Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Age-related decreases in the prevalence of myopia: longitudinal change or cohort effect?

PURPOSE The prevalence of myopia shows a decline with age in cross-sectional studies. This pattern may represent an increase in the prevalence of myopia in younger generations, possibly through increased exposure to near work, or an intrinsic age-related decline in myopia prevalence. Data were analyzed from published studies to determine which of these two alternatives better explains the data: a cohort effect of changing prevalence by decade or a longitudinal effect of changing prevalence as a function of age. METHODS Prevalence data were taken from three studies conducted in the late 1980s and compared with those obtained indirectly from a national survey conducted in the early 1970s. The prevalence of myopia was then plotted as a function of age and year of birth. RESULTS The pattern of change in the prevalence of myopia as a function of age was consistent across all studies when data were scaled relative to the prevalence of myopia at age-range midpoints from 44.5 to 49.5 years. The pattern of change was not consistent as a function of year of birth. When the data were scaled relative to the prevalence of myopia among those with years of birth from 1940 to 1942 and plotted by year of birth, results from the early 1970s were offset from those of later studies by approximately 18 years. CONCLUSIONS The decline in the prevalence of myopia in older adults between the early 1970s and the late 1980s can be better explained by age than by year of birth. The prevalence of myopia appears to decrease because of an intrinsic age-related decrease in the amount of an individual's myopia rather than because of a cohort effect of increasing prevalence over time. The hypothesis that increasing environmental exposures to near work in recent decades have changed the prevalence of myopia is not supported by this analysis.
Digging Deeper Down into the Empirical Generalization of Brand Recall

ABSTRACT ZenithOptimedia's Touchpoints ROI Tracker research, based on interviews with over 700,000 consumers in 47 countries, shows that across paid, owned, and earned consumer contact points, users of brands have a higher propensity to recall the brands that they use than non-users buying in the same category. On average, brand recall amongst users is 1.7 times greater (the user multiplier) than amongst non-users. There is significant variation in the user multiplier by product category, brand size, market maturity, and touchpoint type. Marketers of brands with higher user multipliers, particularly those marketing smaller brands, have a harder job to reach non-buyers than those with low multipliers.
Evaluation of Temperature Monitoring System of Cold Chain at all Urban Health Centres (UHCs) of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) area.

Abstract:Introduction :Objectives :Method :Results & Discussion :Conclusion :Keywords: Temperature monitoring system is an important element of cold chain.1) To evaluate the temperature monitoring system of cold chain at UHC level.2) To takenecessary corrective measures whenever required and give relevant advices to handlers for improving thesystem. A cross sectional study was conducted at all the 56 UHCs of AMC area during May 2012 toJanuary 2013. Pretested check list was used having details of various cold chain elements.Significant difference was found regarding the placement of alcohol & dialthermometer in ILR & DF respectively (P: 0.028). Documentation of temperature in temperature logbooktwice daily on regular basis was satisfactory. Poor documentation was noted for power failure (12.5%) andfordefrostingstatus(41%)inrecordbook.ILR(IceLinedRefrigerator)breakdownwasnotedsignificantlyintemperature logbook (P: 0.004). Temperature logbook was regularly updated still there wasscopeforimprovementregardingdocumentationofpowerfailureanddefrostingstatus.Temperaturerecord,coldchain,UHC
Hdm2- and proteasome-dependent turnover limits p21 accumulation during S phase

Double-strand DNA breaks detected in different phases of the cell cycle induce molecularly distinct checkpoints downstream of the ATM kinase. p53 is known to induce arrest of cells in G1 and occasionally G2 phase but not S phase following ionizing radiation, a time at which the MRN complex and cdc25-dependent mechanisms induce arrest. Our understanding of how cell cycle phase modulates pathway choice and the reasons certain pathways might be favored at different times is limited. In this report, we examined how cell cycle phase affects the activation of the p53 checkpoint and its ability to induce accumulation of the cdk2 inhibitor p21. Using flow cytometric tools and centrifugal elutriation, we found that the p53 response to ionizing radiation is largely intact in all phases of the cell cycle; however, the accumulation of p21 protein is limited to the G1 and G2 phase of the cell cycle because of the activity of a proteasome-dependent p21 turnover pathway in S-phase cells. We found that the turnover of p21 was independent of the SCFskp2 E3 ligase but could be inhibited, at least in part, by reducing hdm2, although this depended on the cell type studied. Our results suggest that there are several redundant pathways active in S-phase cells that can prevent the accumulation of p21.
A Study on the Relationship between Financial Distress and Collateralized Shares

Financial distress causes the investors and business companies of the distressed firms to suffer losses. Typically, previous studies focused on the capital structure, operating performance and ownership structure in examining the causes of financial distress. However, we argue that collateralized shares also raise the possibility of financial distress. In this paper, we investigate 34 firms in distress during the period of Asia Financial Crisis. We find that collateralized shares significantly depend on the industry factor. Furthermore, we also find that the higher the proportion of shares collateralized, the poorer the operating performance and thus the higher the possibility of financial distress. Knowing the effect of collateralized shares on the prediction of financial distress, we can grasp the causes for financial distress in more detail.
Design, fabrication, and in vivo behavior of chronic recording intracortical microelectrodes.

A platinum-glass microelectrode has been developed that permits chronic recording from single cortical neurons in unrestrained animals and without benefit of external manipulation. Details of fabrication and the surgical technique involved are presented. A discussion of the relevant mechanical considerations is also included. A prime advantage of the method is the ease with which it may be realized in the standard neurophysiologic laboratory.
Nurturing interpersonal trust in knowledge-sharing networks

Executive Overview In many organizations, informal networks are the primary means by which employees find information, solve complex problems, and learn how to do their work. Two forms of interpersonal trust—trust in a person's competence and in a person's benevolence—enable effective knowledge creation and sharing in these networks. Yet, though conceptually appealing, trust is an elusive concept that is often difficult for managers to influence. We conducted interviews in 20 organizations to identify ways in which interpersonal trust in a knowledge-sharing context develops. Based on this work, we summarize behaviors (e.g., discretion, consistency, collaboration) and practices (e.g., building shared vision, ensuring transparency in decision-making, holding people accountable for trust) for managers interested in promoting trust (and thereby knowledge creation and sharing) within their own organizations.
Metropolitan Development as a Complex System: A New Approach to Sustainability

A major national debate is under way about the effects of the regulation of development and land use patterns on metropolitan economies. Because this is often framed around whether sprawling development patterns are harmful or beneficial to the economy and environment, we are seemingly presented with an either/or choice. This article asserts that the debate misses the reality that metropolitan development occurs as part of a complex system. If we view metropolitan development as a complex system, there is no fundamental conflict between environmental goals and economic development. Examining the case of California, the authors demonstrate how the relationship between these is part of a larger system involving fiscal policy, governance structure, infrastructure policy, and other factors. The authors propose three strategies for improving metropolitan system performance to ensure sustainable metropolitan economies and environments: developing and using indicators for self-organizing urban systems, collaboration and consensus building among metropolitan stakeholders, and metropolitan leadership.
Building a unique online corporate identity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the current state of mission and vision statements on corporate websites of Malaysian and Singaporean corporations based on Aaker's brand personality dimensions and analyze how the dimensions are effectively used to develop a unique corporate identity.Design/methodology/approach – Content analysis is employed to examine similarities and differences for 300 Malaysian and 214 Singaporean consumer corporations based on Aaker's big five brand personality framework.Findings – Generally most companies tend to publish and communicate their mission and vision statements visibly to general stakeholders. First, both Malaysian and Singaporean companies have weak brand personality dimensions which reflect the projection of corporate identity of companies. Second, there is a significant difference in the brand personality dimensions between Malaysian and Singaporean consumer corporations. Finally, evidence showed that most Malaysian and Singaporean companies rather fai.
Ritonavir/saquinavir safety concerns curtail antiretroviral therapy options for tuberculosis-HIV-co-infected patients in resource-constrained settings.

Tuberculosis is the most common serious opportunistic infection associated with HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa and a strong case has been made for integrating tuberculosis and HIV care. In those settings where the tuberculosis and HIV epidemics converge existing tuberculosis programmes provide an opportunity for efficiently identifying those HIV-infected patients who are eligible for antiretroviral therapy (ART) as well as for initiating this therapy in order to utilize the existing tuberculosis directly observed therapy infrastructure. This approach is however dependent on the availability of effective safe and affordable antiretroviral regimens that are compatible with the standard treatments for tuberculosis including rifampicin. As a result of cost considerations the widespread use of alternative rifamycins such as rifapentine or rifabutin is not feasible in resource-constrained settings. (excerpt)
Role of haeme oxygenase‐1 in resolution of oxidative stress‐related pathologies: focus on cardiovascular, lung, neurological and kidney disorders

The present review examines the role of the cytoprotective enzyme haeme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) in adaptive responses to inflammatory disease and explores strategies for its clinical use, with particular emphasis on use of therapeutic use of the enzyme using phytochemical inducers of HO‐1 such as extracts of Ginkgo biloba, curcumin, and flavonoids extracted from seeds of the sour cherry (Prunus cerasus). This laboratory has identified strategies by which combinations of dietary phytochemicals may be configured to synergistically strengthen immunoregulatory mechanisms that normally prevent inflammation from leading to disease. A major focus of this research initiative has been HO‐1, which is capable of substantially reducing oxidative stress by several mechanisms. HO‐1 metabolizes haeme that accumulates in tissues because of red blood cell turnover. Two products of this degradation – carbon monoxide (CO) and bilirubin – have potent capacity for reducing oxidative stress and for counteracting its effects. A description will be provided of how HO‐1 products maintain healthy tissue function and remediate oxidative tissue damage. This will be explored in four major organ systems, including the cardiovascular system, the lungs, the central nervous system and the kidneys. Particular focus will be given to the physiological coordination of cardiovascular functions mediated by CO produced by HO‐1 and to nitric oxide (NO), a gaseous second messenger expressed by nitric oxide synthetase. A major unifying theme of the present review is an exploration of the potential use of dietary phytochemical formulations as tools for the clinical application of HO‐1 in therapeutic reduction of oxidative stressors, with resultant improved treatment of inflammatory pathologies.
How Classroom Environment and Student Engagement Affect Learning in Internet-based MBA Courses

While the number of college courses being delivered via the Internet is increasing rapidly, our knowledge of what makes these courses effective learning experiences for students is still limited. Therefore, I conducted a study that examined the effects of technological, pedagogical, and student characteristics on student learn ing in Internet-based MBA courses. Of these characteristics, I found that only those reflecting instructor efforts to create an interactive classroom environment were significantly associated with student learning. Other characteristics such as the perceived ease of use of the course software package, the perceived flexibility of the online classroom environment, and the amount of time students spent logged onto the course Website were not significantly associated with student learning. These findings suggest that while some level of technological sophistication may be important, teaching expertise may be the primary criterion for teaching success in the online classroom environment. Therefore, instructors may need to spend more time developing and cultivating instructional skills such as simultaneously working with several smaller groups of students, developing interesting discussion questions, and fostering intimacy. To support this faculty development, business schools will likely need to make substantial infrastructural investments to ensure that their online course offerings are pedagogically and technologically conducive to student learning.
Insulin detemir improves glycaemic control without weight gain in insulin‐naïve patients with type 2 diabetes: subgroup analysis from the PREDICTIVETM study

Objective: Predictable Results and Experience in Diabetes through Intensification and Control to Target: an International Variability Evaluation (PREDICTIVETM) is a multi‐national, open‐label, prospective, observational study assessing the safety and efficacy of insulin detemir in clinical practice. This post hoc subanalysis evaluates insulin‐naïve patients on oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs) who were initiated on insulin detemir as basal therapy (± OADs).
Electroencephalography-guided upper-limb hybrid robotic platform to modulate cortical excitability

This study present an intervention combining an electroencephalography-based brain computer interface with a hybrid robotic system for the modulation of the cortical excitability (plasticity). Plasticity is intended to be elicited through the association of the voluntary motor-related cortical processes with the hybrid assistance during the execution of reaching movement. The cortical excitability was assessed before and after the intervention measuring the peak-to-peak amplitude of the Motor Evoked Potentials (MEPs) induced through transcranial magnetic stimulation pulses. Five healthy subjects participated in the experiments. Results showed an overall and distributed increase in the cortical excitability as a result of the proposed intervention.
The antecedents and consequences of trust in online-purchase decisions

The primary research objective of this study rests on presenting and validating a model for the antecedents and consequences of consumer trust in the context of online purchase decision-making by means of simulation and survey methods. For this purpose, the study seeks to validate the correlation and causal relationships among the model's elements involving antecedents to trust (transactional security, web-site properties, search functionality, and personal variables), consequences (purchase intention), and mediating variable (web-site awareness). Based on the findings of a controlled simulation study involving 122 college students, are the following major results: (1) web-site trust showed a significant response to site properties including the image-related variables such as company awareness and company reputation, while satisfaction significantly responded to navigation functionality; (2) personal variables such as familiarity with e-commerce and prior satisfaction with e-commerce were found to have high correlation with web-site satisfaction as well as trust; (3) web-site trust, web-site satisfaction, and web-site awareness all influenced the online-purchase intention, and (4) web-site trust and web-site satisfaction had a high correlation. The findings of this study suggest a new approach to understanding and identifying the antecedents and consequences of web-site trust whose importance is increasing in the study of Internet commerce. Also, the study findings provide the Internet marketers with the managerial implications to establish effective online marketing strategy.
Interaural Time Discrimination of Envelopes Carried on High-Frequency Tones as a Function of Level and Interaural Carrier Mismatch

Objectives: The present study investigated interaural time discrimination for binaurally mismatched carrier frequencies in listeners with normal hearing. One goal of the investigation was to gain insights into binaural hearing in patients with bilateral cochlear implants, where the coding of interaural time differences (ITDs) may be limited by mismatches in the neural populations receiving stimulation on each side. Design: Temporal envelopes were manipulated to present low frequency timing cues to high-frequency auditory channels. Carrier frequencies near 4 kHz were amplitude modulated at 128 Hz via multiplication with a half-wave rectified sinusoid, and that modulation was either in-phase across ears or delayed to one ear. Detection thresholds for nonzero ITDs were measured for a range of stimulus levels and a range of carrier frequency mismatches. Data were also collected under conditions designed to limit cues based on stimulus spectral spread, including masking and truncation of sidebands associated with modulation. Results: Listeners with normal hearing can detect ITDs in the face of substantial mismatches in carrier frequency across ears. Conclusions: The processing of ITDs in listeners with normal hearing is likely based on spread of excitation into binaurally matched auditory channels. Sensitivity to ITDs in listeners with cochlear implants may depend on spread of current that results in the stimulation of neural populations that share common tonotopic space bilaterally.
Echocardiographic profile of ART naïve human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients in a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE Cardiac affection in human iummunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a recognized entity. Some form of heart disease is demonstrable at autopsy in approximately 40 percent of cases and by echocardiography in approximately 25 percent of patients with HIV. the studies indicate that cardiac involvements associated with HIV are mainly characterized by cardiomyopathy and pericardial disease. HIV infection is a global pandemic which is also rapidly spreading in india. We conducted the study to have some insight into the profile oflndian patients. MATERIAL & METHODS In this cross sectional hospital based study, we evaluated immunological (CD4 count) and echocardiographic status of 45 asymptomatic HIV seropositive patients who did not receive anti-retroviral therapy. The results were compared with age and sex matched controls. Statistical analysis was done using appropriate statistical methods. RESULTS Most common cardiovascular abnormalities were diastolic dysfunction (18%) followed by pericardial effusion (13%) and systolic dysfunction (7%). When compared with controls the study population had statistically higher number of diastolic dysfunction (p value = 0.035) but not systolic dysfunction (p value = 0.61); none of the control population was having pericardial effusion. Low CD4 count was significantly associated with pericardial effusion (p value 0.048) but the association with diastolic dysfunction (p value = 0.46) or systolic dysfunction (p value = 0.84) was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION Cardiovascular complications are common among HIV infected patients in india, most common being diastolic dysfunction and pericardial effusion. Low CD4 counts are associated significantly with pericardial effusion. These abnormalities are likely to be found with greater frequency in clinical practice as management of opportunistic infections continues to improve.
On a class of conservative, highly accurate Galerkin methods for the Schrödinger equation

We construct and analyze efficient fully discrete Galerkin type methods that are of high order of accuracy and conservative in the L sense for approximating the solution of a form of the linear Schrodinger equation with a time-dependent coefficient, found e.g. in underwater acoustics. The time stepping procedures are based on the class of implicit Runge–Kutta methods known as the q−stage Gauss– Legendre schemes. L error estimates are proved that are of optimal order in space and of temporal order q+2. An iterative procedure at each time step for the efficient implementation of the two-stage scheme is proposed and analyzed. RESUME. On construit et analyse des methodes totalement discretes du type Galerkin, qui sont L2−conservatives et d’order arbitraire, pour approcher la solution d’une forme de l’equation lineaire de Schrodinger avec un coefficient qui depend du temps, trouvee par exemple dans l’acoustique sous-marine. La procedure de discretisation en temps est basee sur la classe des methodes implicites de Runge–Kutta connues comme les schemas de Gauss–Legendre a q pas intermediaires. On obtient des estimations dans L pour les erreurs, qui sont d’order optimal en espace es d’order q + 2 en temps. On propose et analyse aussi une proceduce iterative pour resoudre les systemes lineaires a chaque pas de temps pour une application efficace de schema Gauss– Legendre a deux pas intermediaires. Dedicated to Professor Dr. G. Hammerlin on the occasion of his 60 birthday, July 31, 1988.
Malignant transformation of hamster kidney cells by BK virus

Primary hamster kidney cells were transformed by BK virus, a new human papovavirus. Transformed (HKBK) cell produced BK virus T antigen and induced tumors in hamsters that developed antibodies to BK virus T antigen. BK virus was rescued from HKBK cells by Sendai virus-assisted fusion with permissive cells. One out of six cell lines derived from HKBK cell-induced tumors showed the same characteristics as HKBK cells.