Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Depressive Symptoms and Dietary Nonadherence in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease Receiving Hemodialysis: A Review of Quantitative Evidence

Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who receive hemodialysis have high rates of psychosocial distress and nonadherence to diet prescription. The purpose of this study was to examine the quantitative research evidence about the effect of depressive symptoms on dietary adherence. A systematic search of the literature using MEDLINE, CINAHL, PubMed, and PsycINFO databases was performed for quantitative research studies. Forty-four studies met inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Nearly all studies supported an association between depressive symptoms and dietary adherence in patients with ESRD. Depressive symptoms were associated with dietary nonadherence in patients with ESRD.
Engaging with change in a post-Bologna teaching university in the Netherlands

Change is endemic in modern society, and the educational systems that operate in it. In Higher Education societal trends such as globalization and economic rationalism are impacting on teachers. Changes in the student population, new educational methods derived from shifting perspectives on the role of knowledge and re-structuring of the organizations within which teachers work have also led to transformation of the professional context. At European level policy initiatives such as the Bologna Declaration (1999) have necessitated an overhaul of educational provision. This research project attempts to focus on these wideranging changes through the lens of teacher autonomy in order to establish what is changing in the working lives of teachers in a Dutch university, how they are responding to these changes and how they can be helped to respond to change effectively and discriminatingly. This is an insider research project, using case study and semi-structured interviewing to yield data that is subjected to thematic linguistic analysis. It was piloted in 2006, and interviewing was resumed in February 2007. Findings indicate the contested nature of teacher autonomy, and suggest that professional autonomy can impede as well as facilitate teachers in processes of engaging with change. The team - operating as a community of practice - is identified as the location where change agency can operate most effectively. Distributed leadership - specifically perceived in the activities of team leaders and teacher change agents - is seen as crucial to processes of embedding change in educational practice.
The drivers of port competitiveness: a critical review

ABSTRACT Academic research on port competitiveness has so far focused on the identification of the drivers of port competitiveness and their measurement. This paper argues that the port competitiveness and its drivers are significantly affected by major changes in maritime industry, which scholars have not sufficiently addressed. Therefore, the manuscript explores the multidimensional nature of “port competitiveness” by conducting a systematic literature review of leading peer-reviewed international journals, between the 1983 and 2014 time frame. The analysis allows a profound understanding and a categorisation of the main drivers of port competitiveness. Main findings present a hierarchy of key drivers and suggest that major industry transformations moderate the influential role of traditional drivers and reshuffle their relative salience. The study also identifies some unexplored research areas for future studies.
An Unexpected Crisis? Looking at Pricing Effectiveness of Heterogeneous Banks

Credit quality of loans to Italian firms dramatically worsened during the cyclical downturn of 2008&#8211;09, compared with the previous period of growth (2006&#8211;07). This paper shows that, if credit quality transition matrices (i.e. the change in the actual firms&#8217; riskiness, gauged ex post) are mapped to interest rates (i.e. the conditions applied ex ante to the credit), banks appear to have been able at calibrating required risk premiums to actual firms&#8217; idiosyncratic risk, both during expansion and recession. However, the uncertainty generated by the crisis emphasized the unexpected component of credit worsening, thus making evident flaws in pricing effectiveness. Moreover, banks&#8217; organizational features did matter in driving the pricing effectiveness: the main finding is that larger banking groups were more affected than smaller ones by the sudden deterioration of credit quality, which was poorly reflected in their risk pricing on the eve of the crisis. The bank&#8208;size effect can be tackled through an efficient use of hard or soft information: both the banks using quantitative credit rating models and highly decentralized banks showed an above&#8208;average ability in calibrating rates to upcoming risk, suggesting that a clear&#8208;cut adoption of a consistent lending technique outperforms more ambiguous strategies; banks with a strong relationship with borrowers smoothed the risk&#8211;price curve in normal times.
Analysis of handover performance in mobile WiMAX networks

The handover performance in mobile network is the most important factor that can influence the Quality of Service (QoS). Today many countries in the world have migrated to more advanced mobile communication system such as the IEEE 802.16e mobile WiMax network. This mobile WiMax has been proven to be more stable and applicable for fixed, portable, nomadic and mobile network. The parameters such as handover time, throughput and packet delay are the main factor which affects the WiMax network performance. With the appropriate system setting, the QoS of the WiMAX system will be achieved. This paper presents handoff analysis in terms of the throughput and delay characteristic for 2 different fading models which involve UDP and TCP protocol.
A Digital Simulator for Determining the Performance Limits of Computer Relays

Unlike most other digital simulators that generate test waveforms for specific system configurations, playback previously recorded fault waveforms, or randomly generated artificial waveforms, the digital simulator presented in this paper generates the worst-case waveforms for specified bounds on noise components present in the relay input signals. As a result, the performance limits of a computer relay can be determined, for specified bounds on its noise components, by performing a single test only. The parameters that define the worst-case waveforms are obtained by utilizing a modified univariate search algorithm. The PC-based simulator was implemented using a general-purpose multifunction card and a graphical programming package called Visual Designer. It did not require any text-based programming for tasks such as interfacing, digital-to-analog conversion, and outputting the discrete analog values of the generated waveform under hardware control. For demonstrating the operation of the digital simulator, a computer relay was also developed in the laboratory and its performance limits were determined.
The tcl‐3 proto‐oncogene altered by chromosomal translocation in T‐cell leukemia codes for a homeobox protein.

The t(10;14)(q24;q11) chromosomal translocation found in malignant cells of 5–10% of patients with T‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T‐ALL) involves the T‐cell receptor delta chain gene on chromosome 14 and a breakpoint cluster region on chromosome 10. The candidate proto‐oncogene tcl‐3, thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of t(10;14) T‐ALL, was cloned and found to be elevated in expression in leukemic cells harboring the t(10;14) translocation. Sequence analysis revealed that tcl‐3 is a new homeobox‐containing gene. Comparison of the tcl‐3 cDNA and its 5′ genomic sequences with DNA sequences from the t(10;14) translocation breakpoints showed that this gene is structurally altered in four patients with t(10;14)(q24;q11) T‐ALL. These findings suggest that homeobox‐containing genes that normally act as transcription factors may contribute to T‐cell leukemogenesis when abnormally expressed.
The representation of hegemonic masculinity in main male characters in top selling video games from best-selling videogame genres

This research attempted to bridge the gaps in previous research regarding the representation of hegemonic masculinity traits in main male characters in top selling video games from their respective genres. Using qualitative content analysis, this research examined the representation of hegemonic masculinity in main male characters in top selling video games from their respective genres in a sample of 4 top selling video games from the best-selling video game genres in the United states. This analysis reveals that main male characters reflect traits of hegemonic masculinity via their appearance, the role they play, their behaviour and interactions with other characters. Despite the fact that the representation of hegemonic masculinity being portrayed in video games, it is still an understudied topic. Nevertheless, hegemonic masculinity in video games with respect to other aspects of the media is nothing new.
Dopamine D3 Receptor Ser9Gly Polymorphism and Risperidone Response

Abstract: Risperidone is an atypical antipsychotic agent with efficacy for both positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Risperidone is a potent dopamine D3 antagonist and agonism at D3 sites induces behavioral suppression in rodents. We thus hypothesized that D3 antagonism may contribute to response to risperidone in negative symptoms. This study aimed to explore the influence of the Ser9Gly polymorphism of the dopamine D3 receptor (DRD3) gene on response to risperidone after controlling for nongenetic factors. One hundred twenty-three Han Chinese patients with acutely exacerbated schizophrenia were given risperidone monotherapy for up to 42 days. Clinical manifestations were measured biweekly with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Nurses' Observation Scale for Inpatients Evaluation (for assessment of social functioning). For adjusting the within-subject dependence over repeated assessments, multiple linear regression with generalized estimating equation methods was used to analyze the effects of Ser9Gly polymorphism and other covariates on clinical performance. Compared with patients with the Gly9Gly genotype, those with either Ser9Ser or Ser9Gly had better performance on negative symptoms after control for other prognostic factors (P = 0.0002 and 0.0092, respectively). Patients with the Ser9Ser genotype had better social functioning than those with Gly9Gly (P = 0.0029). The Ser9Gly polymorphism, however, did not significantly affect positive symptoms. Male gender, fewer previous hospitalizations, and higher risperidone dose also predicted better treatment response. These data suggest that the DRD3 Ser9Gly polymorphism or, alternatively, another genetic variation that is in linkage disequilibrium, may influence response to risperidone in negative symptoms and social functioning.
Angioplasty and Stenting of Atherosclerotic Middle Cerebral Arteries with Wingspan: Evaluation of Clinical Outcome, Restenosis, and Procedure Outcome

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: MCA is a common location of intracranial stenosis. It is relatively more peripherally located and of a smaller caliber, and could therefore be a site technically more challenging and risky for angioplasty and stenting. The study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcome, restenosis rate, and procedural safety of Wingspan stent placement for atherosclerosis in the MCA compared with stenosis in other arteries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who underwent Wingspan stent placement for symptomatic intracranial stenosis of ≥70% (or stenosis of ≥50% for recurrent ischemia despite medical therapy) were recruited prospectively and allocated into a study group (MCA stenosis, n = 35) and a control group (other stenosis, n = 25). Primary end points were the following: 1) all stroke or death rate at 1 year, and 2) significant in-stent restenosis rate at 1 year. Secondary end points were the following: 1) periprocedural complications within 24 hours, rate of TIA during the procedure, all stroke or death rate within 30 days; and 2) the inability to complete the procedure due to technical problems. RESULTS: Results of study group versus the control group were the following: degree of stenosis, 78.4 ± 10.9% versus 72.5 ± 11.2% (P value = .0456); diameter of stenosis, 0.6 ± 0.3 versus 1.0 ± 0.5 mm (P = .0017); all stroke or death rate at 1 year, 14.3% versus 12% (OR = 1.22); in-stent restenosis rate at 1 year, 10% versus 10.5% (OR = 1.05); periprocedural complication rate at 24 hours, 2.9% versus 4% (OR = 0.70); TIA rate during the procedure, 8.6% versus 4% (OR = 2.25); all stroke or death rate at 30 days, 5.7% versus 12% (OR = 0.44); and technical failure rate, 2.9% versus 0%. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, there were no significant differences in procedural safety, patient outcome, and restenosis rates of stent placement between the group with MCA stenosis and the group with stenoses located at other sites.
An in vitro study on reproductive toxicology of Deltamethrin on rat spermatozoa

Recent findings indicate that synthetic pyrethroid insecticide may induce toxic manifestations by enhancing the production of reactive oxygen species and disrupting the balance between pro‐oxidants and antioxidants as a result of lipid peroxidation (LP) of cell membranes. The aim of the study was to examine the potency of Deltamethrin (Del) to induce oxidative stress response in rat spermatozoa in vitro. Spermatozoa were incubated with different concentrations (0, 10, 50, 100 and 200 μm) of Del for 3 h at 37 °C. After that, sperm parameters (motility, viability and abnormal morphology), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) levels were determined. We found that in vitro exposure to Del caused a significant decline of sperm motility and viability and increase of abnormal sperm morphology, MDA, SOD and CAT levels at different concentrations of Del. This study demonstrated that Del caused deterioration in sperm motility and viability, and induction in LP, abnormal morphology of spermatozoa and antioxidants enzyme activities.
Utilization of Minimally Invasive Surgical Approach for Sacroiliac Joint Fusion in Surgeon Population of ISASS and SMISS Membership

Introduction: The sacroiliac joint (SIJ) may be a source of chronic low back pain in 15 -22% of patients. Over the past four years MIS is an emerging standard of care for SI joint fusion. The International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS) and Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS) conducted a survey of their members to examine current preferences in surgeon practice of MIS SI fusion. Methods: To qualify for survey participation, the surgeon had to perform at least one open or MIS SIJ fusion procedure between 2009 and 2012. All surgeons were instructed to review their records. This included the number of surgical procedures performed annually from 2009-2012, site of service where each procedure was commonly performed, and average length of stay for each approach. Results: Twenty four percent (121/500) of the eligible members participated in this survey. This survey revealed that the percentage of MIS procedures increased from 39% in 2009 to over 87% in 2012. The survey showed a significant increase in average number of MIS surgeries and a significant difference between open and MIS surgeries in 2012 (p<0.0001). In addition, 80% of the survey respondents indicated a lack of preference toward open approach if that was the only available option. Conclusions: According to performed survey, MIS SIJ fusion is preferred over open technique. Incorporation of the MIS technique into the spine surgeon's specter of skills would allow an increased number of surgical options as well as possible increase in outcome quality.
Spatial genetic structure of northern pike (Esox lucius) in the Baltic Sea

The genetic relationships among 337 northern pike (Esox lucius) collected from the coastal zone of the central Baltic region and the Finnish islands of Åland were analysed using five microsatellite loci. Spatial structure was delineated using both traditional F‐statistics and individually based approaches including spatial autocorrelation analysis. Our results indicate that the observed genotypic distribution is incompatible with that of a single, panmictic population. Isolation by distance appears important for shaping the genetic structure of pike in this region resulting in a largely continuous genetic change over the study area. Spatial autocorrelation analysis (Moran's I) of individual pairwise genotypic data show significant positive genetic correlation among pike collected within geographical distances of less than c. 100–150 km (genetic patch size). We suggest that the genetic patch size may be used as a preliminary basis for identifying management units for pike in the Baltic Sea.
Therapeutic efficacy of a novel membrane-targeted complement regulator in antigen-induced arthritis in the rat.

OBJECTIVE Complement system activation is strongly implicated as a factor in the pathogenesis of chronic synovitis in human rheumatoid arthritis. The objective of this study was to explore the therapeutic potential and local retention of a novel membrane-targeting complement regulatory protein, derived from human complement receptor 1, in the experimental setting of rat antigen-induced arthritis. METHODS Sensitized animals were treated at the time of arthritis induction with a single intraarticular (IA) dose of the membrane-targeting regulator APT070, a non-membrane-targeting control regulator (APT898), or vehicle control, and disease was assessed clinically and histologically. In addition, immunocytochemical analysis was performed on sections from normal rat knee joints at various time points after IA injection with APT070. RESULTS Animals treated with APT070 showed a dose-dependent therapeutic effect, with significantly milder clinical and histologic disease compared with both other treatment groups (P < 0.008 at the higher dose) and minimal evidence of erosive disease at study end in the active treatment group. Immunoperoxidase and immunofluorescence studies demonstrated local retention of APT070 on cell surface membranes within the normal joint up to 48 hours after IA injection. CONCLUSION These results show that IA complement inhibition represents an effective therapeutic strategy in experimental arthritis, by demonstrating that the exogenous delivery of a membrane-targeting complement regulator can result in prolonged synovial cell surface binding and significant clinical benefit in vivo. Complement inhibitory strategies of this type should be considered as novel therapies in human inflammatory arthritis.
An efficient scheme for reducing overhead in data-centric storage sensor networks

In Data-Centric Storage sensor networks where numerous sensors collaborate to monitor and report occurrences of environmental events, GPSR routing algorithm can be used to route event and query packets efficiently. However, the routing algorithm usually routes packets completely around perimeters enclosing destination locations. In this paper, we show that such perimeter walks cause significant overhead in many practical settings of sensor networks. We then propose an efficient pruning scheme to reduce overhead of perimeter walks. Our algorithm incurs no additional communications overhead; only requires the knowledge of node transmission range; but can significantly reduce overhead of insertions and queries.
Evaluation of a coping skills group following traumatic brain injury

Primary objective: To examine the impact of a cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) based intervention programme, termed the Coping Skills Group (CSG),on coping strategy use and emotional adjustment. Research design: Thirty-one individuals with TBI participated and a wait-list control design was used. Methods and procedures: The CSG ran twice a week, for 5 weeks and focused on developing adaptive coping skills for the management of emotional and adjustment issues. Main outcomes and results: Following the CSG, the majority of participants subjectively reported that they had a better understanding of emotional issues and an improved ability to implement strategies to manage these issues. Adaptive coping, as measured on the Coping Scale for Adults, increased significantly immediately following intervention. However, no significant changes in anxiety, depression, self-esteem and psychosocial function were observed on the measures used. Conclusions: The results suggest that it may be possible to modify coping strategy use following brain injury, through CBT.
The Effect of Access to Public Debt Market on Chinese Firms Leverage

Publicly traded firms in China rely heavily on equity financing and are constrained in debt financing. Gaining access to the public debt market substantially alleviates the constraint. The debt ratio of the firms that have access to the public debt market is approximately 14 percent higher than the firms without access. Everything else being equal, gaining access to the public debt market significantly increases the debt ratio by 3.44 percent, and this increase is concentrated in long-term debt. We further find that non-SOEs enjoy greater benefits from access to the public debt market than SOEs, as evidenced by an increase in their total debt ratio and long-term debt ratio. For SOEs, the increase in long-term debt is offset by the decrease in short-term debt, which results in no change in total debt ratio. Our findings suggest the importance of access to the public debt market for Chinese firms, especially for non-SOEs that do not have privileged access to capital as do the SOEs.
Interaction of 6‐phosphofructokinase with cytosolic proteins of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Hetero‐octameric 6‐phosphofructokinase (Pfk‐1) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae is composed of two types of subunits, α and β, which are encoded by the unlinked genes PFK1 and PFK2. Pfk single deletion mutants expressing only one type of subunit exhibit Pfk‐1 activity in vivo which, however, is completely lost immediately after cell disruption. In order to elucidate the preconditions of the in vivo activity of the mutant enzymes composed of either α‐ or β‐subunits, we have investigated their potential interaction with selected heat shock and cytoskeletal proteins, employing co‐immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence microscopy. Western blot analysis identified the mitochondrial chaperonin Hsp60, as well as the cytoskeleton proteins α‐tubulin and actin, in complexes with Pfk‐1 that were co‐precipitated from a cell‐free extract of a pfk2 single deletion mutant expressing only the α‐subunit. The interaction of the corresponding mutant enzyme and Hsp60 was found to depend on the ATP concentration of the extract. Immunofluorescence microscopy displayed a conspicuously filamentous arrangement of the Pfk‐1 mutant protein, exclusively in the pfk2 single deletion mutant. The analysis of structure and activity of Pfk‐1 expressed in S. cerevisiae mutant strains defective in various heat shock proteins (TRiC/CCT, Hsp70, Hsp 104) and in the respective wild‐type background did not reveal significant differences. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.