Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experience in Endovascular Treatment of Recurrent Chronic Subdural Hematoma

Most cases with chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) are treated by simple irrigation and drainage, then more than eighty percent of them result in good recovery. But we sometimes encounter intractable cases with hematoma re-collection, which is considered of repeated bleeding from macrocapillary in the hematoma capsule. Embolization of the middle meningeal artery (MMA) is considered to be useful to eliminate the blood supply to this structure. The authors experienced seven cases of intractable CSDH treated by MMA embolization and no recurrence took place in all cases for up to 15 months. Endovascular treatment may be a good alternative modality for recurrent CSDH.
Credit Information Sharing and its Impact on Access to Bank Credit across Income Bracket Groupings

This study provides a global evidence of how credit information sharing impacts access to bank credit across the income bracket groupings by the World Bank which captures all countries. Employing OLS robust standard errors regression model, the study sources data from World Development Indicators covering period’s between 2000 and 2012. The study finds that access to bank credit varies significantly across the five income bracket groupings with high income brackets having easier access to bank credit compared to their low income brackets counterparts. The results further indicate that information sharing helps improves access to bank credit across all the five income bracket groupings. The results in addition reports that information sharing and gross domestic savings were significantly and positively related to access to bank credit while gross capital formation, inflation and non-performing loans were negatively and significantly related to access to bank credit. These findings are consistent with theoretical and earlier empirical findings.
Volatility, Diversification and Contagion

In this paper I describe in detail the concepts of volatility, diversification and contagion, three basic keys to understand the seemingly whimsical behaviour of financial markets. The presentation is deliberately non-technical and largely self-contained, with most required concepts defined along the way. Nevertheless, the analysis is mostly empirically oriented, with an emphasis on the methods that have been proposed to measure those concepts and a discussion of the stylised facts that the resulting measures imply. I also use those measures to study the effects of the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the euro sovereign debt crisis of 2010-2012 on Spain.
Performance of Commercially Available Enzyme Immunoassays for Detection of Antibodies against Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 in African Populations

ABSTRACT Data are accumulating on the performance of enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for the detection of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection in North America and Europe, but little is known about their performance in other populations. Nine test kits were evaluated with 330 serum samples from sub-Saharan Africa. The tests were first compared to the monoclonal antibody (MAb) EIA (Central Public Health Laboratory, London, United Kingdom). Samples that gave discordant results in the MAb EIA and in the three tests that performed best compared to the MAb EIA were tested by Western blotting (University of Washington, Seattle). A random sample of concordant samples was also tested, and the sensitivities and specificities of the different tests were calculated, taking into account this sampling strategy. The sensitivities of the tests ranged from 86 to 100%; the specificities ranged from 47 to 99%. The tests that performed best were the Gull Premier EIA (sensitivity, 86.3%; specificity, 97.6%) and the Kalon Biological (sensitivity, 92.3%; specificity, 97.7%) and Biokit (sensitivity, 86.7%; specificity, 92.6%) tests. It cannot be assumed that enzyme immunoassays for the detection of HSV-2 infection that perform well in industrialized countries will perform equally well in other populations.
Reversing the Question: On What Does the Turnover of Mutual Funds Depend? Evidence from Equity Mutual Funds in Chile

Abstract: The purpose of this research is to study the factors that influence portfolio turnover in equity mutual funds in Chile. The main result of this research indicates that turnover is related to a combination of variables associated with efficiency, and with behavioral and agency problem hypotheses. In addition, negative effects of turnover are observed on the returns from the funds; positive effects are observed on portfolio liquidity. This study should be of interest to policymakers who regulate and monitor the delegated portfolio management industry in developing countries, as well as individual and institutionalinvestors concerned about the efficiency and performance of their investments.
Interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance in patient care.

BACKGROUND Health care-associated infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Hand hygiene is regarded as an effective preventive measure. OBJECTIVES To assess the short and longer-term success of strategies to improve hand hygiene compliance and to determine whether a sustained increase in hand hygiene compliance can reduce rates of health care-associated infection. SEARCH STRATEGY We conducted electronic searches of: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group specialised register of trials; MEDLINE; PubMed; EMBASE; CINAHL; and the BNI. All databases were searched to July 2006; MEDLINE was searched from 1980, CINAHL from its inception, and the remainder from 1990 until July 2006. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised controlled trials; controlled clinical trials; controlled before and after studies; and interrupted time series analyses meeting explicit entry and quality criteria used by the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group. Studies reporting proxy indicators of hand hygiene compliance were considered. Studies to promote compliance with universal precautions were included providing data relating specifically to hand hygiene were presented separately. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed data quality. MAIN RESULTS Two studies met the criteria for review. One was a randomised controlled trial. The other was a controlled before and after study. Both were poorly controlled. Statistically significant post-intervention increase in hand washing was reported in one study up to four months after the intervention. In the other there was no post-intervention increase in hand hygiene compliance. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS There is little robust evidence to inform the choice of interventions to improve hand hygiene. It appears that single interventions based on short, 'one off' teaching sessions are unlikely to be successful, even short-term. There is a need to undertake methodologically robust research to explore the effectiveness of soundly designed interventions to increase hand hygiene compliance.
Control of cytomegalovirus lytic gene expression by histone acetylation

Permissiveness for human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is dependent on the state of cellular differentiation and has been linked to repression of the viral major immediate early promoter (MIEP). We have used conditionally permissive cells to analyze differential regulation of the MIEP and possible mechanisms involved in latency. Our data suggest that histone deacetylases (HDACs) are involved in repression of the MIEP in non‐permissive cells as inhibition of HDACs induces viral permissiveness and increases MIEP activity. Non‐permissive cells contain the class I HDAC, HDAC3; super‐expression of HDAC3 in normally permissive cells reduces infection and MIEP activity. We further show that the MIEP associates with acetylated histones in permissive cells, and that in peripheral blood monocytes the MIEP associates with heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1), a chromosomal protein implicated in gene silencing. As monocytes are believed to be a site of viral latency in HCMV carriers and reactivated virus is only observed upon differentiation into macrophages, we propose that chromatin remodeling of the MIEP following cellular differentiation could potentially play a role in reactivation of latent HCMV.
Fetal Programming of the Neuroendocrine Response to Stress: Links Between Low Birth Weight and the Metabolic Syndrome

There is now substantial agreement that small size at birth is associated with increased rates of the metabolic syndrome (glucose intolerance, high blood pressure, and dyslipidaemia) and related pathologies including cardiovascular disease in adult life. Evidence is also emerging that suggests programming of hormonal systems in response to an adverse fetal environment may be one of the mechanisms underlying these long‐term consequences of early life events. In particular, alterations in the neuroendocrine response to stress may play an important part. Recent research suggests that increased adrenocortical and sympathoadrenal responses are associated with small size at birth. Evidence from epidemiological studies shows that subtle alterations in these neuroendocrine systems appear to exert a powerful influence on the levels of cardiovascular risk factors including plasma glucose and lipid concentrations and blood pressure.
Outcomes of TB/HIV co-infected patients presenting with antituberculosis drug-induced liver injury.

BACKGROUND South Africa has a significant burden of tuberculosis (TB). Anti-TB drug-induced liver injury (TB DILI) is one of the most serious adverse events that can arise from TB treatment (TBT). There are limited data on TB DILI among HIV-infected patients and those on antiretroviral therapy (ART). OBJECTIVE To describe characteristics of HIV-infected patients presenting with TB DILI and the proportion reintroduced on standard or modified TBT after DILI. METHODS This was a retrospective study of TB/HIV co-infected patients with DILI between 1 July 2009 and 30 September 2012. The primary focus of interest was HIV-infected patients with TB DILI on ART (ART/TB DILI) v. not on ART (TB DILI). RESULTS A total of 94 patients were included, 41 with TB DILI and 53 with ART/TB DILI. Compared with patients with TB DILI, patients with ART/TB DILI were more likely to present with symptomatic DILI (71.2% v. 51.2%; p=0.03) and had a lower median alanine aminotransferase level at diagnosis (89 IU/L v. 118 IU/L; p=0.008), a lower rate of ALT decline (-23 IU/L v. -76 IU/L; p=0.047) and longer duration of TBT at DILI diagnosis (53 days v. 11 days; p<0.001). In 71.8% of patients, standard TBT was reintroduced. More patients with ART/TB DILI than TB DILI required modified TBT (37.2% v.17.1%; p=0.05; crude odds ratio 2.17; 95% confidence interval 0.95 - 4.96). The rate of death/loss to follow-up was higher in the ART/TB DILI group (18.9% v. 14.5%). CONCLUSION A significant number of TB/HIV co-infected patients were not able to tolerate standard TBT. Furthermore, ART appears to complicate TBT, with relatively few patients reintroduced on standard TBT.
Interventions for the treatment and management of chronic fatigue syndrome: a systematic review.

CONTEXT A variety of interventions have been used in the treatment and management of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Currently, debate exists among health care professionals and patients about appropriate strategies for management. OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness of all interventions that have been evaluated for use in the treatment or management of CFS in adults or children. DATA SOURCES Nineteen specialist databases were searched from inception to either January or July 2000 for published or unpublished studies in any language. The search was updated through October 2000 using PubMed. Other sources included scanning citations, Internet searching, contacting experts, and online requests for articles. STUDY SELECTION Controlled trials (randomized or nonrandomized) that evaluated interventions in patients diagnosed as having CFS according to any criteria were included. Study inclusion was assessed independently by 2 reviewers. Of 350 studies initially identified, 44 met inclusion criteria, including 36 randomized controlled trials and 8 controlled trials. DATA EXTRACTION Data extraction was conducted by 1 reviewer and checked by a second. Validity assessment was carried out by 2 reviewers with disagreements resolved by consensus. A qualitative synthesis was carried out and studies were grouped according to type of intervention and outcomes assessed. DATA SYNTHESIS The number of participants included in each trial ranged from 12 to 326, with a total of 2801 participants included in the 44 trials combined. Across the studies, 38 different outcomes were evaluated using about 130 different scales or types of measurement. Studies were grouped into 6 different categories. In the behavioral category, graded exercise therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy showed positive results and also scored highly on the validity assessment. In the immunological category, both immunoglobulin and hydrocortisone showed some limited effects but, overall, the evidence was inconclusive. There was insufficient evidence about effectiveness in the other 4 categories (pharmacological, supplements, complementary/alternative, and other interventions). CONCLUSIONS Overall, the interventions demonstrated mixed results in terms of effectiveness. All conclusions about effectiveness should be considered together with the methodological inadequacies of the studies. Interventions which have shown promising results include cognitive behavioral therapy and graded exercise therapy. Further research into these and other treatments is required using standardized outcome measures.
Enhanced Deoxyribonucleic Acid Polymerase Activity in Human Embryonic Kidney Cultures Infected with Adenovirus 2 or 12

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) polymerase activity was induced at approximately 18 to 20 hr after infection of secondary cultures of human embryonic kidney cells with adenovirus type 2 or type 12, and, at 30 to 50 hr after infection, the activity of this enzyme increased two- to threefold. The activity of thymidine kinase was also induced, but the activity of deoxycytidylic deaminase was not. The DNA content per cell at 71 hr after infection was 1.6-fold greater in adenovirus 2-infected cultures, and approximately 2.4-fold greater in adenovirus 12-infected cultures, than in the noninfected cultures. Several properties of DNA polymerase were studied. The enzymes in normal and adenovirus 2- or 12-infected cell extracts were saturated by approximately the same concentration of heat-denatured salmon sperm DNA primer (160 μg/ml); the enzyme activities had a similar broad pH optimum between 7.5 and 9. Extracts prepared from cells infected by either adenovirus did not activate DNA polymerase from noninfected cells, nor did the noninfected cell extracts inhibit enzyme activity of infected cell extracts. DNA polymerase in both normal and adenovirus 2- or 12-infected cells was located predominantly in the nucleus. In each case, the cytoplasm had only 30% of the enzyme activity of the nucleus. At 40 hr after infection with adenovirus 2 or 12, the activities of the enzyme in the nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions increased two- to threefold. Puromycin, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, prevented DNA polymerase induction when added to cultures during the 18- to 30-hr postinfection period, and it arrested the additional increase in enzyme activity when added after enzyme induction began. However, the increases in both DNA polymerase and thymidine kinase activities took place after treatment of infected cultures with 1-β-d-arabinofuranosylcytosine, an inhibitor of DNA synthesis and adenovirus growth.
Generation of reporter hESCs by targeting EGFP at the CD144 locus to facilitate the endothelial differentiation

Reporter embryonic stem cell (ESC) lines with tissue‐specific reporter genes may contribute to optimizing the differentiation conditions in vitro as well as trafficking transplanted cells in vivo. To optimize and monitor endothelial cell (EC) differentiation specifically, here we targeted the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) reporter gene at the junction of 5′UTR and exon2 of the endothelial specific marker gene CD144 using TALENs in human ESCs (H9) to generate a EGFP‐CD144‐reporter ESC line. The reporter cells expressed EGFP and CD144 increasingly and specifically without unexpected effects during the EC differentiation. The EC differentiation protocol was optimized and applied to EC differentiation from hiPSCs, resulting in an efficient and simplified endothelial differentiation approach. Here we created our own optimized and robust protocol for EC differentiation of hESCs and hiPSCs by generating the lineage‐specific site‐specific integration reporter cell lines, showing great potential to be applied in the fields such as trafficking gene and cell fate in vivo in preclinical animal models.
Plant DNA barcoding: from gene to genome

DNA barcoding is currently a widely used and effective tool that enables rapid and accurate identification of plant species; however, none of the available loci work across all species. Because single‐locus DNA barcodes lack adequate variations in closely related taxa, recent barcoding studies have placed high emphasis on the use of whole‐chloroplast genome sequences which are now more readily available as a consequence of improving sequencing technologies. While chloroplast genome sequencing can already deliver a reliable barcode for accurate plant identification it is not yet resource‐effective and does not yet offer the speed of analysis provided by single‐locus barcodes to unspecialized laboratory facilities. Here, we review the development of candidate barcodes and discuss the feasibility of using the chloroplast genome as a super‐barcode. We advocate a new approach for DNA barcoding that, for selected groups of taxa, combines the best use of single‐locus barcodes and super‐barcodes for efficient plant identification. Specific barcodes might enhance our ability to distinguish closely related plants at the species and population levels.
Experience Report: On the Impact of Software Faults in the Privileged Virtual Machine

Cloud computing is revolutionizing how organizations treat computing resources. The privileged virtual machine is a key component in systems that use virtualization, but poses a dependability risk for several reasons. The activation of residual software faults that exist in every software project is a real threat and can impact the correct operation of the entire virtualized system. To study this question, we begin by performing a detailed analysis of the privileged virtual machine and its components, followed by software fault injection campaigns that target two of those important components &#x2013; toolstack and a device driver. The obstacles faced during this experimental phase and how they were overcome is herein described with practitioners in mind. The results show that software faults in those components can have either no impact or lead to drastic failures, showing that the privileged virtual machine is a single point of failure that must be protected (for 4-9% of the faults). Most of the failures are detectable by monitoring basic functionalities, but some faults caused inconsistent states that manifest later on. No silent data failures (SDF) have been observed, but the number of faults injected so far only allows to conclude that SDF are not very frequent.
Exploiting Interaction in Dynamic Graph Visualization

Dynamic networks are networks that can change over time. Their visualization plays an important role in helping users gain information and make discoveries in what is becoming more and more complex data. While approaches for static networks have been extensively researched, this happened for the unique challenges of dynamic networks to a lesser extent so far. In this thesis I provide an overview of the state-of-the-art of dynamic social networks and review some of the theoretical backgrounds involved. Further, I describe a software prototype based on the work done by Federico et al., implemented using the prefuse toolkit. The aim of the application is to present a set of features used in visualizing dynamic networks and enable others to evaluate these findings, using an existing evaluation framework. Example implementations for evaluating different kinds of user goals are shown. The prototype includes an interpolated layout with a stable mode and a consistent mode, that are useful for either preserving the mental map of the user or showing each time frame independently and with as few edge-crossings as possible. Further, users are able to highlight nodes and get context-sensitive information with each time frame for tracking groups and tracking the relationship of individual nodes.
Coronary artery imaging with single-source rapid kilovolt peak-switching dual-energy CT.

PURPOSE To evaluate beam-hardening (BH) artifact reduction in coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography with dual-energy CT, to define the optimal monochromatic-energy levels for coronary and myocardial signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in dual-energy CT, and to compare these levels with single-energy CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was approved by the institutional review board and/or ethics committee at each site. Patients provided informed consent. Thirty-nine patients were prospectively enrolled to undergo dual-energy CT, and 25 also underwent single-energy CT. Myocardial and coronary SNR, CNR, and iodine concentration were measured across multiple segments at varying monochromatic energy levels (40-140 keV). BH was defined as signal decrease in basal inferior wall versus midinferior wall, and signal increase in midseptum versus midinferior wall. Generalized estimating equation was used to identify optimal monochromatic-energy levels and compare them with single-energy CT. RESULTS BH was noted at single-energy CT with basal inferior wall mean reduction of 19.7 HU ± 29.2 (standard deviation) and midseptum increase of 46.3 HU ± 36.3. There was reduction in this artifact at 90 keV or greater (1.7 HU ± 18.4 in basal inferior wall and 20.1 HU ± 37.5 in midseptum at 90 keV; P < .05). SNR and CNR were higher in the myocardium and coronary arteries at 60-80 keV than single-energy CT (myocardium: SNR, 3.02 vs 2.39, and CNR, 6.73 vs 5.16; coronary arteries: SNR, 10.83 vs 7.75, and CNR, 13.31 vs 9.54; P < .01). Mean iodine concentration in resting myocardium was 2.19 mg/mL ± 0.57. CONCLUSION Rapid kilovolt peak-switching dual-energy CT resulted in significant BH reduction and improvements in SNR and CNR in the myocardium and coronary arteries.
Cultural intelligence and airline cabin crews members' anxiety: The mediating roles of intercultural communication competence and service attentiveness

ABSTRACT This study investigated the relationship between the level of cultural intelligence exhibited by the airline cabin crew members and the degree of anxiety they experienced when serving foreign passengers. Intercultural communication competence and service attentiveness were proposed as two competencies that mediated the linkage between cultural intelligence and lower cabin crew anxiety. Survey data were collected from 372 Thai airline cabin crew members who worked at a leading international airline in Thailand. The results from a partial least squares regression analysis supported that intercultural communication competence and service attentiveness mediated the linkage between cultural intelligence and lower cabin crew anxiety.