Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
When the Fed sneezes - Spillovers from U.S. Monetary Policy to Emerging Markets

This paper aims to shed light on the role mean and volatility spillovers of U.S. monetary policy played for asset markets of several emerging market economies in a period from January 2000 to October 2014. We employ multivariate GARCH models in which we distinguish between a conventional and an unconventional monetary policy phase to account for possible heterogeneity in spillover e ects. Our results suggest that the anticipation of loose U.S. monetary policy has diverse effects across monetary policy regimes. While spillovers have little impact on equity returns, they put pressure on local currencies. However, they increase conditional volatilities of both stock and exchange rate returns considerably in most emerging economies within the conventional monetary policy period. These effects can be stronger during unconventional monetary policy times. In accordance with these findings, we observe a tighter link between U.S. monetary policy and foreign asset markets during the unconventional monetary policy phase. Volatility impulse responses show that conditional volatilities of foreign asset markets mainly decrease in response to historical shocks. Particularly during unconventional monetary policy times, U.S. shocks gain importance in explaining the change in conditional volatilities especially fr countries with less geographical distance to the United States.
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Patient with Variant ATF7IP/PDGFRB Fusion and Favorable Response to Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Treatment: A Case Report

Patient: Female, 14-month-old Final Diagnosis: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia Symptoms: Fever Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Hematology Objective: Rare disease Background: Chromosomal translocations involving the PDGFRB gene have been reported in a broad spectrum of hematological malignancies. An ATF7IP/PDGFRB fusion was recently identified in a Philadelphia chromosome-like (Ph-like) B-progenitor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) patient. Here we report on a special case of a Ph-like ALL patient who had a variant ATF7IP/PDGFRB fusion. Case Report: In this case, a variant fusion was created between ATF7IP exon 9 (instead of exon 13) and PDGFRB exon 11, resulting in the loss of 411 nucleotides and 137 amino acids in the ATF7IP/PDGFRB fusion cDNA and its encoded chimeric protein, respectively. Interestingly, ATF7IP has also been reported as a fusion partner of the JAK2 kinase gene in Ph-like ALL, but all of the genomic breakpoints in ATF7IP in this fusion reported thus far occurred in intron 13. Enforced expression of the variant ATF7IP/PDGFRB fusion induced cytokine-independent growth and glucocorticoid resistance of BaF3 cells. Similar to the initially described ATF7IP/PDGFRB-bearing Ph-like ALL patient who was refractory to conventional chemotherapy but highly sensitive to tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) monotherapy, our patient with a variant ATF7IP/PDGFRB fusion had a poor initial treatment response to chemotherapy but responded well to TKI-based therapy and is now doing well in continuous remission. Conclusions: Ph-like ALL patient with an ATF7IP/PDGFRB fusion is rare, but can benefit from TKI therapy.
Deformation of nasal septal cartilage during mastication

The cartilaginous nasal septum plays a major role in structural integrity and growth of the face, but its internal location has made physiologic study difficult. By surgically implanting transducers in 10 miniature pigs (Sus scrofa), we recorded in vivo strains generated in the nasal septum during mastication and masseter stimulation. The goals were (1) to determine whether the cartilage should be considered as a vertical strut supporting the nasal cavity and preventing its collapse, or as a damper of stresses generated during mastication and (2) to shed light on the overall pattern of snout deformation during mastication. Strains were recorded simultaneously at the septo‐ethmoid junction and nasofrontal suture during mastication. A third location in the anterior part of the cartilage was added during masseter stimulation and manipulation. Contraction of jaw closing muscles during mastication was accompanied by anteroposterior compressive strains (around −1,000 με) in the septo‐ethmoid junction. Both the orientation and the magnitude of the strain suggest that the septum does not act as a vertical strut but may act in absorbing loads generated during mastication. The results from masseter stimulation and manipulation further suggest that the masticatory strain pattern arises from a combination of dorsal bending and/or shearing and anteroposterior compression of the snout. J. Morphol. , 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
THE 2015 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA: THE ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

The 2015 presidential election in Nigeria—the fifth since 1999 when the military handed over power to elected civilians—will be the first time that the opposition will have a realistic chance of wresting power from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). All things being equal, it will be a two-horse race between the ruling PDP and the main opposition party, the All Progressive Congress (APC)—the party formed in February 2013 from a merger of three ethnically and regionally based political parties. Before the emergence of the APC, opposition parties were mostly fragmented along regional and ethnic lines, making it impossible for them to mount a credible challenge to the ruling PDP.
The Role of Leadership in the Development of the Creative School in Palestine

The world faces a great developmental revolution in all scientific fields which in its turn affects different aspects of life, such as: the medical, engineering and educational fields, etc. The educational school’s aspect in particular will be the topic of this research. It tries to assist in developing the different aspects of the educational leader’s character in order to be capable to work, conduct research, create and innovate through developing how to think and how to be a creative leader of a creative school. This study aims at recognizing the role of educational leadership in developing the creative school in Palestine. Two focus groups, each of which consists of 15 members, were met. According to their responses, a list of opinions and suggestions, that had been given to explain the educational role in developing a creative school, was applied to a small sample of 116 school’s male and female leaders. Results showed high percentage in the role of educational leader of average 4.43 and a standard deviation of 0.29. The highest percent was for the role of school’s administration and class’ environment followed by teacher’s role and extra class activities respectively.
The German Version of the Strengths Use Scale: The Relation of Using Individual Strengths and Well-being

Theoretical perspectives in positive psychology have considered the possession and use of strengths equally but in applied research more studies focused on having them, probably due to the absence of psychometrically adequate scales. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the psychometric characteristics of the German language version of the Strengths Use Scale (SUS) and to explore relationships between strengths use and several indicator measures of well-being: the presence of positive and the absence of negative affect, self-esteem as identity aspect, vitality as self-regulatory resource, and stress for capturing the evaluation of difficulties and obstacles impinging on well-being. The original English version of the SUS was translated following recommended independent forward-backward translation techniques. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted, including a German-speaking convenience sample of university students (N = 374). Additionally, the relations of strengths use and well-being indicators were analyzed. Factorial validity revealed a single-factor structure of the German version of the SUS, explaining 58.4% variance (factor loadings: 0.58 to 0.86), approving the scale’s design and showing high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α 0.95). The hypothesized positive relationships of strengths use with positive affect, self-esteem, and vitality were confirmed as well as the negative relationships with negative affect and stress. The German version of the SUS is psychometrically sound and data indicate that individual strengths use and well-being related measures interact. The instrument can be recommended for future research questions such as if and how the promotion of applying individual strengths during education enhances levels of well-being, or how the implementation of strengths use in job-design guidelines or working conditions can result in higher levels of well-being or healthiness.
Consumption in the age of digital plenty: Three essays into an emerging phenomenon

The recent changes in the software markets gave users an unprecedented number of alternatives for any given task. In such a competitive environment, it is imperative to understand what drives user behavior. To that end, the research presented in this dissertation, tries to uncover the impact of business strategies often used in the software markets. The dissertation is organized into three distinct studies into user choice and post choice use of software. First using social judgment theory as foundation, zero price strategies effects on user choice is investigated, with respect to product features, consumer characteristics, and context effects. Second, role of social features in moderating network effects on user choice is studied. And finally, the role of social features on the effectiveness of add-on content strategy on continued user engagement is investigated. The findings of this dissertation highlight the alignments between popular business strategies and broad software context. The dissertation contributes to the literature by uncovering hitherto overlooked complementarities between business strategy and product features: (1) zero price strategy enhances utilitarian features but not non-utilitarian features in software choice, (2) social features only enhance network externalities but not social influence in user choice, (3) social features enhance the effect of add-on content strategy in extending software engagement.
Pulmonary-artery versus central venous catheter to guide treatment of acute lung injury.

BACKGROUND The balance between the benefits and the risks of pulmonary-artery catheters (PACs) has not been established. METHODS We evaluated the relationship of benefits and risks of PACs in 1000 patients with established acute lung injury in a randomized trial comparing hemodynamic management guided by a PAC with hemodynamic management guided by a central venous catheter (CVC) using an explicit management protocol. Mortality during the first 60 days before discharge home was the primary outcome. RESULTS The groups had similar baseline characteristics. The rates of death during the first 60 days before discharge home were similar in the PAC and CVC groups (27.4 percent and 26.3 percent, respectively; P=0.69; absolute difference, 1.1 percent; 95 percent confidence interval, -4.4 to 6.6 percent), as were the mean (+/-SE) numbers of both ventilator-free days (13.2+/-0.5 and 13.5+/-0.5; P=0.58) and days not spent in the intensive care unit (12.0+/-0.4 and 12.5+/-0.5; P=0.40) to day 28. PAC-guided therapy did not improve these measures for patients in shock at the time of enrollment. There were no significant differences between groups in lung or kidney function, rates of hypotension, ventilator settings, or use of dialysis or vasopressors. Approximately 90 percent of protocol instructions were followed in both groups, with a 1 percent rate of crossover from CVC- to PAC-guided therapy. Fluid balance was similar in the two groups, as was the proportion of instructions given for fluid and diuretics. Dobutamine use was uncommon. The PAC group had approximately twice as many catheter-related complications (predominantly arrhythmias). CONCLUSIONS PAC-guided therapy did not improve survival or organ function but was associated with more complications than CVC-guided therapy. These results, when considered with those of previous studies, suggest that the PAC should not be routinely used for the management of acute lung injury. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00281268.).
Hairy cell leukemia in Hong Kong Chinese: a 12‐year retrospective survey

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a unique chronic B cell lymphoproliferative disease (B‐LPD), with distinct clinical and pathological features, and excellent treatment response to 2‐chlorodeoxyadenosine (2‐CDA) and pentostatin. There have been few reports of HCL from oriental countries.
Does Multiple System Atrophy Itself Affect Sleep Structure?

Objectives:Reports on sleep in multiple system atrophy (MSA) are rare and many confounding variables affect the results. Among them, obstructive sleep apnea and periodic limb movements during sleep are very common. We conducted this study to see the changes of sleep parameters originating from MSA itself without confounders. Methods:We compared polysomnographic variables of 15 MSA patients and 15 age-, gender-, apnea-hypopnea index-, and periodic limb movements index-matched controls. We also applied cyclic alternating pattern scoring in 7 MSA patients and 7 controls. Results:Total sleep time and sleep efficiency are decreased in MSA. Wake after sleep onset, sleep onset latency, and stage 2 latency are prolonged. There is no difference in the proportion of slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep between MSA patients and the controls. Cyclic alternating pattern scoring shows no difference, either. Conclusions:MSA itself does not affect the macro- and microstructures of sleep. However, patients with MSA sleep less and it cannot be explained by obstructive sleep apnea and periodic limb movements during sleep.
Kinematics and kinetics of the bench-press and bench-pull exercises in a strength-trained sporting population

Understanding how loading affects power production in resistance training is a key step in identifying the most optimal way of training muscular power – an essential trait in most sporting movements. Twelve elite male sailors with extensive strength-training experience participated in a comparison of kinematics and kinetics from the upper body musculature, with upper body push (bench press) and pull (bench pull) movements performed across loads of 10–100% of one repetition maximum (1RM). 1RM strength and force were shown to be greater in the bench press, while velocity and power outputs were greater for the bench pull across the range of loads. While power output was at a similar level for the two movements at a low load (10% 1RM), significantly greater power outputs were observed for the bench pull in comparison to the bench press with increased load. Power output (P max) was maximized at higher relative loads for both mean and peak power in the bench pull (78.6 ± 5.7% and 70.4 ± 5.4% of 1RM) compared to the bench press (53.3 ± 1.7% and 49.7 ± 4.4% of 1RM). Findings can most likely be attributed to differences in muscle architecture, which may have training implications for these muscles.
Cognition in relapsing‐remitting multiple sclerosis: a multichannel event‐related potential (P300) study

Auditory event‐related potentials (AERP) were elicited in 47 patients with relapsing‐remitting (RR) multiple sclerosis (MS) and 24 age‐matched controls. MS patients had significantly prolonged N2 and P3 latencies as well as low P3 amplitude compared with controls. Seven of them exceeded 3 standard deviations from the control mean values. The observed N2 and P3 alterations are associated with the patients’ disability status as it is defined by the Kurtzke expanded disability status scale (EDSS), but are not related to the duration of the disease. A possible cognitive decline as reflected in the observed AERP components alterations in MS patients is subsequently discussed.
Hepatotoxicity of rifampin and pyrazinamide in the treatment of latent tuberculosis infection in HIV-infected persons: is it different than in HIV-uninfected persons?

BACKGROUND In 2000, results of a multinational trial demonstrated that a 2-month course of rifampin and pyrazinamide (RZ) was as effective as isoniazid (INH) in reducing tuberculosis in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). After the release of new guidelines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received reports of severe hepatotoxicity associated with the use of the RZ regimen for the treatment of LTBI in the general population. To better understand the occurrence of hepatotoxicity in an HIV-infected population, we conducted a more detailed analysis of the liver function test results obtained in the multinational trial of RZ. METHODS At study entry, patients were required to have a bilirubin level of < or =2.5 mg/dL and both an aspartate aminotransferase (AST) level and an alkaline phosphatase level of < or =5 times the upper limit of normal. Patients with acute hepatitis were excluded. At months 1 and 2 of the study, all patients had bilirubin and AST levels measured. RESULTS There was no difference between the RZ and INH groups with regard to AST level or bilirubin level at baseline. An increase in the AST level of > or =40 U/L was associated with the use of INH and older age; and an increase in the bilirubin level of > or =0.5 mg/dL was associated with the use of RZ, male sex, and nonwhite race (P<.05). An absolute AST level of >250 U/L occurred in 12 of 745 INH recipients and in 15 of 721 RZ recipients (P=.56), and an absolute bilirubin level of >2.5 mg/dL occurred in 5 of 743 INH recipients and 13 of 718 RZ recipients (P=.06). CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate very little liver injury associated with either INH or RZ in the HIV-infected subjects, leaving unclear the reasons for serious RZ-related liver damage in the general population.
Urban area detection from remotely sensed images using combination of local features

Detecting the urban area from very high resolution satellite images provides very useful results for urban planning and land use analysis. Since manual detection is very time consuming and prone to errors, automated systems to detect the urban area from very high resolution satellite images are needed. Unfortunately, diverse characteristics of the urban area and uncontrolled appearance of remote sensing images (illumination, viewing angle, etc.) increase the difficulty to develop automated systems. In order to overcome these difficulties, in this study we propose a novel urban area detection method using local features and a probabilistic framework. First, we introduce four different local feature extraction methods. Extracted local feature vectors serve as observations of the probability density function to be estimated. Using a variable kernel density estimation method, we estimate the corresponding probability density function. Using modes of the estimated density, as well as other probabilistic properties, we detect urban area boundaries in the image. We also introduce data and decision fusion methods to fuse information coming from different feature extraction methods. Extensive tests on very high resolution panchromatic Ikonos satellite images indicate the practical usefulness of the proposed method.
Construction of a new integration vector for use in Streptococcus mutans.

A new integration vector, pBGK, was constructed for delivery of heterologous DNA into the chromosome of Streptococcus mutans. A kanamycin resistance element (OmegaKm), which is flanked by transcriptional and translational terminators and which is selectable in both Escherichia coli and streptococci, was inserted into a 2.4-kb EcoRI fragment carrying the S. mutans gtfA gene. A unique SmaI site flanking OmegaKm is available for cloning of promoter:reporter gene fusions or foreign genes, which can then be integrated into the S. mutans chromosome by allelic exchange with the gtfA gene. The vector was used to analyze the activity of an S. mutans promoter by fusing it to a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene. The reporter fusions could readily be cloned into the vector at a unique SmaI site and the vector and passenger DNA were stable in E. coli. DNAs flanked by gtfA sequees integrated efficiently into the chromosome of S. mutans and were stably maintained in the absence of selective pressure. Expression levels of the reporter gene were consistent regardless of orientation or repeated subculturing.
Is Facial or Head Pain Related to the Location of Lesions on Computed Tomography in Chronic Rhinosinusitis?

Background: Facial or head pain is not an infrequent symptom among patients diagnosed with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), but few reports have investigated the pain in CRS, including the relationship between pain and sites of CRS. The aim of this study was to investigate whether pain is related to the location of lesions on computed tomography (CT) in CRS. Methods: We analyzed 203 patients who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) for 2 years. Patients were assessed using the questionnaires on pain, provided 1 day prior to the operation and 6 months post operation. Sites of CRS were evaluated using CT. We analyzed whether the degree of inflammation in each sinus had an effect on the location of pain. Results: Seventy-eight patients (38.4%) had preoperative facial or head pain. There was no difference in the sinus inflammation scores in CT findings, based on the presence of pain. Pain was most commonly located in the periorbital area, followed by the frontal, vertex, occipital, and facial areas. No significant correlation was found between the sinuses and the location of pain. Conclusions: This study indicates that in CRS patients, several sites of pain are involved, particularly in the periorbital area; these sites were not found to be related to the location of CRS.
Serum carotenoid, tocopherol and retinol concentrations and breast cancer risk in the E3N‐EPIC study

Evidence of a protective effect of fruit and vegetable intake on breast cancer risk is inconsistent. Epidemiologic cohort studies based on blood carotenoid intakes as biomarkers of consumption of fruits and vegetable in individuals are still scare and findings are discrepant. The study population included women in the E3N Study, the large French component of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). During an average of 7 years follow‐up, 366 cases of incident invasive breast cancer (84 premenopausal women and 282 postmenopausal women) among 19,934 women who completed a dietary questionnaire and had available blood samples at baseline (1995–1998) were included in the study. Controls were randomly matched on age, menopausal status at blood collection, fasting status at blood collection, date and collection center. Serum carotenoids, tocopherols and retinol concentrations were assessed by high pressure liquid chromatography. Odds ratios for breast cancer risk adjusted for established breast cancer risk factors were calculated by quintile of serum micronutrient concentrations. No significant associations between breast cancer risk and serum carotenoids (highest versus lowest quintile, odds ratio (OR) = 0.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.47–1.16, p for trend 0.38), tocopherols (OR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.41–1.10, p for trend 0.26) and retinol (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.53–1.35, p for trend 0.34) were found. Our findings did not support the hypothesis that lipophilic antioxidant micronutrients found in fruits and vegetables protect against breast cancer, at least in postmenopausal women.