Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ovarian cancer antigen CA 125 levels in pelvic inflammatory disease and pregnancy

Circulating CA 125 levels were studied in patients with gynecologic cancer and pelvic inflammatory diseaseand in pregnant women. The CA 125 level was elevated (>;35 U/ml) in 69% (9/13) of patients with active ovarian cancerin 32% (7/22) of patients with active cervical or endometrial cancerin 24% (11/46) of pregnant womenand in 33% (10/30) of patients with acute pelvic inflammatory disease. Sixty‐three other patients with nonmalignant gynecologic disordersincluding 15 patients with ectopic pregnancyhad normal CA 125 levels. The occurrence of elevated CA 125 levels in patients with pelvic inflammatory disease can limit the use of the assay for diagnosis of cancer in young women. Gynecologic tumors may be associated with inflammatory reactions that may contribute to elevated CA 125 levels in some cancer patients.
Jordanian Public University Student Voter Participation in Parliamentary Elections

Many researchers have studied the association between Jordanian parliamentary elections participation and influential factors such as national origin, and tribe. Although scholars have identified the clear relationship between tribal heritage and voter decision making, such a distinction has not been studied amongst university students specifically. The purpose of this study is to identify and quantify the correlations between various factors of student life and the decision to participate in Jordanian parliamentary elections. Specifically, this research focuses on the potential influences of national origin, tribal affiliation, and current living environment (including school environment). Data was collected at six Jordanian public universities located in the southern, central, and northern regions of the country. Specifically, the researcher collected data through observation, professor and student interviews, and surveys. Throughout all aspects of the study, the researcher operates with the null hypothesis that there is no relation between various aspects of student personal and public life and the decision to vote. The research is conducted with the alternative hypothesis that there is a relation between personal and public factors and the university student’s decision to vote. Codes: Social Science, Political Science, Education
Type 2 Myotonic Dystrophy Can Be Predicted by the Combination of Type 2 Muscle Fiber Central Nucleation and Scattered Atrophy

The diagnosis of Type 2 myotonic dystrophy (DM2/proximal myotonic myopathy) is often overlooked because of a nonspecific clinical presentation and muscle biopsy findings of a "denervation-like" pattern of unknown specificity that combines increased fiber size variation, central nucleation, small angulated fibers, Type 2 fiber atrophy, and nuclear clumps. We determined the presence of these features in 104 patients designated as having an unidentified myopathy from a series of 2,100 muscle biopsies. Because CCUG expansions form pathogenic ribonuclear accumulations that can be detected by in situ hybridization, we validated and then used automated (CCUG)8 in situ hybridization as a reference standard to evaluate the value of each histologic feature for DM2 detection, identifying 8 DM2-positive and 96 DM2-negative cases. Multivariate analyses identified the combination of Type 2 fiber atrophy and central nucleation as the most predictive of DM2 (sensitivity, 1.0; specificity, 0.92). These features were mutually exclusive in non-DM2 patients (p < 0.0001). The relevance of this combination of features was confirmed in an additional independent series (15 DM2-positive vs 17 DM2-negative). Further investigation revealed that central nucleation selectively affects Type 2 fibers in DM2 and, conversely, that it affects Type 1 fibers in DM1 (p < 0.0001). These results will facilitate the routine detection of DM2 and further support the concept that DM2 has a distinct pathophysiology involving type 2 myofibers.
TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta2 expression after traumatic human spinal cord injury.

STUDY DESIGN Immunohistochemical investigation in control and lesioned human spinal cords. OBJECTIVES To assess the spatial and temporal expression patterns of transforming growth factor-beta1 and -beta2 (TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta2) in the human spinal cord after traumatic injury. SETTING Germany, Aachen, Aachen University Hospital. METHODS Sections from human spinal cords from 4 control patients and from 14 patients who died at different time points after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) were investigated immunohistochemically. RESULTS In control cases, TGF-beta1 was confined to occasional blood vessels, intravascular monocytes and some motoneurons, whereas TGF-beta2 was only found in intravascular monocytes. After traumatic SCI, TGF-beta1 immunoreactivity was dramatically upregulated by 2 days after injury (the earliest survival time investigated) and was detected within neurons, astrocytes and invading macrophages. The staining was most intense over the first weeks after injury but gradually declined by 1 year. TGF-beta2 immunoreactivity was first detected 24 days after injury. It was located in macrophages and astrocytes and remained elevated for up to 1 year. In white matter tracts undergoing Wallerian degeneration, there was no induction of either isoform. CONCLUSION The early induction of TGF-beta1 at the point of SCI suggests a role in the acute inflammatory response and formation of the glial scar, while the later induction of TGF-beta2 may indicate a role in the maintenance of the scar. Neither of these TGF-beta isoforms appears to contribute to the astrocytic scar formation in nerve fibre tracts undergoing Wallerian degeneration.
Severe restrictive lung disease in systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE We sought to identify risk factors for developing severe restrictive lung disease and to determine the time of onset and rate of progression in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS Using the University of Pittsburgh Scleroderma Databank, we grouped patients according to their lowest forced vital capacity (FVC) value: > 75% predicted, 50-75% predicted, and < 50% predicted. In patients with severe restrictive disease, we examined serial pulmonary function test (PFT) results to determine the rate of loss of lung volume over time. RESULTS Of 890 SSc patients, 60% (n = 531) never had an FVC < or = 75% predicted; 27% (n = 243) had moderate restrictive disease, with an FVC value of 50-75% predicted; and only 13% (n = 116) of the patients had severe restrictive disease, with FVC < or = 50% predicted. Black race, male sex, early disease, and primary cardiac involvement due to SSc were the features most frequently associated with severe restrictive lung disease (by multiple logistic regression). Fifty-five patients with severe restrictive lung disease had their first of at least 2 PFTs during the first 5 years after onset of any SSc (not pulmonary) symptoms. In 30 patients, the FVC declined by 32% per year in the first 2 years of illness, in 16 patients the annual loss was 12% in years 2-4 after disease onset, and in 9 patients annual loss was 3% during years 4-6 of disease (P < 0.005 by 1-way analysis of variance). CONCLUSION In SSc patients, black men with early disease who have cardiac involvement are the most likely to have factors associated with the development of severe restrictive lung disease (which is increasingly becoming a major cause of death). Disease subtype (diffuse versus limited cutaneous) and serum anti-topoisomerase I antibody do not differentiate between moderate and severe restrictive disease. Careful monitoring of pulmonary function early in the disease, when the greatest loss of lung function occurs, may help identify patients likely to respond to new therapy.
Pathways to 'fair carbon' : assessing fairness in standard-setting and carbon projects

‘Fairness’ is veiled with multiple and competing interpretations. Standard Setting Organisations, non-governmental organisations and carbon market actors have introduced fairness notions into the carbon market in an attempt to charter, standardise and communicate alternative approaches for carbon credits produced in smallholder and rural settings in the global South. Propositions that carbon credits can be ‘fair’ are contentious, warranting careful analysis. Using an action-oriented case study approach, I explore Fairtrade International’s attempts to collaboratively develop the Fairtrade Climate Standard and examine its relevance within carbon programmes in Kenya. Multi-sited ethnographic observations and interviews, in Kenya and within various forums for deliberating the standard, are combined with specific tools designed to open-up inputs and enhance reflection amongst contributors to the standard. A Q study reveals three empirical perspectives on fairness in carbon projects, held amongst stakeholders in the standard-setting process. These diverge regarding what would be fair for whom, and mechanisms for achieving it, and not all notions are incorporated into the standard. Critical analysis of the standard-setting process against the benchmark of Fairtrade International’s participatory governance approach illustrates process design features facilitating participatory collaboration and the limits to participatory governance in practice. I develop a heuristic to discuss how the most contentious topics were shaped by the initiators’ ambitions, shared and mutually incompatible interests amongst stakeholders, and dynamics of protectionism. Using a Theory of Change approach I unpack specific mechanisms believed to lead to fairer outcomes and explore associated assumptions and evidence-bases. Key Fairtrade concepts- ‘producers’, ‘organisations’, and transfer between external actors and Producer Organisations; are clouded by mixed evidence. This predicates future monitoring, evaluation and critical assessment of the standard once in operation. Finally I provide practical insights on doing collaborative action-oriented PhD research and make recommendations for researcher engagement in standard-setting processes and opportunities for enhancing deliberation and reflection.
Zinc inhibits cholera toxin-induced, but not Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin-induced, ion secretion in human enterocytes.

BACKGROUND Because zinc deficiency in malnourished children is associated with severe diarrhea, use of zinc supplementation has been proposed as an adjunct to oral rehydration. However, the effects of zinc on enterocyte ion transport are largely unknown. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of zinc on transepithelial ion transport under basal conditions and under conditions of enterotoxin-induced ion secretion. METHODS Ion transport was investigated by monitoring electrical parameters in human intestinal Caco-2 cells that were mounted in Ussing chambers and exposed to increasing concentrations of zinc, both in the absence and presence of either cholera toxin (CT) or Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin (ST). Intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) concentrations were also determined. RESULTS The addition of zinc to the luminal or basolateral side of enterocytes induced a chloride-dependent, dose-related decrease in short-circuit current, indicating ion absorption. It also resulted in a substantial reduction in CT-induced ion secretion and in cAMP concentration. E. coli ST-induced ion secretion and cGMP concentration were not affected. Ion absorption peaked at 35 mu mol/L zinc, whereas excess zinc load induced active ion secretion. CONCLUSIONS By causing a decrease in cAMP concentration, zinc directly promotes ion absorption and substantially reduces CT-induced, but not E. coli ST-induced, ion secretion.
The effect of pre‐treatment with transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation on the quality of recovery after ambulatory breast surgery: a prospective, randomised controlled trial

Electroacupuncture has been demonstrated to be effective at alleviating pain and postoperative side‐effects. Our aim was to investigate whether transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation, a low‐skill alternative to needle‐based electroacupuncture, could improve the quality of recovery after ambulatory surgery. Seventy‐two women scheduled for cosmetic breast surgery were randomly allocated to transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation or sham groups. Patients in the transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation group received 30 min of electrical stimulation at three acupoints located on the hand and forearm before the induction of general anaesthesia. We found significant mean (SD) differences between the transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation and sham groups in the mean (SD) length of recovery room stay (35.6 (12.9) min vs 48.3 (16.3) min, p = 0.01), time to removal of the laryngeal mask airway (10.2 (2.5) min vs 17.8 (4.4) min, p = 0.01), and time to reorientation of the patient (14.6 (3.2) min vs 26.5 (5.0) min, p = 0.01). Further, postoperative pain scores and the incidence of side‐effects were all lower in the transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation group. In conclusion, transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation can significantly improve the quality of recovery and decrease the incidence of anaesthesia‐related side‐effects for patients undergoing ambulatory surgery.
Guidelines for Conducting Positivist Case Study Research in Information Systems

The case study research approach is widely used in a number of different ways within the information systems community. This paper focuses on positivist, deductive case study research in information systems. It provides clear definitions of important concepts in positivist case study research and illustrates these with an example research study. A critical analysis of the conduct and outcomes of two recently published positivist case studies is reported. One is a multiple case study that validated concepts in a framework for viewpoint development in requirements definition. The other is a single case study that examined the role of social enablers in enterprise resource planning systems implementation. A number of guidelines for successfully undertaking positivist case study research are identified including developing a clear understanding of key concepts and assumptions within the positivist paradigm; providing clear and unambiguous definitions of the units and interactions when using any theory; carefully defining the boundary of the theory used in the case study; using hypotheses rather than propositions in the empirical testing of theory; using fuzzy or probabilistic propositions in recognising that reality can never be perfectly known; selecting case studies carefully, particularly single case studies; and recognising that generalisation from positivist, single case studies is inherently different from generalisation from single experiments. When properly undertaken, positivist, deductive case study research is a valuable research approach for information systems researchers, particularly when used within pluralist research programs that use a number of different research approaches from different paradigms.
Unemployment Dynamics in the United Kingdom: heterogeneity, duration dependence and business cycle effects.

This paper provides a complete picture of UK unemployment dynamics over the last two decades. For this purpose administrative data on individual unemployment related benefit claims is used covering about 368.000 claims of 116.000 men over the period 1982-1999. This unusually large dataset makes it possible to contribute significantly to the existing literature on unemployment dynamics by addressing the effects on the risk of leaving unemployment of individual heterogeneity, elapsed duration (i.e. duration dependence) and the macroeconomic situation (e.g. business cycle effects) in one single empirical framework. In doing so, no assumptions are made about the shape of the duration dependence and the distribution of unobserved heterogeneity. Furthermore, the empirical framework takes into account that the composition of the newly unemployed may vary over the business cycle, i.e. initial conditions are taken into account. Note that most of these issues have been addressed only separately in the micro-and macroeconomic studies and therefore this paper can be considered a bridge between the existing micro-and macroeconomic studies on unemployment dynamics. Only incomplete and preliminary results are available at the moment. These preliminary results point in the following directions: Genuine duration dependence is found. Heterogeneity is of major empirical importance and so is controlling for the macroeconomic situation. Failing to control (un) observed heterogeneity and for the macroeconomic situation will seriously affect the duration dependence pattern of the risk of leaving unemployment. I will quantify these effects and will make policy recommendations once the final results are available. Also simulations have to be carried out to get a better understanding of the empirical results.
A Low Profile, Ultra-Lightweight, High Efficient Circularly-Polarized Antenna Array for Ku Band Satellite Applications

A novel low-profile, ultra-lightweight, high-efficient circularly polarized (CP) planar patch antenna array is reported for Ku-band satellite TV reception applications. The basic radiating element of the antenna array is realized by a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2 \times 2$ </tex-math></inline-formula> corner-removed patch subarray. This <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2 \times 2$ </tex-math></inline-formula> patch subarray is center-fed by a rectangular coupling aperture etched on the top surface of a substrate-integrated-waveguide cavity. A novel compact sequential rotation feeding technique is adopted to broaden the operating bandwidth without occupying additional area. The <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2 \times 2$ </tex-math></inline-formula> CP subarray can be easily scaled up for large size antenna arrays due to its single layer feeding network and compact radiating elements. In addition, the patch radiators are printed on a thin layer of Polyimide film backed by a piece of supporting foam to minimize the entire weight. To verify the design concept, a 96-element (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$16 \times 6$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) CP patch array was fabricated and tested. Measured results show that the operating bandwidth is 700 MHz from 11.55 to 12.25 GHz. The gain is stable across the operating bandwidth with a realized peak gain of 26.4 dBic. The height of the antenna is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.05~\lambda _{0}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and the total weight is only 66.5 g. It serves as an excellent candidate for Ku-band satellite applications.
An Examination of the Causal Relationship between Budget Deficit and Inflation: a Case Study of Lao PDR

In this study we try to attempt investigating the dynamic relation between budget deficit and the inflation in the Lao PDR. Using annual data for the period 1980-2010, we apply ARDL cointegration method in conjunction with the structural VAR (SVAR) analysis to provide evidence for both the long and short run dynamics between the variables. We find that there is no long-run relation between the budget deficit and the inflation in Laos. In addition, we also find that there is Granger causality between the budget deficit and the inflation in Laos. The impulse response results in the SVAR model indicate that the budget deficit does not cause inflation but the inflation does cause the budget deficit.
Crime and Violence in Jamaica: IDB Series on Crime and Violence in the Caribbean

This report is part of an IDB technical note series on crime and violence in the Caribbean. The overall aim is to establish a baseline of the crime prevention arena against which progress can be assessed. The report compiles the available data from multiple sources in order to provide a diagnosis of the size, characteristics, and changing nature of the crime problem in Jamaica over the last 10 years. In addition, the report provides a survey of the various crime prevention and suppression policies, programmes, and projects adopted by government, private organizations, and non-governmental organizations in recent years. In performing the above-mentioned tasks, the report offers an assessment of the data collection, analysis, and crime response capabilities in Jamaica, and makes suggestions regarding the most effective way forward.
Genotype-phenotype correlations and clinical diagnostic criteria in Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome.

We report on a clinical-genetic study of 16 Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) patients. Hemizygosity of 4p16.3 was detected by conventional prometaphase chromosome analysis (11 patients) or by molecular probes on apparently normal chromosomes (4 patients). One patient had normal chromosomes without a detectable molecular deletion within the WHS "critical region. " In each deleted patient, the deletion was demonstrated to be terminal by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The proximal breakpoint of the rearrangement was established by prometaphase chromosome analysis in cases with a visible deletion. It was within the 4p16.1 band in six patients, apparently coincident with the distal half of this band in five patients. The extent of each of the four submicroscopic deletions was established by FISH analyses with a set of overlapping cosmid clones spanning the 4p16.3 region. We found ample variations in both the size of the deletions and the position of the respective breakpoints. The precise definition of the cytogenetic defect permitted an analysis of the genotype-phenotype correlations in WHS, leading to the proposal of a set of minimal diagnostic criteria, which in turn may facilitate the selection of critical patients in the search for the gene(s) responsible for this disorder. We observed that genotype-phenotype correlations in WHS mostly depend on the size of the deletion, a deletion of <3.5 Mb resulting in a mild phenotype, in which malformations are absent. The absence of a detectable molecular deletion is still consistent with a WHS diagnosis. Based on these observations a "minimal" WHS phenotype was inferred, the clinical manifestations of which are restricted to the typical facial appearance, mild mental and growth retardation, and congenital hypotonia.