Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interest Rate and Exchange Rate Exposure of Portfolio Stock Returns: Does the Financial Crisis Matter?

ABSTRACT The study examines the impact of changes in interest rate and exchange rates and their unexpected changes on industry and size portfolio returns on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) controlling for the 2007/2008 financial crisis. Three main exchange rates (FX) namely, Ghana cedis (Gh¢)/US dollar, Gh¢/Great Britain Pounds (GBP) and the Gh¢/Euro are used. We use OLS, GARCH and ARIMA in our estimations. The study found that only depreciation of the Gh¢/USD reduces the returns of financial stocks and large firms. There is a direct positive impact of the financial crisis on the returns due to investment shift from developed markets where crisis occurs. Variations in the returns are mostly explained by the market index returns (RM), which has a positive impact. However, we find that the positive impact of RM on the portfolio returns (finance, medium and large portfolios) is reduced during the financial crisis. The results largely reveal that shocks to the conditional variance are highly persistent and the response of volatility decays at a slower rate.
Al-Qaeda : The True Story of Radical Islam

On a hot summer's day in 1996 a plane carrying Osama bin Laden and a few friends and family landed at a runway just outside the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. The Saudi-born Islamic activist had little equipment, few followers and minimal local support. Yet within five years he had built an organisation that was to carry out the most shocking and devastating terrorist attack in history. 'Al-Qaeda' is now the most over-used and misunderstood term in the media. In Arabic, it is simply an abstract noun, meaning 'resource', 'network' or 'base'. In the West, it symbolises the greatest threat to global security: though its Afghan training camps have now been reduced to dust, no one believes that al-Qaeda was destroyed with them. But what is al-Qaeda? Is it a disciplined, motivated, structured terrorist organisation led by a single criminal mastermind or no more than an idea, a language in which angry young Muslim men can articulate their rage? Bin Laden's aim to provoke conflict between militant Islam and the West appears closer to fulfilment than ever. But is al-Qaeda the catalyst of this conflict, or merely a symbol of it? Drawing on his unparalleled experience Jason Burke provides
Cinacalcet and achievement of the NKF/K-DOQI recommended target values for bone and mineral metabolism in real-world clinical practice--the ECHO observational study.

BACKGROUND The use and effectiveness of cinacalcet in 'real-world' clinical practice was investigated in a pan-European observational study in dialysis patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) of varying severity. METHODS Adult patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis who had initiated cinacalcet treatment were enrolled. Data were collected 6 months before initiating cinacalcet, at baseline (initiation of cinacalcet) and up to 12 months after cinacalcet initiation. RESULTS A total of 1865 patients [mean (SD) age 58 (15) years] were enrolled from 187 sites in 12 countries. Most patients had a dialysis vintage of > or =1 year (1-5 years, n = 833; >5 years, n = 748 versus <1 year, n = 265). The patients generally had severely uncontrolled intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) serum levels (median 721 pg/ml) and elevated phosphorus (median 5.9 mg/dl) and calcium (median 9.6 mg/dl) at baseline, despite being prescribed conventional therapies. The proportions of patients achieving the recommended [NKF-K/DOQI(TM) (KDOQI(TM))] targets increased from baseline [4%, 39%, 40% and 46% for iPTH, phosphorus, calcium and calcium-phosphorus product (Ca x P), respectively] to Month 12 (28%, 48%, 51% and 68%, respectively). At Month 12, 18% of patients had achieved the combined target for iPTH + Ca x P compared with 2% at baseline. Most patients (65%) received <60 mg/day cinacalcet at Month 12. Vitamin D sterol use remained fairly stable throughout the study. There was a 13% decrease in prescribed sevelamer; use of calcium-based phosphate binders increased by 5.6%. There was no unexpected safety or tolerability concerns. CONCLUSION This analysis of current European clinical practice shows that-consistent with findings from randomized controlled trials and retrospective observational studies-cinacalcet improves attainment of KDOQI bone metabolism targets in dialysis patients with various stages of SHPT.
Identification of a region within the Na,K-ATPase alpha subunit that contributes to differential ouabain sensitivity

To analyze determinants within the Na,K-ATPase alpha subunit that contribute to differential ouabain sensitivity, we constructed and expressed a panel of chimeric cDNA molecules between ouabain-resistant and ouabain-sensitive alpha subunit cDNAs. When introduced into ouabain-sensitive monkey CV-1 cells, ouabain-resistant rat alpha 1 subunit cDNA and chimeras in which the 5' end of ouabain-sensitive human alpha 1 or rat alpha 2 subunit cDNA was replaced by the 5' end of rat alpha 1 subunit cDNA conferred resistance to 100 microM ouabain. Monkey cells transfected with the reciprocal chimeras were unable to survive selection in 1 microM ouabain. Rat alpha 2 subunit cDNA and a chimera in which the 5' end of rat alpha 1 subunit cDNA was replaced by the 5' end of rat alpha 2 subunit cDNA conferred resistance to 0.5 microM ouabain. These results suggest that determinants of ouabain resistance reside within the amino-terminal portions of the rat alpha 1 and alpha 2 subunits. Expression of chimeric alpha subunit cDNAs should prove useful for elucidating the structural basis of Na,K-ATPase function.
Human Cytomegalovirus UL131-128 Genes Are Indispensable for Virus Growth in Endothelial Cells and Virus Transfer to Leukocytes

ABSTRACT Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a ubiquitous human pathogen, is the leading cause of birth defects and morbidity in immunocompromised patients and a potential trigger for vascular disease. HCMV replicates in vascular endothelial cells and drives leukocyte-mediated viral dissemination through close endothelium- leukocyte interaction. However, the genetic basis of HCMV growth in endothelial cells and transfer to leukocytes is unknown. We show here that the UL131-128 gene locus of HCMV is indispensable for both productive infection of endothelial cells and transmission to leukocytes. The experimental evidence for this is based on both the loss-of-function phenotype in knockout mutants and natural variants and the gain-of-function phenotype by trans-complementation with individual UL131, UL130, and UL128 genes. Our findings suggest that a common mechanism of virus transfer may be involved in both endothelial cell tropism and leukocyte transfer and shed light on a crucial step in the pathogenesis of HCMV infection.
L‐methioninase production by Aspergillus flavipes under solid‐state fermentation

Solid‐state fermentation was carried out for the production of extra‐cellular L‐methioninase by Aspergillus flavipes (Bain and Sart.) using nine agro‐industrial residues, namely wheat bran, rice bran, wheat flour, coconut seeds, cotton seeds, ground nut cake, lentil hulls, soya beans and chicken feathers. Chicken feathers were selected as solid substrate for L‐methioninase production by A. flavipes. The maximum L‐methioninase productivity (71.0 U/mg protein) and growth (11 mg protein/ml) of A. flavipes was obtained using alkali pretreated chicken feathers of 50% initial moisture content as substrate supplemented with D‐glucose (1.0% w/v) and L‐methionine (0.2% w/v). External supplementation of the fermentation medium with various vitamin sources has no overinductive effect on L‐methioninase biosynthesis. The partially purified A. flavipes L‐methioninase preparation showed highest activity (181 U/ml) at pH 8.0 with stability over a pH range (pH 6–8) for 2 h. L‐methioninase activity was increased by preincubation of the enzyme for 2 h with Co2+, Mn2+, Cu2+ and Mg2+ and strongly inhibited by the presence of EDTA, NaN3, Li2+, Cd2+, DMSO and 2‐mercaptoethanol. The enzyme preparation has a broad substrate spectrum showing a higher affinity to deaminate L‐glycine, N ‐acetylglucosamine and glutamic acid, in addition to their proteolytic activity against bovine serum albumin, casein, gelatin and keratin. The partially purified enzyme was found to be glyco‐metalloproteinic in nature as concluded from the analytical and spectroscopic profiles of the enzyme preparation. The demethiolating activity of the enzyme was also visualized chromogenially. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Assessment and treatment of childhood topographical disorientation: A case study

Topographical disorientation refers to individuals who are unable to find their way around large-scale environments in a normal manner. Childhood topographical disorientation is rarely investigated or reported. Treatment of topographical disorientation is also rare with only one reported treatment study in an adult (Davis & Coltheart, 1999) and no known description of treatment in a child. This paper reports a detailed case analysis of CA, a 6-year-old child with topographical disorientation, and a description of a treatment programme focused on training orientation in the school environment. Assessment of CA revealed mild to moderate visual agnosia in conjunction with severe impairments in general spatial learning and memory, topographical new learning and memory, and a total inability to learn new topographical routes. CA was also unable to use a mental image of his environment, a simple visual plan of his environment or a simple visual map, but was able to follow verbally mediated topographical instructions. The treatment programme focused on improving CA's topographical orientation in the school environment. The programme first involved training in recognition of major school buildings and landmarks and then focused on practical training in route finding along commonly used routes in the school environment. Clear benefits from treatment were evident. The assessment and treatment methods employed provide practical and useful ideas for management of this condition in other children.
Prognostic variables and survival in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemias: cancer institute experience.

This presentation is an analysis of front-end prognostic variables in achieving a complete response, a continuous complete remission, and disease-free survival in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the Cancer Institute, Madras, India between 1983 and 1988. The clinical characteristics at presentation showed that virtually 100% of patients belong to the poor risk category, age < 3 years of > 6 years 72.2%, WBC > 10,000/mm3 59.8%, blast count > 50% 39.2%, organomegaly 91.8%, and L2 morphology 66.0%. All patients had more than one risk factor. Between 1983 and 1988, 97 children were treated on a pilot protocol designed in collaboration with the Lymphoma Biology Division of the Pediatric Oncology Branch of the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland. The protocol was designed for a poor prognostic group. The significance of implicated poor prognostic factors was analyzed using the Cox proportional hazard model. Age at presentation was the only variable that emerged as an independent risk factor, and sex appeared to be a modifier. No other variables attained significance. Survival data were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The relapse-free and event-free survivals up to 10 years were 50.7% and 38.1%, and compare reasonably well with results reported for similar groups elsewhere for the same period.
The Use of Intrauterine Lidocaine to Minimize Pain During Hysterosalpingography: A Randomized Trial

OBJECTIVE: A hysterosalpingogram is an integral part of the evaluation of infertility but is often painful. Intrauterine anesthesia may help to alleviate the discomfort associated with this procedure. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of intrauterine lidocaine in women undergoing hysterosalpingography (HSG). All women were instructed to take a nonsteroidal analgesic before the hysterosalpingogram. Patients received 3 mL of buffered 2% lidocaine solution or 0.9% normal saline instilled into the uterus before HSG. The primary outcome was the degree of pain experienced documented via 10-cm visual analogue pain scales. Systematic assessments of discomfort were also collected by the attending physician, radiology technician, and radiology physician. RESULTS: Sixty-four patients were randomly assigned to placebo and 63 women were randomly assigned to the lidocaine group. There were no differences in mean age, race, parity, or history of dysmenorrhea or chronic pelvic pain. There were no differences in the pain scores at baseline, during, or after the study procedure between the 2 groups. Peak pain scale scores associated with the procedure were 5.3 ± 0.4 in both the placebo and study groups. In addition, assessments of patient discomfort revealed no significant differences between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: We found no difference in pain between the intrauterine-lidocaine and placebo groups. Intrauterine lidocaine does not appear to be effective in decreasing pain in women undergoing HSG. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: I
The neurosphere assay, a method under scrutiny

Objectives: The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the fundamental features of the neurosphere assay (NSA), which was initially described in 1992, and has since been used not only to detect the presence of stem cells in embryonic and adult mammalian neural tissues, but also to study their characteristics in vitro. Implicit in this review is a detailed examination of the limitations of the NSA, and how this assay is most accurately and appropriately used. Finally we will point out criteria that should be challenged to design alternative ways to overcome the limits of this assay. Methods: NSA is used to isolate putative neural stem cells (NSCs) from the central nervous system (CNS) and to demonstrate the critical stem cell attributes of proliferation, extensive self-renewal and the ability to give rise to a large number of differentiated and functional progeny. Nevertheless, the capability of neural progenitor cells to form neurospheres precludes its utilisation to accurately quantify bona fide stem cell frequency based simply on neurosphere numbers. New culture conditions are needed to be able to distinguish the activity of progenitor cells from stem cells. Conclusion: A commonly used, and arguably misused, methodology, the NSA has provided a wealth of information on precursor activity of cells derived from the embryonic through to the aged CNS. Importantly, the NSA has contributed to the demise of the ‘no new neurogenesis’ dogma, and the beginning of a new era of CNS regenerative medicine. Nevertheless, the interpretations arising from the utilisation of the NSA need to take into consideration its limits, so as not to be used beyond its specificity and sensitivity.
Prevalence of psychosocial problems in Dutch children aged 8–12 years and its association with risk factors and quality of life

Aims. To determine the prevalence of psychosocial problems among Dutch children aged 8–12 years and studying its association with risk factors and quality of life. Methods. This study was conducted within the framework of a community-based health study in the north-west region of the Netherlands. The cross-sectional study sample consisted of 2703 children (1392 boys and 1311 girls). Psychosocial problems and quality of life were measured with the extended version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and KIDSCREEN-10, respectively. Questionnaires and data about risk factors (parental education level, ethnicity, family structure, income, chronic diseases and life events) were completed by the parents or caregivers. Results. The prevalence of psychosocial problems (SDQ score ≥14) in the total sample was 10.4%. The prevalence was higher in boys compared with girls (13.9% v. 6.6%, OR = 2.28; 95% CI = 1.75–2.97). Boys had significantly more hyperactivity/inattention, conduct, peer relationship and prosocial behaviour problems compared with girls. Risk factors associated with psychosocial problems were: one or more chronic disease(s), life event(s), a low parental educational level (for boys only) and an income under a modal level. Psychosocial problems were significantly inverse related with quality of life in the total sample (rho = −0.47). Conclusions. Psychosocial problems are common in children, especially among boys, and are inversely related with children's quality of life. The identified risk factors in this study can be useful for developing targeted prevention strategies aimed at children at high risk for psychosocial problems.
Amphotericin B and terbinafine but not the azoles prolong survival in Galleria mellonella larvae infected with Madurella mycetomatis

Mycetoma is a tropical neglected disease characterized by large subcutaneous lesions in which the causative organisms reside in the form of grains. The most common causative agent is Madurella mycetomatis. Antifungal therapy often fails due to these grains, but to identify novel treatment options has been difficult since grains do not form in vitro. We recently used Galleria mellonella larvae to develop an in vivo grain model. In the current study, we set out to determine the therapeutic efficacy of commonly used antifungal agents in this larval model. Pharmacokinetics of ketoconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, posaconazole, amphotericin B, and terbinafine were determined in the hemolymph of G. mellonella larvae. Antifungal therapy was given either therapeutically or prophylactic on three consecutive days in therapeutically equivalent dosages. Survival was monitored for 10 days and colony-forming units (cfu) and melanization were determined on day 3. Measurable concentrations of antifungal agents were found in the hemolymph of the larvae. None of the azole antifungal agents prolonged survival when given therapeutically or prophylactically. Amphotericin B and terbinafine did prolong survival, even at concentrations below the minimal inhibitory concentration of M. mycetomatis. The cfu and melanization did not differ between any of the treated groups and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) treated groups. Grains were still present in surviving larvae but appeared to be encapsulated. This study demonstrated for the first time a comparison between the efficacy of different antifungal agents toward grains of M. mycetomatis. It appeared that amphotericin B and terbinafine were able to prolong larval survival.
Area deprivation, social class, and quality of life among people aged 75 years and over in Britain.

BACKGROUND There is a shortage of research studies that assess how selected characteristics of neighbourhood and personal social circumstances contribute towards health-related quality of life (QoL) among older people. METHODS Analysis of baseline data for 5581 people aged > or =75 years and over from the Trial of Assessment and Management of Older People in the Community. The scores for four dimensions from the UK version of the Sickness Impact Profile and for the Philadelphia Geriatric Morale Scale were analysed in relation to individual social class and the Carstairs score of socioeconomic deprivation for the enumeration district of residence. RESULTS In age and sex adjusted analyses, the proportion of participants of social class IV/V living in the most deprived areas who were in the quintile with worst QoL scores was more than double that among those from social class I/II living in the least deprived areas. Individual social class and area deprivation score contributed roughly equally to this doubling for home management, self-care and social interaction, whereas social class appeared a stronger determinant for mobility. Adjustment for living circumstances, health symptoms, and health behaviours substantially reduced the excess risk associated with social class and area deprivation. Being in a rural area was associated with lower risk of poor morale. CONCLUSION Poor socioeconomic characteristics of both the area and the individual are associated with worse functioning (QoL) of older people in the community. This is not fully explained by health status. Policy should consider community-level interventions as well as those directed at individuals.
Epidemiology of alcohol-related emergency department visits.

OBJECTIVE To examine the population and geographic patterns, patient characteristics, and clinical presentations and outcomes of alcohol-related ED visits at a national level. METHODS Cross-sectional data on a probability sample of 21,886 ED visits from the 1995 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey were analyzed with consideration of the individual patient visit weight. The annual number and rates of alcohol-related ED visits were computed based on weighted analysis in relation to demographic characteristics and geographic region. Specific variables of alcohol-related ED visits examined included demographic and medical characteristics, patient-reported reasons for visit, and physicians' principal diagnoses. RESULTS Of the 96.5 million ED visits in 1995, an estimated 2.6 million (2.7%) were related to alcohol abuse. The overall annual rate of alcohol-related ED visits was 10.0 visits per 1,000 population [95% confidence interval (CI) 8.7-11.3]. Higher rates were found for men (14.7 per 1,000, 95% CI 12.5-16.9), adults aged 25 to 44 years (17.8 per 1,000, 95% CI 15.0-20.6), blacks (18.1 per 1,000, 95% CI 14.0-22.1), and residents living in the northeast region (15.2 per 1,000, 95% CI 12.1-18.2). Patients whose visits were alcohol-related were more likely than other patients to be uninsured, smokers, or depressive. Alcohol-related ED visits were 1.6 times as likely as other visits to be injury-related, and 1.8 times as likely to be rated as "urgent" or "emergent. " The leading principal reasons for alcohol-related ED visits were complaints of pain, injury, and drinking problems. Alcohol abuse/dependence was the principal diagnosis for 20% of the alcohol-related visits. CONCLUSION Alcohol abuse poses a major burden on the emergency medical care system. The age, gender, and geographic characteristics of alcohol-related ED visits are consistent with drinking patterns in the general population.
Neural basis of processing sequential and hierarchical syntactic structures

The psychological processes through which humans learn a language have gained considerable interest over the past years. It has been previously suggested that language acquisition partly relies on a rule‐based mechanism that is mediated by the frontal cortex. Interestingly, the actual structure involved within the frontal cortex varies with the kind of rules being processed. By means of functional MRI we investigated the neural underpinnings of rule‐based language processing using an artificial language that allows direct comparisons between local phrase structure dependencies and hierarchically structured long‐distance dependencies. Activation in the left ventral premotor cortex (PMC) was related to the local character of rule change, whereas long‐distance dependencies activated the opercular part of the inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's area (BA) 44). These results suggest that the brain's involvement in syntactic processing is determined by the type of rule used, with BA 44/45 playing an important role during language processing when long‐distance dependencies are processed. In contrast, the ventral PMC seems to subserve the processing of local dependencies. In addition, hippocampal activity was observed for local dependencies, indicating that the processing of such dependencies may be mediated by a second mechanism. Hum Brain Mapp, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.