Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Qualitative Comparative Approach to the Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Africa

The last two decades has witnessed an unprecedented number of countries adopting international financial reporting standards (IFRS). Studies on the reasons for their popularity and adoption by countries have leaned towards statistical approaches, which may or may not necessarily be conclusive in explaining the cross-sectional variations in the reasons countries adopt the standards especially from developing countries. Common to this inconclusive literature so far is the monocausal rationale underlying conditions (pathways) leading to the adoption of IFRS. To reconcile these conclusions this article employs Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) methodology to study the adoption/non-adoption of IFRS by African countries. In contrast to work predicated on assumptions of causal homogeneity and causal competition on policy adoption, the results of the study reveals that multiple combinations of conditions lead to adoption/non-adoption of IFRS in Africa. This article contributes to the literature by suggesting greater leverage than current empirical studies in discerning the incentives facilitating or hindering African countries with regard to IFRS adoption/non-adoption.
Risk factors for binge eating disorder: a community-based, case-control study.

BACKGROUND Many risk factors have been implicated for eating disorders, although little is known about those for binge eating disorder. METHODS A community-based, case-control design was used to compare 52 women with binge eating disorder, 104 without an eating disorder, 102 with other psychiatric disorders, and 102 with bulimia nervosa. RESULTS The main risk factors identified from the comparison of subjects with binge eating disorder with healthy control subjects were certain adverse childhood experiences, parental depression, vulnerability to obesity, and repeated exposure to negative comments about shape, weight, and eating. Compared with the subjects with other psychiatric disorders, those with binge eating disorder reported more childhood obesity and more exposure to negative comments about shape, weight, and eating. Certain childhood traits and pronounced vulnerability to obesity distinguished the subjects with bulimia nervosa from those with binge eating disorder. CONCLUSIONS Binge eating disorder appears to be associated with exposure to risk factors for psychiatric disorder and for obesity. When compared with the wide range of risk factors for bulimia nervosa, the risk factors for binge eating disorder are weaker and more circumscribed. Pre-morbid perfectionism, negative self-evaluation, and vulnerability to obesity appear especially to characterize those in whom bulimia nervosa subsequently develops.
Maximizing Capture Efficiency and Specificity of Magnetic Separation for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis Cells

ABSTRACT In order to introduce specificity for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis prior to a phage amplification assay, various magnetic-separation approaches, involving either antibodies or peptides, were evaluated in terms of the efficiency of capture (expressed as a percentage) of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis cells and the percentage of nonspecific binding by other Mycobacterium spp. A 50:50 mixture of MyOne Tosylactivated Dynabeads coated with the chemically synthesized M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis-specific peptides biotinylated aMp3 and biotinylated aMptD (i.e., peptide-mediated magnetic separation [PMS]) proved to be the best magnetic-separation approach for achieving 85 to 100% capture of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis and minimal (<1%) nonspecific recovery of other Mycobacterium spp. (particularly if beads were blocked with 1% skim milk before use) from broth samples containing 103 to 104 CFU/ml. When PMS was coupled with a recently optimized phage amplification assay and used to detect M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis in 50-ml volumes of spiked milk, the mean 50% limit of detection (LOD50) was 14.4 PFU/50 ml of milk (equivalent to 0.3 PFU/ml). This PMS-phage assay represents a novel, rapid method for the detection and enumeration of viable M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis organisms in milk, and potentially other sample matrices, with results available within 48 h.
Venous Thromboembolism Risk and Thromboprophylaxis Among Hospitalized Patients

Objectives: To evaluate venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk and use of thromboprophylaxis in the acute care hospital setting. Methods: A total of 1701 patients hospitalized for acute or exacerbated chronic medical illnesses or elective major surgery at 11 different hospitals across Turkey were included in the study. Patients at risk and VTE prophylaxis application were retrospectively identified based on medical charts. Results: According to the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) criteria, overall 35.6% (606 of 1701) of the patients were identified to be at VTE risk. Venous thromboembolism-risk was observed in 64.9% of surgical and 23.8% of medical patients, the latter being lower than global Epidemiologic International Day for the Evaluation of Patients at Risk for Venous Thromboembolism in the Acute Hospital Care Setting (ENDORSE) study results; while prophylaxis was prescribed in 39.0% and 38.5% of them, respectively. Contraindication to anticoagulant prophylaxis was observed in 8.7% of medical and 8.8% of surgical patients. Conclusions: VTE remains a risk factor among patients hospitalized across Turkey, since identification as well as prophylaxis of patients at VTE risk seems to be neglected.
Suppression of 14-3-3ζ in cholangiocarcinoma cells inhibits proliferation through attenuated Akt activity, enhancing chemosensitivity to gemcitabine

The protein 14-3-3ζ contributes important regulatory functions in several cellular processes via binding to phosphorylated serine/threonine residues, which promotes cell cycle progression, cell proliferation and anti-apoptosis in multiple types of cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the functions of 14-3-3ζ in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) progression and elucidate the molecular mechanism of 14-3-3ζ expression-mediated protein kinase B (Akt) phosphorylation and chemosensitivity in CCA cells. In the present study, 14-3-3ζ expression was investigated in clinical specimens using immunohistochemistry and compared with the clinicopathological features of patients with CCA. The association between 14-3-3ζ and phosphorylated Akt (pAkt) was determined among the tissues of the same patients using bivariate correlation analysis. The effects of 14-3-3ζ suppression on CCA cell function and gemcitabine sensitivity were investigated using small interfering RNA (siRNA). It was identified that 14-3-3ζ expression was positively correlated with pAkt (P=0.013) and that increased expression of 14-3-3ζ and pAkt were significantly associated with poor overall survival rate and metastasis (P=0.025 and 0.006, respectively). Downregulation of 14-3-3ζ using siRNA in CCA cell lines decreased cell proliferation, resulting in the inhibition of pAkt activity and increasing the protein level of the cell cycle inhibitor p27. The suppression of 14-3-3ζ enhanced the inhibitory effect of gemcitabine on CCA cell proliferation by inducing apoptotic cell death. Taken together, the results of the present study indicated that 14-3-3ζ is a potential target for CCA and may serve as a novel therapeutic approach to enhance chemosensitivity in the treatment of CCA.
Aspirin and risk of hemorrhagic stroke: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

CONTEXT Aspirin has been widely used to prevent myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke but some studies have suggested it increases risk of hemorrhagic stroke. OBJECTIVE To estimate the risk of hemorrhagic stroke associated with aspirin treatment. DATA SOURCES Studies were retrieved using MEDLINE (search terms, aspirin, cerebrovascular disorders, and stroke), bibliographies of the articles retrieved, and the authors' reference files. STUDY SELECTION All trials published in English-language journals before July 1997 in which participants were randomized to aspirin or a control treatment for at least 1 month and in which the incidence of stroke subtype was reported. DATA EXTRACTION Information on country of origin, sample size, duration, study design, aspirin dosage, participant characteristics, and outcomes was abstracted independently by 2 authors who used a standardized protocol. DATA SYNTHESIS Data from 16 trials with 55462 participants and 108 hemorrhagic stroke cases were analyzed. The mean dosage of aspirin was 273 mg/d and mean duration of treatment was 37 months. Aspirin use was associated with an absolute risk reduction in myocardial infarction of 137 events per 10000 persons (95% confidence interval [CI], 107-167; P<.001) and in ischemic stroke, a reduction of 39 events per 10000 persons (95% CI, 17-61; P<.001). However, aspirin treatment was also associated with an absolute risk increase in hemorrhagic stroke of 12 events per 10000 persons (95% CI, 5-20; P<.001). This risk did not differ by participant or study design characteristics. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that aspirin therapy increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. However, the overall benefit of aspirin use on myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke may outweigh its adverse effects on risk of hemorrhagic stroke in most populations.
Feed-drug interaction of orally applied butyrate and phenobarbital on hepatic cytochrome P450 activity in chickens.

The expression of hepatic drug-metabolizing cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes may be affected by several nutrition-derived compounds, such as by the commonly applied feed additive butyrate, possibly leading to feed-drug interactions. The aim of this study was to provide some evidence if butyrate can alter the activity of hepatic CYPs in chickens exposed to CYP-inducing xenobiotics, monitoring for the first time the possibility of such interaction. Ross 308 chickens in the grower phase were treated with daily intracoelomal phenobarbital (PB) injection (80 mg/kg BW), applied as a non-specific CYP-inducer, simultaneously with two different doses of intra-ingluvial sodium butyrate boluses (0.25 and 1.25 g/kg BW) for 5 days. Activity of CYP2H and CYP3A subfamilies was assessed by specific enzyme assays from isolated liver microsomes. According to our results, the lower dose of orally administered butyrate significantly attenuated the PB-triggered elevation of both hepatic CYP2H and CYP3A activities, which might be in association with the partly common signalling pathways of butyrate and CYP-inducing drugs, such as that of PB. Based on these data, butyrate may take part in pharmacoepigenetic interactions with simultaneously applied drugs or other CYP-inducing xenobiotics, with possible consequences for food safety and pharmacotherapy. Butyrate was found to be capable to maintain physiological CYP activity by attenuating CYP induction, underlining the safety of butyrate application in poultry nutrition.
Network-based mimicry anomaly detection using divergence measures

To evade detection by network-based anomaly detectors, sophisticated attackers are trying to make their malicious traffic resemble legitimate traffic by running attacks through ports used on a daily basis (e.g., port 80 for HTTP). This mimicry traffic is potentially neglected by detectors. In this paper, we propose a Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence-based method for detecting anomalous traffic mimicking legitimate traffic. Our method firstly observes the port pair distribution of traffic flows, which is a novel statistical traffic feature proposed in this work. Secondly, our method computes the KL divergence between the port pair distributions of the current and previous time intervals. Our method starts to find anomalous flows when the KL divergence deviates from a specified threshold. We tested the performance of our method with traffic which was mixed by four synthetic mimicry anomalies and real-world backbone traffic. The results indicated that our method could precisely detect all synthetic anomalies. Furthermore, our method additionally revealed six real-world anomalies that were hidden in the testing backbone traffic.
Amino acid modified Ni catalyst exhibits reversible H2 oxidation/production over a broad pH range at elevated temperatures

Significance Enzymes achieve rapid and reversible H2 oxidation catalysis by cooperative behavior between the active site and the protein scaffold. To better understand the role of the enzyme scaffold, we have attached amino acids (glycine, arginine, and arginine methyl ester) to an active functional mimic of hydrogenase to give [Ni(P2CyN2Amino acid)2]2+. The resulting complexes are fully reversible catalysts with the arginine complex exhibiting high activity for both H2 oxidation/production, functionality achieved by the addition of an outer coordination sphere. Hydrogenases interconvert H2 and protons at high rates and with high energy efficiencies, providing inspiration for the development of molecular catalysts. Studies designed to determine how the protein scaffold can influence a catalytically active site have led to the synthesis of amino acid derivatives of [Ni(P2RN2R′)2]2+ complexes, [Ni(P2CyN2Amino acid)2]2+ (CyAA). It is shown that these CyAA derivatives can catalyze fully reversible H2 production/oxidation at rates approaching those of hydrogenase enzymes. The reversibility is achieved in acidic aqueous solutions (pH = 0–6), 1 atm 25% H2/Ar, and elevated temperatures (tested from 298 to 348 K) for the glycine (CyGly), arginine (CyArg), and arginine methyl ester (CyArgOMe) derivatives. As expected for a reversible process, the catalytic activity is dependent upon H2 and proton concentrations. CyArg is significantly faster in both directions (∼300 s−1 H2 production and 20 s−1 H2 oxidation; pH = 1, 348 K, 1 atm 25% H2/Ar) than the other two derivatives. The slower turnover frequencies for CyArgOMe (35 s−1 production and 7 s−1 oxidation under the same conditions) compared with CyArg suggests an important role for the COOH group during catalysis. That CyArg is faster than CyGly (3 s−1 production and 4 s−1 oxidation) suggests that the additional structural features imparted by the guanidinium groups facilitate fast and reversible H2 addition/release. These observations demonstrate that outer coordination sphere amino acids work in synergy with the active site and can play an important role for synthetic molecular electrocatalysts, as has been observed for the protein scaffold of redox active enzymes.
The Therapeutic Aspects of the Endocannabinoid System (ECS) for Cancer and their Development: From Nature to Laboratory

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a group of neuromodulatory lipids and their receptors, which are widely distributed in mammalian tissues. ECS regulates various cardiovascular, nervous, and immune system functions inside cells. In recent years, there has been a growing body of evidence for the use of synthetic and natural cannabinoids as potential anticancer agents. For instance, the CB1 and CB2 receptors are assumed to play an important role inside the endocannabinoid system. These receptors are abundantly expressed in the brain and fatty tissue of the human body. Despite recent developments in molecular biology, there is still a lack of knowledge about the distribution of CB1 and CB2 receptors in the human kidney and their role in kidney cancer. To address this gap, we explore and demonstrate the role of the endocannabinoid system in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In this brief overview, we elucidate the therapeutic aspects of the endocannabinoid system for various cancers and explain how this system can be used for treating kidney cancer. Overall, this review provides new insights into cannabinoids’ mechanisms of action in both in vivo and in vitro models, and focuses on recent discoveries in the field.
Do trend following strategies work in Chinese futures markets

We examine the performance of trend following strategies in Chinese commodity futures markets. We provide evidence that trend following-based technical trading rules yield better performance than the buy and hold strategy on both individual contracts and sorted portfolios. The outperformance is robust to transaction costs, data frequency, sub-prime crisis, shorting constraint, delayed execution, liquidity and parameters. Finally, the profitability of the trend following strategy may be subject to data snooping bias.
The Outsourcing Dilemma on Decision to Outsource Among Small and Medium Enterprises in Malaysia

Making a decision on outsourcing has posed many difficulties among many organizations, particularly the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The outsourcing dilemma surrounds the issue on the factors that influence the outsourcing decisions. Therefore, this study attempts to examine what factors may influence the decision of the SME owners to outsource their business processes. A data sample of 100 SMEs was analyzed to examine the relationship between the factors (business owners’ characteristics, environmental dynamism and strategic orientation) and the decision to outsource more of their business processes which is measured through degree of outsourcing of the respondents. The analysis was then conducted via partial least squares. The results showed several interesting findings: (i) business owners’ characteristics encouraged SME founders/owners to outsource more of their business processes, (ii) environmental dynamism has a negative significant impact on the degree of outsourcing and (iii) the relationship between strategic orientation and outsourcing was not supported. Rational explanations of the unexpected findings were then discussed in this study.
Angiopoietin‐2 plays an important role in retinal angiogenesis

Angiopoietin 2 (Ang2) expression in the retina is increased during physiologic and pathologic neovascularization suggesting that it may be involved. In this study, we used Ang2‐deficient mice to test that hypothesis. Mice deficient in Ang2 showed delayed and incomplete development of the superficial vascular bed of the retina, which develops primarily by vasculogenesis, and complete absence of the intermediate and deep vascular beds which develop by angiogenesis. In addition to incomplete retinal vascular development, Ang2‐deficient mice showed lack of regression of the hyaloid vasculature, resulting in a phenotype that mimics infants with persistent fetal vasculature (PFV), a relatively common congenital abnormality. Exposure to high levels of oxygen resulted in partial regression of the retinal vessels, indicating that oxygen‐induced regression of retinal vessels does not require Ang2. When these oxygen‐exposed mice with few retinal vessels were moved to room air, there was no ischemia‐induced retinal neovascularization. These data support the hypothesis that Ang2 plays a critical role in physiologic and pathologic angiogenesis, and physiologic, but not oxygen‐induced vascular regression. The data also suggest that infants with PFV should be examined for genetic modifications that would be expected to cause perturbations in Tie2 signaling. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Inhibition of actin polymerization enhances commitment to and execution of apoptosis induced by withdrawal of trophic support

We have previously shown, using jasplakinolide, that stabilization of the actin cytoskeleton enhanced apoptosis induced upon cytokine withdrawal (Posey and Bierer [1999] J. Biol. Chem. 274:4259–4265). It remained possible, however, that a disruption in the regulation of actin dynamics, and not simply F‐actin stabilization, was required to affect the transduction of an apoptotic signal. We have now tested the effects of cytochalasin D, a well‐characterized agent that promoted actin depolymerization. Actin depolymerization did not affect CD95 (Fas)‐induced death of Jurkat T cells in the time course studied but did enhance the commitment to cytokine withdrawal‐induced apoptosis of factor‐dependent cell lines. The induction of cell death was not the result of direct cytoskeletal collapse, since treatment of the cells with cytochalasin D in the presence of IL‐2 did not promote death. As with jasplakinolide, the enhancement of commitment to apoptosis could be delayed by overexpression of the anti‐apoptotic protein Bcl‐xL, but, unlike jasplakinolide, cytochalasin D modestly affected the “execution” stage of apoptosis as well. Taken together, these results suggest that changes in actin dynamics, i.e., the rate of actin polymerization and depolymerization, modulate the transduction of the apoptotic signal committing lymphocytes, withdrawn from required growth factors, to the death pathway. J. Cell. Biochem. 88: 1066–1076, 2003. Published 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Exploring the African Immigrant Entrepreneurship - Job Creation Nexus: A South African Case Study

Generally, the role and importance of African immigrant entrepreneurship had been rarely elaborated with perspectives to its contribution to job creation. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to assess the contributions made by African immigrant entrepreneurs’ towards employment creation in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Pragmatic paradigm was adopted and mixed methods research design was selected. Data obtained for 165 entrepreneurs through questionnaire and semi-structured interviews formed the basis for the analysis. Descriptive and content analyses were used to analyse data. The results of the study revealed that immigrant small, medium and enterprises contribute towards employment creation, and where the majority employed is locals. Adaptive immigration policy thus requires a holistic appreciation of the African immigrants’ contributions to the economy which stimulate economic growth and new business opportunities. The research contributes to the sparse knowledge on immigrant entrepreneurship in an emerging economy setting. It provides empirical support for the theoretical relationship between African immigrant entrepreneurship and host country’s economic growth.
Maintaining Goal Blood Pressures After Switching From Olmesartan to Other Angiotensin Receptor Blockers

This study assessed blood pressure (BP) goal maintenance in patients controlled with olmesartan monotherapy after switching to another angiotensin type II receptor blocker (ARB). Hypertensive patients prescribed olmesartan monotherapy were identified from GE Healthcare's Centricity electronic medical record between 2007 and 2011. After documentation of BP goal (<140/90 mm Hg) attainment, patients were placed into the continuation cohort if olmesartan monotherapy was maintained or into the switch cohort if they were changed to irbesartan, losartan, or valsartan. Follow‐up assessments were the first BP measurement 28 to 390 days after attaining BP goal (continuation cohort) or after prescribing an alternative ARB (switch cohort). Of 3412 patients included (3027 continuation cohort, 385 switch cohort), 52% were women and mean age was 58.0 years. In the switch cohort, 310 (80.5%) were switched to losartan (n=236), irbesartan (n=58), or valsartan (n=16) monotherapy and 75 (19.5%) were switched to combination antihypertensive therapy. Mean baseline and follow‐up BP were 122.5/75.8 mm Hg and 126.6/77.6 mm Hg, respectively, in the continuation cohort (P<.001) and 123.5/75.4 mm Hg and 129.6/78.5 mm Hg, respectively, in the switch cohort (P<.001). BP goal maintenance was 78.7% and 72.2% in the continuation and switch cohort, respectively (odds ratio, 0.707; 95% confidence interval, 0.555–0.899). Patients who continued on olmesartan monotherapy after attaining BP goal had a higher percentage of BP goal maintenance than patients who switched therapy.