Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of acromegaly in patients with symptoms of sleep apnea

Acromegaly is a rare disease with nonspecific symptoms with acral enlargement being almost universally present at diagnosis. The estimated prevalence is 40–125 cases/million but targeted universal screening studies have found a higher prevalence (about 10 fold). The aim of the ACROSAHS study was to investigate the prevalence of acromegaly and acromegaly comorbidities in patients with sleep apnea symptoms and acral enlargement. ACROSAHS was a Spanish prospective non-interventional epidemiological study in 13 Hospital sleep referral units. Facial and acral enlargement symptoms including: ring size and shoe size increase, tongue, lips and jaws enlargement, paresthesia or carpal tunnel syndrome and widening of tooth spaces, as well as other typical acromegaly comorbidities were recorded with a self-administered questionnaire of patients who attended a first visit for sleep apnea symptoms between 09/2013 and 07/2014. Serum insulin-like growth factor type 1 (IGF1) was measured in patients with ≥1 acral symptom to determine the prevalence of acromegaly. Of the 1557 patients enrolled, 1477 with complete data (72% male) were analyzed. 530 patients (36%) reported at least 1 acral enlargement symptom and were tested for IGF-1, 41 were above range, persisted in 7, and among those, 2 cases of acromegaly were diagnosed (prevalence of at least 1.35 cases/1000). Overall, 1019 patients (69%) had ≥2 acromegaly symptoms and should have been screened according to guidelines; moreover 373 patients (25%) had ≥1 symptom of acral enlargement plus ≥3 other acromegaly symptoms. In conclusion, in patients with sleep apnea symptoms and acral enlargement, we found an acromegaly prevalence of at least 1.35 cases per 1000 and a high prevalence of typical acromegaly symptoms. It is important that sleep specialists are aware of acromegaly symptoms to aid with acromegaly diagnosis.
Comparison of the prolonged estrogenic and anti-fertility properties of quinestrol and four analogues.

A study was undertaken to compare the prolonged estrogenicity and antifertility properties of quinestrol and 4 analogues in rats. The following assays were used: 1) vaginal cornification; 2) uterine growth;and 3) timed pregnant rats. The last assay involved the administration of test compounds to pregnant rats at various times after mating and subsequent observation, on Day 19 after mating, of the number of continuing pregnancies, the weights of the uteri containing fetuses and placentas, and the number of fetuses or implantation sites. All of the quinestrol analogues had prolonged estrogenic activity as shown by the assays used, but quinestrol had the most protracted duration of activity. No correlation was seen between the chemical structure of the compounds and activity in the 3 assays.
Reliability and validity of ICARS in focal cerebellar lesions

To evaluate the therapies for cerebellar diseases appropriate neurological assessment methods to measure severity of ataxia are required. Reliability and validity of the semiquantitative International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS) has recently been examined in patients with degenerative ataxias. We evaluated reliability (internal consistency), criterion‐related validity and internal construct validity of ICARS for the first time in patients with focal cerebellar lesions (68 patients with surgical lesions and 68 patients with ischemic lesions). For comparison 45 patients with degenerative cerebellar ataxia were included. We found an excellent Cronbach's α as a measurement for internal consistency which was independent from underlying disease. Criterion‐related validity was high. Total ICARS score mirrored clearly the immediate postsurgical worsening and the improvement during the first 3 months after focal surgical and ischemic lesions, whereas in chronic state of focal and degenerative cerebellar disorders ICARS score remained nearly unchanged. Principal component analysis in patients with focal lesions revealed five distinct and clinically meaningful factors which corresponded to the four ICARS subscores and reflected the laterality of kinetic functions. In degenerative disorders, however, the items for the subscore “kinetic function” loaded to more than one factor. Total ICARS score seems to be a useful and valid measurement to describe the time course of ataxia in patients with focal and degenerative disorders affecting primarily the cerebellum. Validity of subscores however is good in focal, but not in degenerative disorders. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society
OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education DENMARK

How can student assessment, teacher appraisal, school evaluation and system evaluation bring about real gains in performance across a country’s school system? The country reports in this series provide, from an international perspective, an independent analysis of major issues facing the evaluation and assessment framework, current policy initiatives, and possible future approaches. This series forms part of the OECD Review on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes.
Elevated serum inhibin concentrations in postmenopausal women with ovarian tumors.

BACKGROUND Inhibin is an ovarian hormone that inhibits the secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) by the anterior pituitary gland. Women with granulosa-cell tumors of the ovary have elevated serum inhibin concentrations, but whether the concentrations are increased in women with other ovarian tumors is unknown. METHODS We measured serum inhibin and FSH concentrations before surgery in 212 postmenopausal women with suspected ovarian cancer and after surgery in 210 of them. RESULTS Eighteen of the 22 women (82 percent) with mucinous carcinomas (mucinous cystadenocarcinomas and mucinous borderline cystic tumors) of the ovary had elevated serum inhibin concentrations, whereas only 9 of the 53 women (17 percent) with serous carcinomas (serous cystadenocarcinomas and serous borderline cystic tumors) had elevated levels. Serum inhibin concentrations were also elevated in 2 of 12 women (17 percent) with clear-cell carcinomas, 4 of 26 women (15 percent) with undifferentiated carcinomas, 3 of 3 women (100 percent) with granulosa-cell tumors, and 5 of 27 women (19 percent) with other ovarian cancers. The serum concentrations of inhibin were increased in 2 of 28 women (7 percent) with nonovarian pelvic cancers and 11 of 41 women (27 percent) with benign ovarian diseases. All women but one with initially elevated serum inhibin concentrations had low values one week after surgery. Serum inhibin concentrations correlated negatively with serum FSH concentrations (P = 0.05) in women with granulosa-cell tumors but not in women with other tumors, suggesting that the inhibin secreted by tumors in the latter group has decreased biologic activity. CONCLUSIONS Serum inhibin concentrations are elevated in most postmenopausal women with mucinous carcinomas of the ovary and in some women with other types of epithelial ovarian tumors. The concentrations fall after tumor removal.
Constraints to growth of micro and small-scale enterprises in Ghana: A case of street food enterprises

The aim of the paper was to identify the factors that constrain growth of street food enterprises in Ghana. The study achieved this by using panel data from two surveys to estimate the effect of constraints that are self-reported by street food vendors from Kumasi and Tamale metropolises of Ghana on growth of their businesses. Results of the study found inadequate managerial skills and financial constraints to negatively affect the gross margin ratio between the baseline and follow-up periods. In addition, vendors who reported complex regulatory and banking procedure as a constraint experienced a decrease in the rate of growth of their businesses with respect to average daily sales per person. The study recommends that policy interventions aimed at improving the street food sector should aim at addressing managerial constraints or financial constraints or both. Specific policies to address these constraints are presented.
Gender in Entrepreneurial Finance: Matching Investors and Entrepreneurs in Equity Crowdfunding

The Internet has long promised the democratization of entrepreneurial finance by disintermediation of the interaction between those who want to invest money and those who need it. Equity crowdfunding platforms are one such mechanism. Using a sample of 58 equity offerings of UK crowdfunding platform Seedrs, we show that (1) gender diversity is higher in equity crowdfunding than in other entrepreneurial finance markets and that (2) gender impacts the interaction between demand and supply of equity capital. The number of female investors in campaigns by female-led businesses is almost twice that in male-led businesses. Although investors are predominantly men (78.5 percent), on average, women invest 34 percent more than men.
A New Scheme of Oriented Hyperboloid Microlens for Passive Alignment Lasers to Polarization Maintaining Fibers

A new scheme of oriented-hyperboloid microlens (OHM) with passive alignment to achieve high polarized extinction ratio (PER) is proposed and demonstrated high efficiency coupling of high-power 980 nm pump lasers to polarization maintaining fibers (PMFs). Using an automatic grinding machine and a charge-coupled-device to precisely control and attain the required minor radius of curvature 4-4.8 μm, offset within 0.7 μm, and axis orientation accuracy ±1°, the OHM exhibited a high-average PER of 31.7 dB, and a high-average coupling efficiency of 83.4%. For a 30 dB PER, the angular misalignment tolerance of the OHM was measured to be ±2°. The unique advantage of the proposed OHM is passive alignment to achieve high PER by only aligning the OHM endface of the fast axis parallel to the axis of laser polarization. This newly developed OHM with unique passive alignment to achieve high polarization is beneficial for the applications of laser/PMF modules where mode polarization and high coupling efficiency are required for use in high precision fiber optic gyroscopes as well as many low-cost and high-performance lightwave interconnection applications.
Delay-Energy Tradeoff in Multicast Scheduling for Green Cellular Systems

Multicast transmission based on real-time network state information is a resource-friendly technique to improve the energy efficiency and reduce the traffic burden for cellular systems. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of this technique for downlink transmissions. In particular, a scenario is considered in which multiple mobile users (MUs) asynchronously request to download one common message locally cached at a base station (BS). Due to the randomness of both the channel conditions and the request arrivals from the MUs, the BS may choose to intelligently hold the arrived requests, especially when the channel conditions are bad or the number of requests is small, and then serve them in one shot later via multicasting. Clearly it is of great interest to balance the delay (incurred by holding the requests) and the energy efficiency (EE, defined as the energy cost per request), and this motivates us to quantify the fundamental tradeoff for the proposed “hold-then-serve” scheme. For the scenario with single channel and unit message sizes, it is shown that for a fixed channel bandwidth, the delay-EE tradeoff reduces to judiciously choosing the optimal stopping rule for when to serve all the arrived requests, where the effect of the bandwidth on the achievable delay-EE region is discussed further. By using optimal stopping theory, it is shown that the optimal stopping rule exists for general Markov channel models and request arrival processes. Particularly, for the hard deadline and proportional delay penalty cases, it is shown that the optimal stopping rule exhibits a threshold structure, and the corresponding threshold in the former case is time varying while in the latter case it is a constant. Finally, for the more general scenario with multiple channels and arbitrary message sizes, the optimal scheduling is formulated as a Markov decision process problem, where some efficient suboptimal scheduling algorithms are proposed.
Microenvironment Tumor Metabolic Interactions Highlighted by qMSI: Application to the Tryptophan-Kynurenine Pathway in Immuno-Oncology

Inhibition of NK and effector T-cell functions and activation of regulatory cell populations are the main immunosuppressive effects of indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase1 (IDO1). By converting tryptophan (Trp) into kynurenine (Kyn), IDO1 is involved in the immune response homeostasis, and its dysregulated expression is described in immune-related pathologies, as tumors that hijack it to evade immune destruction. Thereby, IDO1 inhibitors are being developed to stimulate antitumor immune responses. Existing and standard quantitation methods of IDO1 substrate and metabolite(s) are based on the total level of Trp and its metabolites determined by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analysis in human plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, and brain. Here, we describe the detection, localization, and absolute quantitation of Trp and Kyn by quantitative mass spectrometry imaging (qMSI) in transfected murine tumor models expressing various levels of IDO1. Myeloid, glycolysis metabolic signatures, and correlation between IDO1 expression and Trp to Kyn conversion are also shown. High-definition IDO1 and GCN2 immunostainings overlaid with Kyn molecular images underline the tumor metabolism and heterogeneity. The development of immunotherapies such as IDO1 inhibitors requires a deep understanding of the immune system, the interplay of cancer cells, and biomarker characterization. Our data underline that qMSI allows the study of the spatial distribution and quantitation of endogenous immune metabolites for biology and pharmacology studies.
Highly Efficient Gluten Degradation by Lactobacilli and Fungal Proteases during Food Processing: New Perspectives for Celiac Disease

ABSTRACT Presently, the only effective treatment for celiac disease is a life-long gluten-free diet. In this work, we used a new mixture of selected sourdough lactobacilli and fungal proteases to eliminate the toxicity of wheat flour during long-time fermentation. Immunological (R5 antibody-based sandwich and competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] and R5 antibody-based Western blot), two-dimensional electrophoresis, and mass spectrometry (matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight, strong-cation-exchange-liquid chromatography/capillary liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadrupole-time of flight [SCX-LC/CapLC-ESI-Q-TOF], and high-pressure liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-ion trap mass spectrometry) analyses were used to determine the gluten concentration. Assays based on the proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and gamma interferon production by PBMCs and intestinal T-cell lines (iTCLs) from 12 celiac disease patients were used to determine the protein toxicity of the pepsin-trypsin digests from fermented wheat dough (sourdough). As determined by R5-based sandwich and competitive ELISAs, the residual concentration of gluten in sourdough was 12 ppm. Albumins, globulins, and gliadins were completely hydrolyzed, while ca. 20% of glutenins persisted. Low-molecular-weight epitopes were not detectable by SCX-LC/CapLC-ESI-Q-TOF mass spectrometry and R5-based Western blot analyses. The kinetics of the hydrolysis of the 33-mer by lactobacilli were highly efficient. All proteins extracted from sourdough activated PBMCs and induced gamma interferon production at levels comparable to the negative control. None of the iTCLs demonstrated immunoreactivity towards pepsin-trypsin digests. Bread making was standardized to show the suitability of the detoxified wheat flour. Food processing by selected sourdough lactobacilli and fungal proteases may be considered an efficient approach to eliminate gluten toxicity.
The life cycle of Haematoloechus coloradensis Cort 1915 (Digenea: Plagiorchiidae), with emphasis on host susceptibility to infection.

Mother and daughter sporocysts and xiphidiocercariae of Haematoloechus coloradensis develop in the snail, Physa virgata. Cercariae penerate and encyst in dragonfly nymphs, Tramea sp. , Libellula sp. , Anax sp. , and in damselfly nymphs, Enallagma spp. Upon ingestion by the vertebrate host, metacercariae excyst and migrate into the lungs where they mature. Haematoloechus coloradensis is specific for its definitive host, R. pipiens, but shows some development in Ambystoma tigrinum. Although H. coloradensis is specific for its snail host, all odonate species tested served equally well as the second intermediate host.
How CEO and CFO Regulatory Focus Interact to Shape the Firm’s Corporate Strategy

We examine how the CEO’s and CFO’s regulatory focus interact to shape the firm’s corporate strategy and what happens in cases where they are misaligned. Making use of micro-data on the promotion focus of CEOs and CFOs and their firms’ corporate strategy announcements, we find that both are important drivers of the firms’ growth-oriented initiatives, and that this impact is amplified if they align. In cases of misalignment, we find that on average CEOs prevail, but this effect depends on CEOs’ power. Interestingly, misalignment between CEO and CFO regulatory focus has positive performance implications, suggesting important complementarities between CEOs and CFOs. Our study contributes to the literatures on strategic leadership, corporate strategy, and micro-foundations of strategy.
THE MODERATING ROLE OF ETHICAL CLIMATE ON RELATIONSHIPS AMONG JOB SATISFACTION, CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP

This paper aimed to investigate the moderator effect of ethical climate on the relationships between job satisfaction (JS), corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). This research is conducted through the collection of data from 600 white-collar working adults in Teknopark and Industrial Regions manufacturing firms in Istanbul, using a mail questionnaire. The result shows that both job satisfaction variable except “payment” sub-dimension and innovativeness sub-dimension of corporate entrepreneurship are positively and significantly correlated with all OCBs (i.e., courtesyaltruism, conscientiousness and civic-virtue). Overall, job satisfaction has a mediator role between corporate entrepreneurship and organizational citizenship. Principled local ethical climate has a linear moderator effect between CE and OCB; it strengthens the positive relationship between them. However it does not show any curvilinear moderator effect on that relationship. Principled local ethical climate (PLEC) has both linear and curvilinear moderator effect on the relationship between JS and OCB. As a result, the study helped to find-out the moderator role of ethical climate in the triangle of JS, CE, and OCB relationships. This study has contributed to literature a few novelties such as: (i) to test all these constructs relations in Turkish case as a developing country and; (ii) to investigating the possible moderating role of ethical climate on these constructs more different than previous studies have already done and more detailed within sub-dimensions effects.
Wound healing and antibacterial activities of chondroitin sulfate- and acharan sulfate-reduced silver nanoparticles

For topical applications in wound healing, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have attracted much attention as antibacterial agents. Herein, we describe a green-synthetic route for the production of biocompatible and crystalline AgNPs using two glycosaminoglycans, chondroitin sulfate (CS) and acharan sulfate (AS), as reducing agents. The synthetic approach avoids the use of toxic chemicals, and the yield of AgNPs formation is found to be 98.1% and 91.1% for the chondroitin sulfate-reduced silver nanoparticles (CS-AgNPs) and the acharan sulfate-reduced silver nanoparticles (AS-AgNPs), respectively. Nanoparticles with mostly spherical and amorphous shapes were observed, with an average diameter of 6.16 ± 2.26 nm for CS-AgNPs and 5.79 ± 3.10 nm for AS-AgNPs. Images of the CS-AgNPs obtained from atomic force microscopy revealed the self-assembled structure of CS was similar to a densely packed woven mat with AgNPs sprinkled on the CS. These nanoparticles were stable under cell culture conditions without any noticeable aggregation. An approximately 128-fold enhancement of the antibacterial activities of the AgNPs was observed against Enterobacter cloacae and Escherichia coli when compared to CS and AS alone. In addition, an in vivo animal model of wound healing activity was tested using mice that were subjected to deep incision wounds. In comparison to the controls, the ointments containing CS-AgNPs and AS-AgNPs stimulated wound closure under histological examination and accelerated the deposition of granulation tissue and collagen in the wound area. The wound healing activity of the ointments containing CS-AgNPs and AS-AgNPs are comparable to that of a commercial formulation of silver sulfadiazine even though the newly prepared ointments contain a lower silver concentration. Therefore, the newly prepared AgNPs demonstrate potential for use as an attractive biocompatible nanocomposite for topical applications in the treatment of wounds.
Family and Ability Correlates of Academic Achievement: Social Status Group Differences

In a set of interrelated investigations in 2001-03, García Bacete and Rosel Remírez, Marjoribanks, and García Bacete and Villanueva Badenes examined relationships among intellectual ability, family environment, and academic achievement. Analysis in this follow-up study showed that relationships among ability, environment, and achievement varied for children from different social status groups.
Some Observations on Genetic Diversity and Micro Differentiation Processes among Some Populations of North India Using ABO Subtypes and Rh Markers

Two major religious groups of India were studied, viz. Hindu and Muslim. The survey was confined to 1059 individuals of Aligarh city (UP). Households were selected on random a priori basis during day time by door to door contact. Muslims populations were Syed, Sheikh, Pathan, Ansari and Hindus were Brahmin, Bania, Rajput, Jatav. Gene frequency, allele frequency, heterozygosity, genetic identity and genetic distance were calculated for A A BO and Rh markers and on the basis of the survey of these 1059 individuals dendrogram 12 was constructed between the different populations studied. The coefficient of gene differentiation relative to total population i.e. G is 0.0166 for A A BO and 0.0355 for Rh. The dendrogram was constructed using ST 1 2 UPGMA method. Higher castes were found to be closer, Syed and Sheikh are closest while Brahmin and Rajput are most distant population groups.
Virtual Knowledge-Building Communities

A virtual knowledge-building community is a group of people who collaboratively produce knowledge through an online-mediated environment. The process and means for sharing and producing knowledge in such a community can be described as a place where “knowledge creation is built into the social fabric and into the technologies that support knowledge work” (Scardamalia, 2001). Virtual knowledge-building community is a unique case of a virtual community in which the processes of knowledge building are preformed through interactions between group members. In the