Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sudden hearing loss in chronic hepatitis C patient suffering from Turner syndrome, treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin

Sudden hearing loss is a very rare complication of interferon–alpha treatment. At this time, hearing loss in patients treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin has only been described in two reports. We present a case of a 27-year-old patient who was diagnosed with Turner syndrome, treated for hepatitis C with pegylated interferon and ribavirin, and suffered from hearing loss during the 10th week of treatment. Audiometric examination revealed a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Auditory brainstem response (ABR) measures confirmed the diagnosis. We decided to comply with the patient's request to continue therapy, which only led to slight further deterioration of the patient's hearing ability. However, 18 months after the end of therapy a follow-up audiometric examination disclosed a bilateral SNHL.
Survey-based measures of software investment in the UK

This article summarises work carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) during 2005 to improve estimates of software investment, which makes up an increasing proportion of capital formation in National Accounts. The study has provided new estimates of own-account software investment; proposes an integrated approach to using surveys on software purchased by firms, and identifies areas in financial services and government where better data are required.
Cerebral blood flow velocity during neonatal seizures

AIM To determine if cerebral blood flow velocity increases during all types of neonatal seizure, and whether the effect is due solely to an increase in blood pressure, transmitted to the cerebral circulation when autoregulation is impaired. METHODS Seizures were diagnosed in 11 high risk neonates using cotside 16 channel video–EEG polygraphy. EEG, cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) using transcranial Doppler ultrasound, and arterial blood pressure (ABP) measurements were made. At least two 5–10 minute epochs of simultaneous measurements were performed on each infant. These epochs were then reviewed to eliminate artefacts, and one minute data periods containing a clear seizure onset were created. Each period contained 20 seconds before the seizure. Data periods without seizures from the same infants were also analysed and compared with seizure periods. RESULTS Four infants had purely electrographic seizures—without clinical manifestations. Six infants had electroclinical seizures. One infant displayed both seizure types. A random effects linear regression analysis was used to determine the effect of seizures on CBFV and ABP. A significant increase was found in mean CBFV in those periods containing seizures. The mean percentage change in velocity for all infants was 15.6%. Three infants showed a significant increase in mean ABP after seizures but the overall increase in ABP for all infants was not significant. CONCLUSION Electroclinical and electrographic neonatal seizures produce an increase in CBFV. In some infants the increase is not associated with an increase in blood pressure. These preliminary results suggest that electrographic seizures are associated with disturbed cerebral metabolism. Treatment of neonatal seizures until electrographic seizure activity is abolished may improve outcome for these infants.
Customer satisfaction and loyalty in Malaysian Islamic banks:a PAKSERV investigation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of PAKSERV measures on customer satisfaction and loyalty in the Malaysian Islamic banking context. Design/methodology/approach – The dimensionality of the PAKSERV scale is examined with confirmatory factor analysis. A survey approach is adopted to collect data from 300 Islamic banking customers in Kuching, Malaysia. Findings – Results reveal an excellent model fit for the PAKSERV scale in collectivist cultural context of Malaysia. All dimensions of PAKSERV are validated except reliability. The issue of non-validity of the reliability dimension in an Islamic banking context is explained by extant literature. Practical implications – Islamic banks are recommended to focus on all the PAKSERV scale dimensions to impart service quality. Given a collectivist cultural setting, a “network marketing” approach is recommended to maintain a desirable level of customer satisfaction and loyalty. Originality/value – The PAKSERV scale has been employed for the .
Special Issues Relating to Corporate Governance and Family Control

Control of corporate assets by wealthy families in economies lacking institutional integrity is common. It has negative implications on corporate governance and adverse macroeconomic effects when it extends across a sufficiently large part of the country's corporate sector. The authors consider the reasons why family control and control pyramids predominate in emerging market economies and in some industrial economies. They also discuss the reasons why widely held freestanding firms predominate in the United States. The authors discuss policies that countries might adopt to discourage family control pyramids, but caution that control pyramids are but one feature of an institutionally deficient economy. A concerted effort to improve a country's institutions is needed before diffuse ownership is desirable.
Predicting Student-Perceived Learning Outcomes and Satisfaction in ERP Courses: An Empirical Investigation

This article uses the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model (UTAUT) as the basis for the research framework to examine factors that influence student-perceived learning outcomes and satisfaction in enterprise resource planning (ERP) courses. Antecedent variables considered are student attitude, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, training (hands-on), course structure, and perceived instructor knowledge. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) using LISREL was employed to test the measurement and structural models using a convenience sample of 102 students enrolled in ERP courses. The results showed that student attitude had the largest significant direct impact on student-perceived learning outcomes and satisfaction. Effort expectancy and performance expectancy had significant direct impacts on attitude. Course structure and training (hands-on) had indirect effects on attitude through effort expectancy and performance expectancy. The findings suggest that, in order to impact student attitude and, thus, impact their perceived learning outcomes and satisfaction, instructors should emphasize the importance of learning about ERP systems and should provide clear directions so that students experience a meaningful interaction with ERP systems. Implications for practitioners and educators are
Repairing the Accruals Anomaly

We document how the effectiveness of an accruals-based trading strategy changes systematically with the financial health of the sample firms or with the benchmark used to identify an extreme accrual. Our refinements significantly improve the strategy's annual hedge return, and do so mostly because they improve the return earned on the long position in low accrual stocks. These results are important because recent evidence has shown that, absent these "repairs," the accrual strategy does not yield a significantly positive return in the long portion of the hedge portfolio. We also find that our new measure of accruals is not dependent on the presence or absence of special items and it identifies misvalued stocks just as well for loss firms as for gain firms, in contrast to the traditional accruals measure. Finally, we show that our repairs succeed where the traditional measure of accruals fails because they more effectively select firms where the difference between sophisticated and naive forecasts are the most extreme. As such, our results are consistent with Sloan's earnings fixation hypothesis and are inconsistent with some alternative explanations for the accrual anomaly.
Solving the Innovation Dilemma by Creating Organizational Think Tanks

In business venturing, the simultaneous activity of searching for hitherto unknown opportunities while pursuing already identified opportunities gives rise to high-tension and contradictory processes. This innovation dilemma presents a key managerial challenge to corporate entrepreneurship. To this dilemma the authors apply the exploration/exploitation framework and argue that a balance of the divergent organizational and managerial needs of these two activities can be achieved more efficiently and effectively in a network-like structure of organizations. They take a design-oriented approach and, as a solution to the innovation dilemma, argue the case for a centre of explorative excellence as both focal point and mediator in an inter-organizational network, which they call an ‘organizational think tank’.
After the Direct-acting Antivirals Are Gone, There Is Still Work to Be Done in the Liver.

76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 Hwithout hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common indication for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) worldwide. Recurrence of hepatitis C posttransplantation has been associated with accelerated graft loss and less frequently with the difficult to manage fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis. Historically, multiple strategies have been undertaken to prevent reinfection of the graft after OLT, but the toxicities of interferon made therapy for hepatitis C in a decompensated patient highly problematic. However, the all-oral direct-acting antiviral (DAA) era that began in December 2013 with the approval of sofosbuvir and ribavirin has revolutionized hepatitis C therapy in the transplant and nontransplant settings. The optimal management of the patient with hepatitis Crelated cirrhosis with or without transplant as an option remains problematic. Multiple strategies have been adopted, including DAA therapy to achieve a sustained virologic response (SVR) before and proceeding with OLT if no improvement, proceeding with OLT without therapy, treating hepatitis C to clear HCV RNA virus before OLT to minimize reinfection of the new graft, and no therapy if liver disease is advanced. All of these strategies have strengths and weaknesses depending on availability of DAAs, expected waiting time on the transplant list, as well as having the availability of OLT or not as an option. The report in this issue of Gastroenterology provides important insights into intrahepatic viral kinetics in patients with hepatitis C related cirrhosis who receive DAA therapy before OLT. Gambato et al measured HCV RNA in explants by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from 39 patients who received antiviral therapy before OLT. The clinical outcomes of these patients have been previously reported with 33 of 39 individuals achieving posttransplant virologic response (pTVR), and 6 patients relapsing after transplantation. They noted HCV RNA was still detected in explants by PCR testing in two-thirds of the individuals (22 of 33) who achieved pTVR as well as 4 of 6 individuals who relapsed after OLT. In the 39 individuals who had undetectable serum HCV RNA, a similar pTVR was achieved regardless of whether or not intrahepatic HCV RNA was detected. Only 6 of 39 individuals had completed antiviral therapy at the time of OLT and all of the patients included in this analysis had not yet achieved SVR, giving clinicians a window to the intrahepatic
Provitamin A Carotenoid-Biofortified Maize Consumption Increases Pupillary Responsiveness among Zambian Children in a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND Impaired dark adaptation is an early functional indicator of vitamin A deficiency that may be prevented by regular dietary intake of foods containing provitamin A carotenoids. OBJECTIVE We tested the impact of provitamin A carotenoid-biofortified maize consumption (∼15 μg β-carotene/g) on dark adaptation in Zambian children. METHODS We used a cluster-randomized trial of children aged 4-8 y (n = 1024) in Mkushi District, Zambia, and compared the regular consumption (2 meals/d, 6 d/wk for 6 mo) of biofortified orange maize (OM) to white maize (WM). The primary outcome was the serum retinol response. In a random sample (n = 542), we used a digital pupillometer to test pre- and postintervention responses to graded light stimuli (-2.9 to 0.1 log cd/m2) in a dark-adapted state. RESULTS At baseline, 11.7% of the children had serum retinol <0.7 μmol/L, 14.4% had impaired dark adaptation (pupillary threshold ≥ -1.11 log cd/m2), and 2.3% had night blindness. The mean ± SD pupillary responsiveness to light stimuli was poorer at baseline in the OM group (16.1% ± 6.6%) than the WM group (18.1% ± 6.4%) (P = 0.02) but did not differ at follow-up (OM: 17.6% ± 6.5%; WM: 18.3% ± 6.5%). Among children with serum retinol <1.05 μmol/L at baseline, there was greater improvement in pupillary responsiveness in the OM group (2.2%; 95% CI: 0.1%, 4.3%) than the WM group (0.2%; 95% CI: -1.1%, 1.5%; P = 0.01), but there were no differences in children with adequate baseline status. We found no effect of treatment on pupillary threshold or night blindness. CONCLUSIONS The regular consumption of provitamin A carotenoid-biofortified maize increased pupillary responsiveness among children with marginal or deficient vitamin A status, providing evidence of a functional benefit to consuming this biofortified crop. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01695148.
Staying with Initial Answers on Objective Tests: Is it a Myth?

Since 1928, at least 33 studies have been published concerning a number of issuessurrounding answer-changing behavior on objective tests. Although results in these studies have sometimes been at variance, the one consistent finding is that there is nothing inherently wrong with changing initial answers on objective tests. In fact, the evidence uniformly indicates that: (a) the majority of answer changes are from incorrect to correct and (b) most students who change their answers improve their test scores. None of the 33 studies contradicts either of those conclusions. Most of the research in this area has been aimed at testing the accuracy of "first impressions" in test-taking. This bit of academic folk wisdom is typically stated as the belief that one should not change answers on objective tests because initial reactions to test questions are intuitively more accurate than subsequent responses.
Structural seismic attributes of Auckland’s commercial building stock

As part of past hazard modelling projects in New Zealand, pilot studies have been performed to determine building typological information relevant to structural engineers and seismological hazard researchers. Relevant typological information includes construction material, structural configuration, age of the structure, number of stories, as well as the presence of structural vulnerabilities including parapets, geometric irregularities, pounding potential, and short column effects. The procurement of such typological information permits risk modellers to compose more accurate simulations, structural engineers to develop assessment and retrofit techniques for prototypical buildings, and for large asset owners to more precisely evaluate their risk profiles in comparison to the total building population. However, these studies have often been limited by the availability of structural plans and specifications and, in particular, efficient database storage of such relevant information on a large scale. Hence, many of these pilot studies have consisted mostly of visual inspections from street walks in a few specific cities within the country, with the data then being extrapolated to other cities in proportion to census data and commercial real estate figures. As territorial authorities, government agencies, and other large asset owners are responding to regulatory and market forces in the wake of the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes to assess and retrofit buildings determined to be particularly vulnerable to earthquakes, an opportunity exists to expand upon the knowledge of structural typologies within New Zealand’s commercial building stock. Two departments at Auckland Council – Building Control and Property – are currently engaging in proactive efforts to assess thousands of commercial and industrial buildings across the Auckland region. Auckland is expected to have the most varied building stock containing representative examples of nearly all types of buildings throughout New Zealand given that it houses one-third of the country’s population and has been isolated from major, infrastructure-destroying earthquakes such as other major New Zealand population centres have experienced in the past 150 years that have subsequently resulted in those areas having more homogenous building stocks today.
The multicultural organization

Executive Overview Organizations are becoming increasingly diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality. This diversity brings substantial potential benefits such as better decision making, greater creativity and innovation, and more successful marketing to different types of customers. But, increased cultural differences within a workforce also bring potential costs in higher turnover, interpersonal conflict, and communication breakdowns. To capitalize on the benefits of diversity while minimizing the potential costs, leaders are being advised to oversee change processes toward creating “multicultural” organizations. What are the characteristics of such an organization, and how do they differ from those of the post? What mechanisms are available to facilitate such a change? This article addresses these questions. It also describes a model for understanding the required features of a multicultural organizations and reviews tools that pioneering companies have found useful in changing organ.
Children with autism can track others' beliefs in a competitive game.

Theory of mind (ToM) development, assessed via 'litmus' false belief tests, is severely delayed in autism, but the standard testing procedure may underestimate these children's genuine understanding. To explore this, we developed a novel test involving competition to win a reward as the motive for tracking other players' beliefs (the 'Dot-Midge task'). Ninety-six children, including 23 with autism (mean age: 10.36 years), 50 typically developing 4-year-olds (mean age: 4.40) and 23 typically developing 3-year-olds (mean age: 3.59) took a standard 'Sally-Ann' false belief test, the Dot-Midge task (which was closely matched to the Sally-Ann task procedure) and a norm-referenced verbal ability test. Results revealed that, of the children with autism, 74% passed the Dot-Midge task, yet only 13% passed the standard Sally-Ann procedure. A similar pattern of performance was observed in the older, but not the younger, typically developing control groups. This finding demonstrates that many children with autism who fail motivationally barren standard false belief tests can spontaneously use ToM to track their social partners' beliefs in the context of a competitive game.
Audit Report Lag and Auditor Change: Evidence from Iran

One of the important objectives of corporate reporting is to provide information that will assist external users in decision making. This information, however, is required to be made available within a short period of time from the end of reported period. Objective of this study is to investigate audit report lag and auditor change in firms listed on Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). We use a correlation method and a multiple regression to test of hypothesis. Data collected from financial statements of firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange through 2002-2010. Findings of this research shows that, the determinant factors on audit report lag are , firm size, audit report type and auditor change from audit organization to private audit firms. In this study, we have not found any relation between audit report lag and financial leverage, profitability and Auditor change from a private audit firm to another private audit firm and audit report lag. This paper provides some important suggestions for both regulatory bodies and researchers. The results of this study suggest to assess the work quality of private audit firms by the Iranian auditing regulatory bodies.
Optimizing Service Productivity

To increase service productivity, many companies utilize automation extensively to reduce the use of labor. However, greater use of automation does not always result in higher service quality, and the effectiveness of automation in providing service hinges on how advanced the technology level is. Departing from the standard perspective in which productivity is simply treated as an output measure of firm performance, the authors propose service productivity as a strategic decision variable; that is, the firm manages the service productivity level to maximize profits. They develop a theory of optimal service productivity that explains when the optimal productivity level will be higher or lower and distinguishes between short-term effects of service productivity due to labor–automation trade-offs and long-term effects due to the advance of technology. The theory, together with the existing literature, inspires the development of three testable empirical hypotheses, which are confirmed using data from more than 700 service companies in two time periods. The research shows that service productivity should be lower when factors (e.g., higher profit margin, higher price) motivate the provision of better service quality and that service productivity should be higher when factors (e.g., higher market concentration, higher wages) discourage the provision of better service quality. The empirical results also provide preliminary evidence that large service companies may tend to be too productive relative to the optimal level and, if so, should place less emphasis (in the short run) on cost reduction through automation and more emphasis on service quality.
Genomic and Expression Analysis of the 3q25-q26 Amplification Unit Reveals TLOC1/SEC62 as a Probable Target Gene in Prostate Cancer

Gain at chromosome 3q25-q26 has been reported to commonly occur in prostate cancer. To map the 3q25-q26 amplification unit and to identify the candidate genes of amplification, we did fluorescence in situ hybridization and quantitative real-time PCR for gene copy number and mRNA expression measurements in prostate cancer cell lines and prostate cancer samples from radical prostatectomy specimens. The minimal overlapping region of DNA copy number gains in the cell lines could be narrowed down to 700 kb at 3q26.2. Of all positional and functional candidates in this region, the gene TLOC1/SEC62 revealed the highest frequency (50%) of copy number gains in the prostate cancer samples and was found to be up-regulated at the mRNA level in all samples analyzed. TLOC1/Sec62 protein was also shown to be overexpressed by Western blot analysis. Intriguingly, the TLOC1/SEC62 gene copy number was increased in prostate tumors from patients who had a lower risk of and a longer time to progression following radical prostatectomy. These findings make TLOC1/SEC62 the best candidate within the 3q amplification unit in prostate cancer. TLOC1/Sec62 protein is a component of the endoplasmic reticulum protein translocation machinery, whose function during prostate carcinogenesis remains to be determined. (Mol Cancer Res 2006;4(3):169–76)