Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antibodies Against Hepatitis C Virus–Like Particles and Viral Clearance in Acute and Chronic Hepatitis C

We recently described the efficient assembly of hepatitis C virus (HCV) structural proteins into HCV‐like particles (HCV‐LPs) in insect cells. These noninfectious HCV‐LPs have similar morphologic and biophysical properties as putative virions isolated from HCV‐infected humans and can induce a broadly directed immune response in animal models. The HCV envelope proteins of HCV‐LPs are presumably presented in a native, virion‐like conformation and may therefore interact with antienvelope antibodies directed against conformational epitopes. In this study, HCV‐LPs were used as capture antigens in an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect and quantify antibodies against HCV structural proteins in patients with acute and chronic hepatitis C. High titers of anti–HCV‐LP antibodies were detected in patients chronically infected with HCV genotypes 1 to 6. In contrast to individuals with chronic hepatitis C, patients with acute self‐limited hepatitis C displayed only a transient and weak seroreactivity against HCV‐LPs. Patients with chronic HCV infection successfully treated with interferon demonstrated a gradual decline of anti–HCV‐LP titers during or subsequent to viral clearance. Sustained interferon responders were characterized by significantly higher pretreatment levels of anti–HCV‐LP antibodies as compared with nonresponders (P = .0001). In conclusion, HCV infection is associated with limited humoral immunity against the envelope proteins present on the HCV‐LPs. An HCV‐LP–based ELISA may be a useful diagnostic tool to distinguish acute hepatitis C from chronic HCV infection with exacerbation, and to predict viral clearance in response to interferon.
Correlation between insight and internalized stigma in patients with schizophrenia

Background The relationship between insight and internalized stigma in patients with schizophrenia is important both for theoretical and practical reasons because of its close association with patients' willingness to seek (or accept) care for their mental illness. Objective To investigate the relationship between insight and internalized stigma in patients with schizophrenia in mainland China. Methods 65 inpatients and 27 outpatients with schizophrenia who had a median duration of four years of illness completed Chinese versions of two self-report questionnaires—the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale and the Modified Consumer Experiences of Stigma Questionnaire (MCESQ). The patients were also assessed by senior psychiatrists using the Scale for Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) and the Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS). Patients were divided into those with and without insight into their illness based on the score of the insight item on the Chinese version of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Results 49 patients were classified as having insight and 43 classified as lacking insight. Compared to patients with insight, those without insight had a significantly shorter duration of illness, were more likely to be inpatients, and (at trend level only) had more prominent positive and negative symptoms. The ‘alienation’ subscale score of the ISMI was significantly higher in patients with insight but none of the remaining six subscales in the two instruments were different between the two groups and only 4 of the 48 separate items in the two scales were significantly different between the groups. Logistic regression analysis found no relationship between lack of insight and the scores of the two self-completion stigma scales or the scores of the two clinician-administered symptom scales. Conclusion This study among inpatients and outpatients with schizophrenia in China does not support findings of previous studies that report increased experience of stigma among patients who have better insight. The measures of stigma used in the study need further revision and validation for use in China and studies with a wider spectrum of patients that make more detailed assessments of insight and that follow fluctuations in insight and experiences of stigma over time are needed to clarify the complex relationship between these two phenomena in patients with schizophrenia.
Physical Activity Promotion in Business and Industry: Evidence, Context, and Recommendations for a National Plan.

BACKGROUND The contemporary workplace setting is in need of interventions that effectively promote higher levels of occupational and habitual physical activity. It is the purpose of this paper to outline an evidence-based approach to promote physical activity in the business and industry sector in support of a National Physical Activity Plan. METHODS Comprehensive literature searches identified systematic reviews, comprehensive reviews, and consensus documents on the impact of physical activity interventions in the business and industry sector. A framework for action and priority recommendations for practice and research were generated. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS Comprehensive, multicomponent worksite programs that include physical activity components generate significant improvements in health, reduce absenteeism and sick leave, and can generate a positive financial return. Specific evidence-based physical activity interventions are presented. Recommendations for practice include implementing comprehensive, multicomponent programs that make physical activity interventions possible, simple, rewarding and relevant in the context of a social-ecological model. The business and industry sector has significant opportunities to improve physical activity among employees, their dependents, and the community at-large and to reap important benefits related to worker health and business performance.
Pharmacotherapy for pain: efficacy and safety issues examined by subgroup analyses

Abstract Responses to pharmacotherapy for acute and chronic pain are highly variable, and efficacy is often compromised by some form of toxicity. To increase our understanding of complexities of pharmacotherapy, the authors discuss an approach to identify analgesic responder subgroups and predictors of response. Additionally, analgesic efficacy and toxicity were combined in a single risk-benefit index (utility function) to quantify the probability of side effects in high- vs low-analgesic responders. The subgroup analysis consists of a mathematical description or time series analysis, mixture analysis, and covariate analysis. Applied to ketamine treatment of chronic pain in complex regional pain syndrome and capsaicin 8% patch treatment in post-herpetic neuralgia patients, the analyses yielded homogenous subgroups that differed in distribution frequency between treatments. For capsaicine, a high variability in pretreatment pain reporting was associated with a high probability of falling into a full analgesic subgroup, irrespective of treatment. The utility function was applied to opioid-induced analgesia and respiratory depression. An important observation was that, irrespective of dose, low-analgesic responders to fentanyl had a greater probability of respiratory depression than analgesia while the reverse was true for high-analgesic responders. These data show dissociation between 2 &mgr;-opioid end-points and explain the danger of treating poor analgesic responders with increasingly higher opioid doses. Apart from being valuable in drug development programs, the outlined approach can be used to determine the choice of drug and dose in the treatment of pain in patients with potent and toxic analgesics.
Effects of n-3 fatty acids on depressive symptoms and dispositional optimism after myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND In patients who have experienced a myocardial infarction (MI), n-3 (omega-3) PUFA status is low, whereas the risk of depression is increased. OBJECTIVE The objective was to assess whether the plant-derived α-linolenic acid (ALA) and the fish fatty acids EPA and DHA would improve affective states. DESIGN In a secondary analysis of the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Alpha Omega Trial, 4116 of 4837 (85.1%) patients (aged 60-80 y; 79.2% men) who had experienced an MI were included. Margarine spreads were used to deliver 400 mg EPA-DHA/d, 2 g ALA/d, both EPA-DHA and ALA, or a placebo for 40 mo. At 40 mo, the endpoints of depressive symptoms (15-item Geriatric Depression Scale) and dispositional optimism (a 4-item questionnaire and the Life Orientation Test-Revised) were analyzed by using a posttest-only design. RESULTS The 4 randomly assigned groups did not differ in baseline characteristics. ALA supplementation significantly increased plasma cholesteryl ester concentrations of ALA by 69%, and EPA-DHA supplementation increased plasma cholesteryl ester concentrations of EPA and DHA by 61% and 30%, respectively. Depressive symptoms or dispositional optimism did not differ between groups with the use of n-3 fatty acids compared with placebo at the 40-mo follow-up. The standardized mean (±SE) differences in depressive symptoms were as follows: for EPA-DHA plus ALA (n = 1009) compared with placebo (n = 1030), -0.025 ± 0.044 (P = 0.57); for EPA-DHA (n = 1007) compared with placebo, -0.048 ± 0.044 (P = 0.28); and for ALA (n = 1022) compared with placebo, -0.047 ± 0.044 (P = 0.29). CONCLUSIONS In patients who had experienced an MI, low-dose EPA-DHA supplementation, ALA supplementation, or a combination of both did not affect depressive symptoms and dispositional optimism. These findings are in accord with those from previous trials in individuals without psychopathology or without severe depressive symptoms. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00127452.
Fast Uplink Grant for Machine Type Communications: Challenges and Opportunities

The notion of a fast uplink grant is emerging as a promising solution for enabling massive machine type communication (MTC) in the Internet of Things over cellular networks. By using the fast uplink grant, machine type devices (MTDs) will no longer require RA channels to send scheduling requests. Instead, uplink resources can be actively allocated to MTDs by a base station. In this article, the challenges and opportunities for adopting the fast uplink grant to support MTCs are investigated. First, the fundamentals of fast uplink grant and its advantages over conventional scheduled and uncoordinated access schemes are presented. Then, the key challenges that include the prediction of the set of MTDs with data to transmit, as well as the optimal scheduling of MTDs, are exposed. To overcome these challenges, a two-stage approach that includes traffic prediction and optimized scheduling is proposed. In particular, various solutions for source traffic prediction for periodic MTC traffic are reviewed and novel methods for event-driven traffic prediction are proposed. For optimal allocation of uplink grants, advanced machine learning techniques are presented. By using the proposed solutions, the fast uplink grant has the potential to enable cellular networks to support massive MTCs and effectively reduce the signaling overhead and overcome the delay and congestion challenges of conventional RA schemes.
International renal‐cell‐cancer study. VI. The role of medical and family history

A number of medical conditions have been linked with renal‐cell cancer, although the evidence is not consistent in every case. In a large international case‐control study of renal‐cell cancer, we examined, among other hypotheses, associations with a personal history of certain medical conditions and a family history of cancer of the kidney or thyroid. Relative risks (RR), adjusted for the effects of age, gender, body‐mass index, tobacco smoking and study centre, were significantly increased by a history of kidney stones or thyroid or kidney disease. The RR were not altered by additional adjustment for hypertension, or when diagnoses were restricted to those made at least 5 or 10 years before 1987 (the usual “cut‐off” date). The link with kidney injury is particularly likely to be affected by recall bias. Increased RR of borderline significance were found for kidney infection (RR, 1.2) and diabetes (RR, 1.4). Having one first‐degree relative with kidney cancer was associated with a significantly increased risk of renal‐cell cancer (RR, 1.6; 95% Cl, 1.1–2.4). Seven cases reported 2 first‐degree relatives with kidney cancer. No controls had first‐degree relatives with kidney cancer. None of our participants reported having von Hippel‐Lindau disease. The data suggests that a few conditions of the kidney are strongly associated with renal‐cell cancer and that heredity plays a role in a small proportion of cases. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mathematics Anxiety and Statistics Anxiety. Shared but Also Unshared Components and Antagonistic Contributions to Performance in Statistics

In many social science majors, e.g., psychology, students report high levels of statistics anxiety. However, these majors are often chosen by students who are less prone to mathematics and who might have experienced difficulties and unpleasant feelings in their mathematics courses at school. The present study investigates whether statistics anxiety is a genuine form of anxiety that impairs students' achievements or whether learners mainly transfer previous experiences in mathematics and their anxiety in mathematics to statistics. The relationship between mathematics anxiety and statistics anxiety, their relationship to learning behaviors and to performance in a statistics examination were investigated in a sample of 225 undergraduate psychology students (164 women, 61 men). Data were recorded at three points in time: At the beginning of term students' mathematics anxiety, general proneness to anxiety, school grades, and demographic data were assessed; 2 weeks before the end of term, they completed questionnaires on statistics anxiety and their learning behaviors. At the end of term, examination scores were recorded. Mathematics anxiety and statistics anxiety correlated highly but the comparison of different structural equation models showed that they had genuine and even antagonistic contributions to learning behaviors and performance in the examination. Surprisingly, mathematics anxiety was positively related to performance. It might be that students realized over the course of their first term that knowledge and skills in higher secondary education mathematics are not sufficient to be successful in statistics. Part of mathematics anxiety may then have strengthened positive extrinsic effort motivation by the intention to avoid failure and may have led to higher effort for the exam preparation. However, via statistics anxiety mathematics anxiety also had a negative contribution to performance. Statistics anxiety led to higher procrastination in the structural equation model and, therefore, contributed indirectly and negatively to performance. Furthermore, it had a direct negative impact on performance (probably via increased tension and worry in the exam). The results of the study speak for shared but also unique components of statistics anxiety and mathematics anxiety. They are also important for instruction and give recommendations to learners as well as to instructors.
Characterization and DNA sequence of the mobilization region of pLV22a from Bacteroides fragilis

A 4.2-kb plasmid (pLV22a) native to Bacteroides fragilis LV22 became fused to a transfer-deficient Bacteroides spp. -Escherichia coli shuttle vector by an inverse transposition event, resulting in a transferrable phenotype. The transfer phenotype was attributable to pLV22a, which was also capable of mobilization within E. coli when coresident with the IncP beta R751 plasmid. Transposon mutagenesis with Tn1000 localized the mobilization region to a 1.5-kb DNA segment in pLV22a. The mobilization region has been sequenced, and five open reading frames have been identified. Mutants carrying disruptions in any of the three genes designated mbpA, mbpB, and mbpC and coding for deduced products of 11.3, 30.4, and 17.1 kDa, respectively, cannot be mobilized when coresident with R751. Mutations in all three genes can be complemented in the presence of the respective wild-type genes, indicating that the products of mbpA, mbpB, and mbpC have roles in the mobilization process and function in trans. The deduced 30.4-kDa MbpB protein contains a 14-amino-acid conserved motif that is also found in the DNA relaxases of a variety of conjugal and mobilizable plasmids and the conjugative transposon Tn4399. Deletion analysis and complementation experiments have localized a cis-acting region of pLV22a within mbpA.
Attitudes Toward Internal and Foreign Migration: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in China

We explore attitudes toward internal and foreign migration in China using an original survey experiment. If labor market competition drives attitudes, then residents will be opposed to migrants with comparable skill levels, regardless of migrant origin. If residents fear a dilution of their national identity, then they will be more opposed to foreign migration than internal migration. We test these arguments by randomly assigning respondents to answer questions about migrants with different skills levels and from either foreign countries or other provinces in China. We find that attitudes cleave universally over skill level, but the foreign-internal dimension is, on its own, not a salient cleavage in preferences. However, when considering high-skilled migrants, respondents are more supportive of foreign than internal migration; when considering low-skilled migrants, they are more opposed to foreign than internal migration. The results cast further doubt on material explanations for attitudes toward migration and suggest a reevaluation of cultural threat arguments that privilege nationality and national borders.
Causes of chromate dermatitis in Poland
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A series of 250 consecutive patients with dermatitis and positive patch tests to chromate was divided into three groups: nonoccupational dermatitis (94), occupational dermatitis caused by chromate (132) and occupational dermatitis caused by allergens other than chromate (24). Only 17.2 % of patients did not report harmful effects from chromium‐tanned leather. Shoes were most often not tolerated. The role of matches in the development of chromate dermatitis is discussed. Observations on ash, household detergents, textiles, wood, tattooing, cement, galvanizing solutions, printer's ink, welding fumes, corrosion inhibitors and oils are described as causes of chromate dermatitis in Poland, as well as the localization of dermatitis and relevance of patch lest reactions.
The Cost of Asthma Treatment in Phramongkutlao Hospital: Population-Based Study in Adults.

BACKGROUND Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that affects patients' quality of life and work performance. The cost of asthma treatment is a global economic burden. The costs include the direct medical costs and the indirect costs, such as the loss of productivity, which is difficult to quantify. OBJECTIVE Analyze the cost of asthma treatment in Thailand. MATERIAL AND METHOD Seventy-four asthmatic patients who had exacerbation were enrolled in the present study. Self-answer questionnaires were completed by the subjects including characteristics, socioeconomic factors, and level of asthma control by asthma control test (ACT) score. We evaluated the cost of asthma treatment calculated from direct medical, direct non-medical, and indirect medical costs. RESULTS The average total cost per month was 2,752 Thai baht (US$ 86). The direct medical, direct non-medical, and indirect medical costs were 52.39%, 20.73%, and 26.88%, respectively. The direct medical costs accounted for quick-relief medications 11.91% and control medications 36.85% of the total medical cost. Loss of productivity, loss of work caused by asthma exacerbation, was the majority cost of non-medical costs. The average cost of treatment in uncontrolled was higher than partly controlled asthmatic patients but without significant difference. Healthcare payment system and age range affected the total costs of asthma treatment. CONCLUSION The direct non-medical costs and indirect medical costs tend to play an important role of asthma treatment. The data suggested that cost savings could be achieved by improving asthma control.
Media Coverage and the Cross‐Section of Stock Returns: The Chinese Evidence

Using hand‐collected news headlines for a large sample of listed firms in China over a period of 2000–2015, we investigate the cross‐sectional relation between media coverage and stock returns. Our results document that no‐media coverage stocks earn 55 basis points a month higher than stocks that are featured in the media. This result is robust after controlling for common risk factors and is not driven by short‐run return reversals. Further analysis provides evidence to support the investor recognition hypothesis, suggesting that mass media may play an incremental role in providing a supplement to traditional channels of information dissemination. Therefore, results in this paper are of interests to both investors and regulators on drivers of stock returns.
Assessment of left ventricular function by different speckle-tracking software.

AIMS Two-dimensional (2D) speckle echocardiography enables objective assessment of left ventricular function through the analysis of myocardial strain, which can be measured by different speckle-tracking software. The aim of this study was to compare two different commercially available cardiac ultrasound systems and their manufacturer-specific speckle-tacking software for the quantification of global myocardial strain in a healthy population. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty-eight healthy subjects (age: 38 +/- 12, 64% males) underwent two 2D echocardiograms within the same day using different cardiac ultrasound systems: Vivid 7 (GE Ultrasound, Horten, Norway) and Artida 4D (Toshiba Medical Systems). Standard apical and short-axis views of the left ventricle were obtained in each subject with a frame-rate range of 60 +/- 20 frames/s. Global longitudinal, radial, and circumferential strain values were analysed using their respective speckle-tracking software for Vivid (2D-strain EchoPac PC v.7.0.1, GE Healthcare, Horten, Norway) and Toshiba systems (2D Wall Motion Tracking, Toshiba Medical Systems). Global strain values were estimated from the average of regional left ventricular strain values. Agreement between the two systems and software was assessed by Bland-Altman method. Mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 59 +/- 7%. Global longitudinal, radial, and circumferential strain values were, respectively, -21.95 +/- 1.8, 46.97 +/- 5.5, and -23.18 +/- 3.3% when using 2D-strain EchoPac and -22.28 +/- 2.1, 40.74 +/- 4.3, and -27.17 +/- 4.7% when 2D Wall Motion Tracking was used (P = NS). Limits of agreement between both speckle-tracking software were narrower for global longitudinal strain (-2.25 to 3.65) than for radial and circumferential strain (-2.23 to 12.44 and -1.36 to 10.54, respectively). CONCLUSION Two commercially available speckle-tracking software appear to be comparable when quantifying left ventricular function in a healthy population. Global longitudinal strain is a more robust parameter than radial and circumferential strain for the assessment of myocardial function when different cardiac ultrasound systems are used for analysis.