Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Population pharmacokinetics of ethionamide in patients with tuberculosis.

SETTING Three US referral hospitals. OBJECTIVE Determine the population pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters of ethionamide (ETA) following multiple oral doses. DESIGN Fifty-five patients with tuberculosis (TB) participated. Patients received multiple oral doses of ETA as part of their treatment. They also received other anti-tuberculosis medications based upon in vitro susceptibility data. Serum samples were collected over 12 h post-dose, and concentrations were determined using a validated high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay. Concentration-time data were analyzed using population methods. RESULTS ETA areas under the concentration-versus-time curve (AUCs) increased linearly with increasing oral doses from 250 to 1000 mg. Compared to the population pattern, delayed absorption was seen at least once in 15% of patients. ETA PK parameter estimates were independent of age, weight, height, gender, and creatinine clearance. TB patients appeared to have larger volumes of distribution (3.22 l/kg) and clearance values (1.88 l/h/kg) compared to previously studied healthy volunteers. This resulted in lower AUC values (3.95 mcg h/ml) in the TB patients. ETA displayed a short elimination half-life (1.94 h). The effect of different dosing strategies on calculated pharmacodynamic parameters was explored. Simulated doses of 250 mg BID to TID failed to achieve serum concentrations above the MIC. CONCLUSION ETA PK parameters differed between TB patients and healthy volunteers, possibly due to differences in the completeness of absorption. Doses of at least 500 mg appear to be required to achieve serum concentrations above the typical ETA MIC. Additional research is needed to determine the optimal dosing of ETA.
Managing and improving data quality through the adoption of data warehouse in the public sector

The increasing use of technology in organizations has resulted in burgeoning sizes of data, a wider variety of data sources and diverse data structure, all calling for better storage, retrieval and analytics. The increasing demands that data make on organizations, if not handled with care, could lead to a compromise of data quality. In this context, there is an urgent need for the comprehensive capturing, measure and control of data. This need has necessitated the adoption of business intelligence tools like data warehousing (DW) to ensure quality and the segregation of analytical operations from mainframe transaction processing. However, the benefits of DW adoption have been primarily enjoyed by the private sector and little effort has been made to adopt business intelligence tools in the public sector. This is reinforced by the literature, which shows that there is little empirical research on developed frameworks to inform DW adoption in the public sector. Data for the current study was collected from the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) in South Africa and analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling. The results indicate that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, behavioural intention, and environmental and technological characteristics are key antecedents for DW adoption. This study’s finding could be used to extend research on technology adoption in the public sector, as well as to give insights into the foundations of data quality management.
Assessment of internal control systems to curb corporate fraud - evidence from Brazil

Prior studies concentrated on the misuse of accounting information systems and did not explore the effectiveness of internal control systems with a view to curb corporate frauds. This study abridged the aforementioned gap. The study rallied around the question of which procedures are deemed appropriate or not in the internal control procedures to mitigate the risks of fraud in organisations. We carried out an interpretative and critical analysis on the issue. Based on the aforementioned, we conclude that corruption and misappropriation of assets are frauds combated more efficiently and effectively with the complainants channel, mechanisms of internal control and rules of compliance; while frauds in financial statements usually linked to higher echelon are more appropriately mapped and traced by external auditors.
Consumer Acceptance of mHealth Services: A Comparison of Behavioral Intention Models

ABSTRACT Recent appropriation of mobile devices to deliver health services is transforming the health care landscape, offering reduced costs and increased access for service providers and consumers. This article examines factors influencing consumers' decisions to adopt mobile health (mHealth) services through a comparison of three behavioral intention models. A national web-based survey of 482 French adults indicates that the model of goal-directed behavior (MGB) more fully, though less parsimoniously, explains consumers' acceptance of mHealth services. This research provides insight into the usefulness of the MGB in improving understanding of the determinants of behavior situated at the intersection of health, service, and technology.
Does financial reporting comparability improve after accounting firm mergers? Evidence from Chinese listed companies

Abstract Using a sample of Chinese A-share firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 1998 to 2012, we investigate the impact of accounting firm mergers on financial reporting comparability. We find that financial reporting comparability is significantly increased after mergers. Furthermore, post-merger integration has a positive effect on this relationship; that is, the association between auditor firm merger and financial reporting comparability is stronger when the auditor firm merger has a higher degree of integration. This paper provides empirical evidence supporting the “bigger and more competitive” policy promoted by the Chinese government in the auditing industry.
Model-assisted design of experiments in the presence of network-correlated outcomes

We consider the problem of how to assign treatment in a randomized experiment, in which the correlation among the outcomes is informed by a network available pre-intervention. Working within the potential outcome causal framework, we develop a class of models that posit such a correlation structure among the outcomes. Then we leverage these models to develop restricted randomization strategies for allocating treatment optimally, by minimizing the mean square error of the estimated average treatment effect. Analytical decompositions of the mean square error, due both to the model and to the randomization distribution, provide insights into aspects of the optimal designs. In particular, the analysis suggests new notions of balance based on specific network quantities, in addition to classical covariate balance. The resulting balanced, optimal restricted randomization strategies are still design unbiased, in situations where the model used to derive them does not hold. We illustrate how the proposed treatment allocation strategies improve on allocations that ignore the network structure, with extensive simulations.
symmetric PDLLA membranes containing Bioglass ® for uided tissue regeneration : Characterization and in vitro iological behavior

Objective. In the treatment of periodontal defects, composite membranes might be applied to protect the injured area and simultaneously stimulate tissue regeneration. This work describes the development and characterization of poly(d,l-lactic acid)/Bioglass® (PDLLA/BG) composite membranes with asymmetric bioactivity. We hypothesized that the presence of BG microparticles could enhance structural and osteoconductivity performance of pure PDLLA membranes. Methods. The membranes were prepared by an adjusted solvent casting method that promoted a non-uniform distribution of the inorganic component along the membrane thickness. In vitro bioactive behavior (precipitation of an apatite layer upon immersion in simulated body fluid, SBF), SEM observation, FTIR, swelling, weight loss and mechanical properties of the developed biomaterials were evaluated. Cell behavior on the membranes was assessed using both human bone marrow stromal cells and human periodontal liga-
Prostate cancer screening practices and beliefs

AbstractOBJECTIVE: To examine primary care physician prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and prostate cancer screening beliefs, practices, and trends over time. DESIGN: Longitudinal physician survey. SETTING: Community and academic primary care practices in a major East Coast city. PARTICIPANTS: Physicians with ≥100 patients enrolled in an HMO serving 90,000 patients were surveyed in 1993 and 1998 regarding prostate cancer screening beliefs and practices. In 1993, 176 physicians (76%) completed the survey. In 1998, 76% of the 1993 respondents responded to a second survey. Associations between and changes over time in beliefs and self-reported PSA testing were analyzed. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Physicians reported ordering PSA tests in 73% of health maintenance exams (HMEs) in 1993 and 81% of HMEs in 1998. PSA testing significantly increased between 1993 and 1998 with 43% of physicians reporting increased testing and only 13% reporting reduced testing. Between 1993 and 1998, physician attitudes favoring PSA testing increased although less than half of physicians believed that aggressive early treatment improved patient outcomes. Community versus academic practice location was also associated with PSA testing. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians reported high and increasing rates of PSA testing from 1993 to 1998 and more favorable attitudes toward PSA testing. Despite conflicting expert recommendations and a lack of consistent, high-quality supporting evidence, PSA screening appears to be increasingly considered a standard of care by practicing physicians. However, beliefs other than improved patient outcomes due to screening may be the primary drivers of increased PSA testing.
AMPD1 gene mutation in congestive heart failure: new insights into the pathobiology of disease progression.

In the late 19th century, Sir William Osler noted that patients with myocardial damage due to valvular heart disease had a highly variable clinical course. Some patients remained free of symptoms for a relatively prolonged period of time, whereas others rapidly decompensated.1 More recently, the presence of cardiac dilatation has been found to be a robust predictor of the development of symptomatic congestive heart failure.2 However, in large populations of patients with asymptomatic and nonischemic myocardial dilatation, only a relatively modest percentage developed symptomatic congestive failure during 11 years of follow-up.2 This marked variability in the progression of disease in different individuals led investigators to suspect that these differences might be attributable to variations in genetic background. This hypothesis was further supported by recent evidence suggesting that (1) dilated cardiomyopathy is familial in a larger percentage of cases than was originally recognized,3 (2) specific loci are associated with adult-onset autosomal dominant dilated cardiomyopathy,4 and (3) mutations affecting cytoskeletal proteins are associated with the development of dilated cardiomyopathy.5 However, investigators have not found molecular markers that would predict the development of congestive heart failure in the general population, nor have they identified genetic determinants that might affect the progression of the disease in individual patients. In this issue of Circulation , Loh and colleagues6 provide the first evidence of a correlation between the presence of a genetic marker and the progression of heart failure in patients with dilated cardiomyopathies. Patients having a relatively common mutation in at least 1 allele of the adenosine monophosphate deaminase 1 ( AMPD1 ) gene experienced a significantly longer duration of heart failure symptoms before referral for transplantation evaluation and had a greater chance of surviving without a cardiac transplant than patients homozygous for the wild-type allele. If confirmed in a …
Molecular characterisation of the small-eukaryote community in a tropical Great Lake (Lake Tanganyika, East Africa)

In aquatic environments, small eukaryotes (mainly algae and protozoa of 1 to 5 µm in size) are a key link in the carbon transfer to higher trophic levels, e.g. through primary production and grazing of picoplankton. However, the diversity of these microorganisms remains poorly investi- gated in freshwater habitats, and is still unknown in tropical aquatic systems. In this study, we inves- tigated the small-eukaryote diversity in the oligotrophic Lake Tanganyika, one of the African Great Lakes, at different depths in the water column using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and gene clone libraries based on 18S rRNA genes. Each sample produced complex DGGE finger- prints clearly discriminating the epilimnion from the metalimnion. Analysis, using genetic libraries, confirmed the high level of small-eukaryote diversity in Lake Tanganyika. Organisms from 5 taxo- nomic groups (Stramenopiles, Alveolata, Cryptophyta, Kinetoplastea and Choanoflagellida) were dominant among the species detected. Some sequences were nearly identical to those recovered in temperate freshwaters in North America and Europe, suggesting a high dispersal ability in some small-eukaryote lineages. However, 49% of sequences were <95% similar to any sequence in Gen- Bank. This may result from undersampling of freshwater systems, but also raises the possibility that perennially warm tropical waters harbour particular assemblages of planktonic small eukaryotes.
Communities, Civil Society Organisations and the Management of Mineral Wealth

Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development is a project of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). The project was made possible by the support of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). IIED is a company limited by guarantee and incorporated in England. Reg. No. 2188452. VAT Reg. No. GB 440 4948 50. Registered Charity No. 800066 Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development
Tangeretin Improves Glucose Uptake in a Coculture of Hypertrophic Adipocytes and Macrophages by Attenuating Inflammatory Changes

ABSTRACT Obesity is characterized by a state of chronic low-grade inflammation and insulin resistance, which are aggravated by the interaction between hypertrophic adipocytes and macrophages. In this study, we investigated the effects of tangeretin on inflammatory changes and glucose uptake in a coculture of hypertrophic adipocytes and macrophages. Tangeretin decreased nitric oxide production and the expression of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and cyclooxygenase-2 in a coculture of 3T3-L1 adipocytes and RAW 264.7 cells. Tangeretin also increased glucose uptake in the coculture system, but did not affect the phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate (IRS) and Akt. These results suggest that tangeretin improves insulin resistance by attenuating obesity-induced inflammation in adipose tissue.
New York University 2016 System for KBP Event Nugget: A Deep Learning Approach

This is the ﬁrst time New York University (NYU) participates in the event nugget (EN) evaluation of the Text Analysis Conference (TAC). We developed EN systems for both subtasks of event nugget, i.e, EN Task 1: Event Nugget Detection and EN Task 2: Event Nugget Detection and Coreference. The systems are mainly based on our recent research on deep learning for event detection (Nguyen and Grishman, 2015a; Nguyen and Grishman, 2016a). Due to the limited time we could de-vote to system development this year, we only ran the systems on the English evaluation data. However, we expect that the adaptation of the current systems to new languages can be done quickly. The development experiments show that although our current systems do not rely on complicated feature engineering, they sig-niﬁcantly outperform the reported systems last year for the EN subtasks on the 2015 evaluation data.
The use of a selective acetylcholinesterase inhibitor in the estimation of pseudocholinesterase activity in rat brain.

The generally accepted method of estimating 'pseudo '- or butyryl-cholinesterase activity con-sists in measuring the rate of hydrolysis of one of the 'specific' substrates for this enzyme (Mendel, Mundell & Rudney, 1943), the most commonly used being benzoyl- and butyryl-choline. How- ever, such specificity as the enzyme possesses is relative rather than absolute, for the two esters are hydrolysed also by acetylcholinesterase, though at much slower rates than acetylcholine and acetyl-,B- methylcholine (Adams, 1949).
The challenge for preventive cardiology

Introduction Cardiovascular disease (CVD), of which coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common, is the major cause of death in middle-aged and older patients in the majority of the developed countries and many developing countries [1]. CVD results in substantial disability worldwide and contributes in large part to the escalating costs of healthcare, especially in the presence of an ageing population [2]. CVD is now the leading cause of death worldwide and it is predicted that it will remain the leading cause of death and disability-adjusted life years by 2020 [3].
Persistent infection of macaques with simian-human immunodeficiency viruses

Chimeric simian-human immunodeficiency viruses (SHIV) containing the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) tat, rev, env, and, in some cases, vpu genes were inoculated into eight cynomolgus monkeys. Viruses could be consistently recovered from the CD8-depleted peripheral blood lymphocytes of all eight animals for at least 2 months. After this time, virus isolation varied among the animals, with viruses continuing to be isolated from some animals beyond 600 days after inoculation. The level of viral RNA in plasma during acute infection and the frequency of virus isolation after the initial 2-month period were higher for the Vpu-positive viruses. All of the animals remained clinically healthy, and the absolute numbers of CD4-positive lymphocytes were stable. Antibodies capable of neutralizing HIV-1 were generated at high titers in animals exhibiting the greatest consistency of virus isolation. Strain-specific HIV-1-neutralizing antibodies were initially elicited, and then more broadly neutralizing antibodies were elicited. env sequences from two viruses isolated more than a year after infection were analyzed. In the Vpu-negative SHIV, for which virus loads were lower, a small amount of env variation, which did not correspond to that found in natural HIV-1 variants, was observed. By contrast, in the Vpu-positive virus, which was consistently isolated from the host animal, extensive variation of the envelope glycoproteins in the defined variable gp120 regions was observed. Escape from neutralization by CD4 binding site monoclonal antibodies was observed for the viruses with the latter envelope glycoproteins, and the mechanism of escape appears to involve decreased binding of the antibody to the monomeric gp120 glycoproteins. The consistency with which SHIV infection of cynomolgus monkeys is initiated and the similarities in the neutralizing antibody response to SHIV and HIV-1 support the utility of this model system for the study of HIV-1 prophylaxis.
Ownership structure and dividend policy

This paper investigates the potential alliance between ownership structures, dividend payout policy. It is also one of the very first examples, which struggles to notice any potential relationship in ownership structure, and well established dividend decision and dividend payout models in circumstance of an rising market . The present study examines the payout behavior of dividends and the association of ownership structure form Karachi Stock Exchange firms (information, communication & transportation) over the period 2007-2011. The results consistently not purely support the potential association between ownership structure and dividend payout policy and dividend decision. We use the descriptive analysis and correlation analysis for statistical result.
Efficacy of Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae vaccine in pigs.

Protective effect of an inactivated Al (OH)3 gel-absorbed vaccine prepared from Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae (Hpn) serotype 2 strains was investigated. About 80% of the pigs injected intramuscularly with the Hpn vaccine survived the intratracheal challenge with the homologous strain. Localized hemorrhagic lesions were observed in the lungs of the surviving pigs. From the lesions, a few organisms were constantly recovered. No septicemia was observed in these pigs. In contrast, severe hemorrhagic lesions were observed in the lungs of all the dead pigs, and numerous organisms were recovered from the lung, the heart blood, and the peritoneal fluid. The Hpn vaccine was effective to prevent the death caused by Hpn septicemia, and the protective potency of the vaccine can be estimated by the surviving rate of the injected pigs. Since the level of the complement-fixation (CF) antibody titers significantly correlated to the protection rate defined by the surviving rate, the CF test might be applicable for evaluating the protective potency of the Hpn vaccine.
The Differentiated Classroom Responding To The Needs Of All Learners

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Prevalence of Aflatoxin-Associated TP53R249S Mutation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Hispanics in South Texas.

We aimed to determine whether aflatoxin dietary exposure plays a role in the high incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) observed among Hispanics in South Texas. We measured TP53R249S somatic mutation, hallmark of aflatoxin etiology in HCC, using droplet digital PCR and RFLP. TP53R249S mutation was detected in 3 of 41 HCC tumors from Hispanics in South Texas (7.3%). We also measured TP53R249S mutation in plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from 218 HCC patients and 96 Hispanic subjects with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis, from South Texas. The mutation was detected only in Hispanic and Asian HCC patients, and patients harboring TP53R249S mutation were significantly younger and had a shorter overall survival. The mutation was not detected in any Hispanic subject with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis. Genes involved in cell-cycle control of chromosomal replication and in BRCA1-dependent DNA damage response were enriched in HCCs with TP53R249S mutation. The E2F1 family members, E2F1 and E2F4, were identified as upstream regulators. TP53R249S mutation was detected in 5.7% to 7.3% of Hispanics with HCC in South Texas. This mutation was associated with a younger age and worse prognosis. TP53R249S was however not detected in Hispanics in South Texas with cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis. Aflatoxin exposure may contribute to a small number of HCCs in Hispanics in South Texas, but the detection of TP53R249S mutation in plasma cfDNA is not a promising biomarker of risk assessment for HCC in subjects with cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis in this population. Cancer Prev Res; 1-9. ©2017 AACR.