations demonstrate their validity compared to more traditional trial designs
The Eye-Size Illusion: Psychophysical Characteristics, Generality, and Relation to Holistic Face Processing

Rakover [(2011). In Y. H. Zhang (Ed.), Advances in face image analysis: Techniques and technologies (pp. 316–333). Hershey, PA: IGI Global] observed a novel eye-size illusion: When increasing the size of a face but keeping the size of its eyes unchanged, the eyes are perceived to be smaller than in the original face. Here, we systematically manipulated the face size and found that the magnitude of this illusion linearly changed as a function of the face frame size (experiment 1). Additionally, the same magnitude of an illusion was observed for the perception of the size of the mouth when we changed the face frame but kept the mouth size constant (experiment 2). Further, when the faces and eyes were presented upside down, the magnitude of the illusion was significantly reduced in both Chinese participants (experiment 3) and Caucasian participants (experiment 4). The results suggest that the perception of eye or mouth size occurs in the relational context of the whole face; and when the face is inverted, thereby disrupting holistic processing, the magnitude of the illusion is reduced. We therefore suggest that holistic processing is involved in producing the illusion.
Efficacy and safety of sublingual fentanyl orally disintegrating tablet at doses determined from oral morphine rescue doses in the treatment of breakthrough cancer pain.

OBJECTIVE A randomized, crossover, double-blinded placebo-controlled and non-blinded active drug-controlled, comparative clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of sublingual fentanyl tablet. METHODS Subjects were patients treated with strong opioids at fixed intervals for chronic cancer pain and with oral morphine as rescue medication for breakthrough pain. Sublingual fentanyl was administered at doses that were 1/25th (high dose) and 1/50th (low dose) of the dose of rescue morphine and was compared with placebo and oral morphine. The primary endpoint was pain intensity difference at 30 min after administration. (Clinical Trials Government; NCT00684632). RESULTS Fifty-one patients were enrolled in the investigation. Their mean pain intensity in visual analog scale before rescue medication prior to the investigation was 60.96 (16.44, standard deviation) mm. Compared with placebo, the low and high doses of sublingual fentanyl showed significant analgesic effects (least squares mean difference, 4.54 and 8.49 mm; P = 0.014, P < 0.001, respectively). Adverse reactions were observed in 17.6%, the most common being constipation, nausea and somnolence. The incidence of adverse reactions during the high-dose administration period was higher than that during the low-dose and active control drug administration periods. CONCLUSIONS Patients treated with strong opioid analgesics at fixed intervals for chronic cancer pain and with oral morphine at doses up to 20 mg as rescue medication were investigated. The doses of sublingual fentanyl to treat breakthrough pain were determined from rescue morphine doses by use of conversion ratios. In these patients, administration of sublingual fentanyl at doses determined by a conversion ratio of 1/50 was effective and safe. Further studies are needed to validate the use of this conversion method.
Factors affecting employee-based brand equity: Evidence from China

Employee-based brand equity (EBBE) has been receiving increasing attention in recent years. However, most studies focus on the construct definition and scale development, as well as the effects that EBBE may have on corporate performance.Few studies try to identify the source of EBBE, or in other words, the antecedents of EBBE. The major study of the antecedents of EBBE is King and Grace’s model (2010), which is restricted to the service industry.As this research is cultural context-dependent, it is necessary to test the framework of King and Grace’s model (2010) in other regions or industries. Replication studies are important for the generalizability of strategic management theories as reputed journals such as the Academy of Management Journal (AMJ) and the Strategic Management Journal (SMJ) have proposed.Therefore, this study was designed to test King and Grace’s model (2010) in an eastern cultural context (China) and covers several non-service sector industries.The results confirmed King and Grace’s model to a high extent, which has significant implications for firms in developing countries.