Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical Perspectives in Primary Nocturnal Enuresis

Primary nocturnal enuresis (PNE) is prevalent among the pediatric population, but not all professionals are aware of the current research regarding the etiology and treatment of this disorder. This paper presents a broad overview of PNE, including etiology and evaluation, with a specific emphasis on treatment issues. The most current treatments (imipramine, desmopressin acetate arginine vasopressin, enuresis alarms) are discussed, including recent research on their effectiveness. In considering the recent data on long-term efficacy, overall cost, and safety, the treatment of choice appears to be the enuresis alarm for those families who are capable of following protocols. Desmopressin acetate arginine vasopressin is a safe alternative that has the advantage of quick response and ease of administration.
Measurements of oxidative stress status and antioxidant activity in chronic leukaemia patients

There is an interactive relationship between leukaemia and oxidative stress. Leukaemic cells produce larger amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) than non‐leukaemic cells as they are under a continual state of oxidative siege. So, this study was performed on 20 patients with chronic leukaemia from the Oncology Centre, Mansoura University. We measured leucocytic H2O2 concentrations and lipid peroxidation as serum malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, serum total antioxidant activity, plasma ascorbic acid and dehydroascorbic acid concentrations, blood reduced glutathione concentration, haemolysate G6PD activity, blood catalase activity, serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and serum anti‐dsDNA concentration. We found that chronic leukaemia patients showed a significant increase (P < 0.05) in leucocytic H2O2, serum MDA concentration and total anti‐oxidant activity either before or after treatment as compared with control group. Also, there was a significant increase in the other parameters (glutathione, catalase and SOD) either before or after treatment, but we found a significant decrease in ascorbic acid concentration and G6PD activity. There was a significant increase in anti‐dsDNA concentration either before or after treatment. It can be concluded that leukaemic patients produce larger amounts of ROS than non‐leukaemic patients. Also, the increase in antioxidant activity in leukaemic patients is not high enough to counteract the harmful effects of free radicals. This scenario becomes worse after administration of chemotherapy.
Recent Trends in Top Income Shares in the USA: Reconciling Estimates from March CPS and IRS Tax Return Data

Although the majority of research on US income inequality trends is based on public-use March CPS data, a new wave of research using IRS tax return data reports substantially higher levels of inequality and faster growing trends. We show that these apparently inconsistent estimates are largely reconciled if the inequality measure and the income distribution are defined in the same way. Using internal CPS data for 1967-2006, we closely match IRS data-based estimates of top income shares reported by Piketty and Saez (2003). Our results imply that any inequality increases since 1993 are concentrated among the top 1 percent of the distribution.
Lung Movement Determination in Temporal Sequences of MR Images Using Hough Transform and Interval Arithmetics

Abstract Since the lung is an organ whose real movement has never been seen, as it is totally dependent on the rib cage and collapses without them, the objective of the present work is to develop a method to study its movement. The visualization of the lung in motion is an actual topic of research in medicine. Computerized Tomography (CT) can obtain spatio–temporal images of the heart by synchronizing with electrocardiographic waves. The field of view (FOV) of the heart is small when compared to the lung's FOV. The lung's movement is not periodic and it is susceptible to variations in the degree of respiration. Compared to CT, Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging involves longer acquisition times and it is preferable because they do not involve radiation. The breathing is associated to a standard respiratory function, and through 2D image processing, edge detection, Hough transform and interval arithmetics, respiratory functions are obtained and, consequently, the position of the points in time are estimated. A standard respiratory function must be provided as input to the modified Hough transform. The Hough transform uses a discrete quantization space, implemented as an accumulator matrix. An improved Hough transform is proposed by using interval arithmetics in the accumulation phase of the algorithm. The discreteness of the quantization space is considered in the algorithm, and its consequences are minimized. This work showed more consistent results when compared to previous approaches. Copyright ©2009 IFAC.
Rapid and Sensitive Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Test for Clostridium difficile Detection Challenges Cytotoxin B Cell Test and Culture as Gold Standard

ABSTRACT Compared to the composite gold standard cytotoxin B assay and toxigenic culture, the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) test for Clostridium difficile had a sensitivity and specificity of 98%, positive predictive value of 92%, and negative predictive value of >99%. A one-hour turnaround time for the LAMP test provides rapid diagnosis and cost savings.
Modular MEMS Experimental Platform for Transmission Electron Microscopy

We present a modular MEMS experimental platform compatible with transmission electron microscope (TEM) systems that includes 4 probes with positional control suitable to contact nanoscale objects, four-point electrical measurement capability, force sensing capabilities, and unprecedented mechanical stability for low vibration positioning. Ultra-sharp conductive tips are a critical feature enabling several applications, and two approaches have been successfully demonstrated to obtain tip radii below 50nm: the first approach involves microassembly and electrochemical etching of a tungsten probe on a MEMS positioner, and the second approach is in-situ ion milling of silicon tips with a focused ion beam (FIB) instrument. The electrochemical probe etching process is the first reported post-processing of a heterogeneous assembled microsystem.
The representation of syllable structure in HPSG

This paper proposes a representation for syllable structure in HPSG, building on previous work by Bird and Klein (1994), Höhle (1999), and Crysmann (2002). Instead of mapping segments into a a separate part of the sign where syllables are represented structurally, information about syllabification is encoded directly in the list of segments, the core of the PHONOLOGY value. Higher level prosodic phenomena can operate on a more abstract representation of the sequence of syllables derived from the syllabified segments list. The approach is illustrated with analyses of some word-boundary phenomena conditioned by syllable structure in French.
A Different Kind of Union: Balancing Co‐Management and Representation

Local unions engaging in co-management and joint governance arrangements require new capacities and organizational forms to balance managerial responsibilities with representation of both the collective and individual interests of the membership. This article examines the evolution of the local union at General Motors' Saturn Corporation through the internal and external tensions created by the challenges faced in assuming these roles. A new model of local unionism, grounded in this experience and data, is outlined for further testing and research.
The Contagion of Women Candidates in Single-Member District and Proportional Representation Electoral Systems: Canada and Norway

There is a distinct gap in women's representation in national legislatures between countries with single-member district electoral systems and those with proportional representation electoral systems. While this gap has been well documented, there have been only limited attempts at explaining its existence. After reviewing the literature on the representation gap, we turn to the party change literature and propose a modified contagion theory as one possible explanation for the gap. Contagion theory suggests that traditional parties will feel pressured to nominate more women if one of their political rivals, usually a smaller party farther to the left, starts to promote representation of women. We distinguish between macrocontagion and microcontagion and argue that especially microcontagion is more likely to occur in party list proportional representation systems than in single-member district systems. This should be true because contagion pressures are more likely to develop, and the costs of adapting to these pressures are less, in party list proportional representation systems. We formally test for microcontagion at the electoral district level in Canada and Norway, both leaders among their type of electoral systems in female representation. The data confirm our hypothesis by showing no indication of microcontagion in Canada, but evidence of such an effect in Norway.
Social Construction, Political Power, and the Allocation of Benefits to Endangered Species

Social construction is the virtue ascribed to a subject by the general public; along with political power, it influences the allocation of public policy benefits. Nonhuman species are socially constructed by humans, and political power is held in trust for them by human interest groups. Our goal was to determine if the allocation of benefits to endangered species is consistent with social construction and political power. We assessed the social construction of broad types of species using survey data collected from a national sample of 643 respondents. We found that plants, birds, mammals, and fish have a distinctly more positive social construction than reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, and microorganisms. Respondents also indicated, however, that all nonhuman species should be conserved and that ecological importance and rarity are the most important factors to consider in prioritizing species for conservation. We gauged the political power affiliated with types of species by the number of nongovernmental organizations representing them. Birds have a substantial advantage over all other types. We employed a political science model that identifies policy subjects based on social construction and political power and identified birds, mammals, and fish as “advantaged” subjects, plants as “dependents,” and reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, and microorganisms as “deviants. ” Numerous exceptions, especially among mammals, are best described as “contenders. ” Allocation of the benefits of the U.S. Endangered Species Act is consistent with predictions of the model. A myriad of values converge to favor birds, mammals, fish, and plants in the policy arena. The most promising opportunities for species conservation in the political arena, however, may be with plants and amphibians, for which the ratio of social construction to benefit allocation is highest.
Does Public Insurance Crowd Out Private Insurance?

One popular option for health care reform in the U.S. is to make particular groups, such as children, eligible for public health insurance coverage. A key question in assessing the cost of this option is the extent to which public eligibility will crowd out the private insurance coverage of these groups. We estimate the extent of crowdout arising from the dramatic expansions of the Medicaid program during the 1987-1992 period. Over this time period, Medicaid eligibility for children increased by 50 percent and eligibility for pregnant women doubled. We estimate that between 50 percent and 75 percent of the increase in Medicaid coverage was associated with a reduction in private insurance coverage. This occurred largely because employees took up employer-based insurance less frequently, although employers may have encouraged them to do so by contributing less for insurance. There is some evidence that workers dropped coverage for their family and switched into individual policies.
Calcium‐Activated Proteolysis of Neurofilament Proteins in the Squid Giant Neuron

Abstract: The phosphorylation and proteolysis of squid neurofilament proteins by endogenous kinase and calcium‐activated protease activities, respectively, were studied. When axoplasm was incubated in the presence of [γ‐32]ATP, most of the phosphate was incorporated into two neurofilament proteins: a 220‐kilodalton (NF‐220) and a high‐molecular‐weight (HMW) protein. When this phosphorylated axoplasm was subjected to endogenous calcium‐activated proteolysis, two significant phosphorylated fragments were generated, i.e., a soluble 110K fragment and a pelletable 100K fragment. Immunochemical and other analyses suggest that the pelletable 100K fragment contains the common helical neurofilament rod region and that the soluble 100K protein is the putative side arm of the NF‐220. In contrast, neither the HMW or the NF‐220 was detected in the region of the stellate ganglion which contains the cell bodies of the giant axon. However, this region did contain a number of proteins that were sensitive to calcium‐activated proteolysis and reacted with a monoclonal intermediate filament antibody. This intermediate filament antibody reacts with most of the axoplasmic proteins that copurify with neurofilaments, i.e., in the order of their intermediate filament antibody staining intensity, a 60K, 65K, 220K, and 74K protein. In the cell body preparation, the intermediate filament antibody labeled, in order of their staining intensity, a 65K, 60K, 74K, and 180K protein. In both the axoplasmic and cell body preparations, endogenous calcium‐activated proteolysis generated characteristic fragments that could be labeled with the anti‐intermediate filament antibody.
Environmental Protection in Coastal Recreation Sites in Antalya, Turkey

This study was designed to evaluate different approaches to the protection of the environments of coastal recreation sites in and around Antalya, Turkey. Data was collected by means of a survey of coastal recreation sites and six categories were evaluated: environmental protection, infrastructure facilities, water conservation, energy conservation, waste management, and protection of the natural environment. The results indicated that there was a clear motivation among site managers or authorities for environmental protection (p < .05), infrastructure facilities (p < .001), water conservation (p < .05), energy conservation (p < .05) and the protection of the natural environment (p < .001) but waste management was not accorded a priority. The quality of coastal recreation largely relies on the attractiveness and naturalness of the environment. Although good quality site management largely depends on the awareness and willingness of individual site managers, more proactive approaches toward better environmental protection of recreation sites along the Turkish Mediterranean coast might be effective in improving their sustainable use, particularly in the absence of proper site planning.
Addressing declining metropolitan park use: A case study of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

One might expect natural area visitation to offer time-conscious leisure seekers a competitive, low-cost alternative to the vast array of activities available in a major metropolitan area. However, data obtained by Parks Victoria revealed that there has been a decline in the number of regional visitors to Melbourne's metropolitan parks over the past few years. Interviews with regional visitors highlighted the importance of the role that their Melbourne-based friends and relatives were as an information resource. This article investigates the reasons for the decline in park visitation by incorporating the viewpoints of both regional visitors and residents of Melbourne. Focus groups and in-depth interviews provided useful information about pull factors of metropolitan parks and how these parks should be promoted to attract more visitors.
MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975 (review)

In his book, MITI and the Japanese Miracle, Chalmers Johnson purports to provide the economic bureaucracy's contribution to Japan's high postwar growth, but in fact tells the story, as the title suggests, in terms of MITI. Although in this reviewer's judgment gravely exaggerating the role of MITI within the economic bureaucracy and virtually ignoring the private sector, Johnson provides extraordinary insight into the operations of Japan's bureaucracy and the never-ending turf battles that are an integral part of it. His thesis is that a "miracle" occurred and that it can be explained only by the role of the economic bureaucracy. He sees the economic bureaucracy growing in knowledge and maturity out of the experiences of the 1930s when (under the Important Industries Control Law of 1931) the private sector undertook to control itself, and out of the World War II and occupation experiences when the government dictated to the private sector. In Professor Johnson's judgment, what is new about the role of government in Japan's economy is that a cooperative, shared relationship has developed with the government supplementing, not supplanting (my language), market forces. He writes:
A population genomics insight into the Mediterranean origins of wine yeast domestication

The domestication of the wine yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is thought to be contemporary with the development and expansion of viticulture along the Mediterranean basin. Until now, the unavailability of wild lineages prevented the identification of the closest wild relatives of wine yeasts. Here, we enlarge the collection of natural lineages and employ whole‐genome data of oak‐associated wild isolates to study a balanced number of anthropic and natural S. cerevisiae strains. We identified industrial variants and new geographically delimited populations, including a novel Mediterranean oak population. This population is the closest relative of the wine lineage as shown by a weak population structure and further supported by genomewide population analyses. A coalescent model considering partial isolation with asymmetrical migration, mostly from the wild group into the Wine group, and population growth, was found to be best supported by the data. Importantly, divergence time estimates between the two populations agree with historical evidence for winemaking. We show that three horizontally transmitted regions, previously described to contain genes relevant to wine fermentation, are present in the Wine group but not in the Mediterranean oak group. This represents a major discontinuity between the two populations and is likely to denote a domestication fingerprint in wine yeasts. Taken together, these results indicate that Mediterranean oaks harbour the wild genetic stock of domesticated wine yeasts.
On the 'Utilization Controversy': A Theoretical and Empirical Discussion of the Kaleckian Model of Growth and Distribution

This paper examines the ‘utilisation controversy’ around the Kaleckian model of growth and distribution. We show that the Federal Reserve data on capacity utilisation, which have been used by both sides of this debate, are the wrong kind of data for the issue under examination. Instead, a more appropriate measurement can be derived from the data on the average workweek of capital. We argue that the long-run dynamic adjustment, proposed by Kaleckian scholars, lacks a coherent economic rationale. We provide an alternative path towards the endogeneity of the desired utilisation at the micro and macro levels. Finally, we examine the proposed adjustment mechanism econometrically. Our results verify the endogeneity of the normal utilisation rate.
Dietary Factors and Female Breast Cancer Risk: A Prospective Cohort Study

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer in females and has become a major global health priority. This prospective cohort study investigated the association of dietary factors, including food items and dietary habits, with the risk of breast cancer in Korean women. Study participants were women aged 30 years or older, recruited from the National Cancer Center in South Korea between August 2002 and May 2007. They were followed until December 2014 using the Korea Central Cancer Registry to identify breast cancer cases. Among 5046 non-pre-diagnosed cancer participants, 72 breast cancer cases were prospectively identified. Participants with breast cancer had a significantly higher educational level (college or higher: 58.3% vs. 39.5%, p = 0.01), were more likely to have ever smoked (22.2% vs. 7.8%, p < 0.001), and were more likely to have a history of benign breast tumors (10% vs. 4%, p = 0.02) than non-cases. Consumption of grilled meat conferred a significantly higher risk of breast cancer in all women (hazard ratio (HR) 1.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09–2.85) and in postmenopausal women (HR 3.06, 95% CI 1.31–7.15). High-cholesterol food intake was associated with a higher risk in all women (HR 1.69, 95% CI 1.01–2.82). Irregular meal intake was associated with an elevated risk in all women (HR 2.19, 95% CI 1.20–3.98, p for trend = 0.01) and in premenopausal women (HR 2.35, 95% CI 1.13–4.91, p for trend = 0.03). Our findings suggest that grilled meat and high-cholesterol food intake and irregular eating habits may be associated with a higher risk of breast cancer. Further studies with longer follow-up periods that include information on portion size, hormone receptor status, carcinogen levels in grilled meat, and a classification of foods by source are required.
Epigenetics in natural animal populations

Phenotypic plasticity is an important mechanism for populations to buffer themselves from environmental change. While it has long been appreciated that natural populations possess genetic variation in the extent of plasticity, a surge of recent evidence suggests that epigenetic variation could also play an important role in shaping phenotypic responses. Compared with genetic variation, epigenetic variation is more likely to have higher spontaneous rates of mutation and a more sensitive reaction to environmental inputs. In our review, we first provide an overview of recent studies on epigenetically encoded thermal plasticity in animals to illustrate environmentally‐mediated epigenetic effects within and across generations. Second, we discuss the role of epigenetic effects during adaptation by exploring population epigenetics in natural animal populations. Finally, we evaluate the evolutionary potential of epigenetic variation depending on its autonomy from genetic variation and its transgenerational stability. Although many of the causal links between epigenetic variation and phenotypic plasticity remain elusive, new data has explored the role of epigenetic variation in facilitating evolution in natural populations. This recent progress in ecological epigenetics will be helpful for generating predictive models of the capacity of organisms to adapt to changing climates.