Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Examining the Link Between Diversity and Firm Performance

Given the scarcity of empirical research on the impact of diversity on organizational performance, the authors used longitudinal data for 100 firms to test hypotheses related to the effects of diversity reputation and leader racial diversity on firm financial outcomes. The results showed a positive relationship between diversity reputation and book-to-market equity and a curvilinear, U-shaped relationship among leader diversity and revenues, net income, and book-to-market equity. The analyses suggest that economic benefits generated from diversity reputation may primarily derive from capital rather than product markets. Furthermore, firm performance declines with increases in the representation of racial minorities in leadership up to a point, beyond which further increases in diversity are associated with increases in performance.
The Clinical Aspects of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is less frequent than ischemic stroke, but has a high public health relevance because it can affect young and middle-age adults, has considerable mortality and morbidity, it is treatable and preventable. Despite stable incidence, the mortality of SAH has decreased in the last two decades due to better neurosurgical techniques and neurocritical care and to advances in neuroendovascular treatment. Sudden headache is the cardinal feature. Rebleeding is the most imminent danger; a first aim is therefore occlusion of the aneurysms. Complications such as vasospasm / delayed cerebral ischemia, hydrocephalus, increased intracranial pressure, and seizures must be considered in the management of SAH. The authors reviewed the recent advances in the clinical aspects of SAH and grading system of the available evidence is included.
Irritable bowel syndrome: prevalence, prognosis and consequences.

Ts he irritable bowel syndrome can be defined as altered bowel habits and abdominal pain often accompanied by gaseousness for which no biochemical, pathological or pathophysiologic explanation can be proven. There are several variants of the syndrome, but the most common appears to be spastic colon, in which abdominal pain and constipation, with small, scybalous stools, are features. There is now evidence that it is very common in Western societies, that it is chronic and that it is very costly.
Expression of OKT6 antigen by Langerhans cells in patch test reactions

Previous studies in humans and guinea pigs indicate that Langerhans cells (LC) participate in elicitation of allergic contact dermatitis. The number and morphology of LC was determined in acute and healed allergic patch test sties, control (petrolatum) sites and normal skin in nickel‐sensitive individuals using OKT6 monoclonal antibody and avidin‐biotin/peroxidase labeling. Compared to normal skin, the staining intensity and number of epidermal LC was significantly increased in allergic (p<0.02) and petrolatum control (p<0.02) sites, and in 6‐ to 8‐week old allergic patch test sites (p< 0.006). The in situ changes in LC induced by petrolatum alone may be a result of the occlusive patch test, or may suggest that petrolatum is not as neutral as previously believed. The nickel‐induced increase in LC may indicate changes in the LC present in the epithelium at the time of testing, or migration of additional LC into the epithelium, which can then remain in situ for weeks after the antigenic challenge. The specificity of the LC increase in allergic contact dermatitis is questioned on the basis of the increase noted with petrolatum.
Microparticle-associated tissue factor activity measured with the Zymuphen MP-TF kit and the calibrated automated thrombogram assay

There is increasing clinical interest for measuring microparticle (MP)-associated tissue factor (TF) activity owing to its possible role as a prothrombotic biomarker in a variety of diseases. However, the methods used are to various extents hampered by lack of (pre)analytical standardization as well as limited published documentation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Zymuphen MP-TF kit and the calibrated automated thrombogram (CAT) assay in measuring MP-associated TF activity in plasma using a Neisseria meningitidis (Nm)-stimulated whole blood model. In addition, (pre)analytical variables like centrifugation procedures, freezing/thawing and the effect of addition of exogenous phosphatidylserine in plasma were evaluated in the CAT assay. Citrate-anticoagulated blood was stimulated with Nm bacteria for 4 h before platelet-poor plasma (PPP) or platelet-free plasma (PFP) were prepared and assayed with either of the two methods. Nm dose-dependently (104–108 bacteria/ml) induced TF-specific activity, measured as decreased lagtimes, in the CAT assay. The Zymuphen MP-TF kit also detected TF activity, although much higher Nm doses (108 bacteria/ml) were required to achieve measurable levels. Neither freezing/thawing nor the use of PPP vs. PFP influenced the TF activity, measured over a broad range of lagtimes, in the CAT assay. In conclusion, changes in lagtime in the CAT assay reflected levels of MP-associated TF activity in a more sensitive manner than the Zymuphen MP-TF kit did, in our Nm-stimulated whole blood system.
The effects of race on diagnosis and disposition from a psychiatric emergency service.

BACKGROUND Previous studies have reported that racial differences exist in patterns of clinical psychiatric diagnoses as well as the distribution of mental health services resources. The psychiatric emergency service serves as an entry point into the mental health system, so it plays a potentially important role in addressing racial disparities in diagnosis and disposition. To address this disparity, the authors studied two specific questions: (1) are there racial differences in diagnosis and (2) are there racial differences in disposition of patients visiting a psychiatric emergency service? METHOD Demographic and clinical data were obtained by retrospective chart review of 490 patients randomly selected from 9500 visits to a large psychiatric emergency service during a 1-year period. All clinical information had been recorded by the primary treaters who had no knowledge of this study. RESULTS Black patients were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia and substance abuse than similar white patients, although less likely to be diagnosed with a personality disorder. Black patients were significantly more likely to be hospitalized, particularly at a public hospital, although there were no significant differences in insurance coverage or measures of suicidal or homicidal ideation. CONCLUSION Despite the availability of DSM-III-R criteria, black patients continue to be disproportionately diagnosed with schizophrenia. In this sample, this diagnosis may have been given in lieu of a personality disorder or affective illness diagnosis. Black patients are also more likely to be hospitalized. These observations suggest that further research is needed to clarify the effects of race on the decision-making process in diagnosis and disposition from the psychiatric emergency service.
THE EFFECTS OF VAGOTOMY ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE STOMACH IN PATIENTS WITH PEPTIC ULCER.

Since January of 1943 bilateral section of the vagus nerves to the stomach has been performed in this clinic on 160 patients with benign duodenal, jejunal, and gastric ulcers. The technic employed to obtain complete bilateral vagus section and the clinical results have been described elsewhere (1 to 4). During the course of this work there arose the opportunity to study the effect of vagotomy on the continuous night secretion of gastric juice in the empty stomach, on the gastric secretory response to histamine, caffeine, insulin, and sham feeding, and on gastric motility in ulcer patients. A report dealing with a portion of these studies has appeared recently (5). The present paper presents the results of night secretion tests on 37 patients with diseases other than benign ulcers and on 42 patients who underwent vagotomy for benign ulcer. It describes the gastric secretory response to insulin hypoglycemia and sham feeding before and after vagotomy in 23 ulcer patients and the effect of vagotomy on motility in 13 such patients. In general, the patients who underwent vagotomy and are presented here had ulcer symptoms of many years' duration. With only a few exceptions they had all experienced typical ulcer pain and in most a crater had been demonstrated by gastroduodenal x-ray examination. A majority had suffered pyloric obstruction, hemorrhage, or perforation. They were either refractory to medical management or had been proved unable to follow such a regime. Thus, in every case, the ulcer represented a serious affliction. The patients were led to accept vagus section because of refractory pain, recurrent hemorrhage, pyloric obstruction, or the prospect of cure of their ulcer disease without the necessity for long-term medical management. Bilateral section of the vagus nerves to the stomach was performed at or just above the level
Category representation and generalization in the prefrontal cortex

Categorization is a function of the brain that serves to group together items and events in our environments. Here we review the following important issues related to category representation and generalization: namely, where categories are presented in the brain, and how the brain utilizes categorical membership to generate new information. Accumulated experimental evidence shows that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a critical role in category formation and generalization. We propose that prefrontal neurons abstract the commonality beyond individual stimuli, and categorize these based on their common meaning by ignoring their physical properties and learning to represent the boundaries between behaviorally significant categories. We also claim that a subgroup of prefrontal neurons simultaneously receives the category‐related information and specific property information (e.g. reward) associated with an exemplar, to form a category‐based representation of that property, and propagates it among stimuli of the same category, possibly reflecting a neural basis for category generalization in the PFC. These results suggest that the PFC is involved in representing abstract rules, and generating new information on the basis of previously acquired knowledge.
Tumor-Reactive CD4+ T Cell Responses to the Melanoma-Associated Chondroitin Sulphate Proteoglycan in Melanoma Patients and Healthy Individuals in the Absence of Autoimmunity1

To avoid immune escape by down-regulation or loss of Ag by the tumor cells, target Ags are needed, which are important for the malignant phenotype and survival of the tumor. We could identify a CD4+ T cell epitope derived from the human melanoma-associated chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (MCSP) (also known as high m.w.-melanoma-associated Ag), which is strongly expressed on >90% of human melanoma lesions and is important for the motility and invasion of melanoma cells. However, MCSP is not strictly tumor specific, because it is also expressed in a variety of normal tissues. Therefore, self tolerance should prevent the induction of strong T cell responses against these Ags by vaccination strategies. In contrast, breaking self tolerance to this Ag by effectively manipulating the immune system might mediate antitumor responses, although it would bear the risk of autoimmunity. Surprisingly, we could readily isolate CD4+ Th cells from the blood of a healthy donor-recognizing peptide MCSP693–709 on HLA-DR11-expressing melanoma cells. Broad T cell reactivity against this Ag could be detected in the peripheral blood of both healthy donors and melanoma patients, without any apparent signs of autoimmune disease. In some patients, a decline of T cell reactivity was observed upon tumor progression. Our data indicate that CD4+ T cells are capable of recognizing a membrane glycoprotein that is important in melanoma cell function, and it may be possible that the sizable reactivity to this Ag in most normal individuals contributes to immune surveillance against cancer.
Behavioral profiles in frontal lobe epilepsy: Autobiographic memory versus mood impairment

Autobiographic memory encompasses the encoding and retrieval of episodes, people, and places encountered in everyday life. It can be impaired in both epilepsy and frontal lobe damage. Here, we performed an initial investigation of how autobiographic memory is impacted by chronic frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) together with its underlying pathology.
Distribution of metabotropic glutamate receptor mGluR5 immunoreactivity in rat brain

The receptor mGluR5 is a metabotropic glutamate receptor with messenger RNA abundantly present throughout cortex, hippocampus, and caudate/putamen that is also coupled to phosphatidyl inositide hydrolysis and calcium mobilization. In this study, the distribution of mGluR5 was examined in rat brain by immunocytochemistry. The antibody utilized is highly specific and does not cross react with the most closely related other metabotropic glutamate receptor, as determined by Western blot analysis of nonneuronal cells transfected with metabotropic receptor coding sequences. The receptor mGluR5 is widely expressed with the highest density in olfactory bulb, caudate/putamen, lateral septum, cortex, and hippocampus, as confirmed with both immunocytochemistry and Western blot analysis. Electron microscopic studies in hippocampus and cortex indicate that the labeling is mostly on membranes of dendritic spines and shafts. Light and electron microscopic evidence indicates that some mGluR5 immunoreactivity is located in presynaptic axon terminals, suggesting that mGluR5 may function as a presynaptic receptor.
Estimating surface turbulent heat fluxes from land surface temperature and soil moisture observations using the particle batch smoother

Surface heat fluxes interact with the overlying atmosphere and play a crucial role in meteorology, hydrology, and climate change studies, but in situ observations are costly and difficult. It has been demonstrated that surface heat fluxes can be estimated from assimilation of land surface temperature (LST). One approach is to estimate a neutral bulk heat transfer coefficient (CHN) to scale the sum of turbulent heat fluxes, and an evaporative fraction (EF) that represents the partitioning between fluxes. Here the newly developed particle batch smoother (PBS) is implemented. The PBS makes no assumptions about the prior distributions and is therefore well‐suited for non‐Gaussian processes. It is also particularly advantageous for parameter estimation by tracking the entire prior distribution of parameters using Monte Carlo sampling. To improve the flux estimation on wet or densely vegetated surfaces, a simple soil moisture scheme is introduced to further constrain EF, and soil moisture observations are assimilated simultaneously. This methodology is implemented with the FIFE 1987 and 1988 data sets. Validation against observed fluxes indicates that assimilating LST using the PBS significantly improves the flux estimates at both daily and half‐hourly timescales. When soil moisture is assimilated, the estimated EFs become more accurate, particularly when the surface heat flux partitioning is energy‐limited. The feasibility of extending the methodology to use remote sensing observations is tested by limiting the number of LST observations. Results show that flux estimates are greatly improved after assimilating soil moisture, particularly when LST observations are sparse.
MEDEA SELFISH GENETIC ELEMENTS AS TOOLS FOR ALTERING TRAITS OF WILD POPULATIONS: A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS

One strategy for controlling transmission of insect‐borne disease involves replacing the native insect population with transgenic animals unable to transmit disease. Population replacement requires a drive mechanism to ensure the rapid spread of linked transgenes, the presence of which may result in a fitness cost to carriers. Medea selfish genetic elements have the feature that when present in a female, only offspring that inherit the element survive, a behavior that can lead to spread. Here, we derive equations that describe the conditions under which Medea elements with a fitness cost will spread, and the equilibrium allele frequencies are achieved. Of particular importance, we show that whenever Medea spreads, the non‐Medea genotype is driven out of the population, and we estimate the number of generations required to achieve this goal for Medea elements with different fitness costs and male‐only introduction frequencies. Finally, we characterize two contexts in which Medea elements with fitness costs drive the non‐Medea allele from the population: an autosomal element in which not all Medea‐bearing progeny of a Medea‐bearing mother survive, and an X‐linked element in species in which X/Y individuals are male. Our results suggest that Medea elements can drive population replacement under a wide range of conditions.
Screening of infants and mortality due to neuroblastoma.

BACKGROUND Neuroblastoma, the most common extracranial solid tumor that occurs in early childhood, can be identified in the preclinical stages by the detection of catecholamines in the urine. However, it is unknown whether routine screening for neuroblastoma reduces mortality due to this disease. METHODS Through their parents, we offered screening for neuroblastoma at three weeks and six months of age to all 476,654 children born in the province of Quebec, Canada, during a five-year period (May 1, 1989, through April 30, 1994). The participation rate was 92 percent. The rate of death due to neuroblastoma was determined and compared with the rates in several unscreened control populations born during the same period. RESULTS Among children younger than eight years of age in the Quebec cohort, there were 22 deaths due to neuroblastoma; the cumulative (+/-SE) mortality rate due to neuroblastoma was 4.78+/-1.14 per 100,000 children over a period of nine years. The standardized incidence ratios for death due to neuroblastoma for the Quebec cohort were 1.11 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.64 to 1.92) as compared with a control group in Ontario, Canada; 0.90 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.48 to 1.70) as compared with a control group in Minnesota; 1.40 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.81 to 2.41) as compared with a control group in Florida; and 0.96 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.56 to 1.66) as compared with a control group in the Greater Delaware Valley. The standardized mortality ratio for the Quebec cohort as compared with the rest of Canada was 1.39 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.85 to 2.30); the odds ratio for the comparison with a cohort born in Quebec before the screening program began was 0.98 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.54 to 1.77). CONCLUSIONS Screening infants for neuroblastoma does not appear to reduce mortality due to this disease.
VOILA: An Optimised Dialogue System for Interactively Learning Visually-Grounded Word Meanings (Demonstration System)

We present VOILA: an optimised, multi-modal dialogue agent for interactive learning of visually grounded word meanings from a human user. VOILA is: (1) able to learn new visual categories interactively from users from scratch; (2) trained on real human-human dialogues in the same domain, and so is able to conduct natural spontaneous dialogue; (3) optimised to find the most effective trade-off between the accuracy of the visual categories it learns and the cost it incurs to users. VOILA is deployed on Furhat, a human-like, multi-modal robot head with back-projection of the face, and a graphical virtual character.
Mistakes in phonemic transcriptions made by Polish EFL Teacher Training College students

Phonemic transcriptions are invariably treated as a means to record and present pronunciation errors, rather than to analyse their types and sources. To date, little attention has been given to the relation between pronunciation and transcription skills. Hence, to the best knowledge of the author, there is no empirical data yet available or accessible about errors committed exclusively in phonemic scripts of Polish EFL students and their comparison with typical faulty pronunciations. In this paper, the results of an empirical study which examined types and sources of deviations in broad transcriptions are reported. The data were collected by means of a phonemic test at the segmental level. It was expected that most mispronunciations result from errors on the level of competence that reveal themselves in both performance and transcription. The findings show that most common mispronunciations of Polish EFL speakers, which are described in the literature on the subject, are distinctly reflected in their erroneous scripts. Thus, it can be argued that currently both error types should not be considered as separable issues. Consequently, it is suggested that from now on simplified transcription and pronunciation practice should be interwoven with a view to fostering accurate pronunciation skills prior to post-secondary levels of education.
THROMBOSIS AND HEMOSTASIS Human VKORC 1 mutations cause variable degrees of 4-hydroxycoumarin resistance and affect putative warfarin binding interfaces

Initially introduced as a rodenticide, warfarin became the first synthetic oral anticoagulant (OAC) for human use and eventually one of the most prescribed drugs world-wide even though its mechanism of action was only recently clarified. In the 1970s, vitamin K 2,3-epoxide (K.O), a metabolite of vitamin K that accumulates as a result of vitamin K 2,3-epoxide reductase complex subunit 1 (VKORC1) inhibition by warfarin, was discovered. Furthermore, Bell and Matschiner’s experiments revealed that K.O possessed procoagulant activity that could be blocked by warfarin, the first direct evidence for vitamin K epoxide reductase activity (VKOR). However, cloning of the VKORC1 gene encoding VKORC1 was not successful until 2004. VKORC1 reduces K.O to the quinone form of vitamin K (K) and sequentially to vitamin K hydroquinone (KH2). KH2 is a substrate of the enzyme g-glutamyl carboxylase, which modifies vitamin K-dependent proteins, including the coagulation factors II, VII, IX, and X, by g-carboxylation of certain glutamic acid residues. In this process, K.O is generated as a byproduct that can be reduced again by VKORC1 to complete the vitamin K cycle. Inhibition of VKORC1 by 4-hydroxycoumarins, including warfarin, results in decreased availability of KH2 for g-glutamyl carboxylase and, subsequently, results in increased levels of noncarboxylated, inactive vitamin K-dependent protein coagulation factors. This anticoagulant effect of 4-hydroxycoumarins is widely used in prevention and therapy of arterial or venous thromboses. However, there are wide variations in therapeutic dosage due to interindividual variables such as age, gender, weight, and comedications as well as pharmacogenetic and pharmacokinetic determinants. A major pharmacogenetic factor is a polymorphism in the promoter region of VKORC1 (VKORC1:c.-1639 G.A) that significantly impacts effective OAC dosage. Furthermore, pharmacokinetics of warfarin is influenced by several polymorphisms of cytochrome P450 isoform 2C9, the primary enzyme responsible for metabolizing 4-hydroxycoumarins. In rare cases, missense mutations in VKORC1 have been associated with OAC resistance (OACR), clinically defined as greatly elevated coumarin dosage requirements, or even complete resistance. Since 2004, 26 different OACR-associated missense mutations in human VKORC1 (hVKORC1) have been reported. However, the molecular mechanism of OAC inhibition of VKORC1 and how mutations in this enzyme lead to OAC resistance are still unclear. Historically, investigations of wild-type and mutant hVKORC1 have relied on the “classical” in vitro dithiothreitol-driven VKOR assay to measure VKORC1 function and assess OAC inhibition. However, the dithiothreitol-driven assay has shown only 4 of the known human