Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of 18F-FDG and 67Ga-citrate in sarcoidosis imaging

Summary Aim: 67Ga citrate has been used long and successfully to diagnose and stage sarcoidosis. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) has been suggested as a positron emission tomography (PET) tracer for sarcoidosis imaging. This study aimed to analyze possible advantages of 18F-FDG-PET over 67Ga citrate scintigraphy during the primary assessment of patients with sarcoidosis. Patients and methods: Twentyfour patients (11 men, 13 women, aged 52 years ±12.4) with histologically proven sarcoidosis were investigated with 18F-FDG and 67Ga citrate. Equipment included a fullring PET scanner (ECAT EXACT HR+, Siemens/CTI, Knoxville TN, USA) and a double-headed gamma camera (ECAM, Siemens, Illinois, USA) for scintigraphy. The mean time difference between the two studies was 6.5 days (range: 5–8 days). Results: There was a significant difference in the detection of pulmonary and nonpulmonary sarcoidosis lesions between planar 67Ga citrate scans and 18F-FDG-PET images (<0.0021). A total of 64 lesions were detected with 67Ga citrate scans in the thorax and elsewhere with a mean of 2.6 lesions (4%) per patient, while 85 lesions were found with 18F-FDG-PET, with a mean of 3.5 lesions (4.1%) per patient. There was complete agreement between 18F-FDG and 67Ga citrate in thoracic manifestations in four (16.6%) patients, and in non-thoracic manifestations in five (20.8%) patients. The interobserver variability showed a kappa value of 0.79. Conclusion: 67Ga citrate and 18F-FDG are useful tracers for diagnostic evaluation of thoracic sarcoidosis. 18F-FDG seems to be more suitable for imaging the mediastinum, the bi-hilar lymph nodes, the posterior regions of the lungs and non-thoracic lesions. Further prospective studies are needed to clarify the role of both tracers in early diagnosis and staging of sarcoidosis, and to resolve questions concerning medical treatment and follow-up.
Testing the criticality of HR-TQM factors in the Malaysian higher education context

The aim of this paper is to provide evidence on the degree of criticality and reliability tests for human resource (HR) related critical success factors (CSFs) in TQM implementation. This involves identifying and defining the HR-related CSFs from an exhaustive source of literature reviews on quality initiatives. In higher education (HE) contexts, the CSFs in TQM programmes emphasise more management commitment, HR management and quality working attitudes for customer satisfaction. Therefore, the ‘soft’ or HR aspects in the literature review stand as the fundamental issue of concern for organizational management in quality planning and creating a quality working climate to ensure successful expected performance. Using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), the HR-related CSFs that have high mean scores and reliability coefficients, are teamwork spirit, competent staff, customer-focus orientation and visionary leadership. Other factors have reasonably high scores and are recommended to be included in similar research in contexts other than simply the HE context.
A transactions‐based real estate index: Is it possible?

Summary This paper examines both practically and statistically the possibility of creating a transactions‐based real estate price index similar to the well‐known stock and bond indices. While the necessary methodology is available, differences in the real estate asset (and hence in the markets in which it trades) are shown to prohibit the development of such an index even under ‘ideal’ circumstances. First, in an informationally inefficient market, it is not in the best interest of most decision‐makers to engage in the kind of complete disclosure needed to produce an accurate index. Second, even with complete disclosure, the number of transactions needed statistically to adjust for property differences substantially exceeds the number of quarterly transactions in most markets. While the empirical work supporting these conclusions is based on US data, the authors believe that similar constraints exist in most of the world's major markets and that investment professionals will be forced to work with less th.
Discovering the Stable Clusters between Interestingness Measures

In this paper, dealing with association rules post-processing, we propose to study the correlations between 36 interestingness measures (IM), in order to better understand their behavior on data and finally to help the data miner chooses the best IMs. We used two datasets with opposite characteristics in which we extract two rulesets about 100000 rules, and the two subsets of the 1000 best rules according to IMs. The study of the correlation between IMs with PAM and AHC shows unexpected stabilities between the four ruleset, and more precisely eight stable clusters of IMs are found and described.
The Effect of Strict Agricultural Zoning on Agricultural Land Values: The Case of Ontario's Greenbelt

In 2004, the provincial government of Ontario passed legislation that imposed a moratorium on urban development of agricultural land within a "Greenbelt" boundary. This legislation, which became known as the Greenbelt legislation, has a direct effect on over 1.8 million acres of land located near one of the larger metropolitan areas in North America: the Greater Toronto Area. We use a hedonic model to examine 7760 farmland sales and we find evidence that the Greenbelt legislation influenced farmland property prices; the effect depends on the proximity of the farmland to the Greater Toronto Area. Copyright 2010, Oxford University Press.
Testing the Arbitrage Pricing Condition of Apt

The principal result of APT is the arbitrage pricing condition that expected returns can be approximated by a linear combination of risk with strongly bounded pricing errors. Existing tests of APT either assume the pricing error to be zero or of order one in probability. Neither assumption is consistent with the theory of APT. In this paper, we characterize the pricing errors in terms of orders of probability. Errors consistent with APT are shown to be of order 1/SQRT(N) in probability where N is the number of assets. A test for APT is then a test of the order of the pricing error. We construct such a test based on tests for heteroscedasticity across sequences of assets. In a simulation study for both known and unknown factor structures, we show that this test performs better than existing tests for detecting violations of arbitrage pricing. In a study of US equities from 1978-2002, we find that the strongest evidence for arbitrage pricing is in single-factor models.
Simple method for distinguishing gonococcal colony types

Gonococcal colony types can be distinguished by a new procedure that makes use of a dissecting microscope with a concave mirror and a fluorescent lamp. Critical adjustment of the mirror angle results in illumination similar to that obtained in the dark-field microscope. When the concave mirror is set at a certain angle, colonies of the lenticular types 1 and 2 refract the light coming through them in such a way that an edge of the microscope stage is focused in each colony. By contrast, colonies of types 3 and 4, which are relatively flat, fail to refract incident light. Although distinguishable from each other by differences in color, type 3 and 4 colonies do not display the focusing effect typical for type 1 and 2 colonies and appear uniformly illuminated. This new technique permits the rapid identification and isolation of even a single type 1 or 2 colony in a field of type 3 or 4 colonies, making it possible to obtain and maintain competent colonies (type 1 or 2) for the genetic transformation assay for Neisseria gonorrhoeae strain identification as well as for other purposes.
Therapeutic Window for Combination Therapy of A91 Peptide and Glutathione Allows Delayed Treatment After Spinal Cord Injury

Immunisation with neural‐derived peptides is a promising strategy in models of spinal cord (SC) injury. Recent studies have also demonstrated that the addition of glutathione monoethyl ester (GHSE) to this strategy further improves motor recovery, tissue protection and neuronal survival after SC injury. As it is realistic to envision that this combination therapy could be tested in clinical trials, the therapeutic window should be experimentally explored before implementing its use in SC‐injured human beings. For this purpose, 50 rats (10 per group) were subjected to a moderate SC contusion. The combined therapy was initiated at 10 min., 24, 72 or 120 hr after injury. Motor recovery and the survival of rubrospinal (RS) and ventral horn (VH) neurones were evaluated 60 days after injury. Results showed a significant motor improvement even if the combined therapy was initiated up to 72 hr after injury. BBB scores were as follows: 10 min.: 10.5 ± 0.7, 24 hr: 10.7 ± 0.5, 72 hr: 11.0 ± 1.3 and PBS: 6.7 ± 1 (mean ± S.D.). Initiation of combined therapy 120 hr after injury had no beneficial effect on motor recovery. Survival of RS and VH neurones was significantly higher in animals treated during the first 72 hr than those treated only with PBS. In this case again, animals treated with combined therapy 120 hr after injury did not present significant survival of neurones. Treatment with this combined strategy has a clinically feasible therapeutic window. This therapy provides enough time to transport and diagnose the patient and allows the concomitant use of other neuroprotective therapies.
Usefulness of C-Reactive Protein to Define Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Efficacy in the Prevention of Pneumonia

Objectives and Methods: This study explored whether C-reactive protein (CRP) and/or procalcitonin levels were useful to measure vaccine efficacy (VE) and impact against the burden of pneumonia of a 9-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), compared with chest radiograph-confirmed alveolar consolidation (CXR-AC) as an outcome. Sera obtained from children participating in a phase 3 PCV efficacy trial who were hospitalized for treatment of clinically diagnosed lower respiratory tract infection (C-LRTI) were retrospectively analyzed for CRP and procalcitonin measurements. Results: For non-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children, the VE estimates for C-LRTI with CRP levels of ≥40 mg/dL (VE 26.3%; P = 0.003) or CRP levels of ≥120 mg/dL (VE 41.0%; P = 0.003) were 1.7-fold (P = 0.002) and 2.7-fold (P < 0.0001) greater, respectively, than that for CXR-AC (VE 15.1%; P= 0.15). The sensitivity of CXR-AC as an outcome to detect the burden of pneumonia prevented by PCV was 44% (95% confidence interval, 36–55%) in comparison with C-LRTI with CRP levels of ≥40 mg/dL and 73% (95% confidence interval, 58–92%) in comparison with C-LRTI with CRP levels of ≥120 mg/dL. CRP also helped to measure the PCV efficacy for children with C-LRTI but the absence of CXR-AC, for whom the outcome of C-LRTI with CRP levels of ≥40 mg/dL (VE 31.5%; P = 0.007) increased the VE estimate 19.8-fold (P < 0.0001) in comparison with C-LRTI alone (VE 1.6%; P = 0.78) and 3.2-fold (P = 0.005) in comparison with WHO-defined severe pneumonia (VE 10.0%; P = 0.17). Although there was a significant correlation between CRP and procalcitonin levels (Spearman's ρ = 0.45; P < 0.0001), the use of procalcitonin levels did not improve either the specificity or sensitivity of measuring the effect of PCV against pneumonia for non-HIV-infected children. The observations were similar for HIV-infected children. Conclusions: CRP levels of ≥40 mg/dL provide a better measure than chest radiographs to assess the effect of PCV in preventing pneumonia.
On the use of ritz values for calculating the number of endmembers in hyperspectral images

Signal subspace identification is a crucial step in many hyperspectral processing algorithms such as target detection, change detection, classification, and unmixing. This is due to the fact that a correct dimensionality reduction improves algorithm performances and reduces their complexity and data requirements. This paper introduces a new method for this task which is based on the Ritz values obtained in methods such as the restarted Arnoldi method or the Lanczos method for calculating the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a given matrix. In particular, it first calculates a high number of eigenvalues and eigenvectors, and a Ritz value per eigenvalue calculated and then, it estimates the dimension of the signal subspace according to the Ritz values obtained. The results obtained with the proposed method for synthetic and real hyperspectral images verify the performance of the introduced methodology to estimate the number of endmembers in different types of hyperspectral images. Moreover, these results are better than the ones obtained, for the same images, with the most popular algorithm for this task in the state of the art, i.e. the HySIME and the Virtual Dimensionality algorithms.
Transfer revenues, expenditures and tax effort of Slovenian municipalities

This study has examined the expenditure and tax effort effect of municipal transfer revenues in Slovenia. Namely, transfer revenues received by local governments should stimulate provision of local goods and services, and consequently increase local spending. It is also predicted that this increase should be larger than one related to the equivalent increase in local income. Moreover, transfer revenues of local governments should also affect local tax (revenue collection) effort, either by increasing it (stimulation effect) or decreasing it (substitution effect). The empirical evidence based on the data for Slovenian municipalities has showed that transfer revenues have absolutely and relatively larger effect on municipal expenditures than the equivalent increase in income. However, transfer revenues have negative effect on local (municipal) tax effort, which means that substitution effect exists as transfers obviously substitute other local revenues.
Multiple-interval timing in rats: Performance on two-valued mixed fixed-interval schedules.

Three experiments studied timing in rats on 2-valued mixed-fixed-interval schedules, with equally probable components, Fixed-Interval S and Fixed-Interval L (FI S and FI L, respectively). When the L:S ratio was greater than 4, 2 distinct response peaks appeared close to FI S and FI L, and data could be well fitted by the sum of 2 Gaussian curves. When the L:S ratio was less than 4, only 1 response peak was usually visible, but nonlinear regression often identified separate sources of behavioral control, by FI S and FI L, although control by FI L dominated. Data were used to test ideas derived from scalar expectancy theory, the behavioral theory of timing, and learning to time.
Probucol [4,4′-[(1-Methylethylidene)bis(thio)]bis-[2,6-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)phenol]] Inhibits Compensatory Remodeling and Promotes Lumen Loss Associated with Atherosclerosis in Apolipoprotein E-Deficient Mice

Probucol [4,4′-[(1-methylethylidene)bis(thio)]bis-[2,6-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)phenol]] was withdrawn from the United States market because it failed to inhibit atherosclerosis in human femoral arteries, yet the drug was shown subsequently to inhibit atherosclerosis in human carotid arteries, and probucol monosuccinate ester is presently being tested in a phase III clinical trial as an antiatherosclerotic compound based on its anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammatory macrophages are implicated in arterial remodeling associated with atherosclerosis, and probucol inhibits experimental atherosclerosis in part by decreasing macrophages in lesions. However, the impact of probucol on remodeling is unknown, although such knowledge could help explain why the drug's benefit on human atherosclerosis is controversial. We therefore examined the effect of probucol on remodeling of the common carotid artery in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. We observed that during de novo atherosclerosis, plaque growth was fully compensated by expansive remodeling, such that lumen area was unaffected. Early lesions were composed almost entirely of macrophages, and their contribution to lesion area progressively decreased thereafter. Probucol significantly decreased plaque area, expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and proliferation of intimal cells, resulting in delayed macrophage accumulation in the vessel. Probucol also decreased the production and activity of matrix metalloproteinases-2 and -9, independent of the plasmin protease system, and this was associated with an inhibition of expansive remodeling, resulting in lumen loss. These studies show that probucol attenuates compensatory remodeling associated with de novo atherosclerosis, probably via its anti-inflammatory properties. Our findings suggest that lumen volume is not a suitable surrogate to assess the antiatherosclerotic activity of probucol and related drugs.
Statistics of disturb events in OxRAM devices — A phenomenological model

Read disturb (RD) is a key reliability metric for OxRAM devices, more so in the high resistance state (HRS), when small voltages might be sufficient to perturb the oxygen vacancy configuration in the conducting filament that may have undergone “shrinkage” or “rupture” during the RESET sweep. There are very few studies dealing with read disturb phenomena, more so, on its statistical nature. The Weibull distribution seems to be the default choice for time to disturb (tnisr) or voltage to disturb (Vdist) data with no physical reasoning provided. We present here a fundamental derivation of the disturb voltage / time distribution using the percolation cell framework, accounting for the localized electric field distributions and inherent variability in the HRS state vacancy configuration for different switching cycles that play a major role in determining the statistical nature of this phenomenon. The clustering model is shown to be the best choice for fitting the disturb data and this has been verified using several test data published in the literature.
The functional architecture of skeletal compared to cardiac musculature: Myocyte orientation, lamellar unit morphology, and the helical ventricular myocardial band

How the cardiomyocytes are aggregated within the heart walls remains contentious. We still do not fully understand how the end‐to‐end longitudinal myocytic chains are arranged, nor the true extent and shape of the lamellar units they aggregate to form. In this article, we show that an understanding of the complex arrangement of cardiac musculature requires knowledge of three‐dimensional myocyte orientation (helical and intrusion angle), and appreciation of myocyte packing within the connective tissue matrix. We show how visualization and segmentation of high‐resolution three‐dimensional image data can accurately identify the morphology and orientation of the myocytic chains, and the lamellar units. Some maintain that the ventricles can be unwrapped in the form of a “helical ventricular myocardial band,” that is, as a compartmentalized band with selective regional innervation and deformation, and a defined origin and insertion like most skeletal muscles. In contrast to the simpler interpretation of the helical ventricular myocardial band, we provide insight as to how the complex myocytic chains, the heterogeneous lamellar units, and connective tissue matrix form an interconnected meshwork, which facilitates the complex internal deformations of the ventricular wall. We highlight the dangers of disregarding the intruding cardiomyocytes. Preparation of the band destroys intruding myocytic chains, and thus disregards the functional implications of the antagonistic auxotonic forces they produce. We conclude that the ventricular myocardium is not analogous to skeletal muscle, but is a complex three‐dimensional meshwork, with a heterogeneous branching lamellar architecture. Clin. Anat. 29:316–332, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
CD4 T cell traffic control: in vivo evidence that ligation of OX40 on CD4 T cells by OX40‐ligand expressed on dendritic cells leads to the accumulation of CD4 T cells in B follicles

We report here that CD40‐ but not lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐activated murine dendritic cells (DC) express OX40‐ligand (OX40L) as has been reported in humans. To understand how OX40 ligation affects differentiation of CD4 T cells at the time of priming, we constitutively expressed OX40L on DC using the DC‐specific promoter of CD11c. Transgenic mice showed greatly increased numbers of CD4 but not CD8 T cells in their B cell areas. This effect was to a great extent immunization dependent, as spleen and lymphoid tissue with no germinal center reactions from mice which had not been deliberately immunized did not show marked CD4 T cell accumulation. The increased numbers of CD4+ CD62low cells in transgenic mice suggest that it is activated CD4 T cells that accumulate within B cell follicles. These data are consistent with the notion that physiological engagement of OX40 (CD134) on activated CD4 T cells either initiates their migration into or causes them to be retained in B follicles. In contrast, LPS‐treated CD did not up‐regulate OX40L expression. This dichotomy provides a molecular explanation of how DC might integrate environmental and accessory signals to control cytokine differentiation and migration in CD4 effector cells.
Localized Competition and the Aggregation of Plant-Level Increasing Returns: Blast Furnaces, 1929-1935

A recent empirical literature has shaken economists' confidence in the value of aggregate (industry-level) data to illuminate production relationships. But the statistical finding "you cannot aggregate," however well documented, is not an economic explanation. Plant-level relationships do aggregate in Depression-era blast furnace operations despite the presence of very substantial interplant heterogeneity, the most common economic cause of nonaggregability. The economic explanation of this lies in poor short-run substitutability of one plant's output for another's. Substitutability determines the importance of composition effects in understanding aggregate time series, constrains the potential cleansing effects of recessions, and therefore influences industry evolution quite broadly.
Cross-cultural validation of the London Handicap Scale in Hong Kong Chinese

Study objective: To investigate the cross-cultural validity of London Handicap Scale in Hong Kong Chinese. Design: Ratings of the utility of 10 hypothetical health scenarios were given by groups of HK Chinese subjects. Measured scores were compared with calculated scores from published scale weights of London Handicap Scale, which were based on utility ratings made by UK subjects. Setting: A rehabilitation hospital in Hong Kong. Subjects: A total of 164 HK Chinese, comprising doctors, medical students, nonmedical hospital staff, geriatric day hospital stroke and nonstroke patients, community day-care centre elderly, old age hostel elderly, young disabled inpatients and young community-dwelling disabled citizens. Main results: There was a close correlation between the mean scores of HK subjects and the calculated scores derived from the published UK scale weights, apart from one scenario (Pearson's correlation coefficient r = 0.87 p = 0.001). The correlations were high for all subgroups, between which there was good consensus. Measured utilities were significantly different between subgroups for only one scenario. For this scenario of moderate to severe handicap in mobility, physical dependence, occupation and social integration, but with excellent orientation and economic self sufficiency: (1) older age groups gave better scores than younger age groups (p < 0.0005); (2) subjects with poor subjective health status gave better scores than those with good subjective health status (p = 0.002); (3) subjects related to the medical or hospital field, i.e. doctors, medical students and nonmedical hospital staff, gave worse scores than other subject groups (p < 0.0005). Conclusion: The concept of handicap applies across cultures. Perception of severity of selected real life handicap scenarios by HK Chinese were well estimated using scale weights from UK populations developed for the London Handicap Scale. Significant differences in perception of certain handicap scenarios by different population subgroups deserve further study.