Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sacroiliitis due to Salmonella Typhi: A case report

Context: Pyogenic infections of the sacroiliac joint are observed quite rarely. The most frequent causative microorganisms are Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus species, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa that are commonly found in patients under intravenous medication. In this paper, a rare sacroiliitis case that developed due to Salmonella Typhi is discussed. Case Report: A woman at the age of twenty applied to our clinic with complaints of fever, headache and diarrhea with which she had been suffering for five days. On physical examination, she had a slight fever, with a body temperature of 38.6°C. She was hospitalized, and Salmonella Typhi was isolated from her blood culture. Later on, the patient described pain during left hip movement. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and scintigraphic examinations revealed left sacroiliitis. Conclusion: Although sacroiliitis arising from Salmonella Typhi infection is a rare entity, it should not be ignored in patients who have a clinical history for sacroiliitis.
Yttrium 90-ibritumomab tiuxetan plus rituximab maintenance as initial therapy for patients with high-tumor-burden follicular lymphoma: a Wisconsin Oncology Network study.

INTRODUCTION Yttrium 90-ibritumomab tiuxetan (90Y-IT) radioimmunotherapy has proved to be effective in relapsed follicular lymphoma (FL). We conducted a clinical trial in which 90Y-IT followed by maintenance rituximab (MR) was evaluated as initial therapy for high-tumor-burden FL. METHODS Eligible patients had histologically confirmed FL and met the GELF (Groupe d'Etude des Lymphomes Folliculaires) criteria for high tumor burden. All patients received a single dose of 90Y-IT. Patients with platelet counts of 150,000/mm³ or higher received 0.4 mCi/kg, and patients with platelet counts between 100,000/mm³ and 149,000/mm³ received 0.3 mCi/kg. At 6 months, patients without progressive disease (PD) received rituximab weekly for 4 weeks at a dose of 375 mg/m² (consolidation therapy), followed by MR consisting of the same dose every 3 months for a planned 5 years. RESULTS From January 2005 through November 2007, a total of 16 patients were enrolled. The median age was 52 years (range, 37-75). The major toxicity from 90Y-IT was myelosuppression, with 88% and 31% of the patients experiencing grade 3 and grade 4 hematologic toxicity, respectively. The responses to 90Y-IT induction therapy were as follows: 7 patients with complete response/unconfirmed complete response (CR/Cru), 4 with partial response (PR), 3 with stable disease (SD), and 2 with progressive disease (PD). We identified 6 patients with early PD (range, 4-16 months) and 10 patients with prolonged remission (range, 37-101+ months). Compared with the patients who had prolonged remission, the patients who had early PD tended to have larger baseline nodal masses. The median progression-free survival (PFS) has not been reached after a median follow-up period of 48 months. The 3-year PFS and overall survival (OS) rates were 56% (95% CI, 37%-87%) and 93% (95% CI, 80%-100%), respectively. CONCLUSION The overall response rate (ORR) to 90Y-IT was 69% in patients who had previously untreated, high-tumor-burden FL, which is lower than what is observed with contemporary rituximab/chemotherapy combinations. MR after 90Y-IT did convert all PRs to CRs. Alternative therapies should be considered for patients who have FL with large nodal masses (>9 cm), whereas very durable responses are possible in patients who have intermediate-size masses (>9 cm).
The Impact of Knowledge and Attitudes of Managerial Officers on Solid Waste Management Practices in Sri Lanka

As in many developing countries, solid waste management (SWM) is a key issue in Sri Lanka. And the quantity and the quality of the waste generated are directly influenced by the knowledge, attitudes and practices of people. Poor community participation is one of the main barriers for finding a sustainable solution for the said problem.The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of knowledge and attitudes on waste management practices followed by managerial officers in Sri Lanka which is considered as a significant group of the society because of their education level and direct involvement of decision making at organizational and national level. Population was selected as students who studied Master of Business Administration (MBA) of University of Sri Jayewardenepura students as they are supposed to be future leaders of the country. Hundred students who follow MBA programs were selected as the sample, representing managerial level officers in different sectors. Knowledge and attitudes were considered as independent variable and practices as the dependent variable and they were measured using few dimensions. Primary data was collected through self-administered questionnaire. The version 22.0 SPSS package was used for data analysis. According to the findings, majority of MBA students possessed moderate level of knowledge and more than 75% of respondents had favorable or most favorable attitudes on solid waste related aspects. However, 15.9% of MBA students had negative attitudes on solid waste and especially on value of waste. Regarding their practices, nearly 40% of respondents follow poor waste management practices and it reached more than 55% in waste segregation and recycling behaviors. Knowledge on solid waste didn’t show a significant relationship with their practices. But a weak positive correlation was found between overall attitudes and waste management practices (r = 0.267) and a moderate positive correlation between attitudes on responsibility on public participation and practices (r = 0.539). Therefore, among MBA students, only the attitudes showed a significant positive impact towards SWM practices but not the knowledge. Hence, through building correct attitudes which need to be initiated from ground level can effectively contribute to implement sustainable waste management mechanism as attitudes of these future leaders are influential not in individual level but also in organizational and national level.
Readiness and Acceptance in Using Web-Community for Developing CPD Among Teachers of Remote Areas in Central Kalimantan

The study explores the readiness and acceptance in using the cloud-based community as a platform for continuous professional development (CPD) among teachers of remote areas from thirteen regencies in Central Kalimantan. The survey involves one hundred fifty teachers of English and Social Science who joined the Teachers’ Certification Program 2017, organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia in collaboration with the University of Malang (UM) and the University of Palangka Raya (UPR). This group of teachers respond to the questionnaire consisting ten items as a reflection of the readiness and acceptance in using Web-Community for developing CPD. Descriptive analysis with the percentage was done to reveal the level of readiness and acceptance in using web-community among this group. The results reveal, despite the fact that the low and the lack of internet access in isolated areas is the significant point causes the cloud-based communication runs unwell, however all respondents are receptive towards Webcommunity. In addition, the web applications they use most frequently to communicate for developing CPD are WhatsApp, Facebook, and E-mail. This indicates that the teachers of English and Social Science of remote areas of Central Kalimantan are ready to develop the CPD using the cloudbased communication. Keywords— acceptance and readiness, web-community, teachers of English and Social Science, remote areas
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, MANAGEMENT AND STATISTICS UNIVERSITY OF MILAN – BICOCCA

This paper empirically estimates a micro-founded model which studies the macroeconomic impact of environmental and financial risks on consumption choices in the Mediterranean Region. The analysis is carried out using time series aggregate data for fourteen Mediterranean countries over the period 1965-2008. Our results indicate that both risks and their interaction significantly influence consumption dynamics. Our estimates of the indexes of relative risk aversion and relative prudence, as well as the relative preference for the quality of environment suggest marked cross-country heterogeneity. JEL classification: Q50, D81, E21
Family history, BRCA mutations and breast cancer in Vietnamese women

Ginsburg OM, Dinh NV, To TV, Quang LH, Linh ND, Duong BTH, Royer R, Llacuachaqui M, Tulman A, Vichodez G, Li S, Love RR, Narod SA. Family history, BRCA mutations and breast cancer in Vietnamese women.
The role of farmer organizations and networks in the rice supply chain in Thailand

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of rice supply chain in the context of the role of rice farmer organizations and cooperative networks in Thailand. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were solicited from the cooperatives and members of cooperatives for this study through questionnaire administration. The questionnaire containing a five-point Likert scale was posed to respondents to ascertain their problems before and after joining the network (for cooperative) and after joining the cooperative (for members). This study employed the independent two-sample student t-test (two-tailed) to test for significant difference in the means of scores regarding the problems of cooperatives before and after the cooperative network, and also to test for significant difference in the means of scores of the problems of members of the cooperatives before and after joining the cooperative. Findings The study revealed that key production and marketing problems such as increased transaction costs and market uncertainties confronting the cooperative organizations have been diminished as a result of the networks. Key problems of the members of the cooperatives such as exploitation and opportunistic behavior of traders to whom they sell their products have been reduced as a result of joining the cooperatives. Research limitations/implications This paper is not without caveat. The governance structures in relation to leadership, financial arrangements and bargaining power balance have not been analyzed in this study and these are avenues for further research. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first that examined the combined roles of farmer organizations and cooperative networks in developing the rice supply chain in Thailand.
Parameterization of a Polarimetric Diffuse Scattering Model in Indoor Environments

Diffuse or dense multipath components play an important role in determining the polarization behavior of wireless transmission channels. In this communication, we parametrize a polarimetric diffuse scattering model in two indoor environments. Our method relies on the empirical extraction of dense multipaths by means of a high resolution algorithm and on the investigation of the properties of this diffuse component. The analysis reveals that diffuse scattering significantly depolarizes the impinging wave in indoor scenarios, yielding cross-polar discrimination values close to 0 dB.
Involvement of the cyclic AMP-responsive element binding protein in bovine leukemia virus expression in vivo

The TAR element (Tax-responsive element; also called TxRE) is a major determinant of the regulation of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) expression. In order to gain insight into the mechanisms of viral expression, complexes formed between proteins and the TAR enhancer DNA were analyzed by gel retardation assays. We report here that nuclear lysates from ex vivo-isolated B lymphocytes contain proteins that specifically bind to TAR. An antibody directed toward the cyclic AMP-responsive element binding (CREB) protein supershifted a complex (C1) present only in BLV-infected B lymphocytes. The CREB protein thus appears to be a major transcription factor involved in BLV expression in vivo.
Normotensive incidentally discovered pheochromocytomas display specific biochemical, cellular, and molecular characteristics.

CONTEXT A number of incidentally discovered pheochromocytomas are not associated with hypertension. The characteristics of normotensive incidentally discovered pheochromocytomas (NIPs) are poorly known. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this work was to assess the clinical, hormonal, histological, and molecular features of NIPs. DESIGN This was a retrospective cohort recruited from 2001 to 2011 in 2 tertiary care medical departments. PATIENTS AND METHODS Clinical, biological, and radiological investigations performed in 96 consecutive patients with sporadic unilateral pheochromocytomas were examined; 47 patients had overt pheochromocytomas responsible for hypertension. Among the patients with incidental pheochromocytomas, 28 had hypertension and 21 were normotensive (NIPs). A total of 62 tumors were examined to determine the Pheochromocytoma of the Adrenal Gland Scale Score, and 29 were studied for the expression of 16 genes involved in chromaffin cell function. RESULTS Tumor size and metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy results were similar for hypertensive pheochromocytomas (HPs) and NIPs. Patients with NIPs displayed reduced summed levels of urinary catecholamines and metanephrines and, more specifically, reduced levels of adrenaline and metadrenaline compared with those of patients with HPs (P < .001). Urinary metanephrines had 98% diagnostic sensitivity in patients with HPs and only 75% in patients with NIPs (P < .01). Tumor diameter positively correlated with the total amount of urinary concentrations of metanephrines in patients with HPs (P < .001) but not in patients with NIPs. NIPs displayed global decreased chromaffin gene expression (reaching significance for 5 of them) and 2 corresponding proteins (phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase and secretogranin II) and a significant increase in the cellularity, mitotic activity, and presence of atypical mitosis (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS NIPs differ from pheochromocytomas responsible for hypertension and display features of altered chromaffin differentiation. These tumors may be misdiagnosed with the use of the usual biological diagnostic tools.
Return to Capital and Foreign Direct Investment: A Cross-Country Perspective

Using newly available data, the paper estimates aggregate macroeconomic rates of return (ROR) for 109 countries divided into highly developed (HDC), less developed (LDC), and transition economy (TEC) groups. We then analyze the connection between the ROR and cross-country capital flows as measured by foreign direct investment (FDI). For the period of 1994-2014, we find statistically significant links between all measures of ROR and inflows of FDI associated with the prevalence of “downhill” capital flows across the world. markets along with the opening of post-communist economies may have changed this pattern. Using recently available data, we estimated the macroeconomic capital profitability for 109 developing, developed, and transition economy countries. Our analysis found a positive and statistically significant association between various measures of macroeconomic profitability and FDI. These findings are consistent with the predictions of economic theory. The positive connection between capital flows and ROR during the recent period of globalization possibly indicates the dominance of downhill investment flows as the
Situation Awareness and Situation Assessment: How Are They Related?

reasoning Ability to draw meaning from events and behaviors that appear unrelated to current endeavor Attention Cognizant of the activities in the environment Automaticity Ability to use past knowledge and experience with minimum expenditure of mental energy Dynamics Ability to adjust to new and novel situations Encoding skill Ability to interpret the influence of activities on the outcome —the skill of assigning meaning to events appearing abstract Five-factor model of personality traits Conceptualizes personality in terms of five basic dimensions: • Extraversion • Agreeableness • Conscientiousness • Neuroticism • Openness to experience
MR angiography of spinal vascular malformations.

PURPOSE To determine the potential and limitations of MR angiography in the evaluation of spinal vascular malformations. METHODS Eleven consecutive patients with spinal vascular malformations proved with spinal selective arteriography underwent two-dimensional phase-contrast MR angiography. RESULTS Abnormal vessels within the spinal canal were identified with MR angiography in 10 patients. In 1 patient with a dural arteriovenous fistula no definite vascular abnormality was seen with MR angiography. Correlation of MR angiography with spinal selective arteriography showed that the former allowed identification of the arterial feeder in 3 patients with intramedullary arteriovenous malformations and 2 with perimedullary arteriovenous fistula, whereas the source of intradural draining vein was seen in only 2 of 6 patients with dural arteriovenous fistula. CONCLUSION MR angiography is a promising complementary tool to MR imaging for detection and characterization of spinal vascular malformations.
Microparticles from Patients with the Acute Coronary Syndrome Impair Vasodilatation by Inhibiting the Akt/eNOS-Hsp90 Signaling Pathway

Objectives: Endothelial dysfunction is involved in the development of the acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Plasma microparticles (MPs) from other diseases have been demonstrated to initiate coagulation and endothelial dysfunction. However, whether MPs from ACS patients impair vasodilatation and endothelial function remains unclear. Methods: Patients (n = 62) with ACS and healthy controls (n = 30) were recruited for MP isolation. Rat thoracic aortas were incubated with MPs from ACS patients or healthy controls to determine the effects of MPs on endothelial-dependent vasodilatation, the phosphorylation of Akt and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), the interaction of eNOS with heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), and nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide anion (O2-) production. The origin of MPs was assessed by flow cytometry. Results: MP concentrations were increased in patients with ACS compared with healthy controls. They were positively correlated with the degree of coronary artery stenosis. MPs from ACS patients impair endothelial-dependent vasodilatation, decrease both Akt and eNOS phosphorylation, decrease the interaction between eNOS and Hsp90, and decrease NO production but increase O2- generation in rat thoracic aortas. Endothelial-derived MPs and platelet-derived MPs made up nearly 75% of MPs. Conclusions: Our data indicate that MPs from ACS patients negatively affect endothelial-dependent vasodilatation via Akt/eNOS-Hsp90 pathways.
Genomic aberrations in carcinomas of the uterine corpus

Endometrial carcinoma, the most common invasive neoplasm of the female genital tract, occurs either in a hormone‐related, less virulent form (type I) or in a hormone‐independent, more aggressive form (type II). Another cancer of the uterine corpus is carcinosarcoma, a biphasic or mixed epithelial–mesenchymal tumor, now classified as metaplastic carcinoma. We examined by karyotyping and comparative genomic hybridization a consecutive series of 67 endometrial carcinomas and 15 carcinosarcomas and compared the cytogenetic features of the different carcinoma subtypes. All three subtypes of uterine carcinoma had in common a nonrandom gain of material from 1q and 8q but differed from one another in other respects. Endometrial carcinomas of type I mostly presented gains from chromosome arms 1q and 8q and losses from Xp, 9p, 9q, 17p, 19p, and 19q, whereas endometrial carcinomas of type II showed a more complex imbalance picture, with gains from chromosome arms 1q, 2p, 3q, 5p, 6p, 7p, 8q, 10q, and 20q and losses from Xq, 5q, and 17p. The carcinosarcomas mostly showed gains of or from 1q, 5p, 8q, and 12q but losses from 9q, that is, they were much more similar to endometrial carcinomas in their pattern of acquired genomic changes than to sarcomas of the uterine corpus. It was also possible to identify different copy number changes among the different grades of type I carcinomas, between serous papillary and clear‐cell carcinomas of type II, as well as between homologous and heterologous carcinosarcomas. Specifically, type I adenocarcinomas that were highly differentiated mostly showed gains from 1q and 10p; those that were moderately differentiated showed gains from 1q, 7p, 7q, and 10q as well as losses from Xp, 9p, 9q, 17p, 19p, and 19q; whereas those poorly differentiated showed gains from 1q, 2p, 2q, 3q, 6p, 8q, and 20q but losses from Xp, Xq, 5q, 9p, 9q, 17p, and 17q. The serous papillary carcinomas showed gains from 1q, 2p, 2q, 3q, 5p, 6p, 6q, 7p, 8q, 18q, 20p, and 20q but losses from 17p, whereas the clear‐cell carcinomas showed gains from 3q, 7p, 8q, 10q, 16p, and 20q but losses from 6q. Finally, the homologous carcinosarcomas presented gains from 1p, 1q, 8q, 12q, and 17q as well as losses from 9q and 13q, whereas the heterologous tumors showed gains from 1q, 8p, and 8q. The reproducibility of the observed correlations between karyotypic aberration patterns and histological differentiation was underscored by the fact that those carcinosarcomas whose epithelial component resembled type I endometrial carcinomas also exhibiting a type I aberration profile, whereas carcinosarcomas with a type II carcinoma differentiation had karyotypic abnormalities similar to those of type II endometrial carcinomas. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Acceptability and feasibility of 400 μg buccal misoprostol after 200 mg mifepristone for early medical abortion in Georgia

Abstract Objectives: The aim of the study was to examine the acceptability and feasibility of early medical abortion using 200 mg mifepristone and 400 μg buccal misoprostol in Georgia, outside the capital city of Tbilisi. Methods: A total of 622 women in four regions of western and eastern Georgia who presented for termination of pregnancy at up to 63 d of gestation were enrolled in the study. In the western regions, women took one 200 mg pill of mifepristone in the clinic and were given the option of administering 400 μg misoprostol buccally, either at the clinic or at home, 24–48 h later. In the eastern region, women were given the option to take both drugs at home. Abortion status was determined 2 weeks after mifepristone administration. Results: Ninety-five percent of participants had a successful abortion. Twenty-one percent of women in the eastern region elected to take mifepristone at home; nearly all participants in both regions (98%) chose to take misoprostol at home. Ninety-five percent of women were very satisfied or satisfied with the method, and 95% said they would prefer medical abortion for a future procedure. Conclusions: Medical abortion with mifepristone and 400 μg buccal misoprostol is an acceptable and feasible option for women in Georgia, outside the capital city of Tbilisi.
An efficient genetic screen in mammalian cultured cells

Genetic approaches in mammalian cultured cells had limited success because the isolation of mutants and the identification of the mutated genes were often difficult. In the present report, we describe the establishment of a novel genetic screen in Cos‐7 cells that allows rapid identification of polypeptides whose overexpression inhibits a certain cellular process. We demonstrate that this approach can be used successfully to isolate partial cDNAs whose overexpression specifically interfered with the clathrin‐mediated endocytosis of transferrin.