Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metaphor Comprehension in Schizophrenic Patients

People with schizophrenia often exhibit difficulties to comprehend figurative expressions, such as irony, proverbs, metaphors and idioms, with a general proneness to neglect the figurative meaning and to accept the more literal one. This inability is usually referred to as concretism and it constitutes a clinical manifestation of the broader language dysfunction called Formal Thought Disorder. The current review focuses on the neuropsychological and neuroanatomical underpinnings of schizophrenics’ misinterpretation of a subgroup of figurative expressions, i.e., metaphors. Metaphors are heterogeneous in nature, classifiable according to various criteria; for instance, metaphors can be conventional and familiar, or conversely, novel and unusual. These linguistic distinctions are substantial because the comprehension of the different types of metaphor entails partially different cognitive strategies and neural substrates. This review gathers studies that have directly investigated which neurocognitive deficits explain the inefficient comprehension of metaphor in schizophrenia. Several impairments have been put forward, such as general intelligence, executive functions and theory of mind deficits. Moreover, the neural correlates of metaphor comprehension in schizophrenia, like the left inferior/medial frontal gyrus and the temporal lobe, match those cortices affected by the neuropathology of schizophrenia. Even though the causal defective mechanism is still a matter of investigation, we provide an attempt to integrate existing findings.
Low risk of inhibitor formation in haemophilia patients after a change in treatment from Chinese hamster ovary cell-produced to baby hamster kidney cell-produced recombinant factor VIII

Summary This retrospective survey of haemophilia A patients from multiple treatment centres in Ireland assessed the development of inhibitors following a switch in the prescribed treatment from recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII) produced by Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells (rFVIII-CHO) to rFVIII produced by baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells (rFVIII-BHK). Ninety-four patients participated in the survey. Most patients (89.4%) had severe haemophilia. One of 77 (1.3%) patients with no inhibitor history developed an inhibitor. This was a patient with moderate haemophilia A who developed a transient, low-titre (1 BU) de novo inhibitor following surgery. Recurrent inhibitors were detected in three of 17 patients with an inhibitor history during the 20-month post-switch study period. All patients continued on rFVIII-BHK therapy, and all tested negative for inhibitors at the time of their last inhibitor assay during the observation period. These results are consistent with the low levels of inhibitor formation demonstrated in phase III studies of previously treated patients receiving BHK-produced rFVIII and support the low risk of inhibitor formation following a change from rFVIIICHO to rFVIII-BHK.
Narrative review of genes, environment, and cigarettes

Abstract Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in the US, emphasizing the need to understand which genes and environments are involved in the establishment of cigarette use behaviors. However, to date, no comprehensive review of the influence of genes, the environment, and their interaction on cigarette use exists. This narrative review provides a description of gene variants and environmental factors associated with cigarette use, as well as an overview of studies investigating gene–environment interaction (GxE) in cigarette use. GxE studies of cigarette use have been useful in demonstrating that the influence of genes changes as a function of both the phenotype being measured and the environment. However, it is difficult to determine how the effect of genes contributing to different phenotypes of cigarette use changes as a function of the environment. This suggests the need for more studies of GxE, to parse out the effects of genes and the environment across the development of cigarette use phenotypes, which may help to inform potential prevention and intervention efforts aimed at reducing the prevalence of cigarette use. Key Messages No comprehensive reviews of the influence of genes, the environment, and their interaction on cigarette use exist currently. The influence of genes may change as a function of the environment and the phenotype being measured. It is difficult to determine how the effect of genes contributing to different phenotypes of cigarette use changes according to environmental context, suggesting the need for more studies of gene–environment interaction related to cigarette use to parse out effects.
New predictors of sleep efficiency

ABSTRACT Sleep efficiency is a commonly and widely used measure to objectively evaluate sleep quality. Monitoring sleep efficiency can provide significant information about health conditions. As an attempt to facilitate less cumbersome monitoring of sleep efficiency, our study aimed to suggest new predictors of sleep efficiency that enable reliable and unconstrained estimation of sleep efficiency during awake resting period. We hypothesized that the autonomic nervous system activity observed before falling asleep might be associated with sleep efficiency. To assess autonomic activity, heart rate variability and breathing parameters were analyzed for 5 min. Using the extracted parameters as explanatory variables, stepwise multiple linear regression analyses and k-fold cross-validation tests were performed with 240 electrocardiographic and thoracic volume change signal recordings to develop the sleep efficiency prediction model. The developed model’s sleep efficiency predictability was evaluated using 60 piezoelectric sensor signal recordings. The regression model, established using the ratio of the power of the low- and high-frequency bands of the heart rate variability signal and the average peak inspiratory flow value, provided an absolute error (mean ± SD) of 2.18% ± 1.61% and a Pearson’s correlation coefficient of 0.94 (p < 0.01) between the sleep efficiency predictive values and the reference values. Our study is the first to achieve reliable and unconstrained prediction of sleep efficiency without overnight recording. This method has the potential to be utilized for home-based, long-term monitoring of sleep efficiency and to support reasonable decision-making regarding the execution of sleep efficiency improvement strategies.
A novel protein‐engineered hepatocyte growth factor analog released via a shear‐thinning injectable hydrogel enhances post‐infarction ventricular function

In the last decade, numerous growth factors and biomaterials have been explored for the treatment of myocardial infarction (MI). While pre‐clinical studies have demonstrated promising results, clinical trials have been disappointing and inconsistent, likely due to poor translatability. In the present study, we investigate a potential myocardial regenerative therapy consisting of a protein‐engineered dimeric fragment of hepatocyte growth factor (HGFdf) encapsulated in a shear‐thinning, self‐healing, bioengineered hydrogel (SHIELD). We hypothesized that SHIELD would facilitate targeted, sustained intramyocardial delivery of HGFdf thereby attenuating myocardial injury and post‐infarction remodeling. Adult male Wistar rats (n = 45) underwent sham surgery or induction of MI followed by injection of phosphate buffered saline (PBS), 10 μg HGFdf alone, SHIELD alone, or SHIELD encapsulating 10 μg HGFdf. Ventricular function, infarct size, and angiogenic response were assessed 4 weeks post‐infarction. Treatment with SHIELD + HGFdf significantly reduced infarct size and increased both ejection fraction and borderzone arteriole density compared to the controls. Thus, sustained delivery of HGFdf via SHIELD limits post‐infarction adverse ventricular remodeling by increasing angiogenesis and reducing fibrosis. Encapsulation of HGFdf in SHIELD improves clinical translatability by enabling minimally‐invasive delivery and subsequent retention and sustained administration of this novel, potent angiogenic protein analog. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2379–2389. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Retinal Ganglion Cell Topography in Patients With Visual Pathway Pathology

Background: To investigate and quantify the impact of intracranial lesions at different locations within the visual pathway on the ganglion cell layer–inner plexiform layer (GCL–IPL) complex and the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL). Methods: Patients with intracranial lesions affecting the optic chiasm (Group I) or the optic tract and/or lateral geniculate nucleus (Group II) were included. All patients received kinetic visual field assessment and underwent spectral domain optical coherence tomography. Peripapillary and papillomacular bundle (PMB) RNFL and macular GCL–IPL thickness in 4 perifoveal areas were measured and compared with normal values derived from 52 age-matched healthy control subjects. Z-scores for each parameter of every patient were calculated and compared with the normative data. Z-scores less than −2.0 (e.g., −2.5) were considered as being statistically significant. Results: Twenty-two patients (Group I and II: 13 and 9, respectively) were included. Ten of 13 patients in Group I showed significant binasal GCL–IPL thinning, with associated temporal sector thinning in 8 patients. In Group II, all 9 patients showed significant reduction of the GCL–IPL corresponding to the homonymous visual field defect, but only 4 demonstrated RNFL thinning. Contralateral RNFL thinning within the PMB clinically similar to bow-tie atrophy was evident in all patients in Group II. GCL–IPL and RNFL thinning varied in severity from mild (isolated PMB RNFL thickness reduction) to severe (bilateral asymmetrical reduction of PMB RNFL associated with asymmetric, predominantly nasal reduction of GCL–IPL) in Group I. Conclusion: Clinical abnormalities in patients with visual pathway lesions are more likely to demonstrate abnormalities of GCL–IPL than global peripapillary RNFL thickness. However, PMB thickness measurement appears to be a valuable tool to detect abnormalities of the anterior visual pathways. If peripapillary RNFL measurements are performed in such patients, PMB thickness should be considered the most useful quantitative parameter.
Stemming the spread of nuclear weapons

The author discusses what is being done to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. He says that two mechanisms need to be strengthened: international safeguards to ensure that civilian nuclear materials and technology are not diverted to military purposes, and controls on the export of such materials and technology. While 135 nations signed the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it is not enough. Detecting diversion of nuclear materials to the manufacture of nuclear weapons or explosives is not easy. It is also difficult to enforce safeguard systems when countries are exporting nuclear technology and materials. The author says nuclear-weapon states need to agree to a complete test ban to convince other nations to give up trying to acquire nuclear weapons.
Nuclear and membrane estrogen receptor antagonists induce similar mTORC2 activation‐reversible changes in synaptic protein expression and actin polymerization in the mouse hippocampus

Estrogens play pivotal roles in hippocampal synaptic plasticity through nuclear receptors (nERs; including ERα and ERβ) and the membrane receptor (mER; also called GPR30), but the underlying mechanism and the contributions of nERs and mER remain unclear. Mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2) is involved in actin cytoskeleton polymerization and long‐term memory, but whether mTORC2 is involved in the regulation of hippocampal synaptic plasticity by ERs is unclear.
Law, Collective Action and Culture: Condominium Governance in Comparative Perspective

Abstract Condominium law reforms are taking place at a growing pace around the world. Such reforms raise particular challenges in transitional economies, in which the need to create the legal infrastructure for multiunit, homeownership-based housing follows complex processes of urbanisation and a transition to some form of a market economy. This article focuses on one of the key challenges of such reforms, that which deals with the ability of homeowners to engage in effective and enduring self-governance of the condominium through the establishment of a homeowner association. In crafting the legal mechanisms that enable condominium governance, lawmakers have an essential normative role of determining the underlying societal values and goals that should guide this type of collective action. At the same time, for such a legal design to be effective, lawmakers must consider the actual congruence between the types of collective action envisioned by the reform and the prevailing cultural orientations, values and beliefs that practically guide everyday interactions in a certain society or parts thereof. Working through the theoretical framework of law, collective action and culture, this article offers a comparative study of condominium law reforms and their subsequent on-the-ground implementation in two prominent economies in transition: China and Russia. It compares these case studies with the development of condominium governance in the United States, seeking to underscore the dynamic relations between private law reforms, collective-action organisations and the prospects for incremental cultural change.
Implications of Income Pooling and Household Decision-making for the Measurement of Poverty and Deprivation: An Analysis of the SILC 2010 Special Module for Ireland

A core assumption in conventional poverty measurement is that income is shared within households to the benefit of all household members. This technical paper draws on the 2010 Irish SILC module to examine aspects of the household’s financial regime, including which household members receive income, the extent to which income is contributed for the benefit of other household members and responsibility for decision-making. The paper finds only small differences in income pooling by gender, but large differences by the person’s position in the household. In terms of decision-making, we find that most couples share responsibility for decisions. Among the findings regarding the consequences of household financial regime (with income and other characteristics controlled) were the beneficial impact of having income from work and of shared responsibility for decisions. Contrary to expectations, variations in the proportion of income contributed for the benefit of other household members did not have the anticipated impact on household and individual deprivation. The paper concludes by pointing to some implications for the measurement of poverty.
Intertemporal Consumption Theory and the Balanced Budget Multiplier

In conventional macroeconomic analyses, balanced budget increases in government expenditures are expansionary in the sense that such changes shift the IS curve rightward, and in many of these the IS curve is shifted rightward by an amount equal to a balanced budget increase . These analyses, however, ignore the possibility that the government expenditures may be for "something that the individuals were otherwise obtaining for themselves," [7, 80] or that the "new public goods provide direct substitures to private consumption causing 'first level' crowding out, [4, 1058]. This substitution is called ex ante crowding out by David and Scadding [6, 243] to indicate that the substitution is desired by the individuals at the existing market conditions. Buiter calls this direct crowding out and states that "direct crowding out would be reflected in the inability of fiscal policy actions to shift the IS curve" [5, 311 ]. Ex ante crowding out is not induced by changing prices and/ or interest rates which change as the system moves to a new equilibrium. This later type is ex post or indirect crowding out. Bailey [1, Ch. 9] was one of the first to seriously consider the effects of this substitution upon the multiplier. In one of his models, private and collective consumption goods were perfect substitutes, and he completely integrated the collective consumption goods into the private consumption function. Grossman and Lucas also perceived the void between the established theory of public finance and conventional macroeconomic analysis. Recognizing that "most public expenditure has the effect both of directly increasing utility and of enhancing private productive potential, thereby indirectly increasing utility" [8, 162], they analyzed ex post crowding out effects using a general equilibrium model where government expenditures directly affect the productivity constraint of firms. Thus they analyzed the case where public expenditures indirectly affect utility. This paper analyzes the direct effect of governemnt expenditures upon utility and extends the results of these authors by identifying an expression for a balanced budget multiplier, kb, which includes the ex ante crowding out effect, and by identifying a set of
IL‐4 is a differentiation factor for transforming growth factor‐β secreting Th3 cells and oral administration of IL‐4 enhances oral tolerance in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis

We have previously shown that following oral administration of myelin basic protein (MBP), regulatory T cells are generated from gut‐associated lymphoid tissue and that these cells suppress experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). These regulatory T cells produce transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β) with various amounts of IL‐4 and IL‐10 and these TGF‐β‐secreting T cells have been termed Th3 cells. T cells in lymphoid organs drained by mucosal sites secrete IL‐4 as a primary T cell growth factor. In the present study, we examined the role of IL‐4 on oral tolerance and in the generation of TGF‐β secreting cells. Treatment of (PLJ × SJL)F1 mice with intraperitoneal (i. p.) IL‐4 and low‐dose oral MBP (0.5 mg) given three times reduced the severity of EAE, whereas i. p. injection of IL‐4 alone or oral MBP alone given in these suboptimal doses, showed no protection. Spleen cells from protected mice produced increased amounts of TGF‐β and reduced IFN‐γ upon stimulation with MBP in vitro. Mucosal MBP‐specific IgA production was significantly increased in IL‐4 plus MBP fed animals. Moreover, oral administration of IL‐4 (1 μg per feeding) also enhanced the suppression of EAE by oral MBP and this protective effect was reversed by administration of anti‐TGF‐β antibody in vivo. Reverse transcription‐PCR showed enhanced suppression of IFN‐γ in Peyer's patch in animals fed MBP and IL‐4 versus those fed MBP alone. We then investigated the role of IL‐4 in the generation of TGF‐β‐secreting cells using MBP Ac1‐11 TCR transgenic animals. Cells were cultured with IL‐2, IL‐4, or IFN‐γ in the presence of MBP and limiting dilution analysis for cytokine‐secreting cells performed. We found that IL‐4, but not IL‐2 or IFN‐γ, generated TGF‐β‐secreting T cells from naive splenic T cells and that these cells provided help for IgA production. These findings demonstrate that IL‐4 is a differentiation factor for TGF‐β‐secreting Th3 cells and oral IL‐4 has a synergistic effect on low‐dose oral tolerance that is associated with increased TGF‐β secretion.
Management Information Systems for Service Quality in Commercial Banks: An Empirical Study

Importance of management information systems is identified in influencing the service quality. A model interrelating these constructs in banking industry is proposed. Primary data has been collected from the bank employees in Madurai City in Tamil Nadu. The collected data were used to test the model using regression and path analysis methodology. The result reveals that the important elements of information system (IS) are system quality, information quality, employee information system characteristics and technical support whereas the identified consequences are service quality and employee IS performance. The system quality, information quality and employee characteristics influence the service quality in a positive manner but only through employee IS performance. At the same time, the technical support alone influences the service quality directly. The results suggest that employee IS performance contributes more to service quality with technical support. Implications of this research for IS theory and practice are discussed.
The design and conduct of clinical trials to limit missing data

This article summarizes recommendations on the design and conduct of clinical trials of a National Research Council study on missing data in clinical trials. Key findings of the study are that (a) substantial missing data is a serious problem that undermines the scientific credibility of causal conclusions from clinical trials; (b) the assumption that analysis methods can compensate for substantial missing data is not justified; hence (c) clinical trial design, including the choice of key causal estimands, the target population, and the length of the study, should include limiting missing data as one of its goals; (d) missing‐data procedures should be discussed explicitly in the clinical trial protocol; (e) clinical trial conduct should take steps to limit the extent of missing data; (f) there is no universal method for handling missing data in the analysis of clinical trials – methods should be justified on the plausibility of the underlying scientific assumptions; and (g) when alternative assumptions are plausible, sensitivity analysis should be conducted to assess robustness of findings to these alternatives. This article focuses on the panel's recommendations on the design and conduct of clinical trials to limit missing data. A companion paper addresses the panel's findings on analysis methods. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Plasma Drug Concentrations in Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension on Combination Treatment

Background: Combination therapy with the phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE-5i) sildenafil or tadalafil and the endothelin receptor antagonists (ERA) bosentan, ambrisentan, or macitentan may cause mutual pharmacokinetic interactions in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze plasma drug concentrations in PAH patients receiving different combination treatments. Methods: PAH patients receiving a stable combination treatment with ERA and PDE-5i with targeted dosage for at least 1 month were routinely assessed, including clinical parameters and plasma drug concentrations. Concentrations were normalized considering dose and time from last medication intake and presented as multiples of the expected mean (MoM) of the respective monotherapies. Results: A total of 125 PAH patients (84 female, 41 male, 57% idiopathic/heritable) were included. Sildenafil and tadalafil concentrations were lowest in combination with bosentan (MoM 0.44 ± 0.42, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.30-0.57, and MoM 0.89 ± 0.53, 95% CI 0.50-1.28, respectively) compared to the combination with ambrisentan (MoM 1.3 ± 0.97, 95% CI 0.86-1.73, and MoM 1.67 ± 0.63, 95% CI 1.40-1.94, respectively) and macitentan (MoM 1.16 ± 0.87, 95% CI 0.86-1.46, and MoM 1.59 ± 0.99, 95% CI 0.80-2.38, respectively). The combination of sildenafil and bosentan led to more than twice the expected bosentan concentrations in 53.8%. Patients switching from sildenafil-bosentan to macitentan showed a significant increase in sildenafil concentrations (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Only the combination with macitentan or ambrisentan led to targeted mean PDE-5i plasma concentrations and should therefore be preferred to combination with bosentan. Sildenafil-bosentan showed the strongest interaction, with low sildenafil and high bosentan concentrations. The study was not powered to analyze whether lower PDE-5i concentrations cause unsatisfying clinical response. However, plasma concentrations within a targeted range are desirable and may become of increasing importance.