Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vertical price transmission and its inflationary implications in South African food chains

ABSTRACT Various studies interrogate the issue of food inflation from a commodity level vantage point but fail to relate how commodity prices manifest in retail prices, and ultimately, how it impacts food inflation. This study uses vertical price transmission analysis, with time series econometric techniques, to determine how underlying commodity prices manifest in final retail prices and the associated reasons for it. Implications for food inflation are also reflected on. Two value chains, namely wheat-to-bread and maize-to-maize meal are considered due to their importance as staples in low(er) income consumer diets in South Africa. Results indicate full price transmission in the wheat-to-bread chain but incomplete price transmission in the maize-to-maize meal chain. In addition, prices in the wheat-to-bread chain are determined at producer and consumer level and bi-directional transmission takes place, whereas maize prices are determined at retail level and transmitted through the chain, to commodity level. Symmetry in price adjustment was not rejected in both chains. Implications of the findings for staple food inflation is that it does not seem that the price determination and price transmission processes in these chains are contributing factors to the inflationary pressures that these chains have experienced over the past decade. Symmetric price transmission in both chains seems to suggest no opportunistic behaviour on the part of firms to exploit situations where commodity prices decrease.
A diagnostic test of unawareness of bilateral motor task abilities in anosognosia for hemiplegia

Anosognosia for hemiplegia (AHP) is conventionally defined/diagnosed by generic questions about awareness of limb plegia. However, unawareness of inability to perform tasks requiring bilateral use of limbs is more widespread and outlasts generic unawareness of plegia. Some patients consistently overestimate bilateral task ability. Our aim was to assess how well specific questions about bilateral task ability predict whether patients consistently overestimate their abilities. Six statistical indices were calculated to rank the questions for predictiveness of consistency of overestimation of bilateral task ability. Overall, bimanual questions are better predictors than bipedal questions of consistent overestimation. Three bimanual and two bipedal questions had both sensitivity and specificity above 80%. On the basis of accuracy and discriminability, one bimanual and one bipedal question that performed maximally could be used for a quick bedside heuristic index. For a more thorough diagnostic, especially for research, five bimanual and two bipedal questions were good predictors, and should be used. For both purposes, such tests should be given in combination with conventional generic questions assessing awareness of limb plegia, since the two kinds of question reflect different kinds of unawareness of motor incapacity.
Oligonucleotide Array–based Comparative Genomic Hybridization Approach in Hematologic Malignancies With Normal/Failed Conventional Cytogenetics and Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization

Oligonucleotide array–based comparative genomic hybridization (oaCGH) was used to investigate 60 cases of hematologic malignancies, mainly acute myeloid leukemias and myelodysplastic syndromes, in order to evaluate its sensitivity and specificity and to search for genomic alterations undetected by previous investigation with conventional cytogenetics (CC) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). On the basis of CC and FISH results, we subdivided the series into group A (36 cases with a normal karyotype after CC and/or FISH testing) and group B (24 cases with anomalies detected by CC and/or FISH). oaCGH did not show alterations in 21 cases of the group A (58.3%); in the remaining 15 cases (41.7%), it detected 19 new abnormalities (14 amplifications and 5 deletions). In the group B, oaCGH confirmed 32/55 aneuploidies detected by FISH (58.1%). The sensitivity increased at 27/33 confirmed aneuploidies (81.8%) by placing as a cutoff a mosaic of 50%. Moreover, in the cases of this group oaCGH revealed 36 new alterations (15 amplifications and 21 deletions). From these results it is possible to assess a strong overlap between results obtained by FISH and oaCGH. However, oaCGH is a reliable alternative where CC and FISH are not feasible and is able to identify new alterations unexplored by FISH.
Management of Local Anesthetic Toxicity

Local anesthetic systemic toxicity (LAST) is a rare but potentially fatal complication of regional anesthesia. The danger of toxic blood concentrations of local anesthetic (LA) has been recognized and reported since the late 1800s after the purification of cocaine, the first LA. Although the practice of regional anesthesia has evolved since the late 1800s, LAST remains a major concern. This fact was highlighted by an alarming editorial by Albright in 1979, accompanying reports of LAST. This study and similar publications prompted the Food and Drug Administration to address administration of LAs by clinicians. The use of bupivacaine for intravenous regional anesthesia was prohibited and bupivacaine 0.75 was precluded from being used in obstetric epidurals. Over the past 25 years, the overall incidence of LAST has decreased dramatically. The decline in LAST is more significant with epidural anesthesia. In 1981, the incidence of LAST was 100/10,000 epidurals. Brown et al in 1995 retrospectively reviewed the Mayo Clinic experience and found an incidence of LAST of 0.1/1000 epidurals and 2.0/1000 brachial plexus blocks. Auroy et al in 1997 prospectively reported an incidence of LAST of 0.13/1000 epidurals and 0.75/1000 peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs). This trend led to a decreased LAST incidence that was confirmed in 2002 by the same team who reported 7 cases of LAST, 1 associated with an epidural, and 6 with PNBs, in 153,083 regional anesthesia procedures recorded. An incidence of 0.98/
Two-layer dynamic neural field learning law basec on controlled Lyapunov functions

The aim of this study was to develop a dynamic neural field (DNF) model to capture the essential non-linear characteristics of neural activity along several millimeters of visual cortex in response to local flashed stimuli. A two-layer DNF model was assessed to describe the response of both excitation and inhibitory layers of neurons. This particular structure of neurons interconnection was analyzed as a coupled system of non-linear integro-differential equations. This representation transformed the regular distributed form of DNF into an interconnected nonlinear model. A non-parametric modeling strategy yields to design the adjustment laws for the DNF weights. The algorithm used to adjust the weights considered self interconnections for each layer as well as external stimulus. The concept of controlled Lyapunov function served as the main tool to design a stable learning method for DNF. This algorithm was implemented in a class of hybrid computational model that served to execute the modeling of physiological response associated to visual external stimuli. The DNF model designed in this study can consider just the excitation response of specific neuron circuits without considering the presence of inhibitory response. This condition extends the number of electrophysiological trials where the adjusted DNF model can be evaluated. The learning method was evaluated with the information from a database that contains information coming from a selective visual attention experiment where the external stimuli appeared briefly in any of five squares arrayed horizontally above a central fixation cross. The degree of correlation (above 0.95) between signals measured at the brain cortex and the response of the DNF justified the application of the method proposed in this study.
Temporal trends in the proportion cured for cancer of the colon and rectum: A population‐based study using data from the Finnish Cancer Registry

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide and the second most common cancer in Europe. Cumulative relative survival curves for both cancer of the colon and cancer of the rectum generally plateau after ∼6–8 years. When this occurs, “population” or “statistical” cure is reached. We analyzed data from the Finnish Cancer Registry over a 50‐year period using methods that simultaneously estimate the proportion of patients cured of disease (the cure fraction) and the survival time distribution of the “uncured” group. Our primary aim was to investigate temporal trends in the cure fraction and median survival of the uncured by age group for both cancer of the colon and rectum. For both cancers, the cure fraction has increased dramatically over time for all age groups. However, the difference in the cure fraction between age groups has reduced over time, particularly for cancer of the colon. Median survival in the uncured has also increased over time in all age groups but there still remains an inverse relationship between age and median survival, with shorter median survival with increasing age. The reasons for these impressive increases in patient survival are complex, but are highly likely to be strongly related to many improvements in cancer care over this same time period. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Quantitative Trait Loci and Maternal Effects Affecting the Strong Grain Dormancy of Wild Barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum)

Wild barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum) has strong grain dormancy, a trait that may enhance its survival in non-cultivated environments; by contrast, cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. vulgare) has weaker dormancy, allowing uniform germination in cultivation. Malting barley cultivars have been bred for especially weak dormancy to optimize their use in malt production. Here, we analyzed the genetic mechanism of this difference in seed dormancy, using recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between the wild barley accession ‘H602’ and the malting barley cultivar ‘Kanto Nakate Gold (KNG)’. Grains of H602 and KNG harvested at physiological maturity and dried at 30°C for 7 days had germination of approximately 0 and 100%, respectively. Analysis of quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting grain dormancy identified the well-known major dormancy QTL SD1 and SD2 (located near the centromeric region and at the distal end of the long arm of chromosome 5H, respectively), and QTL at the end of the long arm of chromosome 4H and in the middle of the long arm of chromosome 5H. We designated these four QTL Qsd1-OK, Qsd2-OK, Qsdw-4H, and Qsdw-5H, and they explained approximately 6, 38, 3, and 13% of the total phenotypic variation, respectively. RILs carrying H602 alleles showed increased dormancy levels for all QTL. The QTL acted additively and did not show epistasis or QTL–environment interactions. Comparison of QTL locations indicated that all QTL except Qsdw-5H are likely the same as the QTL previously detected in the doubled haploid population from a cross between the malting cultivar ‘Haruna Nijo’ and ‘H602. ’ We further examined Qsd2-OK and Qsdw-5H by analyzing the segregation of phenotypes and genotypes of F2 progenies derived from crosses between RILs carrying specific segments of chromosome 5H from H602 in the KNG background. This analysis confirmed that the two genomic regions corresponding to these QTL are involved in the regulation of grain dormancy. Germination tests of F1 grains derived from reciprocal crosses between H602 and KNG revealed that the H602 strong dormancy phenotype shows maternal inheritance with incomplete dominance. These results provide new insight into the mechanisms regulating grain dormancy in barley.
The effects of educating mothers and girls on the girls’ attitudes toward puberty health: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Introduction: The attitude of a girl toward her menstruation and puberty has a considerable impact on her role during motherhood, social adjustment, and future marital life. This study was conducted in 2014 with the aim of comparing the effects of educating mothers and girls on the attitudes of adolescent girls of Tabriz City, Iran, towards puberty health. Methods: This randomized control clinical trial was conducted on 364 adolescent girls who experienced menstruation. Twelve schools were selected randomly among 107 secondary schools for girls. One-third of the students of each school were selected randomly using a table of random numbers and socio-demographic and each participant was asked to answer the attitude questionnaires. The schools were randomly allocated to the groups of mother’s education, girl’s education, and no-intervention. The attitude questionnaire was filled out by the participants again 2 months after intervention. The general linear model, in which the baseline values were controlled, was employed to compare the scores of the three groups after the intervention. Results: No significant differences were observed among the three groups in terms of the attitude score before intervention (p>0.05). Attitude score improvement after intervention in the girl’s education group was significantly higher than the one of both mother’s education (adjusted mean difference [AMD]: 1.8; [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.4–1.3]) and no-intervention groups (AMD: 1.3; [95% CI: 0.0–2.6]) by controlling the attitude score before intervention. Conclusion: Based on the findings, it is more effective to educate girls directly about puberty health to improve adolescent girls’ attitudes than educating mothers and asking them to transfer information to the girls. Nevertheless, studies with longer training period and follow-up are proposed to determine the effects of educating girls (through their mothers) on their attitudes about puberty health.
Forelimb dyskinesia mediated by high‐frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus is linked to rapid activation of the NR2B subunit of N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptors

Dyskinesia is a major side‐effect of chronic l‐DOPA administration, the reference treatment for Parkinson’s disease. High‐frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN‐HFS) alleviates parkinsonian motor symptoms and indirectly improves dyskinesia by decreasing the l‐DOPA requirement. However, inappropriate stimulation can also trigger dyskinetic movements, in both human and rodents. We investigated whether STN‐HFS‐evoked forelimb dyskinesia involved changes in glutamatergic neurotransmission as previously reported for l‐DOPA‐induced dyskinesias, focusing on the role of NR2B‐containing N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptors (NR2B/NMDARs). We applied STN‐HFS in normal rats at intensities above and below the threshold for triggering forelimb dyskinesia. Dyskinesiogenic STN‐HFS induced the activation of NR2B (as assessed by immunodetection of the phosphorylated residue Tyr1472) in neurons of the subthalamic nucleus, entopeduncular nucleus, motor thalamus and forelimb motor cortex. The severity of STN‐HFS‐induced forelimb dyskinesia was decreased in a dose‐dependent manner by systemic injections of CP‐101,606, a selective blocker of NR2B/NMDARs, but was either unaffected or increased by the non‐selective N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptor antagonist, MK‐801.
Retailer Information Sharing with Supplier Encroachment

This study investigates a retailer's incentive for sharing private demand information with a supplier who may encroach the retail channel by imposing a fixed entry cost. Although conventional wisdom suggests that a retailer should withhold her private demand observations to maintain an information advantage over the supplier, we obtain a different conclusion by demonstrating that the retailer may prefer to voluntarily share the demand information in anticipation of supplier encroachment. The intuition is that in face of the threat of supplier encroachment, sharing low demand information may prevent the supplier from establishing a direct selling channel, which will reduce downstream channel competition. This strategic effect of information sharing is new and only becomes dominant when there is an intermediate entry cost for encroachment and a high channel substitution rate. In contrast, when there are deviations from these conditions, the supplier's equilibrium encroachment decision is consistent and irrespective of the retailer's decision to share information, which makes withholding the demand information more beneficial to the retailer. The change of information sharing structure in the channel also leads to some unintended payoff implications, as the supplier's and channel's payoffs exhibit nonâ€ monotonic relations to the entry cost or channel substitution rate.
General practitioners’ attitudes towards decision-supported prescribing: An analysis of the Dutch primary care sector

The use of multiple drugs by patients increases the risk of medical problems. Clinical decision support could assist general practitioners with prescribing but is underused. This article aims to investigate the attitudes of general practitioners towards using decision support systems. A survey was distributed among 500 Dutch general practitioners. Virtually all 184 respondents indicated having a clinical information system, while only 21 percent indicated having a decision support plug-in; this correlated with their use of medical formularies. Only use of one of the medical formularies correlated with the number of recognized underprescription problems. General practitioners’ attitudes toward a newly proposed system aiding them with polypharmacy prescribing were mainly positive (57%); the perceived usefulness correlated with output quality (p = .000), time investment (p = .000), and financial stimuli (payability: p = .000 and reimbursement: p = .015) but not with job relevance. Dutch general practitioners are thus likely to adopt the proposed system under the conditions that it improves prescription quality and does not require extensive investments of time or money.
Calculating method of moisture in oil-paper insulation at arbitrary temperature

There are short of reports for the equilibrium moisture partition between oil and paper at arbitrary temperature, while it is very important, since it not only can be used to calculate the water in paper by the water in oil under equilibrium conditions, but also is the basis of studying the moisture partition in oil-paper under disequilibrium conditions. In this paper, an approach surface on basis of approaching parameters curves about the relations of the temperature, the moisture in oil, and the moisture in paper is proposed, according to which, the equilibrium moisture partition curves in oil-paper insulation at arbitrary temperatures are obtained using the existed curves under different temperatures. The method is validated by comparing the calculated curve experiment data having been published.
Groucho corepressor proteins regulate otic vesicle outgrowth

The Groucho/Tle family of corepressor proteins is known to regulate multiple developmental pathways. Applying the dominant‐negative effect of the short member Aes, we demonstrate here a critical role of this gene family also for ear development. Misexpression of Aes in medaka embryos resulted in reduced size or loss of otic vesicles, whereas overexpression of the full‐length Groucho protein Tle4 gave the opposite phenotype. These results are in close agreement with phenotypes observed for eye formation, suggesting a similar role for Groucho/Tle proteins in the developmental pathways of both sensory organs. Furthermore, by using the heat‐inducible HSE promoter, we observed reversible branching of the embryonic axis upon Aes misexpression, indicating a transient duplication of the organizer. Groucho proteins, therefore, are critical for organizer maintenance. Developmental Dynamics 233:760–771, 2005 © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Yersinia enterocolitica invasin triggers phagocytosis via β1 integrins, CDC42Hs and WASp in macrophages

The Yersinia outer surface protein invasin binds to β1 integrins on target cells and has been shown to trigger phagocytic uptake by macrophages. Here, we investigated the role of the actin regulator Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein (WASp), its effector the Arp2/3 complex and the Rho‐GTPases CDC42Hs, Rac and Rho in invasin/β1 integrin‐triggered phagocytosis. During uptake of invasin‐coated latex beads, the α5β1 integrin, WASp and the Arp2/3 complex were recruited to the developing actin‐rich phagocytic cups in primary human macrophages. Blockage of β1 integrins by specific antibodies, inhibition of Arp2/3 function by microinjection of inhibitors or the use of WASp knockout macrophages inhibited phagocytic cup formation and uptake. Furthermore, microinjection of the dominant negative GTPase mutants N17CDC42Hs, N17Rac or the Rho‐specific inhibitor C3‐transferase into macrophages greatly attenuated invasin‐induced formation of cups. These data suggest that during invasin‐triggered phagocytosis β1 integrins activate actin polymerization via CDC42Hs, its effector WASp and the Arp2/3 complex. The contribution of Rac and Rho to phagocytic cup formation also suggests a complex interplay between different Rho GTPases during phagocytosis of pathogens.
Recovery after injury: an individual patient data meta-analysis of general health status using the EQ-5D.

BACKGROUND General information of health-related quality of life pathways to recovery after injury are largely absent from the literature. This article describes a study which: (1) collated and synthesized individual patient data of injured persons from an earlier systematic review and (2) produced general predictions of health-related quality of life for different injury groups for up to 1 year postinjury. METHODS A systematic search of literature from January 1990 to December 2008 was completed. Researchers were approached to share their anonymous individual level data. Injuries were grouped into 39 categories based on the Eurocost injury classifications. Multilevel mixed effects models were used to produce predictions across both the five dimensions and the visual analog scale of the EQ-5D measure at 3 days, 30 days, 120 days, and 360 days postinjury. RESULTS Individual patient data from 10,496 injured persons (76% of known data worldwide) was retrieved. Predictions were fitted to 27 of the 39 injury categories covering a wide spectrum of injury types. Across most injuries, pain, or discomfort, usual activities and mobility were the most commonly impaired dimensions. Recovery for pain or discomfort was generally more gradual than other health dimensions. For many injury categories, a considerable proportion of people reported residual impairment at 360 days. Regardless of the anatomic location of injury, similar patterns of recovery or persistent impairment were seen for fractures and strains/sprains. Recovery patterns differed and took much longer than estimated in the Global Burden of Disease Study. CONCLUSIONS This study has produced recovery patterns for 27 injury groups using most of the worldwide individual-level data. For many injury categories, recovery is incomplete and takes much longer than estimated. This study infers that the burden of injury is likely being underestimated.