Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MiR-146b-5p functions as a suppressor miRNA and prognosis predictor in non-small cell lung cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. However, science has not yet been able to substantially improve the prognosis of lung cancer patients. Accumulating evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) are key players in the regulation of tumor development and metastasis. Expression of six miRNAs previously shown to play roles in tumor development (miR-146b-5p, miR-128b, miR-21, miR-221, miR-34a, and Let-7a) in other tumor types was examined using real-time RT-PCR in 78 specimens of NSCLC. The results revealed that patients with low expression of miR-146b-5p had significant shorter median and mean survival time than those with high miR-146b-5p expression (33.00 and 30.44 months versus 42.0 and 36.90 months, respectively; log-rank test P=0.048), thus low miR-146b-5p expression level was associated with poor prognosis in NSCLC patients. Univariate Cox hazard regression analysis demonstrated that miR-146b-5p expression levels tended to be a significant prognostic indicator of NSCLC (adjusted hazard ratio=0.482, 95% CI: 1.409- 29.593, P=0.016). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that miR-146b-5p expression levels were an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC patients (hazard ratio=0.259, 95% CI: 0.083-0.809, P=0.020). Furthermore, the effects of miR-146b-5p and miR-146b-3p on NSCLC cell growth and invasion in vitro were investigated. Our findings demonstrate that ectopic expression of miR-146b-5p suppressed cell proliferation, clonogenicity, migration/ invasion and also induced G1 arrest in vitro, but did not induce cell apoptosis; whereas enforced expression of miR-146b-3p did not have a significant effect on cell growth and metastasis. Further experiments indicated that miR-146b-5p could reduce mRNA levels of MMP16 and TRAF6 in vitro and was negatively related to the expression of TRAF6 in human NSCLC tissues. In a mouse model, Ago-miR-146b-5p could significantly inhibit the growth of lung cancer xenografts in nude mice. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that miR-146b-5p functions as a suppressor miRNA and prognosis predictor in NSCLC.
Role Of Motivation On Employee Job Satisfaction: Comparative Analysis For Income Group

The emerging trends of Human Resource Management (HRM) are changing the mechanics of devising strategies. There is a lot of scope for research in this field. Organizations’ management is finding ways to achieve employee job satisfaction. HRM is important because humans that our organization’s employees can be a source of success or failure of an organization. This study focuses on exploring two aspects of this field that are employee job satisfaction and motivation in the context of different income groups. The relationship between job satisfaction and motivation is examined through a comparison between lower middle and middle-income groups with the help of 177 questionnaires that were filled by the employees of banks in Karachi, Pakistan. Results of this study enrich managers for decision making in Pakistan’s banking sector. It is clear from the results that they only believe in monetary benefits to get satisfied from their jobs. Moreover, the limitations to be kept in mind are mentioned. The scope for future research and inferences of the study are also provided. © 2018 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy. org.UK
Do Competitive Advantages Lead to Higher Future Rates of Return

Economic theory suggests that firms can gain competitive advantage, thereby impeding the normalization of risk-adjusted returns relative to industry peers. Thus, these advantages directly impact a firm’s future profitability as well as the assumptions incorporated into forecasting and valuation models. This paper utilizes realized operating performance, adjusted by estimates of operational risk, to establish which proxies for competitive advantage (i.e., expenditure of resources and effort) are effective at protecting profits. We demonstrate that the inclusion of proxies for competitive advantages in future profitability models significantly increases explanatory power. We find several proxies for competitive advantages that generalize across the entire sample including proxies for power over suppliers and the ability of a firm to credibly signal expected retaliation. Firms that develop these advantages experience a three percent premium in risk-adjusted return on net operating assets (RNOA) on average over their industry peers. This is economically significant given that the mean risk-adjusted RNOA for the sample over a 30 year period is 3.3 percent. The empirical evidence suggests that traditional variables used to capture competitive advantages such as proxies for product differentiation, innovation, and capital requirements do not result in persistent economic rents for the majority of firms.
Expression of the endogenous galactose‐binding protein galectin‐3 correlates with the malignant potential of tumors in the central nervous system

The 31‐kilodalton β‐galactoside‐binding protein galectin‐3 has been associated with cellular transformation and metastasis. Because neural tissues contain large amounts of glycoconjugates, and endogenous carbohydrate‐binding proteins have been described in the human brain, the authors examined the expression of galectin‐3 in human brain tumors and metastases to the central nervous system.
Unanimity-Aware Gain for Highly Subjective Assessments

IR tasks have diversied: human assessments of items such as social media posts can be highly subjective, in which case it becomes necessary to hire many assessors per item to reect their diverse views. For example, the value of a tweet for a given purpose may be judged by (say) ten assessors, and their ratings could be summed up to dene its gain value for computing a graded-relevance evaluation measure. In the present study, we propose a simple variant of this approach, which takes into account the fact that some items receive unanimous ratings while others are more controversial. We generate simulated ratings based on a real social-media-based IR task data to examine the eect of our unanimity-aware approach on the system ranking and on statistical signicance. Our results show that incorporating unanimity can aect statistical signicance test results even when its impact on the gain value is kept to a minimum. Moreover, since our simulated ratings do not consider the correlation present in the assessors’ actual ratings, our experiments probably underestimate the eect of introducing unanimity into evaluation. Hence, if researchers accept that unanimous votes should be valued more highly than controversial ones, then our proposed approach may be worth incorporating.
An error estimate for finite volume methods for multidimensional conservation laws

In this paper, an L°°(Ll )-error estimate for a class of finite volume methods for the approximation of scalar multidimensional conservation laws is obtained. These methods can be formally high-order accurate and are defined on general triangulations. The error is proven to be of order ft'/4 , where h represents the "size" of the mesh, via an extension of Kuznetsov approximation theory for which no estimate of the total variation and of the modulus of con- tinuity in time are needed. The result is new even for the finite volume method constructed from monotone numerical flux functions.
Trends in pregnancy outcomes in Malawian adolescents receiving antimalarial and hematinic supplements

Objective. To describe pregnancy outcomes of adolescent and adult primigravidae receiving antimalarials and hematinic supplementation and compare findings with a survey in this area a decade earlier. Design. Cross‐sectional surveys in intervention and control sites. Setting. Community, antenatal and delivery facilities in Chikwawa, Malawi. A rural area with year round malaria transmission. Methods. Data on antenatal attendance, uptake of intermittent preventive treatment with sulfadoxine‐pyrimethamine (IPTp‐SP), birthweight, malaria, anaemia, for 2,152 primigravidae. Outcome measures. Place of delivery, anaemia, malaria, birthweight. Results. Fewer adolescent than adult primigravidae received ≥2 IPTp‐SP doses (66 vs. 77.2%, p < 0.001), although more attended for two or more antenatal visits (92.0 vs. 76.7%, p < 0.001). Only 24.1% of adolescent primigravidae attended for hospital delivery. Women resident in intervention sites receiving IPTp‐SP community distribution were more likely to choose a community delivery (p < 0.01), and have higher uptake of IPTp‐SP (p = 0.036) than women not resident in these villages. Postnatal malaria prevalence was low and did not differ by age or place of delivery. Postnatal anaemia and low birthweight prevalence were higher in adolescents with community deliveries. Maternal anaemia and low birthweight prevalence were lower amongst adolescents in this study compared to estimates from the same population a decade previously. Conclusions. Adolescents had higher anaemia risk, lower IPTp‐SP uptake than adults and under a quarter had a hospital delivery. Pregnancy outcomes improved compared to the survey a decade earlier. Monitoring and surveillance is required to reinforce to policy makers the need to improve adolescent coverage for available interventions.
Position dependence of functional hairpins important for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA encapsidation in vivo

At least two hairpins in the 5' untranslated leader region, stem-loops 1 and 3 (SL1 and SL3), contribute to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA encapsidation in vivo. We used a competitive assay, which measures the relative encapsidation efficiency of mutant viral RNA in the presence of competing wild-type RNA, to compare the contributions of SL1, SL3, and two adjacent secondary structures, SL2 and SL4, to encapsidation. SL2 is not required for RNA encapsidation, while SL1, SL3, and SL4 all contribute approximately equally to encapsidation. To determine whether these hairpins function in a position-dependent manner, we interchanged the positions of two of these stem-loop structures. This resulted in substantial diminution of encapsidation, indicating that the secondary structures that comprise E, the encapsidation signal, function only in their correct contexts. Mutation of nucleotides flanking SL1 and SL3 had little effect on encapsidation. We also showed that SL1, while present on both genomic and subgenomic viral RNAs, nonetheless contributes to selective encapsidation of genomic RNA. Taken together, these data are consistent with the formation of a higher-order RNA structure, partially composed of SL1, SL3, and SL4, that functions to effect concurrent encapsidation of full-length RNA and exclusion of subgenomic RNA. Finally, it has been reported that E is required for efficient translation of Gag mRNA in vivo. However, we have found that a variety of mutants, including a mutant lacking the entire region encompassing SL1, SL2, and SL3, still produce RNAs that are efficiently translated. These data indicate that E is unlikely to contribute to efficient Gag mRNA translation in vivo.
Distrust in Banks and Fintech Participation: The Case of Peer-to-Peer Lending

What has boosted crowdfunding’s growth? In the case of peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, we highlight the role of consumers’ distrust in banks. We offer evidence that distrust in banks likely triggers individuals to supply funding toward crowdfunding and away from bank deposits. We highlight that a distrust mindset promotes questioning default choices and considering alternatives, and fosters comparisons focusing on dissimilarities. Our findings suggest US states whose residents express greater distrust in banks are more likely to fund P2P loans and, conditional on funding, lend higher amounts. This relationship is more pronounced when funding small loans or borrowers with less banking access.
Service quality evaluation and the mediating role of perceived value and customer satisfaction in customer loyalty

Loyalty has become the most important strategic aim in the hotel industry. The purpose of this paper is to obtain an empirical understanding of loyalty in the Kuala Lumpur hotel sector. ,The dimensions of service quality as perceived by hotel customers were identified through the literature review. Hypotheses were formulated and tested to: examine the effects of process quality and outcome quality on perceived value, tourist satisfaction, and tourist loyalty; and to determine if perceived value and tourist satisfaction play a mediating role in the effect of process quality and outcome quality on tourist loyalty. In this study, the sample was 417 respondents from the international tourists who stay at least one night in four- or five stars hotels in Kuala Lumpur. Collected data were analyzed by structural equation modeling. ,The statistical findings supported a relationship between process quality and outcome quality with perceived value and tourist satisfaction, and tourist loyalty with perceived value and tourist satisfaction. The results also indicated that process quality and outcome quality did not have a direct effect on tourist loyalty. Perceived value and tourist satisfaction mediated the relationship between process quality and outcome quality with tourist loyalty. ,The finding of this study proposed that the hoteliers targeting international tourists with service quality including process and outcome quality should focus more on these factors to build loyalty. For instance, the tangible, responsiveness, reliability, empathy, assurance, and convenience as the dimensions of process quality and valence, waiting time, and sociability as the dimensions of outcome quality should meet the needs of the international tourists, therefore increasing tourist loyalty through perceived value and tourist satisfaction.
Galectin-3 as a novel biomarker for disease diagnosis and a target for therapy (Review)

Galectin-3 is a member of the galectin family, which are β-galactoside-binding lectins with ≥1 evolutionary conserved carbohydrate-recognition domain. It binds proteins in a carbohydrate-dependent and -independent manner. Galectin-3 is predominantly located in the cytoplasm; however, it shuttles into the nucleus and is secreted onto the cell surface and into biological fluids including serum and urine. It serves important functions in numerous biological activities including cell growth, apoptosis, pre-mRNA splicing, differentiation, transformation, angiogenesis, inflammation, fibrosis and host defense. Numerous previous studies have indicated that galectin-3 may be used as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker for certain types of heart disease, kidney disease and cancer. With emerging evidence to support the function and application of galectin-3, the current review aims to summarize the latest literature regarding the biomarker characteristics and potential therapeutic application of galectin-3 in associated diseases.
Animal Protection Measures in Taiwan: Taiwanese Attitudes Toward the Animal Protection Law and Animal Shelters

This study used a questionnaire, self-administered by 387 Taiwanese citizens, to assess Taiwanese perception and knowledge of the Animal Protection Law and perception and use of animal shelters. Most respondents (87%) knew that Taiwan has legal protection for animals. A –5 to 5 summary score measured knowledge of companion animal dog-related legal requirements. The median score was 3, indicating that almost all respondents had inadequate knowledge about these requirements. Although more dog caregivers had adequate knowledge of the law than did nondog caregivers (prevalence ratio = 1.9, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 3.2), only 19% had adequate knowledge. Although most respondents (81%) knew Taiwan has animal shelters, only 19 (5%) reported visiting or participating in shelter activities. Only 6 (32%) of shelter visitors or users had a "good or better" impression of services received. Despite low usage of animal shelters, most respondents thought shelters should accept (87%) and relocate (90%) unwanted animals, capture strays (64%), assist in finding lost pets (79%), and educate the public about responsible ownership (85%). More than half (52%) thought shelters should perform euthanasia.
The Effects of Enterprise Risk Management on Bank Performance: Evidence from Indonesian Public Listed Companies

The purpose of this paper is investigate the effect of the Enterprise Risk Management implementation (ERM) on firm performance, mainly focusing on the bank industry. The population and the sample consist of 24 public listed banks, only 15 banks were selected to be the sample. The time period of the study was from 2011 to 2015, the data are taken from banks’ annual reports of fiscal year ends on December 31 of each year and the data set consists of 11 private banks and 4 government banks. In this study using panel data and using pooled ordinary least square (OLS) and random effect analysis. The results are surprised and controversial. We find a negative statistically significant effect between the ERM adaption and Tobin’s Q, while positive effect on Return On Equity of bank performance. This study also shows that DGOVERNMENT and DERM play a significant factor in explaining the performance in Indonesia banks
Real-time PCR detection of parapoxvirus DNA.

BACKGROUND Detection of parapoxviruses is important in various animals as well as in humans as zoonotic infections. Reliable detection of parapoxviruses is fundamental for the exclusion of other rash-causing illnesses, for both veterinarians and medical practitioners. To date, however, no real-time PCR assay for the detection of parapoxviruses has been reported. METHODS A minor groove binder-based quantitative real-time PCR assay targeting the B2L gene of parapoxviruses was developed on the ABI Prism and the LightCycler platforms. RESULTS The real-time PCR assay successfully amplified DNA fragments from a total of 41 parapoxvirus strains and isolates representing the species orf virus, bovine papular stomatitis virus, pseudocowpoxvirus, and sealpoxvirus. Probit analysis gave a limit of detection of 4.7 copies per assay (95% confidence interval, 3.7-6.8 copies per reaction). Scabs contain a sufficient amount of parapoxvirus DNA and can therefore be used for PCR without any DNA preparation step. No cross-reactivity to human, bovine, or sheep genomic DNA or other DNA viruses, including orthopoxviruses, molluscum contagiosum viruses, and yaba-like disease viruses, was observed. CONCLUSION The presented assay is suitable for the detection of parapoxvirus infections in clinical material of human and animal origin.
Employability of Education Graduates of Cavite State University Naic

In response to the challenge to produce quality graduates for better employment, this study regarding the employability of education graduates from 2013-2016 was conducted. The descriptive method of research was employed. Data were gathered through interview of former education graduates, use of technologies such as e-mail, messenger, FB and the likes to come up with attribute data presented in terms of frequency counts and percentage. T-test was used to analyse the significant difference in the employment of graduates between the public and private schools. Complete enumeration of education graduates, both in the secondary and elementary levels, was done. The study revealed that 86.1% of the BSEd graduates and 83.3% of the BEEd graduates were employed in teaching-related careers; there are more graduates employed in public schools than those employed in private schools for both BSEd and BEEd; however, these variations do not differ significantly for both BSEd and BEEd graduates, Almost all of the education graduates were employed in schools in the different municipalities of Cavite, a great percentage of which were located in Naic and other adjacent towns, and three of the graduates were recorded to be employed abroad. It is recommended that the pre-service teachers be deployed in both public and private schools during their student teaching in order to give them the opportunity for immersion in both environments.
A Modification of the Elixhauser Comorbidity Measures Into a Point System for Hospital Death Using Administrative Data

Background:Comorbidity measures are necessary to describe patient populations and adjust for confounding. In direct comparisons, studies have found the Elixhauser comorbidity system to be statistically slightly superior to the Charlson comorbidity system at adjusting for comorbidity. However, the Elixhauser classification system requires 30 binary variables, making its use for reporting and analysis of comorbidity cumbersome. Objective:Modify the Elixhauser classification system into a single numeric score for administrative data. Methods:For all hospitalizations at the Ottawa Hospital, Canada, between 1996 and 2008, we determined if International Classification of Disease codes for chronic diagnoses were in any of the 30 Elixhauser comorbidity groups. We then used backward stepwise multivariate logistic regression to determine the independent association of each comorbidity group with death in hospital. Regression coefficients were modified into a scoring system that reflected the strength of each comorbidity group's independent association with hospital death. Results:Hospitalizations that were included were 345,795 (derivation: 228,565; validation 117,230). Twenty-one of the 30 groups were independently associated with hospital mortality. The resulting comorbidity score had an equivalent discrimination in the derivation and validation groups (overall c-statistic 0.763, 95% CI: 0.759–0.766). This was similar to models having all Elixhauser groups (0.760, 95% CI: 0.756–0.764) or significant groups only (0.759, 95% CI: 0.754–0.762), but significantly exceeded discrimination when comorbidity was expressed using the Charlson score (0.745, 95% CI: 0.742–0.749). Conclusion:When analyzing administrative data, the Elixhauser comorbidity system can be condensed to a single numeric score that summarizes disease burden and is adequately discriminative for death in hospital.
A comparative study on opinion mining algorithms of social media statuses

The Social Media (SM) is affecting clients' preferences by modeling their thoughts, attitudes, opinions, views and public mood. Observing the SM activities is a decent approach to measure clients' loyalty, keeping a track on their opinion towards products preferences or social event. Opinion Mining (OM) is the most rising research field of text mining using Machine Learning (ML) algorithms and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Several algorithms such as Support Vector Machines (SVM), Naïve Bayes (NB) and Maximum Entropy (ME), were utilized to extract information that differentiates the user's opinion whether it's positive, negative or neutral. User's opinions and reviews are very beneficial information for individuals, businesses, and governments. In this paper, we compare the intelligent algorithms, which are utilized for OM in SM data over the last five years. The results show that using SVM with Part Of Speech (POS) or POS, Unigram and Bigram with J48 accomplish Sentiment Classification (SC) accuracy 92%.