Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lymphocyte‐Bound Complement Activation Products as Biomarkers for Diagnosis of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is frequently misdiagnosed due to the lack of definitive diagnostic tests. The purpose of this study was to determine specifically whether complement activation products (CAP) are deposited on lymphocytes of SLE patients and whether lymphocyte‐bound CAP (LB‐CAP) may serve as novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of SLE. We conducted a cross‐sectional study of 224 patients with SLE, 179 patients with other diseases, and 114 healthy controls. LB‐CAP on peripheral blood lymphocytes was measured by flow cytometry. Diagnostic utility of LB‐CAP was determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Significantly elevated levels of C4d and C3d were detected specifically on T and B lymphocytes (designated T‐C4d, T‐C3d, B‐C4d, and B‐C3d) of SLE patients. As diagnostic tools, T‐C4d and B‐C4d, respectively, were 56% sensitive/80% specific and 60% sensitive/82% specific in differentiating SLE from other diseases. Moreover, compared with measurement of anti‐dsDNA, serum C3, or serum C4, measurement of T‐C4d/B‐C4d was significantly more sensitive in identifying SLE patients during a single clinic visit. This is the first investigation of lymphocytes bearing complement activation products in human disease. T‐C4d and B‐C4d have high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity for SLE and may have added value to current laboratory tests for SLE diagnosis.
Use of dual-task methodology for skill assessment and development: Examples from rugby league

Abstract We assessed the attentional demands of drawing and passing in rugby league players and investigated the effects of single-task and dual-task training on the acquisition, retention, and transfer of skill in these athletes. In Study 1, high-skilled and lesser-skilled rugby league players performed a standardized 2-on-1 drill under single-task (primary skill in isolation) and dual-task (primary skill while performing a secondary verbal tone recognition task) conditions. No differences were detected in primary task performance between groups, although the performance of the high-skilled players was more resistant to skill decrement under dual-task conditions. In Study 2, high-performance rugby league players were randomly allocated to either a single-task or dual-task training group. Each group underwent 8 weeks of training between the pre- and post-test sessions. While the mean improvement for draw and pass proficiency under dual-task conditions in the dual-task training group was greater than in the single-task training group (10.0% vs. 2.3%), the differences, while providing a moderate effect size (d = 0.57), were not statistically significant. These results suggest that the attentional demands of drawing and passing are reduced in high-skilled rugby league players compared with their lesser-skilled counterparts. In addition, compared with single-task training, dual-task training appears to improve the ability to perform dual-task draw and pass tasks (possibly through an improvement in time-sharing skills). Further studies are required to verify the efficacy of dual-task training as a training stimulus.
The Volatility of Stock Market Prices

If the volatility of stock market prices is to be understood in terms of the efficient markets hypothesis, then there should be evidence that true investment value changes through time sufficiently to justify the price changes. Three indicators of change in true investment value of the aggregate stock market in the United States from 1871 to 1986 are considered: changes in dividends, in real interest rates, and in a direct measure of intertemporal marginal rates of substitution. Although there are some ambiguities in interpreting the evidence, dividend changes appear to contribute very little toward justifying the observed historical volatility of stock prices. The other indicators contribute some, but still most of the volatility of stock market prices appears unexplained.
Endotoxin depresses hepatic cytochrome P450-mediated drug metabolism in women.

AIMS In men, the inflammatory response to intravenous endotoxin depresses apparent oral clearances of antipyrine, hexobarbitone, and theophylline. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there might be gender differences in the regulation of hepatic cytochromes P450. METHODS Experiments were carried out in seven healthy women volunteers (ages 19-51, median 22 years). Each woman received a cocktail of the three drugs on two occasions, once after a saline injection and again after endotoxin. RESULTS Endotoxin injections, but not saline, caused the expected physiologic responses of inflammation including fever and increases in circulating tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, and C-reactive protein. When compared with the saline control studies, endotoxin significantly decreased clearances of all probes: antipyrine, 31% (95%CI 21%-41%); hexobarbitone, 20% (95%CI 10-31%); and theophylline, 20% (95%CI 10%-30%). The decreases were comparable with those found in the men previously studied (35%, 27%, and 22%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS These data show that endotoxin-induced inflammation decreases hepatic cytochrome P450-mediated metabolism of selected probe drugs in women as it does in men.
Very low frequencies of human normal CD34+ haematopoietic progenitor cells express the Wilms' tumour gene WT1 at levels similar to those in leukaemia cells

Summary. The Wilms' tumour gene, WT1, is expressed at high levels in leukaemia cells and plays an important role in leukaemogenesis. WT1 is also expressed in human normal CD34+ bone marrow (BM) cells at about 100 times lower levels than in leukaemia cells. To identify and characterize WT1‐expressing cells in CD34+ BM cells, they were sorted into single cells and analysed for WT1 expression using two kinds of single‐cell reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) methods. Using the semiquantitative single‐cell polyA‐PCR + sequence‐specific (SS)‐PCR method, WT1 expression was detected in four (1·3%) out of 319 CD34+ BM single cells. To confirm the above results, a single‐cell nested sequence‐specific (NSS)‐RT–PCR method that was less quantitative but more sensitive than the polyA‐PCR + SS‐PCR method was also performed, and WT1 expression was detected in 15 (1·1%) out of 1315 CD34+ BM single cells. In total, WT1 expression was found in 19 (1·2%) out of 1634 CD34+ BM single cells. No significant differences in the frequencies of WT1‐expressing cells were found between CD34+CD38– and CD34+CD38+ BM single cells. Furthermore, WT1‐expressing CD34+ BM single cells expressed WT1 at levels similar to those in K562 leukaemia single cells. Analysis of lineage‐specific and cell cycle gene expression in WT1‐expressing CD34+ BM single cells showed that the WT1 gene could be expressed in both uncommitted, dormant CD34+CD38– and lineage‐committed, proliferating CD34+CD38+ BM cells. Our results could indicate that these WT1‐expressing CD34+ BM cells were normal counterparts of leukaemia cells.
Carboxypeptidase A6 gene (CPA6) mutations in a recessive familial form of febrile seizures and temporal lobe epilepsy and in sporadic temporal lobe epilepsy

Febrile seizures (FS) and temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) were found in four of the seven siblings born to healthy Moroccan consanguineous parents. We hypothesized autosomal recessive (AR) inheritance. Combined linkage analysis and autozygosity mapping of a genome‐wide single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping identified a unique identical by descent (IBD) locus of 9.6 Mb on human chromosome 8q12.1‐q13.2. Sequencing of the 38 genes mapped within the linked interval revealed a homozygous missense mutation c.809C>T (p.Ala270Val) in the carboxypeptidase A6 gene (CPA6). Screening all exons of CPA6 in unrelated patients with partial epilepsy (n = 195) and FS (n = 145) revealed a new heterozygous missense mutation c.799G>A (p.Gly267Arg) in three TLE patients. Structural modeling of CPA6 indicated that both mutations are located near the enzyme's active site. In contrast to wild‐type CPA6, which is secreted and binds to the extracellular matrix where it is enzymatically active, Ala270Val CPA6 was secreted at about 40% of the level of the wild‐type CPA6 and was fully active, while Gly267Arg CPA6 was not detected in the medium or extracellular matrix. This study suggests that CPA6 is genetically linked to an AR familial form of FS and TLE, and is associated with sporadic TLE cases. Hum Mutat 33:124–135, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Estimating the Effects of Global Uncertainty in Open Economies

This paper investigates the effects of a global uncertainty shock in open economies and the role of country relative risk exposure in the transmission of the shock. We employ an Interacted VAR model to take the time- varying dimension of country relative risk exposure into account. Evidence of nonlinearities in the real effects of a global uncertainty shock is found. The reduction in real activity is larger when the country is more exposed to aggregate risk. These findings support recent theoretical contributions on the role of risk exposure in the transmission of uncertainty shocks.
Health Plan Performance Measurement: Does it Affect Quality of Care for Medicare Managed Care Enrollees?

Although the objective of provider performance measurement is to improve quality of care, little evidence exists on whether it has this effect. This study examines the implementation of mandatory quality reporting for Medicare managed care (MMC) plans. We compare utilization rates of performance-measured services for Medicare beneficiaries who were and were not enrolled in these plans before and after the program's introduction. We find that the use of measured services increased among both MMC and fee-for-service beneficiaries after the adoption of performance measurement. Our results provide no evidence that performance measurement increased quality of care among MMC enrollees.
Different effects of atrial and C-type natriuretic peptide on the urinary excretion of endothelin-1 in man.

1. Following the observation that brain natriuretic peptide enhances the urinary excretion rate of endothelin-1, the relationship between natriuretic peptides and urinary endothelin-1 was further investigated. Six healthy volunteers received, on three different occasions, increasing doses of atrial or C-type natriuretic peptide (0, 2 and 4 pmol.min-1.kg-1 for 1 h each), or placebo.2. Atrial natriuretic peptide caused significant increases in the urinary excretion of cGMP, sodium and endothelin-1, without affecting plasma endothelin-1, renal plasma flow, glomerular filtration rate and urine flow rate. C-type natriuretic peptide did not modify any of these parameters. During atrial natriuretic peptide infusion, urinary endothelin-1 directly correlated with plasma atrial natriuretic peptide, urinary cGMP and sodium excretion.3. These results indicate that enhancement of the urinary excretion of endothelin-1 by natriuretic peptides is dose-dependent and somewhat related to their ability to bind to natriuretic peptide receptors A, activate guanylate cyclase and induce a natriuretic response.
Effects of Bank Capital on Profitability and Credit Risk: The Case of Vietnam’s CommercialBanks

Article history: Received: Nov. 27, 2015 Received in revised form: Mar. 18, 2016 Accepted: Sep. 23, 2016 This paper seeks to examine the effects of bank capital on profitability and credit risk of 30 Vietnam’s commercial banks from 2007 to 2014. Using the system generalized method of moments (GMM), the paper conducts several tests on the moral hazard and regulatory hypotheses on the relationships among bank capital, profitability, and credit risk. With no regard to other determinants, its results indicate that the effects are evident, i.e. bank risk is found to impact differently on bank returns, and it is also negatively associated with credit risk of commercial banks in Vietnam.
Gender Role Portrayal in Television Advertisement: Evidence from Pakistan

This study aims to observe the gender role portrayal in food and non-food television advertisement in Pakistan, in order to find out gender discrimination (if any) and association of gender with different content variables. Content analysis of selected TV commercials was used to fulfill the purpose of this study. Services of two independent coders (business graduates) were utilized to code content variables for a sample of 103 commercials (54 food and 49 non-food commercials). Based on the extant literature, seven content variables were selected for this study including: main product user, voiceover, primary character, end comment, soundtrack level, activity level and aggression level. The gender role portrayals in both food and non-food commercials have been compared and discussed. There exists gender discrimination in Pakistani television advertisement, where males dominate more. The reason behind this phenomenon is expected to lie in social and cultural values. This male dominance is higher in food advertisement as compared to non-food advertisement. Results also favor the association of male character with the relatively higher activity and aggression levels in television commercials. The findings of this study are supportive for key players in advertising industry like advertisers and advertising agencies, for self-regulation of their advertising campaigns with respect to gender role. However, more important implication for them is to know about the forces of traditional cultural values and preferences of target audience, for effective planning of the commercials and forecasting their impact. Such knowledge can provide them a better base to assess the need for self-regulation of their advertising campaigns, guiding them towards making more successful commercials. This study reflects the true picture of gender discrimination in Pakistani television advertisement. It has been concluded using a well defined methodology, provides original data for Pakistan and can be considered a good reference for further analysis.
The Future of Bronchoscopy in Diagnosing, Staging and Treatment of Lung Cancer

Bronchoscopy is a central technique in diagnosing lung cancer, but also in different therapeutic approaches. A lot of techniques are available. The most common indication for bronchoscopy is for tissue sampling and determining the extent of lung cancer. Established diagnostic techniques are forceps biopsy, aspiration or brush cytology sampling, or needle aspiration. Laser therapy, electrocautery, cryotherapy and stenting are well-described techniques for the palliation of symptoms due to airway involvement in patients with advanced stages. Newer technologies, with an established role in clinical practice, are endobronchial ultrasound, autofluorescence bronchoscopy, and electromagnetic navigation. Other technologies, such as magnification, narrow-band imaging and confocal fluorescence microendoscopy, are in development for the use within the airways.
Hydrogen sulfide activates Ca2+ sparks to induce cerebral arteriole dilatation

• Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a gas produced by endothelial cells, relaxes smooth muscle cells within the vascular wall to increase organ blood flow and lower systemic blood pressure. • Mechanisms by which H2S produces vasodilatation in the cerebral circulation are unclear. • We demonstrate that H2S increases the quantity of calcium ions (Ca2+) contained with the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), the intracellular Ca2+ store, of cerebral arteriole smooth muscle cells. • This elevation in SR Ca2+ stimulates the generation of local intracellular Ca2+ signals called Ca2+ sparks, which in turn activate Ca2+‐sensitive potassium (KCa) channels on the cell membrane, leading to membrane hyperpolarization and vasodilatation. • Elucidating this novel mechanism of H2S‐induced vasodilatation is important to better understand physiological control of blood flow within the brain.
Vancomycin Treatment Failure Associated with Heterogeneous Vancomycin-Intermediate Staphylococcus aureus in a Patient with Endocarditis and in the Rabbit Model of Endocarditis

ABSTRACT Heterogeneous resistance to vancomycin is thought to precede emergence of intermediate susceptibility to vancomycin in Staphylococcus aureus, but the clinical significance of heterogeneous resistance is unknown. Paired S. aureus isolates from a patient with endocarditis who relapsed after vancomycin treatment were tested for heterogeneous resistance to vancomycin. The pretreatment and the relapse clinical isolates (strains SF1 and SF2, respectively) were genotyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Susceptibility to vancomycin was assessed by the broth dilution method, population analysis, and time-kill studies and in the rabbit model of endocarditis. Strains SF1 and SF2 had similar genotypes, and the vancomycin MICs for the strains were ≤2 μg/ml. SF2 exhibited heterogeneous resistance to vancomycin. Vancomycin eradicated SF1 in the rabbit model of endocarditis, while SF2 persisted at pretreatment levels. Vancomycin treatment failure in this patient with endocarditis was attributable to heterogeneous resistance to vancomycin.
Technical Efficiency of Islamic Banks versus Domestic Banks: Evidence from Bangladesh

This paper empirically estimates the technical efficiencies (TE) of Islamic banks compared to conventional banks in deposit mobilizations and loans production for 2010. This analysis uses the stochastic frontier production function. Estimates of the mean TE of Islamic banks and conventional banks for loans are 59.6 percent and 62.8 percent respectively, and for deposits are 0.61 and 0.60 respectively. Parametric tests, test, Satterthwaite-Welch t-test, Anova F-test, and Walch F-test, indicate no statistical evidence of significant differences between the TE of Islamic and conventional banks. The competitive market structure for loans and deposits markets, evidenced by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index of less than 400, provides an explanation for the equality of mean TE between Islamic and conventional banks.
Analyses of prognostic factors in a retrospective review of 92 children with ependymoma: Italian Pediatric Neuro-oncology Group.

The principal aim of this report is to present the results of multivariate analyses conducted to identify clinical prognostic factors in 92 children aged < 16 years with ependymoma (EPD) retrospectively collected in seven Italian centres. They were treated over a 16-year period (1977-1993). Treatment modalities varied. Surgery and radiotherapy (RT) was the "gold standard" management method for the majority of these children. Only in the late 1980s did some of them receive chemotherapy (CT), mainly with vincristine, lomustine (CCNU) and prednisone. The median follow-up of the entire study population is 36 months (average 43 months; range 12 to 214 months). The 10-year overall (OS) and the progression-free survival (PFS) of the study population were 55.5% (CI 41.4-69.4%) and 34.7% (CI 21.4-47.8%), respectively. Age (< 5 years; > 5 years), sex, site (infratentorial vs. supratentorial), histology (anaplastic/malignant vs. non-anaplastic/non-malignant), type of resection (complete vs. incomplete); use and fields of RT, and of CT employed were entered in a multivariate regression model to test their impact on OS and PFS. On univariate analysis, radical surgery, the use of RT and age more than 5 years at the time of diagnosis achieved statistically significant values for predicting long-term OS and PFS. Histology reached marginal statistical significance but only for PFS. When those variables were entered in a multivariate analysis only radical resection (P = 0.00142 and 0.0001) resulted a significant factor for predicting long-term OS and PFS, while the use of RT reached a marginal statistical significance, but only for PFS (P = 0.05). Children who had the tumour completely resected did significantly better than all the others who had less than a complete resection, with a 10-year OS and PFS for the two groups of patients of 69.8% (CI 53-86.5%) and 57.2% (CI 40.3-75%) and of 32.5% (CI 8.5-57.6%) and 11.1% (0-24.4%), respectively. These findings suggest that, for childhood EPD, radical resection should be pursued as much as reasonably possible. Thus, it seems justified proposing for future trials, patient stratification by entity of surgical resection.
Blood Pressure and Mortality in Hemodialysis Patients: A Systematic Review of an Ongoing Debate

Hypertension is prevalent in 75–80% of hemodialysis patients and remains the most controversial prognostic marker in end stage kidney disease patients. In contrast to the general population where systolic blood pressure of ≤120 mm Hg is considered normal, a debate remains regarding the ideal target blood pressure in hemodialysis patients. Using the PUBMED and EMBASE databases, the research studies that evaluated the relationship between blood pressure measurements and mortality in hemodialysis patients were searched. Thirteen studies were identified from different regions of the world. Five studies reported low predialysis systolic blood pressure as a prognostic marker of mortality. Other studies showed varying results and reported postdialysis systolic blood pressure as well as ambulatory blood pressure as better predictors of mortality and emphasized their optimized control. One study in this review concluded that there is no direct relationship between mortality and blood pressure if the patients are on anti‐hypertensive medications. The observed all‐cause mortality varied from 12% to 36%, whereas the cardiovascular mortality varied from 16% to 60%. On the basis of studies included in the current review, a low predialysis systolic blood pressure (<120 mm Hg) is shown to be a widely accepted prognostic marker of mortality while ambulatory blood pressure best predicts CV mortality. Therefore, we recommend that apart from routine BP (pre, post and intradialysis) monitoring in centers, assessment of ambulatory BP must be mandatory for all patients to reduce CV mortality in hemodialysis patients.
Are Spousal Labor Supplies Substitutes? Evidence from the Workweek Reduction Policy in China

Abstract We estimate the effects of spousal labor supply on individuals’ labor supply by using the implementation of China’s 1994–1995 workweek reduction policy as a natural experiment. We find that a decrease in the labor supply of wives significantly increased that of husbands, but a decrease in the labor supply of husbands had an insignificantly negative effect on that of their wives. Furthermore, a decrease in the labor supply of one spouse reduced the amount of time spent on housework by the other one. Our findings on the negative relationship between spousal labor supplies differ from those derived from data from developed countries. We find evidence that different income levels may be the underlying reason.
Prospective study of the diagnostic evaluation of faecal incontinence and leakage in male patients

Objective Male faecal incontinence (FI) has received little attention. No consistent pathophysiological abnormality has been identified in those studies that have specifically assessed male patients with FI or faecal leakage (FL). This study was designed to re‐examine the different theories relating to the pathophysiology of male incontinence and to assess if manometric and ultrasound assessment yields clinically relevant information that directs patient care.