Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Safety and efficacy of additional courses of rituximab in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: an open-label extension analysis.

OBJECTIVE To determine the safety and efficacy of additional courses of rituximab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS An open-label extension analysis of RA patients previously treated with rituximab was conducted. Patients who had participated in any of 3 double-blind trials were eligible for additional courses (2 infusions of 1,000 mg given 2 weeks apart) if they exhibited a swollen joint count and tender joint count of > or =8 with > or =16 weeks elapsing after the previous course. Safety was assessed in patients receiving all or a portion of a rituximab course. Efficacy was assessed 24 weeks after each course, using the American College of Rheumatology 20% criteria for improvement (ACR20), ACR50, ACR70, European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response criteria, Disease Activity Score in 28 joints, the disability index of the Health Assessment Questionnaire, and Short Form 36 scores, stratified according to prior tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor exposure. RESULTS A total of 1,039 patients received > or =1 course of rituximab. Of these, 570 received 2 courses, 191 received 3 courses, and 40 received 4 courses, for a total of 1,669 patient-years. Irrespective of prior TNF inhibitor exposure, ACR20 responses were comparable at week 24 after course 1 and at week 24 after course 2 (65% versus 72%), as were ACR50 and ACR70 responses. EULAR moderate/good responses were also comparable in course 2 relative to course 1 (88% versus 79%), with EULAR remission occurring in a 2-fold higher proportion of patients after course 2 than after course 1 (13% versus 6%). The most common adverse events, which were mild-to-moderate acute infusion-related events, decreased with each course. The serious infection rate after course 1 (5.1 per 100 patient-years) remained stable through additional courses. The proportion of patients with circulating IgM and IgG levels below the lower limit of normal (LLN) increased with subsequent courses; however, serious infection rates in these patients (5.6 per 100 patient-years in patients with low IgM levels and 4.8 per 100 patient-years in patients with low IgG levels were comparable with those in patients with immunoglobulin levels above the LLN (4.7 per 100 patient-years). Patients with human antichimeric antibody (9.2%) did not exhibit decreasing efficacy or present additional safety concerns. CONCLUSION These findings indicate that patients treated with repeated courses of rituximab have sustained clinical responses with no new adverse events.
A population-based twin study of alcoholism in women.

OBJECTIVE To clarify the role of genetic factors in the etiology of alcoholism in women. DESIGN AND SETTING Personal structured psychiatric interviews conducted by researchers "blinded" to the status of the co-twin in an epidemiologic sample of 1030 female-female twin pairs of known zygosity from the population-based Virginia Twin Registry. MEASURES Three definitions of lifetime prevalence of alcoholism based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised criteria: (1) alcoholism with tolerance or dependence; (2) alcoholism with or without tolerance-dependence; and (3) alcoholism with or without tolerance-dependence or problem drinking. RESULTS Using narrow, intermediate, or broad definitions, the probandwise concordance for alcoholism was consistently higher in monozygotic than in dizygotic twin pairs. Multifactorial threshold models suggested that the heritability of liability to alcoholism in women is in the range of 50% to 60%. CONCLUSIONS The results support the hypothesis that genetic factors play a major role in the etiology of alcoholism in women. Women should be well represented in the efforts currently under way to elucidate the molecular basis of the genetic susceptibility to alcoholism.
Agency Theory and the Internal Audit

Agency theory is extensively employed in the accounting literature to explain and predict the appointment and performance of external auditors. Argues that agency theory also provides a useful theoretical framework for the study of the internal auditing function. Proposes that agency theory not only helps to explain and predict the existence of internal audit but that it also helps to explain the role and responsibilities assigned to internal auditors by the organization, and that agency theory predicts how the internal audit function is likely to be affected by organizational change. Concludes that agency theory provides a basis for rich research which can benefit both the academic community and the internal auditing profession.
Mildly Acidic pH Activates the Extracellular Molecular Chaperone Clusterin*

Many features of the chaperone action of clusterin are similar to those of the intracellular small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) that, like clusterin, exist in solution as heterogeneous aggregates. Increased temperature induces dissociation of some sHSP aggregates and an enhanced chaperone action, suggesting that a dissociated form is the active chaperone species. We recently reported that clusterin aggregates dissociate at mildly acidic pH. To further explore the similarities between clusterin and the sHSPs, we tested the effects of temperature and pH on the structure of clusterin and its chaperone action. Our results demonstrate that increased temperature does not induce dissociation of clusterin aggregates, or other major structural changes, and has little effect on its chaperone action. However, we show that the chaperone action of clusterin is enhanced at mildly acidic pH. Clusterin is the first chaperone shown to be activated by reduced pH. This unique mode of activation appears to result from an increase in regions of solvent-exposed hydrophobicity, which is independent of any major changes in secondary or tertiary structure. We propose a model in which low pH-induced dissociation of clusterin aggregates increases the abundance of the heterodimeric chaperone-active species, which has greater hydrophobicity exposed to solution.
Effect of forage:concentrate ratio on the quality of ewe's milk, especially on milk fat globules characteristics and fatty acids composition

The aim of this study was to evaluate the milk quality of Massese ewes receiving diets with different forage:concentrate ratios (FC ratio), specially on milk fat globules characteristics and fatty acids composition. The diet is one of the main environmental factors that influence the lipidic content of milk. A trial was carried out on twenty ewes, which had been subdivided into two homogeneous groups and kept indoors at 25 days post partum. The experiment lasted 60 days, from 40 to 100 days post partum and the animals were fed two diets that differed in terms of the FC ratio: 60:40 and 40:60, as fed. The results obtained in this study showed that a greater proportion of forage, compared with an higher percentage of concentrate, led to an increase in the percentage of fat (+8·66%) and to a decrease in the percentage of milk fat globules with a size between 2 and 5 μm (−17·32%). However, the average diameter was not affected. There was also a decrease in the percentages of some medium chain fatty acids (C12:0, C14:0; −14·89% and −4·03 respectively) and an increase in mono and polyunsaturated ones such as trans11-C18:1 (+31·71%), total CLA (+22%), EPA (+18·18%) and DHA (+66·67%). In conclusion, a greater proportion of forage seem to improve the milk fatty acid profile by the increase of some fatty acid identified has being beneficial for human health.
Genome Sequence of Sphingomonas sp. S17, Isolated from an Alkaline, Hyperarsenic, and Hypersaline Volcano-Associated Lake at High Altitude in the Argentinean Puna

ABSTRACT The high-altitude Andean lakes (HAAL) in the Argentinean Puna-high Andes region represent an almost unexplored ecosystem exposed to extreme conditions (high UV irradiation, hypersalinity, drastic temperature changes, desiccation, and high pH). Here we present the first genome sequence, a Sphingomonas sp. , isolated from this extreme environment.
Multiple Intelligences Meet Bloom's Taxonomy

Kimberly C. Gray is an assistant professor at Southern Illinois University, where she teaches elementary, middle-level, and social studies education. Jan E. Waggoner is an associate professor of curriculum and instruction at Southern Illinois University–Carbondale, where she also coordinates elementary and middle-level education programs. eachers at all levels—veteran, novice, and developing—can find the task of meeting the needs of a diverse classroom a bit daunting. With heightened accountability through state and national standards, teachers often find their time to plan further strained. They search for ways to create meaningful learning experiences for their students in the most time-efficient way. Using a planning tool such as the matrix presented here can be a valuable resource for teachers who wish to differentiate their instruction, stress higher-order thinking skills, and minimize the time it takes to plan lessons that meet the needs of diverse learners.
Public expenditure composition and growth: a neo-Kaleckian analysis

In this paper, we put forward a neo-Kaleckian model of growth and dsitribution. We introduce two different types of public expenditure: government consumption expenditure and public provision of capital; and we study the effects on equilibrium capacity utilisation and growth. Two different cases are explored: a) the government size is allowed to vary; b) the government size is fixed and only the composition of public expenditure changes. Our results depart from those drawn by the New Growth Theory. In fact, when capacity is underutilised, and increase in the provision of public capital may reduce the rate of growth, if not accompanied by a sufficient increase in demand.
Uncertainties in Responding to Climate Change: On the Economic Value of Technology Policies for Reducing Costs and Creating Options

The paper presents a simplified model of the form often used to project long-term emissions of carbon dioxide from energy production and use. It then considers three uncertainties in parameters of the model concerning (a) the rate of improvement in energy efficiency, (b) the costs of environmental damage, and (c) the rate of technical progress in the development and use of technologies for abating C02 emissions. Monte Carlo analysis is used to estimate the frequency distributions of costs and benefits under different policy assumptions. The results suggest that the possibilities of an economic surprise cannot be ruled out and that 'technology policies' to support the development of non-carbon technologies directly are robust under uncertainty. Such policies can also be defended by reference to their option value, to their environmental benefits, and to the positive externalities of innovation.
Stakeholders' perceptions of tourism development in Cape Verde, Africa

The perceptions of tourism stakeholders regarding the effects of tourism development in their communities are essential in ensuring the proper design and implementation of sustainable tourism development strategies in an area. We designed a survey to gather data about the attitudes of three stakeholders: tourists, residents, and business owners. The respondents were from the island of Sao Vicente in the African archipelago of Cape Verde, which is currently under expansion. The results showed that the three groups positively view increased tourism development in the area, with virtually no differences found between business owners and the other groups, although tourists had a more favourable opinion than residents. Engaging the three groups is essential for the success of tourism development.
Observance of antiplatelet therapy after stent implantation in patients under chronic oral anticoagulant treatment.

PURPOSE Patients undergoing coronary stenting must take dual antiplatelet therapy during a variable period. The combination of chronic oral anticoagulants (COA) with antiplatelet therapy has been related to an increased risk of hemorrhage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of the antiplatelet therapy observance in those patients and the incidence of adverse events after 1 year. METHODS Patients with prior COA treatment with coronary lesions suitable for stenting were included. Clinical assessment was performed on admission, with follow-up at 1, 6, and 12 months. Antiplatelet and COA treatment, adverse cardiac events, and hemorrhagic episodes were registered. RESULTS A total of 70 patients were included. Mean age was 70.5 +/- 8.7 years. The most common cause of COA was atrial fibrillation. Conventional stents were used in 40% and drug-eluting stents (DES) in 60%. Treatment at discharge was: ASA + clopidogrel + COA 64.2%, ASA + clopidogrel 25.4%, COA + clopidogrel 7.5%, and COA + ASA 3%. Observance of antiplatelet and COA therapy at 1-6-12 month follow-up after conventional stent was: COA 73.1-70.8-69.6%; ASA 92.3-75.4-65.2%; clopidogrel 92.3-62.5-43.5%. In patients receiving DES, it was: COA 76.9-78.9-80.6%, ASA 79.5-65.8-55.7%, and clopidogrel 94.9-84.2-61.1%. Dual antiplatelet therapy in patients with DES over these periods was taken in 79.5-51.4-27.8%, respectively. The incidence of adverse events was minor bleeding 11.4%, major bleeding 8.6%, myocardial infarction 4.3%, stent thrombosis 1.4%, and death 12.8%. CONCLUSIONS There is a great variability in the treatment prescribed at discharge. Low observance with dual antiplatelet therapy has been detected in these patients, particularly after DES implantation, and they present a very high rate of complications in the follow-up.
[Wilms' tumor-1 gene expression in myelodysplastic syndrome and its changes in the process of myelodysplastic syndrome transforming into acute leukemia].

OBJECTIVE To observe expression of Wilms' tumor-1 (WT1) gene in the different subtypes of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and to explore the regularity of expression of WT1 gene in the process of MDS transforming into acute leukemia (AL). METHODS The method of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used, the levels of WT1 gene's presentation in different types of montagers of MDS were analyzed, and the relationship between the level and the clinical characteristic was analyzed. At the same time, the expression of WT1 gene in AL patients, post-MDS-AL patients and normal controls were examined. RESULTS The positive rate of WT1 gene expression in 49 patients with MDS was 22.4 percent (11/49), refractory anemia (RA) was 0(0/13), RA with excess of blast (RAEB) was 25.0 percent (6/24); RAEB in transformation (RAEB-t) was 41.7 percent (5/12). The positive rates of WT1 expression were gradually increased in three types of MDS (P<0.05 and P<0.01). The positive rates of WT1 expression were higher in AL and post-MDS-AL patients (48.5 percent, 32/66 and 50.0 percent, 4/8) than that in MDS patients (P<0.01). There was no expression of WT1 gene in normal control. CONCLUSION There is a relatively high expression rate of WT1 gene in RAEB, RAEB-t of MDS, but relatively low expression rate in RA. The method of RT-PCR, is high sensitiveness and specificity, can trustful be used in the progression of monitoring MDS' progression and its transformation into AL.
Arbitrage Trade In Prediction Markets

By using data from five similar prediction market (PM) contracts on the 2008 American presidential election in two different market places targeted at investors of different nationalities, we investigate whether arbitrage opportunities across borders and market places exist in these markets. We find that arbitrage opportunities are rare and difficult to exploit. Markets in these political events seem to be fairly efficient, even if they are located in different countries, time zones and are relatively small. However, inter-market arbitrage opportunities exist, and we hypothesize that this can be explained by differences in political opinion between the US and other countries.
Early and late tuberculosis risks among close contacts in Hong Kong.

SETTING Tuberculosis (TB) notification is a statutory requirement in Hong Kong, where contact investigations are performed by the Tuberculosis and Chest Service. OBJECTIVES 1) To evaluate the risk of active TB in close contacts within 5 years, and 2) to identify risk factors associated with early and late development of active TB disease. DESIGN The characteristics of consecutive TB cases notified from 18 January to 17 April 2000 were collected together with those of their contacts. Contacts were prospectively followed up through the territory-wide TB notification registry for 5 years for the development of disease. RESULTS A total of 1537 index cases and 4661 close contacts were analysed. Screening found 31 (0.67%) active TB cases within a 3-month period, and another 58 (1.24%) cases presented subsequently. Index cases with cough or pulmonary cavities and diabetic contacts were independent risk factors of early cases (all P<0.05). Adjusted at risk index characteristics for late TB development included positive sputum smear (2.79, 95%CI 1.31-5.95) and family history of TB (4.26, 95%CI 2.01-9.03). Contact risk factors included diabetes mellitus (3.44, 95%CI 1.04-11.33) and institutionalisation (3.61, 95%CI 1.70-7.65). CONCLUSION Considerable TB risk remains after initial contact screening. A number of possible risk factors were identified.
Decision rules and variance of response in breeding schemes

Selection decisions in breeding schemes can involve choices between candidates evaluated to different accuracies. A Bayesian framework is put forward for choosing among candidates, and it is shown that attaching loss functions for estimation errors makes this process different from selecting upon best linear unbiased predictions alone. Examples are given using both linear and quadratic loss to show that when estimation errors are penalized, the selection process tends to select more unrelated and more accurately evaluated individuals. In a dairy cattle breeding scheme response was only slightly lower than that from selection on expected breeding values but with a much reduced coefficient of variation. However, if prediction errors are preferred, with the hope of selecting individuals whose breeding value are higher than expected, extra genetic progress could be obtained by favouring the selection of individuals with low accuracy. This requires consideration of more than a single generation. With discrete generations and equal measurements on candidates the decision framework was shown to be equivalent to a single quadratic restriction on the selection scores of parents in the previous generation. A framework based on Bayes decision theory could be simply applied to produce a flexible means for producers to select according to their individual risk preferences.
The Work‐Related Curriculum: The New Entitlement?

Abstract In this paper I take the opportunity to explore some ideas about the work‐related curriculum which arise, both directly and indirectly, out of several projects with which I have recently been involved, namely, the national evaluations of the Lower Attaining Pupils Programme (Stradling and Saunders, 1991), the management of TVEI Extension (Saunders et.al. 1991), and the operation of Compacts (Saunders and Morris, 1992). The initiatives are (or were) all concerned with providing a work‐related curriculum for young people in their last two years of compulsory schooling, with the aim of easing the transition to adult and working life. But these evaluations show that if the principle of ‘entitlement’ is not built into work‐related provision, its key messages ‐‐ on relevance and incentives ‐‐ are likely to be unrealised. That the work‐related curriculum needs to be developed through partnership between education and industry is now almost a truism; but partnership is harder to achieve than to eulogise.
A Critical Review of Contemporary Practice and Educational Research in Internationalisation within the business education subject communities

This report critically reviews contemporary educational research and practice in the field of internationalisation within the business education subject communities in order to inform curriculum development and pedagogy geared towards the development of international perspectives and intercultural learning. Drawing on current pedagogical literatures as well as staff and student consultations, it identifies a number of key points which reflect good practice in business education curricula. Due to the broad disciplinary scope of the subject area in focus and the diversity of curricular activities across the UK, this critical review is selective rather than exhaustive and seeks to stimulate further discussion and research in the field. The report is structured as a reference text around key themes and issues emerging from the review, providing the reader who has a particular interest or issue in their practice with an outline of key texts which can be followed up as appropriate.
Measuring financial contagion: a directed acyclic graphs and error correction model

Vector autoregressions (VARs) are economically interpretable only when identified by being transformed into a structural form the (SVAR) in which the contemporaneous variables stand in a well-defined causal order. These identifying transformations are not unique. It is widely believed that practitioners must choose between them using a priori theory or other criteria not rooted in the data under analysis. We show how to apply graph-theoretical approach of searching for causal structure based on relations of conditional independence to select the possible causal orders - or at least to reduce the admissible them to a narrow equivalence class. This study investigates the dynamic structure of four major stock markets using an error correction model and directed acyclic graphs (DAG). The DAG representation provides a structure of causality among these markets in a contemporaneous time. Building this contemporaneous structure and the estimated error correction model, innovation accounting techniques are applied.
Compound synchronous reference frame PLL and unbalance control strategy for power conditioning system in weak grids

An unbalanced control strategy is proposed to eliminate the 2nd harmonic at the DC bus, based on a compound synchronous reference frame phase-locked loop (CSRF-PLL) system, which composed of a T/4 delay positive sequence PLL (PS-PLL) and a T/3&T/6 delay negative sequence PLL (NS-PLL). The proposed PLL system can detect the phase angle and frequency of the utility voltage without errors, and both of the positive-sequence and negative-sequence components in dq-coordinate system can be figured out concurrently. By interaction between the original signal and the delayed one, effect of some characteristic harmonics, e.g. -5th and +7th harmonics, will be obliterated. According to the principle of simultaneous power balance, a negative sequence current is injected into the positive sequence reference current via a negative-sequence-to-positive-sequence transformation (NS-PST). And a regulator composed of a PI link parallel with 2nd and 6th quasi-resonant links is designed. Finally, the simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed PLL system can work well even when the input signals have severe asymmetry in both amplitude and phase angle, its advantage at handling with harmonics is verified as well. Furthermore, the unbalanced control strategy can suppress the 2nd harmonic at the DC port evidently, which would reduce the power loss and lengthen the cycle-life of the batteries installed in the power conditioning system (PCS).