Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electrohydrodynamic atomization, a promising avenue for fast-dissolving drug delivery system: Lessons from tadalafil-loaded composite nanofibers

The utilization of electrospinning in drug delivery has thrived in recent years, with the ability to incorporate drugs and enhance dissolution; this technique is employed to improve the dissolution of poorly water-soluble selective phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, tadalafil. The strategy involved direct electrospinning of tadalafil/polyvinylpyrrolidone and polyethylene oxide (PEO) solution. The optimization process included a 32 full factorial design based on the influence of polymers concentration as independent variables on the electrospun yield, loading efficiency, nanofibers diameter, number of beads, and in vitro release. Optimization studies revealed the negative influence of both polymers on the electrospun yield, while the loading efficiency and in vitro dissolution rate were reduced by the PEO concentration solely. The higher polymer concentrations were favorable for the declination of beads number, and a driving factor for fiber diameter reduction. Further physicochemical characterization of the optimized formulation revealed the presence of the drug in an amorphous state or molecular dispersion within the polymer matrix. In vitro dissolution studies revealed about 81.5% ± 8.34% release in less than 2 minutes compared to a negligible dissolution of free drug. From the derived outcomes, the electrohydrodynamic spun tadalafil-loaded nanofibers pave the way for dissolution enhancement for insoluble low bioavailability class II drugs.
OPTH_A_220845 2341..2352

Francesco Semeraro 1 Francesco Morescalchi 1 Andrea Russo 1 Elena Gambicorti Andrea Pilotto 2 Francesco Parmeggiani 3 Silvia Bartollino 4 Ciro Costagliola 4 1Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy; 2Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Neurology Unit, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy; 3Department of Morphology, Surgery and Experimental Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy; 4Department of Medicine and Health Science “V. Tiberio”, University of Molise, Campobasso, Italy Abstract: Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is a common retina disease and has a relative high recurrence rate, etiology, and pathogenesis of which remains largely ambiguous. The effects on the retina are usually self-limited, although some people are left with permanent vision loss due to progressive and irreversible photoreceptor damage or retinal pigment epithelium atrophy. There have been a number of interventions used in CSC, including, but not limited to, laser treatment, photodynamic therapy (PDT), intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agents, and subthreshold lasers. It is not clear whether there is a clinically important benefit to treating acute CSC, which often resolves spontaneously as part of its natural history. Of the interventions studied to date, PDT and micropulse laser treatment appear the most promising.
Five Hundred Patients with Memory Loss in One Clinic in India: Does the Prevalence Vary Between Communities?

This observational study reports on the cause of memory loss in 500 consecutive patients. It confirms the previously reported finding in a smaller sample of 100 patients. There have been several publications suggesting that the prevalence of dementia is lower in certain communities but the reason is not known. This study was conducted to see if it could explain the variation between communities. Also, the observation that dementia with Lewy bodies (24.4%) outnumbers cases of Alzheimer’s disease (5.8%) has not been reported by any other investigators and needs to be verified. This finding could open a new topic of research and also help in the management of patients.
Effect of Government Expenditure on Human Capital Development in Kaduna State (1990 – 2015): An Application of ARDL Model

This study investigates the effect of government expenditure on human capital development in Kaduna state from 1990 to 2015. Secondary data were obtained from Kaduna state Ministry of Budget and Planning, Cooperate Affairs Commission, National Youth Service Corps and Kaduna state Ministry of Health on; government expenditure on education and health, creative citizens, number of graduates and life expectancy at birth respectively. Also an index for human capital development was created using three pillars; creative citizens, number of graduates and healthy citizens using principal component analysis (PCA). The Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) was adopted for the study. Findings of the work suggests that in the shortrun, increase in government spending on education does not stimulate an increase in human capital development which is significant at 5 percent level of significance (t = -4.37, p<0.05; t=-2.44, p<0.05). However, it was confirmed that in the long-run, there is a positive effect as a 1 percent increase in education expenditure stir up an increase to human capital by 2.79 percent which was found to be significant at 5 percent (t=3.789, p<0.05). Health expenditure was found to had a positive and a statistically significant effect on human capital development in the short-run covering the first year and second year (t =3.88, p< 0.05; t=3.56, p<0.005). However, the long-run evidence has showed that a 1 percent increase in health expenditure does not increase but rather decrease human capital development by -2.9 percent. The study concludes that government expenditure directly affects human capital development. The under study recommends that the state government should increase its spending on education and health in other to rapidly develop human capital since it is crucial to economic prosperity.
AGGLOMERATION AND LOCATION DECISION OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) IN INDONESIA Agustina and David Flath HOW CONSUMER CONFIDENCE AFFECTS THE IMPACT OF HOUSING AND STOCK MARKET WEALTH ON CONSUMPTION? EVIDENCE FROM ASIAN COUNTRIES

Penanaman modal asing (PMA) dapat mempercepat pertumbuhan ekonomi yang luar biasa, bahkan di negara-negara berkembang. PMA dapat menyediakan sumber daya keuangan, transfer teknologi, meningkatkan praktik dan keterampilan organisasi dan manajerial, dan memberikan akses ke pasar internasional. Pemerintah Indonesia telah menyadari bahwa PMA dapat memberikan kontribusi yang signifikan terhadap pembangunan ekonomi negara. Tesis ini bertujuan untuk mengukur kepentingan relatif dari berbagai jenis aglomerasi untuk penentuan lokasi PMA di sektor manufaktur di Indonesia. Data ini dianalisis dengan model multinomial logit di mana variabel dependen adalah pilihan lokasi. Tesis ini meneliti faktor-faktor penentu PMA baru (greenfield) di sektor manufaktur di Pulau Jawa, Indonesia. Penelitian ini menggunakan data tingkat mikro dari izin prinsip yang tidak dipublikasikan dari Badan Koordinasi Penanaman Modal Indonesia (BKPM). Penelitian ini menguji dari 23 kabupaten di Pulau Jawa yang menerima PMA di sektor manufaktur dalam lima tahun terakhir. Hasil dari temuan ekonomi aglomerasi (baik milik asing dan perusahaan domestik) menunjukkan dampak yang signifikan dan positif namun kecil. Variabel-variabel lain, termasuk fasilitas, dan kondisi pasar tenaga kerja—secara anomali dengan upah minimum yang lebih tinggi— menunjukkan hasil yang lebih penting dibandingkan aglomerasi. Karena efek aglomerasi yang kecil, hal ini berarti bahwa ekonomi aglomerasi bukanlah faktor penentu dalam menarik PMA. Investor asing yang baru tidak hanya mencari kabupaten di mana pabrik asing atau domestik telah berada tetapi juga mempertimbangkan hal-hal lain seperti kepadatan jalan dan ketersediaan tenaga kerja. Kata kunci: ekonomi aglomerasi, manufaktur, kegiatan ekonomi regional, multinomial logit
The Role of Trust in Explaining Food Choice: Combining Choice Experiment and Attribute Best–Worst Scaling †

This paper presents empirical findings from a combination of two elicitation techniques—discrete choice experiment (DCE) and best–worst scaling (BWS)—to provide information about the role of consumers’ trust in food choice decisions in the case of credence attributes. The analysis was based on a sample of 459 Taiwanese consumers and focuses on red sweet peppers. DCE data were examined using latent class analysis to investigate the importance and the utility different consumer segments attach to the production method, country of origin, and chemical residue testing. The relevance of attitudinal and trust-based items was identified by BWS using a hierarchical Bayesian mixed logit model and was aggregated to five latent components by means of principal component analysis. Applying a multinomial logit model, participants’ latent class membership (obtained from DCE data) was regressed on the identified attitudinal and trust components, as well as demographic information. Results of the DCE latent class analysis for the product attributes show that four segments may be distinguished. Linking the DCE with the attitudinal dimensions reveals that consumers’ attitude and trust significantly explain class membership and therefore, consumers’ preferences for different credence attributes. Based on our results, we derive recommendations for industry and policy.
ASTM G132 testing for evaluating abrasion resistance of WC-Co hardmetal

The current test method experimentally simulates two-body abrasive wear of WC-6wt% Co hardmetal using modified pin abrasion tester configuration (ASTM G132). Silicon carbide (SiC) and alumina (Al2O3) with different sizes ranging from 22μm to 200 μm were used as abrasives in this test. Experiments were performed for different normal force from 4 to 16 N with constant sliding speed of 150 mm/s for 30 m sliding distance. Worn surface morphology and topography were characterized through SEM and white light interferometry. The obtained results clearly highlights the potential of pin abrasion tester for characterizing two body abrasion of hardmetals.
An Exon Signature to Estimate the Tumor Mutational Burden of Right-sided Colon Cancer Patients

The clinical applicability of the whole-exome sequencing (WES) in estimating tumor mutational burden (TMB) is currently limited by high cost, time-consuming and tissue availability. And given to the differences in the mutational landscapes among different types of cancer, we aimed to develop a cancer-specific signature to estimate TMB for right-sided colon cancer patients (RCC). Using WES data of 315 RCC patients, we identified the exons in which the number of mutational sites of the coding DNA sequences associated with TMB through linear regression analysis. Then, among these exons, we extracted a signature composed by 102 exons (~0.13 Mbp) through a heuristic selection procedure. The TMB estimated by the signature was highly correlated with those calculated by WES in the discovery dataset (R2=0.9869) and three independent validation datasets (R2=0.9351, R2=0.8063 and R2=0.9527, respectively). And the performance of the signature was superior to a colorectal-specific TMB estimation model contained 22 genes (~0.24 Mbp). Moreover, between TMB-high and TMB-low RCC patients, there were significantly differences in the frequencies of microsatellite instability status, CpG island methylator phenotype, BRAF, KRAS and POLE/POLD1 mutation status (p<0.01). However, the performances of the signature in other types of cancer were dramatically degraded (left-sided colon cancer, R2=0.7849 and 0.9407, respectively; rectum, R2=0.5955 and R2=0.965, respectively; breast cancer, R2=0.8444; lung cancer, R2=0.5963), suggesting that it was necessary to develop cancer-specific TMB estimated signatures to estimate precisely the TMB in different types of cancer. In summary, we developed an exon signature that can accurately estimate TMB in RCC patients, and the cost and time required for the assessment of TMB can be considerably decreased, making it more suitable for blood and/or biopsy samples.
EXPERIMENTAL COMPARISION OF REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS STRENGTHENED AGAINST BENDING WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF CEMENTITIOUS-MATRIX COMPOSITE MATERIALS

Using composite materials for retrofitting existing reinforced concrete (RC) structures is showed as a promising technique that offers outstanding performances due to their high strength-weight ratio and the ease of their application. However, the use of organic resins brings some drawbacks that fabric-reinforced cementitious matrix materials (FRCM) avoid. In this work, five types of FRCM applied as flexural reinforcement are comparative studied. Results show that most of the strengthened beams tested up to failure were able to increase their flexural capacity and flexural stiffness, but decreased their ductility. Finally, a new methodology to study the cracking process is presented.
CSK_frv2014_JDE_mis en page

PO RT A N T LA R ÉF ÉR EN C E «A N R10 -L A BX -1 401 ». Abstract This paper focuses on developing countries that export for the first time to the OECD and obtains several important results on export dynamic, linking exports experience and exports survival. Using product level data at the SITC 5 digit level for 114 developing countries on the 1962-2009 period, we show that prior exports experience obtained in non-OCDE markets increases survival in the OECD market. The effect of experience depreciates however rapidly with time: gaining experience for more than two years is worthless. Moreover, a break in export experience prior to entering the OECD reduces the benefit on survival. Geographic export dynamic reveals that experience is acquired in neighbor, easy to access markets before reaching more distant, richer partners and ultimately serving the OECD. Where the experience is acquired does not however matter for survival.
Stress and Coping Strategies among Nurse Managers at Three District Hospitals in the Eastern Region of Ghana

Nurses have been found to experience high levels of stress which contributes to health challenges and decreases their efficiency. Nurse managers may experience higher levels of stress due to their complex and multi-faceted roles and responsibilities. A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional approach was used to identify how nurse managers experience stress and strategies used to reduce stress. Three hospitals were randomly selected, and 45 nurse managers were also selected using disproportionate stratified sampling technique. Simple random sampling was employed to select 15 nurse managers from each hospital. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection, and the data was analyzed using both inferential and descriptive statistics to describe the sample and determine factors that influence stress. The study revealed that common causes of stress among nurse managers are lack of break period during shifts (95.6%), staff shortage (97.8%), inadequate support from management (93.3%), poor working conditions (91.1%) and inadequate resources (91.1%). The major predictor of stress among nurse managers is the type of unit (F = 9.546, p < .05, R2 = .205). Headache (78.3%), backache (73.9%) and fatigue (82.6%) are the major physical stress experienced by nurse managers. Frustration (84.8%) is the major emotional stress experienced by nurse managers and the major type of psychological stress experienced by nurse managers is lack of concentration (67.4%). The major coping strategies of stress among nurse managers are expression of feelings instead of bottling them up (91.1%), accepting the things one cannot change (88.9%) and time management (86.7%) whereas eating excessively is the least mechanism (8.9%) used to cope with stress. It is recommended that nurse managers should mature in age, practice, knowledge and experience to cope better with the challenges that confront their position. Nurse managers should also take intermittent breaks during shifts, and hospitals.
No Correlation between KRAS Status and Advanced Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Survival

Erlotinib plus gemcitabine is one of the standard chemotherapies for unresectable pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer has the highest frequency of KRAS gene mutations among human cancers, and some studies suggest that KRAS status might be a predictive biomarker for anti-epidermal growth factor receptor treatment. However, the reliability of this biomarker has not been confirmed. Here, we evaluated the impact of KRAS mutations in pancreatic cancer patients treated with first line gemcitabine-based chemotherapy. 23 patients treated with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy whose KRAS status could be examined from primary or metastatic lesions were enrolled. KRAS mutations were analyzed by sequencing codons 12 and 13. We retrospectively evaluated the correlation between KRAS status, and prognosis and treatment efficacy. Patient characteristics were as follows: median age 68 years, male/female=6/17, PS 0/1=9/14, TNM stage III/IV=1/22, and gemcitabine alone/erlotinib plus gemcitabine=13/10. Among the 23 patients, KRAS codon 12 was mutated in 15, one of whom also had mutation on codon 13. Median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of all patients were 4.3 months (95% confidence interval (CI): 3.1 to 5.4) and 8.1 months (95% CI: 5.9 to 10.0; events in 96%), respectively. KRAS status showed no association with PFS (p=0.310), OS (p=0.934), or the efficacy of treatment with (p=0.833) or without erlotinib (p=0.478). Thus, in this study, there was no correlation between KRAS status and the efficacy of first line chemotherapy with gemcitabine with or without erlotinib. Identification of a rationale for personalized medicine in pancreatic cancer will require further exploratory prospective studies.
The Interplay between Social Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Online User Communities

Firms have been increasingly relying on online user communities (OUC) to access external, distant knowledge and expertise. Previous research on OUC has largely investigated the influence of individuals' social capital on their knowledge sharing behavior. In this study, we propose a spiral view on the relationship between social capital and knowledge contribution. We suggest that there are two-way interactions between individuals' social capital and their knowledge contribution in online user communities. To test our proposition, we collected and analysed participation data of 3,512 users from the OUC of BMC, a global leader in innovative software solutions. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our study for the online user community literature as well as the broader context of online community.
Intraoperative cytologic diagnosis of sentinel lymph node metastasis in breast cancer-Combination of imprint cytology and immunocytochemistry-

目的:乳癌における術中迅速センチネルリンパ節 (sentinel lymph node: SLN) 捺印細胞診への免疫細胞化学 (immunocytochemistry: ICC) 併用の有用性を検討した. 方法:2003年6月から2004年2月までのICCを併用した術中迅速SLN捺印細胞診134例を対象に, 迅速組織診断, 永久標本ならびに免疫組織化学 (immunohistochemistry: IHC) との成績を比較した. 成績:永久標本におけるSLN転移陽性は37例 (HE・IHCともに陽性28例, IHCのみ陽性9例) で, そのうち細胞診陽性はPapanicolaou (Pap.) 染色のみが29例であったが, ICC併用により33例となり, 感度は78. 4%から89. 2%と向上した. 残り4例はmicrometastasis症例であった. また永久標本でのSLN転移陰性は97例で, その内細胞診陰性は94例, 特異度は96. 9%であった. 残り3例はPap. 染色では疑陽性だったが, ICCにて全例陽性を呈しmicrometastasisの可能性が示唆された. 結論:孤在性の癌細胞や小型で異型性の乏しい癌細胞など, 洞組織球との鑑別を要す場合でも習熟すればPap. 染色だけで十分だが, ICCを併用することで明らかな精度向上が認められる. 特に永久標本で確認されたmicrometastasis11例中7例をICCで検出できたことより, ICC併用はSLNの術中迅速診断に有用と考える.
Working Papers / Documents de travail

We empirically reinvestigate the issue of excess comovement of commodity prices initially raised in Pindyck and Rotemberg (1990) and show that excess comovement, when it exists, can be related to hedging and speculative pressure in commodity futures markets. Excess comovement appears when commodity prices remain correlated even after adjusting for the impact of common factors. While Pindyck and Rotemberg and following contributions examine this issue using a relevant but arbitrary set of control variables, we use recent developments in large approximate factor models so that a richer information set can be considered and “fundamentals” are likely to be adequately modeled. We consider a set of 8 unrelated commodities along with 187 real and nominal macroeconomic variables from which 9 factors are extracted over the period 1993-2010. Our estimates provide evidence of a time-varying excess comovement which is only occasionally significant, even after controlling for heteroscedasticity. Interestingly, excess comovement is mostly significant in recent years when a large increase in the trading of commodities is observed and also in crisis periods. However, we show that this increase in trading activity alone has no explanatory power for the excess comovement. Conversely, measures of hedging and speculative pressure explain around 60% of the estimated excess comovement thereby showing the strong impact not only of the financialization process, but also the impact of behaviour of some categories of traders on the price of commodities and the fact that supply and demand variables are not the sole factors in determining equilibrium prices. JEL Classification : C22, C32, G15, E17
The Effect of Associated Parkinsonism on Rehabilitation in Stroke Patients: A Case Series

Stroke and Parkinson’s disease are 2 major causes of movement impairment and a decreased ability to perform daily activities. The aim of this case series was to demonstrate the difficulty of rehabilitation in stroke patients with accompanying parkinsonism. Four stroke patients with parkinsonism who underwent rehabilitation at the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic between March and May of 2016 were evaluated. The Standardized Mini-Mental State Examination (SMMSE), the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), the Barthel Index (BI), the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and the Stroke Impact Scale version 3.0 (SIS) were used in the assessment. Of the 4 patients, 3 were female, and the mean age was 74.5±9.3 years. The mean hospital stay was 19±5.3 days. The initial test scores recorded were low, and they remained low at the time of discharge. After rehabilitation, the mean FIM score in the group was 42% of the maximum possible score, the mean SMMSE was 55%, the BI was 18%, the BBS was 0.08%, and the SIS was 25%. Three patients required a wheelchair, and 1 patient could ambulate with a walker at discharge. A stroke accompanied by parkinsonism negatively affects mobility and functional status, primarily through the deterioration of balance. In this study, cognitive function was reduced to half of the maximum, and the balance and function loss was more than 50%. Barthel index; berg balance scale; functional independence measure; mini-mental state examination; parkinsonism; stroke; stroke impact scale.