Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The usefulness of 99mTc-tetrofosmin SPECT scintimammography in the detection of small size primary breast carcinomas.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of supine 99mTc-tetrofosmin SPECT in the detection of small size breast carcinomas (BC), for which planar scintimammography has showed a low sensitivity. We studied 93 patients with breast lesions </=10 mm, 69 with BC (14 T1a and 55 T1b, 39 palpable and 30 non-palpable) and 24 with benign lesions (16 palpable and 8 non-palpable). All patients had previously undergone clinical examination and mammography. Ten min after 740 MBq 99mTc-tetrofosmin i.v. injection, both planar and SPECT (360 degrees; angular step: 3 degrees; acquisition time/frame: 30 sec) scintimammography were performed in all patients using a rectangular dual head gamma camera equipped with HR parallel-hole collimators. In all patients the scintigraphic data were related to histology. In the 69 BC patients, SPECT showed a significantly higher overall sensitivity than planar (89.8% vs. 46.4%; p<0.0005). SPECT gave a higher sensitivity than planar in both T1a (71.4% vs. 35.7%) and T1b (94.5% vs. 49.1%) carcinomas, and in the latter the difference was statistically significant (p<0.0005). SPECT sensitivity was also significantly higher in palpable (94.9% vs. 48.7%; p<0.0005) and non-palpable (83.3% vs. 43.3%; p<0.005) carcinomas. SPECT and planar imaging showed the same specificity (95.8%). SPECT showed a significantly higher overall negative predictive value and accuracy than planar (76.7% vs. 38.3% and 91.4% vs. 59.1%, respectively; p<0.0005). In our series mammography sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 94, 36.8 and 81.4%, respectively. 99mTc-tetrofosmin SPECT is a widely available diagnostic method and appears highly accurate in the detection of small size BC, improving the low sensitivity of planar scintimammography. In particular, SPECT seems indicated for T1b carcinoma detection, although its usefulness in T1a carcinomas should not be ignored. A larger clinical application of SPECT as complementary tool to mammography is suggested in small size primary BC diagnosis.
CyberKnife stereotactic radiotherapy as monotherapy for low- to intermediate-stage prostate cancer: early experience, feasibility, and tolerance.

PURPOSE The CyberKnife (CK), a linear accelerator mounted on a robotic device, enables excellent dose conformation to the target and minimizes dose to surrounding normal tissue. It is a very suitable device for performing hypofractionated stereotactic body radiotherapy as monotherapy for low- to intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients. We report our early experience using this technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between June 2008 and June 2009, 10 patients underwent CK monotherapy as treatment for their prostate cancer (stage <or=T2b, Gleason score (GS) <or=7, initial PSA <or=15 microg/L). The prescribed dose was 38 Gy in four daily fractions of 9.5 Gy. The International Prostate Symptom Score and Radiation Therapy Oncology Group symptom scale were prospectively administered before and at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 months. RESULTS Median age of the patients was 71 years (range, 66-76). Three patients had stage T2a and 7a T1c disease, one patient had GS of 7, and all others had GS of 6. Median follow-up was 5.1 months. Median initial PSA was 8.3 ng/mL (range, 1.3-13.6 ng/mL). Median planning target volume delineated on computed tomography after matching with the magnetic resonance imaging scan was 107 cc (range, 42-158 cc). The median V100 of the prostate was 95.8% (range, 94.8-97.2). The D95 of the prostate was 38.3 Gy (range, 38.1-38.8 Gy). The constraints for the bladder, rectum, and urethra were well met. The International Prostate Symptom Scores after 3 months were stable compared with the pretreatment scores. Urinary and bowel Radiation Therapy Oncology Group symptoms were mild and within the expected levels. CONCLUSIONS This regimen of stereotactic CK monotherapy for low- to intermediate-risk prostate cancer with excellent dose coverage of the prostate was well tolerated. Data collection is ongoing for further assessment of toxicity and PSA response.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Induced Hematopoietic Inhibition Is Independent of Productive Infection of Progenitor Cells In Vivo

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals exhibit a variety of hematopoietic dysfunctions. The SCID-hu mouse (severe combined immunodeficient mouse transplanted with human fetal thymus and liver tissues) can be used to model the loss of human hematopoietic precursor cell function following HIV infection and has a distinct advantage in that data can be obtained in the absence of confounding factors often seen in infected humans. In this study, we establish that HIV type 1 (HIV-1) bearing a reporter gene inserted into the viralvpr gene is highly aggressive in depleting human myeloid and erythroid colony-forming precursor activity in vivo. Human CD34+ progenitor cells can be efficiently recovered from infected implants yet do not express the viral reporter gene, despite severe functional defects. Our results indicate that HIV-1 infection alone leads to hematopoietic inhibition in vivo; however, this effect is due to indirect mechanisms rather than to direct infection of CD34+ cells in vivo.
Anger Management and Factors that Influence Anger in Physicians

Objective: There are limited data regarding anger and its management with respect to physicians and many other professionals. Our objective was to evaluate anger expression and control in physicians. Material and Methods: The physicians of the Duzce School of Medicine were the participants in the study. Physicians were assigned to either an internal medicine or a surgery study group. Each group contained physicians from several specialties. The Spielberger State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, and the Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventories were administered to all participants. The physicians (n=158) were evaluated and compared with controls (n=105) in terms of anger control and sociodemographic variables. Results: Anger-control scores were higher in physicians (pl0.01) and in those who willingly chose the medical profession (pl0.05). Age, number of years as a physician, and the specialty were negatively correlated with anger management in physicians working in the surgical disciplines (pl0.01). Only Beck anxiety and depression scores were positively correlated with anger-trait scores and anger-in scores for physicians working in the internal medicine disciplines (pl0.01). Conclusion: Physicians were relatively successful in coping with anger. A willingness to choose the medical profession was a factor influencing anger control. Age was the major factor affecting anger management in physicians.
Accounting for the Choice of Exchange Rate Regimes

I study how the countries choose their exchange rate regime, specifically, whether to fix or float. I propose a model in which the policymaker must consider how each arrangement impacts growth and inflation. Because there is uncertainty about this, the model allows the policymaker learns it from his own experience as well as from others. As result, the model is able to generate intuitive connections between the choices and some associated economic variables, in addition to predict well the observed data.
Co-Production of Bisphenylpropanoid Amides and Meroterpenes by an Endophytic Penicillium brasilianum Found in the Root Bark of Melia azedarach

A fungus, isolated from the root bark of Melia azedarach (Meliaceae), from which a series of meroterpenes have been reported, was identified as Penicillium brasilianum based on analysis of the ITS region of ribosomal DNA. From a rice culture of this fungus, the known phenylpropanoid amides brasiliamide A and B were obtained together with and a new, slightly modified congener, along with the meroterpenoids preaustinoid A1, preaustinoid B2 and austinolide. The compounds were isolated by the use of combined chromatographic procedures and identified by physical methods, mainly 1D and 2D NMR experiments, with distinction for 1H{15N} HMBC applied to brasiliamide A. The amides were tested for their antimicrobial activity and showed only weak inhibitory effects, against a set of pathogenic bacteria
Macroeconomic Instability and Corporate Failure: The Role of the Legal System

We examine how macroeconomic instability affects risk of bankruptcy and liquidation. In periods of macroeconomic instability more firms become financially distressed, while the number of potential acquirers falls. Reorganization systems such as Chapter 11 can decouple liquidation from macroeconomic conditions. We develop a model in which a firm's bankruptcy and acquisition hazards are co-determined by firm-level and sector-level factors, and by macroeconomic conditions. As a control, we also estimate the model for the UK, which is an economy without an equivalent system to Chapter 11. Differences in the responsiveness of bankruptcy to instability are largely attributable to reorganization under Chapter 11.
Polymorphisms in the β2‐adrenoreceptor gene are associated with decreased airway responsiveness

There are a number of candidate genes thought to play a role in the development of asthma. Polymorphisms at amino acid positions 16 (arginine to glycine) and 27 (glutamine to glutamic acid) of the β2‐adrenoreceptor (B2AR) gene are known to be functionally relevant and have been associated with more severe forms of asthma, nocturnal asthma and decreased airway responsiveness in asthmatic subjects.
A Comparison of the Effects of Objective and Perceived Land Use on Travel Behavior

Planning and medical studies have independently evaluated the effects of land use on travel behavior. Focusing on actual land use, planning studies have measured the impacts of land use. This study analyzes the effects of two land use factors—objective and perceived land use. It develops a structural equation model in which the land use factors have multiple relationships with travel behavior, and then modifies the model to consider different travel behaviors reflecting varying travel purposes: commuting, shopping, and leisure. The three purpose-specific models are tested in Seoul, Korea, using recent geographic information system and travel survey data. The results indicate that the strongest variable is the same as reported in planning, but at the factor level, the relative strengths of the factors differ according to travel purposes. The findings are explained by qualitative aspects of land use that affect shopping and leisure travel, including perceived land use.
Evaluating the Green Revolution after a decade: a Swaziland case study

This paper analyses the impact of the Komati Pilot Project (KPP) upon members and their neighbours. The KPP was a Government of Swaziland (GoS)-financed irrigation scheme that enabled 43 subsistence and semi-subsistence farmers to change from rain-fed maize and cotton to irrigated sugar cane. It provides an opportunity to evaluate the impact of Green Revolution technology upon an African rural community where adopters and non-adopters live close together and where little income differentiation existed prior to the development because the common experience was poverty. A baseline survey of the KPP was carried out in 1997 in advance of the Komati Downstream Development Project. Of concern are the extent and direction of any trickle-down effects from the KPP participants for their neighbours and the consequences of any such impacts 10 years after the project started producing sugar cane. The expectation of the GoS was that sugar cane would benefit KPP participants and neighbours creating a multiplier effect through increased demand for services and increased demand for agricultural labour. Ten years later, these expectations are unrealized.
d‐Dimer testing to predict recurrence risk in venous thromboembolism: looking for a useful threshold: a rebuttal

1 Hoekstra T, Geleijnse JM, Schouten EG, Kluft C. Plasminogen activator inhibitor-type 1 in plasma; its determinants and relation with cardiovascular risk. Thromb Haemost 2004; 91: 861–72. 2 Boekholdt SM, Bijsterveld NR, Moons AHM, Levi M, Büller HR, Peters RJG. Genetic variation in coagulation and fibrinolytic proteins and their relation with acute myocardial infarction. Circulation 2001; 104: 3063–8. 3 Iacoviello L, Burzotta F, Di Castelnuovo A, Zito F, Marchioli R, Donati MB. The 4G/5G polymorphism of PAI-1 promoter gene and the risk of myocardial infarction: a meta-analysis. Thromb Haemost 1998; 80: 1029–30. 4 Gardemann A, Lohre J, Katz N, Tillmanns H, Hehrlein FW, HaberboschW. The 4G4G genotype of the plasminogen activator inhibitor 4G/5G gene polymorphism is associated with coronary atherosclerosis in patients at high risk for this disease. Thromb Haemost 1999; 82: 1121–6. 5 van de Vijver LPL, Kardinaal AFM, van DuyvenvoordeW, Kruijssen DACM, Grobbee DE, vanPoppel G, Princen HMG. LDL oxidation and extent of coronary atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 1998; 18: 193–9. 6 Verhoef P, Kok FJ, Kruyssen DACM, Schouten EG,Witteman JCM, Grobbee DE, Ueland PM, Refsum H. Plasma total homocysteine, B vitamins, and risk of coronary atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 1997; 17: 989–95. 7 van Poppel G, van de Vijver LPL, Kosmeyer-Schuil T, Johanns ESD, Kardinaal AFM, vandeBovenkamp P, Kruyssen DACM, Kok FJ. Plasma oxysterols and angiographically determined coronary atherosclerosis: a case–control study. Biomarkers 1997; 2: 373–8. 8 Humphries SE, Green FR, Temple A, Dawson S, Henney A, Kelleher CH, Wilkes H, Meade TW, Wiman B, Hamsten A. Genetic factors determining thrombosis and fibrinolysis. Ann Epidemiol 1992; 2: 371– 85. 9 Roest M, van der Schouw YT, Banga JD, Tempelman MJ, de-Groot PG, Sixma JJ, Grobbee DE. Plasminogen activator inhibitor 4G polymorphism is associated with decreased risk of cerebrovascular mortality in older women. Circulation 2000; 101: 67–70. 10 Margaglione M, Grandone E, Cappucci G, Colaizzo D, Giuliani N, Vecchione G, dAddedda M, Di Minno G. An alternative method for PAI-1 promoter polymorphism (4G/5G) typing. Thromb Haemost 1997; 77: 605–6. 11 Wilson PW, D’Agostino RB, Levy D, Belanger AM, Silbershatz H, Kannel WB. Prediction of coronary heart disease using risk factor categories. Circulation 1998; 97: 1837–47. 12 Doggen CJM, Bertina RM, Manger Cats V, Reitsma PH, Rosendaal FR. The 4G/5G polymorphism in the plasminogen activator inhibitor1 gene is not associated with myocardial infarction. Thromb Haemost 1999; 82: 115–20.
Regional Ecology and Agrarian Development in England and France

This paper owes much to the research and helpful advice of George Grantham, E. L. Jones, Peter Lindert, and Joel Mokyr. I am deeply indebted to them for sharing advice and data. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Seminar on Urbanization and Demography in History, International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (Tokyo, 1986), and the All-University of California Economic History Conference on Pre-industrial Developments in Peasant Economies (Pasadena, Calif., 1987). I am grateful to the organizers of both conferences for the opportunity to vent these ideas and receive helpful criticism. Errors, of course, remain my responsibility. FROM the vitriolic comments of agricultural reformer Arthur Young in the eighteenth century to the recent debates over the work of Robert Brenner,l discussions of the &dquo;backwardness&dquo; of early modern French agriculture, compared to English practice, have had a long history. Yet the question is wrongly posed if comparisons are made between England and France as wholes. England and France each comprised a number of distinct agricultural regions, with different rates of progress. Examining agricultural change over the early modem period on a regional basis reveals striking patterns of opportunities and constraints, easily overlooked in national-level analyses. Brenner has argued that demographic and neo-classical economic models of agrarian development cannot explain the divergence of English and French agriculture-after all, from 1500 to 1800 these countries’ demographic and price trends were roughly similar, but their agrarian regimes diverged. Brenner finds the source of this divergence in differences in state power and class relations. He claims that the English state favored large landowners, whereas the French state protected the small cultivator more effectively. Thus, English landlords were able to squeeze out smallholders and enclose
Exploring the Marketing Program Antecedents of Performance in a Global Company

As the era of globalization continues to manifest through the emergence of global companies, the use of marketing programs in these firms has become increasingly important. This research examines global marketing program–related factors, their drivers, and their performance consequences. The global marketing program, as the authors conceptualize it, consists of three key factors: global marketing strategy, global marketing structure, and global marketing processes. The authors develop and test an empirical model to portray the application of the global marketing program factors with respect to product standardization and product processes. As such, global customer convergence and leadership's global orientation have significant, positive effects on global product standardization and global marketing structure. The authors find that global product standardization and global marketing structure drive the implementation of global product processes, which are positively related to marketing performance.
Managerial ownership and firm performance: an analysis using switching simultaneous-equations models

This paper uses a switching simultaneous-equations model to examine the relation between managerial ownership and firm performance. The model includes a multinomial logit for the firm's choice among three regimes of large-block ownership, which can be argued as the choice among different degrees of controlling-minority structures, and three simultaneous-equations systems of managerial ownership and performance for each ownership regime. The paper argues that the choice of ownership regimes is the firm's endogenous decision as a reflection of the firm-specific organizational and transactional attributes, and hence the impact of managerial ownership on performance varies across firms belonging to different regimes. Empirical results show that family involvement in the management and significant related-party transactions are important factors to determine the firm's choice of ownership regimes. Evidence also indicates that the patterns of the relation between managerial ownership and firm performance, in the sense that the inflection points for the impact of managerial ownership turning from positive to negative, are markedly different across ownership regimes. Interpretations consistent with the endogeneity of managerial ownership are provided.
The meta Taylor rule

We characterize U.S. monetary policy within a generalized Taylor rule framework that accommodates uncertainties about the duration of policy regimes and the specification of the rule, in addition to the standard parameter and stochastic uncertainties inherent in traditional Taylor rule analysis. Our approach involves estimation and inference based on Taylor rules obtained through standard linear regression methods, but combined using Bayesian model averaging techniques. Employing data that were available in real time, the estimated version of the “meta” Taylor rule provides a flexible but compelling characterization of monetary policy in the United States over the last 40 years.
Managerial Strategies, Labour and Employment Relations and the State: the Canadian Case and Beyond

This paper addresses : (1) the extent to which changes appear to have occurred in managerial strategies and labour and employment relations in Canadian firms during the 1980s and early 1990s, and (2) the role of the State relative to anonymous economic forces in accounting for Canadian developments. The general findings are that, while there were a number of significant changes, these were more moderate than expected by «transformation» theory; furthermore, the Canadian case is consistent with the argument that State actions play a major role relative to more anonymous economic «forces» in accounting for developments in labour and employment relations. It also suggests an alternative model to that typically assumed by transformation theory, one in which State policies and economic conditions are considered to be important not only for their direct effects on employer policies, but also for their indirect effects through their implications for worker expectations and union militancy. Although these conclusions are tentative and call for more systematic, comparative research, they are consistent with arguments by M. Burawoy and others that State actions can serve as an important source of labour regulation at the level of the firm
Disclosure Level and Expected Cost of Equity Capital: An Examination of Analysts' Rankings of Corporate Disclosure and Alternative Methods of Estimating Expected Cost of Equity Capital

This paper examines the association between expected cost of equity capital and three types of disclosure (annual report, quarterly and other published reports, and investor relations). Our sample consists of 3,620 firm/year observations with Value Line data, which are also included in the AIMR's Annual Reviews of Corporate Reporting Practices dated from 1985/86 through 1995/96. The disclosure rankings produced by the AIMR are employed to proxy for disclosure level. In addition, we examine four alternative estimates of expected cost of equity capital: one produced by the classical dividend discount formula (rDIV); one produced by the EBO valuation model and employed in Botosan (1997) (rEBO); one produced by a finite horizon specification of the Gordon growth model and employed in Gordon and Gordon (1997) (rGORDON); and one produced by the approach described in Gebhardt, Lee and Swaminathan (1999) (rGLS). We find that rEBO estimates are highly correlated with and economically similar to the theoretically correct rDIV estimates. rGORDON estimates are also highly correlated with rDIV, however the estimates produced by this approach significantly understate cost of equity capital. Finally, rGLS estimates are not highly correlated with rDIV and significantly understate cost of equity capital. We find that cost of equity capital is decreasing in annual report disclosure level. The magnitude of the difference in cost of equity capital between the most and least forthcoming firms is approximately %BD - 1% points. These results confirm and extend the results of Botosan (1997) to include larger, more heavily followed firms, across a diverse group of industries, over a number of years. Surprisingly, we find a positive association between cost of equity capital and the level of more timely disclosures, such as the quarterly report. The magnitude of the difference in cost of equity capital between the most and least forthcoming firms is approximately 1 - 2% points. This result, while contrary to that predicted by theory, is consistent with managers' claims that greater timely disclosures increase cost of equity capital, possibly through increased stock price volatility. Finally, we find no association between cost of equity capital and the level of investor relations activities. Based on our results we conclude that aggregating across different types of disclosure results in a loss of information and potentially erroneous conclusions.