Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Systematic review of long-acting injectables versus oral atypical antipsychotics on hospitalization in schizophrenia

Abstract Objective: To assess the impact of long-acting injectables (LAIs) versus oral antipsychotics (OAs) on hospitalizations among patients with schizophrenia by conducting a systematic literature review of studies with different study designs and performing a meta-analysis. Methods: Using the PubMed database and major psychiatric conference proceedings, a systematic literature review for January 2000 to July 2013 was performed to identify English-language studies evaluating schizophrenia patients treated with atypical antipsychotics. Studies reporting hospitalization rates as a percentage of patients hospitalized or as the number of hospitalizations per person per year were selected. The primary meta-analysis assessed the percentage decrease in hospitalization rates before and after treatment initiation for matched time periods. The secondary meta-analysis assessed the absolute rate of hospitalization during follow-up. Pooled treatment-effect estimates were calculated using random-effects models. To account for differences in patient and study-level characteristics between studies, meta-regression analyses were used. Subset analyses further explored the heterogeneity across study designs. Results: Fifty-eight studies evaluating 25 arms (LAIs: 13 arms, 4516 patients; OAs: 12 arms, 23,516 patients) in the primary meta-analysis and 78 arms (LAIs: 12 arms, 4481 patients; OAs: 66 arms, 96,230 patients) in the secondary meta-analysis were identified. Reduction in hospitalization rates for LAIs was 20.7 percentage points higher than that of OAs (random-effects estimates: LAIs = 56.2% vs. OAs = 35.5%, P = 0.023). Controlling for patient and study characteristics, the adjusted percentage reduction in hospitalization rates for LAIs was 26.4 percentage points higher than for OAs (95% CI: 3.3–49.5, P = 0.027). As for the secondary meta-analysis, no significant difference between LAIs and OAs was observed (random-effects estimate: −8.6, 95% CI: −18.1–1.0, P = 0.077). Subset analyses across type of study yielded consistent results. Limitations of this analysis include the long observation period, which may not reflect current treatment patterns, the use of all-cause hospitalization, which may not be solely related to schizophrenia, and the fact that most studies in the LAI cohort evaluated risperidone. Conclusion: The primary results of this meta-analysis, including studies with both interventional and non-interventional designs and using meta-regressions, suggest that LAIs are associated with higher reductions in hospitalization rates for schizophrenia patients compared to OAs.
Comparison of TLR-2, TLR-4, and antimicrobial peptide levels in different lesions of acne vulgaris

Abstract Context: Recent studies have shown that tolls like receptors (TLRs) and antimicrobial peptides (hBD-1, cathelicidin) play an important role in the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris (AV). Objective: To evaluate and report the expression of TLR-2, TLR-4, hBD-1 and cathelicidin in different regions of skin in AV. Participants: This study was performed in 80 patients with AV and a control group of 20 healthy individuals. Material and methods: Skin biopsies were performed from 20 papular, 20 pustular, 20 comedonal and 20 nodular lesions of patients and 20 healthy volunteers. Expression levels of TLR-2, TLR-4, hBD-1 and cathelicidin in four separate areas (epidermis, dermis, inflammation region and skin appendages) were evaluated by immunohistochemical method. Further, these parameters were compared between different skin lesions. Results: A significant difference was found between the levels of staining of TLR-2, TLR-4 and hBD-1 from the epidermis, inflammation region, dermis and skin appendages (p < 0.05). Levels of cathelicidin were different in only the inflammation region (p < 0.05). The level of TLR-2 in the epidermis with nodules was lower than the papules and comedones (p < 0.05). Levels of TLR-2 in the inflammation and dermis of the cases with papules were significantly higher when compared to pustules (p < 0.05). The levels of staining of TLR-4 in the dermis with comedones were significantly lower compared to the cases with papules (p < 005). The level of hBD-1 in the epidermis region of comedones was significantly higher compared to nodules (p < 0.05). The expression of cathelicidin in the inflammation region of comedones was significantly low (p < 0.05). Conclusion: It is thought that TLR-2, TLR-4, hBD-1 and cathelicidin play an important role in the pathogenesis of AV and in the development of different acne types. We think that, better results could be obtained in treatment of AV with different treatment options targeted in regulation of TLR-2, TLR-4, hBD-1 and cathelicidin release.
Plaque Fluoride Concentrations Are Dependent on Plaque Calcium Concentrations

Despite the 1,000-fold difference between the fluoride concentrations ([F]) in dentifrices and fluoridated drinking water, clinical and epidemiological studies have shown that they have similar cariostatic effects. This double-blind, crossover study was done to determine whether the [F] in dental plaque is related more to the [F] of the dentifrice used or to the plaque concentrations of calcium and magnesium. The subjects (n = 13) were adults and residents of a city served with fluoridated drinking water. After 1 week of using a fluoridated dentifrice (940 ppm) or a placebo dentifrice, whole saliva and plaque were collected 1.0 h and approximately 12 h after the last use of the dentifrices. The average salivary [F] after brushing with the F dentifrice was higher than after using the placebo. The average plaque [F] 1.0 h after brushing with the F dentifrice was higher than after using the placebo (p < 0.01), but the difference at 12 h was not significant. Plaque [Ca] and [F] were directly related under all experimental conditions (p = 0.0001). The relationships between plaque [Mg] and [F] were weaker and inconsistent. Based on these findings and reports in the literature it is concluded that, for persons whose drinking water is fluoridated, plaque [F] throughout much of the day is not significantly increased by the use of a fluoridated dentifrice. Instead they are directly related to plaque [Ca]. These findings offer at least a partial explanation for why fluoridated dentifrices and drinking water have similar cariostatic effects.
Histopathologic correlates of white matter changes on MRI in Alzheimer's disease and normal aging

Article abstract—We investigated the histopathologic correlates of white matter changes in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients (n = 6) and controls (n = 9) using postmortem MRT. White matter changes were rated on a 0 to 3 scale in 51 regions. Histopathologically, we subjectively rated the loss of myelinated axons in the deep and periventricular white matter, denudation of the ventricular ependyma, gliosis, width of the perivascular spaces, and leptomeningeal con-gophilic angiopathy; we measured structural changes in the walls of the blood vessels in the white matter in micrometers. The AD brains displayed significantly more white matter hyperintensities on MRI than controls. Histopathologically, the denudation of the ventricular ependyma and the gliosis were significantly more severe in AD than in controls, and there was a trend toward more loss of myelinated axons in the deep white matter in the AD brains (p = 0.07). The MRI abnormalities correlated with the loss of myelinated axons in the deep white matter (r‘ = 0.37; p <0.01) and with the denudation of the ventricular lining (r’ = 0.54; p <0.01). We could not find any evidence for arteriolosclerosis, but the mean thickness of the adventitia of the arteries of the deep white matter in AD almost doubled the value in control brains (p = 0.0009). We conclude that white matter abnormalities in AD patients and controls consist of loss of myelinated axons, probably caused by arterial changes and breakdown of the ventricular lining. Since imaginghistopathologic correlation was similar in AD patients and controls, these changes probably represent some form of accelerated aging.
Three Essays on Microeconomics: Bounded Rationality, Choice Procedures and Customer Loyalty

Rational choice theory is the benchmark for Economics to model individual choice behavior because the utility function allows a practical representation of decision making. In reality, however, people do not always satisfy the consistency conditions imposed by the theory. Many common behaviors are then excluded, even if they are a form of bounded rationality. The first part of this PhD Thesis is devoted to the formal characterization of specific choice behaviors where the agent has limited capabilities and may be affected by a cognitive bias. Chapter 1 examines the choice behavior of an agent who faces incomparable alternatives. Two classic properties are weakened: completeness and transitivity of preferences. Several representation theorems are proposed. Chapter 2 focuses on the choice from lists when the agent can partially consider the available options. The structured presentation of alternatives highlights a possible limited attention. This choice behavior is rationalized and practical identification of individual parameters are investigated. In the second part, this PhD Thesis analyzes the determinants of customer loyalty with an econometric study based on real data from a distributor of office supplies. Chapter 3 focuses on the factors that influence repeat purchases by a consumer, that is his Customer Lifetime Duration. The effects of the purchase behavior and loyalty program on the survival of new customers are estimated. The effectiveness of the incentive system is evaluated.
Attitudes toward Star Ratings: Generational Differences among Indian Consumers

ABSTRACT This study examined generational discrepancies among Indian Gen X and Millennial consumers' attitude toward online star ratings. The results show online star rating involvement has an impact on perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of star ratings as well as the intention to use online ratings for both generations. However, Millennial consumers find star ratings to be user-friendly, but there is no effect on their attitude toward star ratings. The results also indicate that high star ratings have an effect on Gen Xers' attitudes, while Millennials find that low star ratings have an impact on their attitudes. In addition, Gen Xers rely on low star ratings while Millennials prefer to use high star ratings for intention to use. For managerial suggestions, e-commerce retailers may focus on a product quality indicator such as star ratings for Millennials. However, for Gen Xers, more descriptive information can be more effective.
Towards a Stronger Covalent Bond: Pedagogical Change for Inclusivity and Equity.

We describe progress on a comprehensive, programmatic change initiative whose goal is to create an inclusive culture that fosters diversity and a shift towards more meaningful, consequential work. While this initiative has several elements that target different aspects of unit practices and culture, we focus here on pedagogical change. Our design-based implementation research approach involves a continually interacting set of components, including: theory, implementation, and data collection, analysis and interpretation. We show how the threads of identity, academic success and professional formation in the core chemical engineering curriculum can be intentionally interwoven to form a network of practices that fosters student achievement (one atom in the covalent bond) as well as diversity and social justice (another atom).
Hybridization and polyploidy as drivers of continuing evolution and speciation in Sorbus

Interspecific hybridization and polyploidy are pivotal processes in plant evolution and speciation. The fate of new hybrid and polyploid taxa is determined by their ability to reproduce either sexually or asexually. Hybrids and allopolyploids with odd chromosome numbers are frequently sterile but some establish themselves through asexual reproduction (vegetative or apomixis). This allows novel genotypes to become established by isolating them from gene flow and leads to complex patterns of variation. The genus Sorbus is a good example of taxonomic complexity arising from the combined effects of hybridization, polyploidy and apomixis. The Avon Gorge in South‐west Britain contains the greatest diversity of Sorbus in Europe, with three endemic species and four putative endemic novel hybrids among its 15 native Sorbus taxa. We used a combination of nuclear microsatellite and chloroplast DNA markers to investigate the evolutionary relationships among these Sorbus taxa within the Avon Gorge. We confirm the genetic identity of putative novel taxa and show that hybridization involving sexual diploid species, primarily S. aria and S. torminalis and polyploid facultative apomictic species from subgenus Aria, has been responsible for generating this biodiversity. Importantly our data show that this creative evolutionary process is ongoing within the Avon Gorge. Conservation strategies for the rare endemic Sorbus taxa should therefore consider all Sorbus taxa within the Gorge and must strive to preserve this evolutionary process rather than simply the individual rare taxa that it produces.
An Empirical Assessment of Public Policy Communications in Central Region of Vietnam

Communication is the object of policy, as witnessed in the efforts by government and non-government agencies to inform and educate various publics about problems in society. Effective public policy communications are an important tool to help achieve the policy’s objectives. It is imperative that transparency and proactive public policy communications continue to be the anchors of the current working agenda in most of developing countries’ government. The public policy communications in Central Region of Vietnam have been characterized by unpredictable patterns of policy adoption, the geographical distance, and the economic disparity as compared to the capital city of Hanoi. To fill in this academic gap, this paper identified the factors that consist of the public policy communication on the basis of literature review. The conceptual framework was developed and revised in order to lay the theoretical grounds. Based on this, questionnaire was developed for data collection in major locations in Central Vietnam. Multivariate data analysis techniques such as Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and multiple regressions were used to gauge the impacts of possible factors on the public policy communication as perceived from citizen-level perspective in Central Vietnam. Recommendations and implications were drawn to strengthen public policy communication strategies in Central region of Vietnam.
Analysis of Landform and Land Cover: Potentials for Urban Biodiversity Conservation against Rising Temperatures

ABSTRACT Landform diversity has been identified as one means to support biodiversity in the face of rising temperatures. The aim of this research is to show methods forresearchers to measure the capability of urban landscapes in safeguardingfauna against the impacts of rising temperatures. A case study of Wellington, New Zealand, shows that 1276 ha of the landscape under study consist of south-facing slopescapable of supporting fauna that are historically adapted to the cool climatic conditions. Approximately 425 ha of this area have an overlap with indigenous land cover classes that are believed to be primary habitats for fauna.
Source Similarity and Social Media Health Messages: Extending Construal Level Theory to Message Sources

Social media users post messages about health goals and behaviors to online social networks. Compared with more traditional sources of health communication such as physicians or health journalists, peer sources are likely to be perceived as more socially close or similar, which influences how messages are processed. This experimental study uses construal level theory of psychological distance to predict how mediated health messages from peers influence health-related cognition and behavioral intention. Participants were exposed to source cues that identified peer sources as being either highly attitudinally and demographically similar to or different from participants. As predicted by construal level theory, participants who perceived sources of social media health messages as highly similar listed a greater proportion of beliefs about the feasibility of health behaviors and a greater proportion of negative beliefs, while participants who perceived sources as more dissimilar listed a greater proportion of positive beliefs about the health behaviors. Results of the study could be useful in determining how health messages from peers could encourage individuals to set realistic health goals.
A Tale of Two Countries: A Story of the French and US Polarization

This study investigates job polarization in the United States and in France. In the data, the dynamics of employment shares for abstract, routine, and manual jobs appear very similar in the two countries. This similarity actually hides major differences in the dynamics of employment levels by tasks. In particular, the routine employment level fell significantly in France until the mid-1990s, and then rebounded until 2007. The evolution of US routine employment went in opposite directions to that of the French economy. We then develop a multi-sectorial search and matching model with endogenous occupational choice to disentangle the respective contributions of task-biased technological change (TBTC), labor market institutions (LMI), and rising educational attainment to job polarization. For the US economy, we find that TBTC and the rising supply of skilled labor are the main drivers of polarization in a context of growing employment levels. In France, in contrast, polarization is driven mainly by LMI changes. This led to a sharp drop in routine employment in a context of declining aggregate employment until the mid-1990s, which then reversed when the impact of the minimum wage was alleviated by a subsidy policy targeted at low wage earners. Next, we quantify the welfare consequences of job polarization. Abstract and manual workers are the main winners of job polarization in both countries. Welfare gains and losses are more dispersed in the routine group. The most productive French routine workers would have been worse off without LMI changes. In contrast, displaced low-ability, routine French workers would have preferred a more flexible labor market to improve their employment prospects in their occupational change. All US routine workers suffered as a result of the drop in LMI generosity.
The Structure of Human Apolipoprotein A-IV as Revealed by Stable Isotope-assisted Cross-linking, Molecular Dynamics, and Small Angle X-ray Scattering*

Background: Apolipoprotein (apo)A-IV is involved in lipid and glucose metabolism, but its full-length structure is not known. Results: Stable isotope-assisted cross-linking combined with molecular modeling produced new models of the full-length protein. Conclusion: At least three hydrophobic residues participate in a unique clasp mechanism that regulates apoA-IV function. Significance: We report the most detailed models of lipid-free apoA-IV to date and demonstrate their utility in terms of functional predictions. Apolipoprotein (apo)A-IV plays important roles in dietary lipid and glucose metabolism, and knowledge of its structure is required to fully understand the molecular basis of these functions. However, typical of the entire class of exchangeable apolipoproteins, its dynamic nature and affinity for lipid has posed challenges to traditional high resolution structural approaches. We previously reported an x-ray crystal structure of a dimeric truncation mutant of apoA-IV, which showed a unique helix-swapping molecular interface. Unfortunately, the structures of the N and C termini that are important for lipid binding were not visualized. To build a more complete model, we used chemical cross-linking to derive distance constraints across the full-length protein. The approach was enhanced with stable isotope labeling to overcome ambiguities in determining molecular span of the cross-links given the remarkable similarities in the monomeric and dimeric apoA-IV structures. Using 51 distance constraints, we created a starting model for full-length monomeric apoA-IV and then subjected it to two modeling approaches: (i) molecular dynamics simulations and (ii) fitting to small angle x-ray scattering data. This resulted in the most detailed models yet for lipid-free monomeric or dimeric apoA-IV. Importantly, these models were of sufficient detail to direct the experimental identification of new functional residues that participate in a “clasp” mechanism to modulate apoA-IV lipid affinity. The isotope-assisted cross-linking approach should prove useful for further study of this family of apolipoproteins in both the lipid-free and -bound states.
Bang for the buck: Understanding employee benefit allocations and new venture survival

Providing employee benefits is costly for new ventures, yet offering such inducements is often essential to developing human capital. While a broad combination of employee benefits could yield synergistic effects, adopting a large number of benefits may not be feasible for resource constrained ventures. To ensure survival, while limiting misallocation of scarce resources towards benefits that have lower returns, entrepreneurs must be selective in choosing the benefits that generate the most ‘bang for the buck’. Our study assesses the effects of employee benefit offerings on venture survival odds. Based on a longitudinal sample of 1012 US-based ventures from the Kauffman Firm Survey and leveraging, signalling and motivation theories, we find that offering health insurance, flexible work schedules, paid vacation, or paid sick leave increase the odds of survival. However, offering employee stock ownership plans or tuition reimbursement has no significant influence on the odds of survival.
Hypoxic training: effect on mitochondrial function and aerobic performance in hypoxia.

PURPOSE The effects of hypoxic training on exercise performance remain controversial. Here, we tested the hypotheses that i) hypoxic training possesses ergogenic effects at sea level and altitude and ii) the benefits are primarily mediated by improved mitochondrial function of the skeletal muscle. METHODS We determined aerobic performance (incremental test to exhaustion and time trial for a set amount of work) in moderately trained subjects undergoing 6 wk of endurance training (3-4 times per week, 60 min per session) in normoxia (placebo, n = 8) or normobaric hypoxia (FIO2 = 0.15, n = 9) using a double-blind and randomized design. Exercise tests were performed in normoxia and acute hypoxia (FIO2 = 0.15). Skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiratory capacities and electron coupling efficiencies were measured via high-resolution respirometry. Total hemoglobin mass was assessed by carbon monoxide rebreathing. RESULTS Skeletal muscle respiratory capacity was not altered by training or hypoxia; however, electron coupling control respective to fat oxidation slightly diminished with hypoxic training. Hypoxic training did increase total hemoglobin mass more than the placebo (8.4% vs 3.3%, P = 0.02). In normoxia, hypoxic training had no additive effect on maximal measures of oxygen uptake or time trial performance. In acute hypoxia, hypoxic training conferred no advantage on maximal oxygen uptake but tended to enhance time trial performance more than normoxic training (52% vs 32%, P = 0.09). CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that, in moderately trained subjects, 6 wk of hypoxic training possesses no ergogenic effect at sea level. It is not excluded that hypoxic training might facilitate endurance capacity at moderate altitude; however, this issue is still open and needs to be further examined.