Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Premenstrual Syndrome: A Reappraisal of the Concept and the Evidence

The Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) remains a controversial issue. As a clinical concept it is surrounded by confusion. Attempts to establish a consensus definition have resulted in the majority of women seeking help for such problems excluded from the diagnosis. Furthermore, there is no consensus about how such problems should be treated, with a variety of methods being advocated usually on very uncertain scientific grounds. The issue also has its political implications; there are those who see PMS as a way of reducing the status of women, by linking the normal ovarian cycle to a phenomenon which, on the face of it, impairs women's ability to cope. Yet there are a substantial number of women who experience significant negative changes which vary with the menstrual cycle, and produce long-term effects on their well being and family relationship which can be serious. There is also a real possibility that recurrent perimenstrual mood changes of this kind may increase the likelihood of chronic depressive illness in susceptible individuals. In most respects the features of depression which occurs perimenstrually are essentially similar to those of major depressive disorder, except for the short duration and recurrent pattern. PMS, therefore, remains an issue not only of clinical importance, but of considerable potential relevance to our understanding of major depressive disorder, which is substantially more common in women of reproductive age than in their male counterparts. In this review the concept of PMS, and some prominent operational definitions of it, are critically evaluated; it is now questionable whether the concept, as currently applied, still carries any heuristic or clinical value. Some current theoretical and aetiological issues are considered: e.g. the role of the corpus luteum, the effects of hormonal regimes which block ovulation, such as oral contraceptives, and the possibility that cyclical mood change represents an entrained rhythm in the brain. The conclusions reached at this stage in the review lead to a 'paradigm shift' with the proposal of a three-factor model to account for the complexities of menstrual cycle-related problems. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
VOut: Mining Sampled GPS Trace for Taximeter Fraud

Nowadays Taxies play an important role in urban transportation. One practical issue in taxi operation is charging fraud, where the taximeter of a malicious taxi is altered to fake the real travel distance. One labor-intensive scheme to detect fraudulent taxies is to check the taximeters of a great number of randomly selected taxies or those taxies been accused of cheating. Alternatively, with GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver onboard, another potential scheme is to calculate the travel distance of a taxi according to the GPS reports and a digital map. However, it is hard to retrieve accurate trajectories of taxies due to the sparseness of GPS reports, outlier reports, and the distortion of the digital map. In this paper, we propose a speed-based scheme, called VOut, which relies on one key insight that the average speed derived from a faked travel distance should be higher than the majority of GPS velocity reports. Given the operation records and GPS reports of taxies, VOut judges the suspicion of each delivery task for each taxi. We conduct extensive trace-driven simulations and the results demonstrate the efficacy of VOut.
Earnings Management in Greece: A Case Study in Construction Sector Using Jones Model

Shadow economy is harmful to the whole official economy. It distorts competition and stock prices, it worsens income distribution and is an obstacle for entrepreneurship and economic growth. There are many reasons causing shadow economy. One of them is earnings management. A lot of research has been made on earnings management. In this paper Jones (1991) model will be used to examine the phenomenon of earnings management in the Greek construction industry. The findings are: first in the Greek construction sector discretionary accruals in practice affect negligibly the percentage of shadow economy in GDP, second in the Greek construction sector discretionary accruals (showing lower profits) increase in periods of higher capital tax rate, third in the Greek construction sector usually large companies resort to earnings management more than the small ones. Hence, Jones (1991) model shows the way for further investigation on tax avoidance. It should be noted however that shadow economy is a very complicated topic and is not only a matter of just earnings management. The contribution of this paper is that it uses Jones (1991) model to spot tax evading companies and triggers further research. Besides, the findings of this paper indicate the need for the global adoption of the international accounting and auditing standards. Cultural differentials across countries, which hinder this adoption, must be overcome.
Aerosol layers from the 2008 eruptions of Mount Okmok and Mount Kasatochi: In situ upper troposphere and lower stratosphere measurements of sulfate and organics over Europe

In 2008 Mt. Okmok and Mt. Kasatochi started erupting on 12 July and 7 August, respectively, in the Aleutians, depositing emissions of trace gases and aerosols as high as 15.2 km into the atmosphere. During an aircraft campaign, conducted over Europe in October/November 2008, the volcanic aerosol was measured by an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS), capable of particle chemical composition measurements covering a size diameter range between 40 nm and 1 µm. In the volcanic aerosol layer enhanced submicron particulate sulfate concentrations of up to 2.0 µg m-3 standard temperature and pressure (STP) were observed between 8 and 12 km altitude while background values did not exceed 0.5 µg m-3 (STP). 21 % of the volcanic aerosol consisted of carbonaceous material that increased by a factor of 1.9 in mass compared to the free troposphere. Enhanced gaseous sulfur dioxide concentrations measured by an ion trap chemical ionization mass spectrometer (IT-CIMS) of up to 1.3 µg m-3 were encountered. An onboard radiation measurement system simultaneously detected an enhanced aerosol signal. Furthermore, two German lidar stations identified an aerosol layer before and after the campaign. Data analysis shows that the aerosol layer was observed mainly in the lowermost stratosphere. Correlation of particulate sulfate concentration and sulfur dioxide mixing ratios indicate that after 3 month residence time in the stratosphere not all sulfur dioxide has been converted into sulfate aerosol. The significant fraction of organic material might have implications on heterogeneous chemistry in the stratosphere which need to be explored more thoroughly
Evaluating the Building Blocks of a Dynamically Adaptive Systematic Trading Strategy

Financial markets change their behaviours abruptly. The mean, variance and correlation patterns of stocks can vary dramatically, triggered by fundamental changes in macroeconomic variables, policies or regulations. A trader needs to adapt her trading style to make the best out of the different phases in the stock markets. Similarly, an investor might want to invest in different asset classes in different market regimes for a stable risk adjusted return profile. Here, we explore the use of State Switching Markov Autoregressive models for identifying and predicting different market regimes loosely modeled on the Wyckoff Price Regimes of accumulation, distribution, advance and decline. We explore the behaviour of various asset classes and market sectors in the identified regimes. We look at the trading strategies like trend following, range trading, retracement trading and breakout trading in the given market regimes and tailor them for the specific regimes. We tie together the best trading strategy and asset allocation for the identified market regimes to come up with a robust dynamically adaptive trading system to outperform simple traditional alphas.
Monte Carlo wave function method in the problems of atomic motion in the field of laser radiation

We apply Monte Carlo wave function method and classical mechanics to description of the atomic motion in the field of laser radiation. Simultaneous use of quantum and classical mechanics for description of inner and translational motion avoids quantization of the translational degrees of freedom. The calculation are carried out for the example of atomic motion in the field of counter-propagating laser waves, one of which repeats the other. It is shown that such scheme of the atom-field interaction leads to confinement of atoms and their cooling by the same laser beams for proper the atom-field interaction parameters. The cases of laser pulses, bichromatic waves and stochastic field (the model of coloured noise) are analyzed.
Identification of twelve novel mutations in patients with classic and variant forms of maple syrup urine disease

Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder of panethnic distribution caused by a deficiency of the activity of branched‐chain α‐ketoacid dehydrogenase (BCKD) complex. Mutations in the human BCKD genes E1α (BCKDHA), E1β (BCKDHB) and E2 (DBT) are known to result in MSUD, referred to as type Ia, Ib and II mutations respectively. In this study 16 patients with the classic severe form of MSUD and three patients with milder variant forms of the disease were investigated for mutations in the E1α‐, E1β‐ and E2‐gene by single‐strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and DNA sequencing. The patients' clinical and biochemical phenotypes were well characterized. One novel type Ia missense mutation, eight novel type Ib (three missense, two nonsense, two small deletions, one small duplication) and three novel type II (two missense, one splice site) mutations were identified in patients. Moreover, eleven previously described mutations were detected: five type Ia (four missense, one nonsense), three type Ib mutations (two missense, one nonsense) and three type II mutations (two missense, one small deletion). Fourteen patients are homozygous for one single mutation, five patients are compound‐heterozygous for two different mutations affecting one of the three genes. Thus, in all 19 patients the identified mutations can most probably be considered the molecular basis of the disease. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Serum phosphorus and association with anemia among a large diverse population with and without chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND We hypothesized that phosphorus has an effect on anemia in both normal kidney function and early chronic kidney disease (CKD). We sought to determine whether higher phosphorus levels are associated with anemia in a large diverse population without CKD and early CKD. METHODS This study is a historical population-based study within the Kaiser Permanente Southern California health system (1 January 1998 to 31 December 2013) among individuals aged 18 years and older with estimated glomerular filtration rate >30 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and measurements of serum phosphorus, creatinine and hemoglobin. Individuals were excluded if they had secondary causes of anemia. Odds ratio (OR) estimated for moderate anemia defined as hemoglobin <11 g/dL for both sexes. Mild anemia was defined as <12 g/dL (females) and <13 g/dL (males). RESULTS Among 155 974 individuals, 4.1% had moderate anemia and 12.9% had mild anemia. Serum phosphorus levels ≥3.5 mg/dL were associated with both mild and moderate anemia. Moderate anemia OR (95% confidence interval) was 1.16 (1.04-1.29) for every 0.5 mg/dL phosphorus increase and 1.26 (1.07-1.48) in the highest versus middle phosphorus tertile. Additional independent anemia risk factors, including female sex, Asian race, diabetes, low albumin and low iron saturation, were observed, but did not alter the anemia-phosphorus association. CONCLUSIONS Higher phosphorus levels were associated with a greater likelihood for anemia in a population with early CKD and normal kidney function. Phosphorus may be a biomarker for anemia and may affect aspects of hematopoiesis.
Optimization of simultaneous removal of Cr (VI) and phenol by a native bacterial consortium: its use for bioaugmentation of co‐polluted effluents

This study was designed to isolate, identify and characterize micro‐organisms or mixed cultures capable of simultaneously removing Cr (VI) and phenol in the surrounding area of a tannery localized in Elena, Córdoba, Argentina. In addition, nutritional and physical factors were optimized in order to improve the removal efficiency in a real effluent.
Role of Myosin Phosphatase Isoforms in cGMP-mediated Smooth Muscle Relaxation*

In vitro experiments showing the activation of the myosin phosphatase via heterophilic leucine zipper interactions between its targeting subunit (MYPT1) and cGMP-dependent protein kinase I suggested a pathway for smooth muscle relaxation (Surks, H. K., Mochizuki, N., Kasai, Y., Georgescu, S. P., Tang, K. M., Ito, M., Lincoln, T. M., and Mendelsohn, M. E. (1999) Science 286, 1583–1587). The relationship between MYPT1 isoform expression and smooth muscle responses to cGMP signaling in vivo has not been explored. MYPT1 isoforms that contain or lack a C-terminal leucine zipper are generated in birds and mammals by cassette-type alternative splicing of a 31-nucleotide exon. The avian and mammalian C-terminal isoforms are highly conserved and expressed in a tissue-specific fashion. In the mature chicken the tonic contracting aorta and phasic contracting gizzard exclusively express the leucine zipper positive and negative MYPT1 isoforms, respectively. Expression of the MYPT1 isoforms is also developmentally regulated in the gizzard, which switches from leucine zipper positive to negative isoforms around the time of hatching. This switch coincides with the development in the gizzard of a cGMP-resistant phenotype, i.e. inability to dephosphorylate myosin and relax in response to 8-bromo-cGMP after calcium activation. Furthermore, association of cGMP-dependent protein kinase I with MYPT1 is detected by immunoprecipitation only in the tissue that expresses the leucine zipper positive isoform of MYPT1. These results suggest that the regulated splicing of MYPT1 is an important determinant of smooth muscle phenotypic diversity and the variability in the response of smooth muscles to the calcium desensitizing effect of cGMP signaling.
The use of the OECD Model Tax Convention as an inrpretative aid: The static vs ambulatory approach debate considered from a South African perspective

CITATION: Steenkamp, L. 2017. The use of the OECD Model Tax Convention as an inrpretative aid : the static vs ambulatory approach debate considered from a South African perspective. Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences, 10(2):195-205, doi:10.4102/jef.v10i2. 13.
Arduino and Raspberry Pi based smart communication and control of home appliance system

The home automation technology makes human life comfortable and luxurious. That is why today every person wants a smart home. This technology provides the control of the home devices as well as a secure and intelligent interaction between personnel inside and outside of the room. The control system gives the status concerning ON or OFF of the selected instrument to the house owner. This system is also designed to assist, provide support and to fulfill the needs of an elderly person in the home. The system is intended to control electrical appliances in the house and effective interaction to the visitor with relatively lowcost design, user-friendly interface as well as easy of installation. Using this technology, consumers can save the electrical energy by regular monitoring of home devices or the proper ON/OFF scheduling of the devices.
Thyroid ultrasound in diabetic patients without overt thyroid disease

Purpose: To assess thyroid volume and to evaluate possible lesions in the gland structure using thyroid ultrasound in patients with diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1) and 2 (DM2) without overt thyroid disease. Material and Methods: Consecutive adult patients with DM2 (n = 98) and DM1 (n = 30) without overt thyroid disease referred to our department because of poorly controlled disease and/or diabetic complications were prospectively analyzed. Thyroid volumes, gland echogenicity, thyroid nodules incidence, and TSH levels were compared with control groups (n = 50 and 38) and matched according to sex and age. Results: Significant increases in median thyroid volume were observed in both subjects with DM1 (17.3 cm3, interquartile range (IR) 13.9–21.6 cm3 versus 14.4 cm3, IR 11.3–18.3 cm3; P<0.05) and DM2 (20.5 cm3, IR 14.9–27.1 cm3 versus 14.1 cm3, IR 11.3–18.3 cm3; P<0.001) in comparison to their control groups. Moreover, in the population of type 2 diabetics, thyroid nodules (OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.14–4.93), parenchymatous goiter (OR 5.40, 95% CI 1.20–24.30), and all kinds of thyroid goiter according to the WHO definition (OR 4.18, 95% CI 2.02–8.66) were remarkably more frequent. In our patients, reduced (but within normal range) TSH level occurred in DM1 (median 0.97 mIU/l, IR 0.61–1.58 mIU/l versus median 1.66 mIU/l, IR 0.76–2.09 mIU/l; P<0.05). The presence of a negative linear correlation between thyroid volume and TSH concentration was noticed in patients with DM2 (R S = −0.38, P<0.01). Conclusion: In individuals with DM1 and DM2 treated for poorly controlled disease and/or diabetic complications, thyroid volumes were significantly higher than in the normal population. Moreover, nodular thyroid structure and parenchymatous goiter occurred more frequently in these type 2 diabetic patients.
Enantioselective Demethylation of Nicotine as a Mechanism for Variable Nornicotine Composition in Tobacco Leaf*

Background: Nornicotine composition in tobacco leaf has been a puzzle for more than half a century. Results: Three recombinant nicotine demethylases selectively use (R)-nicotine in vitro and in planta. Conclusion: Nornicotine composition in tobacco leaf can be reasonably explained by the combination of three nicotine demethylases. Significance: This knowledge lays the base for the optimization of nornicotine composition in tobacco leaf in the future. Nicotine and its N-demethylation product nornicotine are two important alkaloids in Nicotiana tabacum L. (tobacco). Both nicotine and nornicotine have two stereoisomers that differ from each other at 2′-C position on the pyrrolidine ring. (S)-Nicotine is the predominant form in the tobacco leaf, whereas the (R)-enantiomer only accounts for ∼0.2% of the total nicotine pool. Despite considerable past efforts, a comprehensive understanding of the factors responsible for generating an elevated and variable enantiomer fraction of nornicotine (EFnnic of 0.04 to 0.75) from the consistently low EF observed for nicotine has been lacking. The objective of this study was to determine potential roles of enantioselective demethylation in the formation of the nornicotine EF. Recombinant CYP82E4, CYP82E5v2, and CYP82E10, three known tobacco nicotine demethylases, were expressed in yeast and assayed for their enantioselectivities in vitro. Recombinant CYP82E4, CYP82E5v2, and CYP82E10 demethylated (R)-nicotine 3-, 10-, and 10-fold faster than (S)-nicotine, respectively. The combined enantioselective properties of the three nicotine demethylases can reasonably account for the nornicotine composition observed in tobacco leaves, which was confirmed in planta. Collectively, our studies suggest that an enantioselective mechanism facilitates the maintenance of a reduced (R)-nicotine pool and, depending on the relative abundances of the three nicotine demethylase enzymes, can confer a high (R)-enantiomer percentage within the nornicotine fraction of the leaf.
Detection Algorithm for Hybrid Space-Time and Spatial Multiplexing Wireless Communications Systems

In this paper we propose a new architecture for detection of hybrid layered space-time block codes (LSTBC). The proposed receiver is based on a successive interference cancellation (SIC) scheme and the QR decomposition, which leads to a suitable hardware implementation. It was designed for zero-forcing (ZF) criterion; reduced complexity is achieved by means of an adequate rearrangement of the channel matrix elements. Simulation results show that this new architecture outperforms similar, recently reported detectors in terms of bit error rate under spatially correlated channels.
Cryo‐Immunogold Electron Microscopy

This unit describes subcellular localization of proteins/antigens using high‐resolution cryo‐immunogold electron microscopy, which allows study of topological biochemistry at the ultrastructural level. This is the most sensitive procedure for immunodetection of antigens on ultrathin sections prepared from chemically fixed cells or tissues, because aldehyde fixation is the only denaturation step. The omission of harsh organic solvents (such as those used for plastic embedding) ensures better preservation of protein antigenicity. Support protocols describe how to embed fixed material in gelatin, cryosection, and mount the sections on Formvar‐coated grids. This unit is accompanied by eleven videos that illustrate many of the procedures used in this unit.
Role ambiguity and perceptions of unfair performance appraisals: mitigating roles of personal resources

Drawing from conservation of resources theory and attribution theory, this study adds to human resource literature by investigating the relationship between role ambiguity and employees’ beliefs that their performance is unfairly evaluated by their organization, as well as the buffering roles of relevant personal resources. In particular, the presence of unclear role descriptions may spur perceptions of unfair performance appraisals, but this process should be mitigated by organization-specific experience and Islamic work values. Data from Pakistani firms offer empirical support for these hypothesized effects. From a practical perspective, the findings indicate that human resource managers who fail to provide clear role descriptions to employees can mitigate accompanying concerns about the presence of unfair performance evaluations, to the extent that they encourage employees to leverage valuable personal resources.
Graft patency after off-pump versus on-pump coronary artery surgery in high-risk patients

Abstract Objective. To compare angiographic graft patency in high-risk patients randomly allocated to off-pump vs. on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Design. From a randomised, single-centre clinical trial including patients undergoing isolated first-time coronary bypass surgery a subgroup of patients were scheduled to 1-year coronary angiographic follow-up. Patients had 3-vessel disease and a EuroSCORE ≥5. We evaluated graft patency using a patency index (percentage of patent grafts out of the total number of grafts in each patient). Results. One-year angiography was performed in 34 patients undergoing off-pump surgery and 35 patients undergoing on-pump surgery. The mean number of distal anastomoses was 3.38±0.65 in the off-pump group versus 3.46±0.61 in the on-pump group (NS). The number of patients without graft failure was 22 in the off-pump group and 24 in the on-pump group (NS). The overall patency index was 85% in the off-pump group versus 87% in the on-pump group with a mean difference of –2.1%, 95% confidence interval –12.9 to 8.7 (NS). Conclusions. In patients with 3-vessel disease and a high-risk profile we found no statistically significant difference in graft patency between off-pump and on-pump CABG at 1-year coronary angiographic follow-up. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00120991.