Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of insulin resistance in diabetic hypothyroidism patients – A clinical insight

Despite massive research, association of hypothyroidism(HT) with insulin sensitivity is poorly understood and still needs further clarification. In addition, thyroid dysfunction has been found to be associated with altered glucose and insulin metabolism. The objective of present study was to investigate the relationship between thyroid function, hyperglycemia and insulin resistance in hypothyroidism patients (without and with diabetes) and compared it with non diabetic euthyroid subjects Fasting blood glucose levels, serum insulin and thyroid profile were estimated by using standard methods in 80 patients of HT divided into two groups of 40 HT nondiabetic patients and 40 HT diabetic patients as Group II and Group III respectively, and compared it with 40 age matched healthy controls (Group I). Homeostasis model of assessment (HOMA-IR) was employed to assess the level of insulin resistance. The values were expressed as Mean ± SD and data from patients and controls were compared using students‘t’ test. Serum insulin, thyroid stimulating hormone(TSH) levels along with fasting blood sugar were significantly high (p<0.001) whereas serum T3 and T4 levels were significantly low (p<0.001) in patients group as compared to control. Nondiabetic and diabetic hypothyroidism patients demonstrated significantly increased insulin resistance as observed by the higher HOMA-IR as compared to the controls. Thus, hypothyroidism is associated with hyperglycemia and insulin sensitivity involving hyperinsulinemia, altered peripheral glucose disposal and insulin resistance. Therefore, maintenance of normal thyroid profile, regular monitoring of glucose levels along with control on insulin level in hypothyroidism patients will hopefully contribute to a more adequate management of diabetes.
The effect of behavioural factors on investment decisions at the Nairobi securities exchange

The main objective of this study was to establish the behavioural factors influencing individual investors’ decisions at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. The study was guided by the following specific objectives, that is, to find out the effect of risk aversion on investment decisions in Kenyan stock market, to investigate whether prospecting influences decision making in stock market investments, to establish the effect of anchoring on investment decision in Kenyan stock market and to determine the effect of herding on Investment decisions in Kenyan stock market. The target population of this study was 17 investment banks with a sample size of 34 respondents and relied on primary data sources. The study found that the investors in their organizations invest due to herding effect, this has resulted the investment banks to experience emotional biases and congruity. Further the study established that prospecting influences the investment decision making in stock market, however, most of the organizations engage in advising inventors’ on the ways to invest. The study finally found that anchoring influences the investment decision in Kenyan stock market. Availability of the information about stock market investment facilitates inventors’ to reach investment decision. However, investors tend to buy shares when stock price has fallen. The study concluded herding effect, risk aversion, prospecting and anchoring influences the investment decision making in stock market. The study recommended that the investment banks should give their investors the relevant information on prevailing market and economic situations and ensure investment in the stock market is well chosen. The investors should be presented with information in unbiased context and should be offered with the right information at the right time.
Poor agreement in recognition of abnormal mitoses: requirement for standardized and robust definitions

The finding of abnormal mitoses is a helpful feature in differentiating between benign and malignant neoplasia and has prognostic significance for some tumours. As the use of a histopathological variable is limited by the reproducibility of its recognition, we tested the interobserver agreement in the classification of abnormal mitoses among histopathologists.
c-myb Transcription Is Activated by Protein Kinase B (PKB) following Interleukin 2 Stimulation of T Cells and Is Required for PKB-Mediated Protection from Apoptosis

ABSTRACT During T-cell activation, c-Myb is induced upon interleukin 2 (IL-2) stimulation and is required for correct proliferation of cells. In this paper, we provide evidence that IL-2-mediated induction of the c-myb gene occurs via the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway, that protein kinase B (PKB) is the principal transducer of this signal, and that activation of the c-mybpromoter can be abolished by deletion of conserved E2F and NF-κB binding sites. We show that Myb is required to protect activated peripheral T cells from bcl-2-independent apoptosis and that overexpression of oncogenic v-Myb is antiapoptotic. Overexpression of a Myb dominant-negative transgene abrogates PKB-mediated protection from apoptosis. Taken together, these results suggest that induction of c-myb transcription is an important downstream event for PKB-mediated protection of T cells from programmed cell death.
Heat Shock Factor Hsf1 Cooperates with ErbB2 (Her2/Neu) Protein to Promote Mammary Tumorigenesis and Metastasis*

Background: The role of Hsf1 in mammary tumorigenesis and metastasis remains elusive. Results: Hsf1 deletion inhibits mammary tumorigenesis and metastasis by reducing ERK1/2 activity and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of mammary epithelial cells. Conclusion: Deletion of Hsf1 in mice carrying Her2/Neu significantly reduces breast cancer and metastasis. Significance: These findings indicate a powerful inhibitory effect conferred by Hsf1 in ErbB2-induced breast cancer. ErbB2/Neu oncogene is overexpressed in 25% of invasive/metastatic breast cancers. We have found that deletion of heat shock factor Hsf1 in mice overexpressing ErbB2/Neu significantly reduces mammary tumorigenesis and metastasis. Hsf1+/−ErbB2/Neu+ tumors exhibit reduced cellular proliferative and invasive properties associated with reduced activated ERK1/2 and reduced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Hsf1+/+Neu+ mammary epithelial cells exposed to TGFβ show high levels of ERK1/2 activity and EMT; this is associated with reduced expression of E-cadherin and increased expression of Slug and vimentin, a mesenchymal marker. In contrast, Hsf1−/−Neu+ or Hsf1+/+Neu+ cells do not exhibit activated ERK1/2 and show reduced EMT in the presence of TGFβ. The ineffective activation of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK1/2 signaling pathway in cells with reduced levels of HSF1 is due to the low levels of HSP90 in complex with RAF1 that are required for RAF1 stability and maturation. These results indicate a powerful inhibitory effect conferred by HSF1 downstream target genes in the inhibition of ErbB2-induced breast cancers in the absence of the Hsf1 gene.
Effect of leavening microflora on pizza dough properties

Fourteen different starter cultures containing one strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with and without individual or combinations of lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum, Lact. sanfrancisco, Enterococcus faecium, Leuconostoc mesenteroides) were employed to investigate the role of leavening microflora on the properties of pizza doughs. Microbiological, chemical and physical characteristics of doughs prepared with the same flour and under the same processing conditions were determined. Leavening times and acidification properties depended on the microbial association used. The proportions of lactic and acetic acid produced by lactic acid bacteria were consistent with the metabolic properties of the strains employed. The bacteria/yeast ratios arising from microbial counts at the end of the leavening process were always lower in comparison to sour‐ or bread‐doughs. The size of the yeast population did not change much, while bacteria showed from one to four duplications. Rheologically, the fermented doughs could only be significantly distinguished from the control dough with regard to the elastic modulus. Principal Component Analysis was applied to the acidimetric data. The scattergram of the two principal components effectively discriminated 13 of the 14 pizza dough types.
Fungal malignant otitis externa

An 89-year-old man presented to the outpatient clinic with a 2-month history of persistent unilateral left-sided otalgia, otorrhoea and reduced hearing despite oral and topical antibiotics. Treatment was protracted, requiring a 4-month hospital admission for intravenous antifungal medication as well as 3 further months of oral antifungal treatment. We describe the clinical presentation, complications and treatment of this potentially fatal condition in the context of an unusual, and easily missed, causative organism.
Determinants of the governance structure of the international franchise firm: A case study analysis in the automotive rental industry

Purpose The governance structure of international franchise firms varies from higher control modes, such as wholly owned subsidiaries and joint venture franchising, to lower control modes, such as area development and master franchising. Based on organizational economics, strategic management, and international business perspectives, the purpose of this paper is to use the case study analysis to empirically evaluate an integrative model on the franchisor’s choice of international governance modes. Design/methodology/approach The study applies qualitative methods, such as in-depth case analysis, to investigate a large set of variables that influence the governance structure decision of the international franchise firm. Specifically, it applies a theory-testing case study with two major competitors in the European automotive rental industry, i.e. Europcar and Sixt. Theory-testing case research is justified by the lack of explanatory research due to the complexity of the franchisor-franchisee relationship phenomena, such as the factors that influence the franchisor’s choice of international governance modes. The investigation of the complex governance structure phenomenon requires a holistic analysis. Findings The case study shows that environmental, behavioral, transaction-specific, resource-based (system-specific, market-specific, financial resources), and international strategy considerations are important determinants of the governance mode decision of the international franchise firm. Research limitations/implications The study responds to the recent call in organizational economics, marketing, strategic management, and international business literature to develop and test a multi-theoretical framework to explain the governance structure of inter-organizational networks, such as franchise networks. Originality/value Few previous studies in international franchising have used more than one theoretical perspective to explain the governance structure of the international franchise firm. This study contributes to the theory-testing case study literature by applying a rigorous method of conducting case research. This includes developing a theoretical framework and a systematic research design. A systematic research design requires a holistic analysis by investigating the international franchise governance modes from a variety of theoretical perspectives which are the organizational economics, strategic management, and the strategy-structure perspective.
Context‐dependent individual differences in playfulness in male rats

Play has been proposed as an indicator of positive emotions and welfare in higher vertebrates. This study investigated playfulness in male rats by exploring its consistency across motivational states (with/without prior short social isolation) and two age points at early and late adolescence. Twenty-four male Lister Hooded rats housed in cages of four underwent two play tests: conspecific Play-in-Pairs and Tickling by the experimenter, which were compared with play in the home cage and basal anxiety levels. Play-in-Pairs measures were consistent across age and motivational states, and were independent from anxiety. Positively valenced vocalizations in the Tickling test were also consistent across age, yet were negatively related to anxiety. Play-in-Pairs and Tickling play contexts, as well as social and solitary play types, were unrelated. Therefore, this study supports the existence of consistent individual differences in playfulness in rats, and suggests that different play contexts and types represent motivationally distinct systems.
Quantifying Probabilistic Expressions

For 20 different studies, Table 1 tabulates numerical averages of opinions on quantitative meanings of 52 qualitative probabilistic expres- sions. Populations with differing occupations, mainly students, physicians, other medical workers, and science writers, contributed. In spite of the variety of populations, format of question, instructions, and context, the variation of the averages for most of the expressions was modest, suggesting that they might be useful for codification. One exception was possible, because it had distinctly different meanings for different people. We report new data from a survey of science writers. The effect of modifiers such as very or negation (not, un-, im-, in-) can be described approximately by a simple rule. The modified expression has probability meaning half as far from the appropriate boundary (0 or 100) as that of the original expression. This paper also reviews studies that show stability of meanings over 20 years, mild effects of translation into other languages, context, small order effects, and effects of scale for reporting on extreme values. The stem probability with modifiers gives a substantial range 6% to 91% and the stem chance might do as well if tried with very. The stems frequent, probable, likely, and often with modifiers produce roughly equivalent sets of means, but do not cover as wide a range as probability. Extreme values such as always and certain fall at 98% and 95%, respectively, and impossible and never at 1%. The next step will be to offer codifications and see how satisfactory people find them.
MODERATING EFFECT OF SWITHCING COST ON RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED VALUE, SATISFACTION, TRUST ON LOYALITY OF YOUNG-AGE CUSTOMER IN TOKOPEDIA

The development of Internet has changed the way consumers purchase goods and services which lead to the rapid growth of e-commerce. In e-commerce, competition might occur in just one click, which raises a question whether the switching cost could be an obstacle for e-commerces in gaining customer loyalty. The purpose of this study is to analyze customer perceived value, customer satisfaction and trust on Tokopedia’s young customers with switching cost as moderator variable on customer loyalty. Customer satisfaction variable consists of five dimensions. There are customer services, order fulfillment, Ease of Use, Product portfolio and security and privacy. This research carried out on young Tokopedia customers living in Jakarta and Tangerang area. The data collection was done by distributing 300 questionnaires to under graduated students. Variables are measured with 5-point Likert scale. Validity testing using factor loading value of ≤ 0.6, Reliability test using the composite reliability with value ≥ 0.7, Cronbach's alpha> 0.7, and the average variance extracted > 0.50. In this study, there are seven hypotheses to be tested. The model fit and hypothesis testing will be done by using PLS analysis in SmartPLS 3.0 software. From seven hypotheses, 6 hypothesis are accepted and 1 hypothesis are rejected. The result findings suggest that Tokopedia management needs to take attention to customer satisfaction. Even though the customers are satisfied but it doesn’t lead them to be a loyalcustomers. Dimension of customer service and privacy showed a small mean value from the other dimensions. Tokopedia management should concern more to improve these dimension so can increase customer loyalty.
Bank Risk Factors and Changing Risk Exposures in the Pre- and Post-financial Crisis Periods: An Empirical Study for India

In this study, we measure and analyse the time-varying nature of risk exposures for the Indian banking industry using weekly bank-level data from 23 October 2004 to 1 August 2014. We extend the literature by studying credit, equity, interest rate and exchange rate risks following a more comprehensive framework. The study finds evidence that the risk exposures are time varying in nature and differ across banks with different characteristics. Equity risk and credit risk increase post the global financial crisis (GFC) while interest rate and exchange rate risk gets reduced. The capital market has a favourable view of small-sized, well-capitalized, well-diversified private sector banks. Furthermore, the results also show that asset size and ownership structure offer relevant information for differentiating banks regarding their riskiness. Large banks have more equity risk exposure; public sector banks have higher credit risks while private sector banks have greater interest rates and exchange rate risk exposure. The study offers valuable insights for the regulators, supervisors, policymakers, banking industry, bank managers, investors and academia. The main contribution is a better understanding of sources of banks’ risks and needs to enhance the supervisory process in the Basel framework.
Optimum Temperatures for Net Primary Productivity of Three Tropical Seagrass Species

Rising sea water temperature will play a significant role in responses of the world's seagrass meadows to climate change. In this study, we investigated seasonal and latitudinal variation (spanning more than 1,500 km) in seagrass productivity, and the optimum temperatures at which maximum photosynthesis and net productivity (for the leaf and the whole plant) occurs, for three seagrass species (Cymodocea serrulata, Halodule uninervis, and Zostera muelleri). To obtain whole plant net production, photosynthesis, and respiration rates of leaves and the root/rhizome complex were measured using oxygen-sensitive optodes in closed incubation chambers at temperatures ranging from 15 to 43°C. The temperature-dependence of photosynthesis and respiration was fitted to empirical models to obtain maximum metabolic rates and thermal optima. The thermal optimum (Topt) for gross photosynthesis of Z. muelleri, which is more commonly distributed in sub-tropical to temperate regions, was 31°C. The Topt for photosynthesis of the tropical species, H. uninervis and C. serrulata, was considerably higher (35°C on average). This suggests that seagrass species are adapted to water temperature within their distributional range; however, when comparing among latitudes and seasons, thermal optima within a species showed limited acclimation to ambient water temperature (Topt varied by 1°C in C. serrulata and 2°C in H. uninervis, and the variation did not follow changes in ambient water temperature). The Topt for gross photosynthesis were higher than Topt calculated from plant net productivity, which includes above- and below-ground respiration for Z. muelleri (24°C) and H. uninervis (33°C), but remained unchanged at 35°C in C. serrulata. Both estimated plant net productivity and Topt are sensitive to the proportion of below-ground biomass, highlighting the need for consideration of below- to above-ground biomass ratios when applying thermal optima to other meadows. The thermal optimum for plant net productivity was lower than ambient summer water temperature in Z. muelleri, indicating likely contemporary heat stress. In contrast, thermal optima of H. uninervis and C. serrulata exceeded ambient water temperature. This study found limited capacity to acclimate: thus the thermal optima can forewarn of both the present and future vulnerability to ocean warming during periods of elevated water temperature.
The Impact of Government Funded Initiatives on Charity Revenues

When a charity receives government funding does it undo the benefits of that funding by changing its behavior for the collection of revenues from other sources? Do donors change their behavior? In recent years, the classic question of understanding crowd out from the charity perspective has been studied by numerous authors. This paper explores the extent to which a government funded program for new charity initiatives crowds out revenue from other sources. We explore 11,000+ applications by more than 4,500 charities for funding over a 10-year period. We demonstrate that the revenues of the charity increase approximately 16% and that the effect of the grant extends several years. The results suggest a change in charity behavior that potentially may dampen the full effect and/or persistence of the government funding.
Influencing Factors of Successful Employment of e-Audit in The Audit Board of Republic Indonesia

Abstract: This study aims for examining the factors which influence the successful implementation of e-audit of The Audit Board of Republic Indonesia (BPK RI). This study employed approach of information system successful model of DeLone and McLean and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Sample in this research consisted of 70 auditors in Representative Office of The Audit Board of Republic Indonesia in East Java province. By employing analysis tool of Partial Least Square, result of the study proves empirically that system quality and facilitating condition have impact towards e-audit employment then the employment of e-audit has impact towards benefit of e-audit system implementation. I nformation quality, service quality and social influence do not have impact towards the employment of e-Audit.
Network Centrality Assessment (NCA) as an Alternative Approach to Predict Vehicular Traffic Volume: A Case of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

This paper presents a robust, dynamic and simplified method to predict vehicular traffic volume in urban and regional geographies based on Network Centrality Assessment (NCA). The case study was conducted in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Study employed three types of graphs and three kinds of analysis methods to compute network centrality referring to four centrality parameters; for identifying the predictability of vehicular traffic volume. Findings stress that, the road segments graph based on geo-metric analysis method and the natural roads graph based on topological analysis method is far better in predicting the vehicular traffic volume and it is more appropriate to consider the multiple influence from multiple centrality parameters predicting vehicle volumes rather than strict being into the single best parameter. Hence, study concludes that it is more appropriate to employ NCA considering the multiple influence from multiple centrality parameters based on geo-metric and topological analysis methods in predicting vehicle volumes.