Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Series of Case Studies of Tinnitus Suppression With Mixed Background Stimuli in a Cochlear Implant.

PURPOSE Background sounds provided by a wearable sound playback device were mixed with the acoustical input picked up by a cochlear implant speech processor in an attempt to suppress tinnitus. METHOD First, patients were allowed to listen to several sounds and to select up to 4 sounds that they thought might be effective. These stimuli were programmed to loop continuously in the wearable playback device. Second, subjects were instructed to use 1 background sound each day on the wearable device, and they sequenced the selected background sounds during a 28-day trial. Patients were instructed to go to a website at the end of each day and rate the loudness and annoyance of the tinnitus as well as the acceptability of the background sound. Patients completed the Tinnitus Primary Function Questionnaire (Tyler, Stocking, Secor, & Slattery, 2014) at the beginning of the trial. RESULTS Results indicated that background sounds were very effective at suppressing tinnitus. There was considerable variability in sounds preferred by the subjects. CONCLUSION The study shows that a background sound mixed with the microphone input can be effective for suppressing tinnitus during daily use of the sound processor in selected cochlear implant users.
Sex during genital bleeding and risks for HIV infection: preliminary study of sexually transmitted infection clinic patients in Cape Town, South Africa

Practicing sexual intercourse in the presence of blood is a potentially important factor in facilitating HIV transmission. In the current study 149 men and 78 women receiving diagnostic and treatment services for repeated sexually transmitted infections (STI) in Cape Town, South Africa, provided behavioural data on sexual exposure to blood. Results showed that 46% of women and 12% of men reported lifetime prevalence of engaging in sexual intercourse while their genitals were bleeding and 7% of women and 40% of men reported sexual intercourse with a partner whose genitals were bleeding; 27% of men and 22% of women had engaged in sexual intercourse with blood present within the previous month. Individuals who had engaged in sexual intercourse involving blood had significantly greater numbers of sex partners in the previous month, engaged in higher rates of unprotected vaginal intercourse and total anal intercourse occasions during that time period. Engaging in sex during genital bleeding was also related to greater lifetime prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and unexplained genital discharge. These findings add to the growing evidence that exposure to blood during vaginal intercourse may be prevalent and may be an important contributing factor to the rapid spread of HIV in Southern Africa.
Forms of address and language ideologies: The case of a southwestern Nigerian university

This paper examines the forms and functions of address terms employed among staff members and the language ideologies that inform the use of these address forms in a southwestern Nigerian university. The study is guided by Anchimbe’s (2011a) categorisation of address forms, and theories on language ideologies. The data are collected through participant-observation, oral and written interviews, and these are analysed qualitatively. The analysis reveals that forms of address used in the university include academic titles, official titles, kinship terms, social titles, nicknames, first names, surnames, and different combinations of these address forms. The address terms are derived from English, Yoruba, Nigerian Pidgin and other indigenous Nigerian languages. The address forms are informed by postmodernist and functionalist language ideologies which are influenced by cultural ideologies where interactants’ cultures play significant roles in the choice of address terms.
Splenic B cells act as antigen presenting cells for the induction of anterior chamber-associated immune deviation.

PURPOSE To characterize the role of B cells in the induction of anterior chamber-associated immune deviation (ACAID). METHODS An in vitro model of the ACAID spleen was used to recapitulate the events that occur when antigen is introduced into the anterior chamber of the eye and culminates in the appearance of antigen-specific, CD8(+) suppressor cells. RESULTS In vitro-generated suppressor cells mimicked those produced by anterior chamber injection of antigen, as shown by their antigen specificity, surface expression of CD8, and capacity to suppress DTH, which is mediated by previously immunized T cells. B cells were found to be necessary for suppressor cell development. The B cell receptor (BCR) was necessary for the induction of ACAID and conveyed antigen specificity to the suppressor T cells. Lysosomal acidification of internalized antigen was necessary for B cells to induce ACAID; however, transporter of antigen processing (TAP) was not required for the generation of ACAID. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that B cells use the BCR to capture and internalize antigen from ACAID-inducing macrophages. Lysosomal acidification of the captured antigen is essential for the processing of the ACAID antigen before TAP-independent presentation to suppressor cells.
A New Frequency-Adaptive Phase-Estimation Method Based on a New PLL Structure for Single-Phase Signals

Phase, frequency, and amplitude of single-phase voltages are the most important and basic information required for single-phase grid connected applications. This paper proposes a new method for estimating instantly and adaptively phase, frequency, and amplitude of frequency-varying single-phase signals for such applications, which is a new PLL method based on a new structure. The proposed method has the following attractive features: 1) the estimation system results in a nonlinear system, but it can be stabilized; 2) all subsystems constructing the system can be easily designed; 3) two-phase signal generator can tune a single system-parameter adaptively to varying frequency of the injected signal; 4) high order PLL-controllers allowing fast tracking can be stably used; 5) even in hostile envelopments, favorable instant estimates can be obtained. This paper proposes the estimation method, and verifies its usefulness by extensive numerical experiments.
A review of ethical issues in dementia

ABSTRACT Dementia raises many ethical issues. The present review, taking note of the fact that the stages of dementia raise distinct ethical issues, focuses on three issues associated with stages of dementia's progression: (1) how the emergence of preclinical and asymptomatic but at-risk categories for dementia creates complex questions about preventive measures, risk disclosure, and protection from stigma and discrimination; (2) how despite efforts at dementia prevention, important research continues to investigate ways to alleviate clinical dementia's symptoms, and requires additional human subjects protections to ethically enroll persons with dementia; and (3) how in spite of research and prevention efforts, persons continue to need to live with dementia. This review highlights two major themes. First is how expanding the boundaries of dementias such as Alzheimer's to include asymptomatic but at-risk persons generate new ethical questions. One promising way to address these questions is to take an integrated approach to dementia ethics, which can include incorporating ethics-related data collection into the design of a dementia research study itself. Second is the interdisciplinary nature of ethical questions related to dementia, from health policy questions about insurance coverage for long-term care to political questions about voting, driving, and other civic rights and privileges to economic questions about balancing an employer's right to a safe and productive workforce with an employee's rights to avoid discrimination on the basis of their dementia risk. The review highlights these themes and emerging ethical issues in dementia.
A graphical query language for mobile information systems

The advance of the mobile computing environment allows data to be accessed in any place at any time, but currently only simple and ad-hoc queries are supported. People are eager for mobile information systems with more functionality and powerful querying facilities. In this paper, a graphical query language called MoSQL is proposed to be the basis of general mobile information systems. It provides a uniform way for users to access alphanumerical data and to query current or future location information, based on an icon-based interface. The interface is particularly suitable for the mobile environment, since it is easily operated by clicking or dragging the mouse. An example and the underlying theoretical framework will be presented in this paper to demonstrate the functionality of MoSQL.
New Insights on Hedge Ratios in the Presence of Stochastic Transaction Costs

The objective of this research is to evaluate the influence on hedging decisions of a realistic set of transaction costs which are largely stochastic. The stochastic nature of some transaction costs (such as margin calls) means that their exact value is unknown when the hedge is placed, since they depend on the trajectory of futures prices during the hedge. Results are consistent with previous studies in that the introduction of transaction costs tend to affect hedge ratios. However, as opposed to the traditional literature, the introduction of stochastic costs in futures hedging can either decrease or increase hedge ratios depending on how these costs are determined.
Financial services spillover effects on informal economic activity: evidence from a panel of 20 European countries

ABSTRACT This study aims to investigate the spillover effects of the financial services sector development on the size of informal economic activity in the case of the European Union (EU) countries. The results from panel data analysis show that there exists an inverted U-shaped relationship between financial services and informal economic activity in the EU; that is, at the initial levels of the financial development, the reaction of informal economic activity is positive while it becomes negative at the further stages of the financial development in the EU. Thus, this study finds that financial services sector is a major contributor to changes in the volume of informal economic activity in the EU countries.
The Effect of Financing on Firm Innovation: Multiple Case Studies on Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises

ABSTRACT This article investigates the effects of financing on innovation through multiple case studies of Chinese manufacturers: M&G, Haier, SAIC Motor, and Sifang. Although financing enables firms to access more capital and nonfinancial resources that can fuel innovation in technology, management, cultural, and business models, it also forces firms to adhere to stricter disclosure requirements and some myopic incentives that may constrain innovation. We find a complex and dynamic relationship between financing and innovation. As for technology innovation, the quality of internal innovation declines after financing, and firms experience a drop in both the patent growth rate and the R&D/asset ratio. However, firms acquire external innovation with their additional money in hand, so the quantity of inventions increases. The impact of financing on management, cultural, and business model innovation is positive. Our analysis reveals that financing changes firm strategies in pursuing innovation.
Introduction to the special focus: Tourism forecasting – New trends and issues

Tourism forecasting is one of the longest standing areas in tourism economics research, with over half a century of history already. The development of tourism forecasting research responds and contributes to the industry practice. Accurate demand forecasts are the foundation of tourism-related business decisions on pricing and operation strategies, and for governments on infrastructure investment and tourism policymaking. In recent years, tourism forecasting has received more attention from industry practitioners. First, echoing the increasing numbers of international and domestic tourists, the tourism industry has continuously grown and become more dynamic. As a result, industry practitioners have hoped to understand the market and predict future trends more accurately and comprehensively. Second, in recent years, decision makers have realized the increasing importance of quantitative evidence and have become more likely to rely on or refer to it for their strategy and policy formulations. Finally, the development of big data based on Internet technology has made it possible for the industry to obtain more accurate forecasts. Data on online tourist behaviour can be traced and retrieved. With greater understanding of it, the industry can then use it to forecast future trends.
A Systematic Evaluation of Short Tandem Repeats in Lipid Candidate Genes: Riding on the SNP-Wave

Structural genetic variants as short tandem repeats (STRs) are not targeted in SNP-based association studies and thus, their possible association signals are missed. We systematically searched for STRs in gene regions known to contribute to total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels in two independent studies (KORA F4, n = 2553 and SAPHIR, n = 1648), resulting in 16 STRs that were finally evaluated. In a combined dataset of both studies, the sum of STR alleles was regressed on each phenotype, adjusted for age and sex. The association analyses were repeated for SNPs in a 200 kb region surrounding the respective STRs in the KORA F4 Study. Three STRs were significantly associated with total cholesterol (within LDLR, the APOA1/C3/A4/A5/BUD13 gene region and ABCG5/8), five with HDL cholesterol (3 within CETP, one in LPL and one inAPOA1/C3/A4/A5/BUD13), three with LDL cholesterol (LDLR, ABCG5/8 and CETP) and two with triglycerides (APOA1/C3/A4/A5/BUD13 and LPL). None of the investigated STRs, however, showed a significant association after adjusting for the lead or adjacent SNPs within that gene region. The evaluated STRs were found to be well tagged by the lead SNP within the respective gene regions. Therefore, the STRs reflect the association signals based on surrounding SNPs. In conclusion, none of the STRs contributed additionally to the SNP-based association signals identified in GWAS on lipid traits.
Analysis of Priority Retrial Queue With Many Types of Customers and Servers Reservation as a Model of Cognitive Radio System

Cognitive radio is emerging as one of the key information transmission technologies to enhance spectrum efficiency for dramatically increased wireless network capacity requested by end users. Dynamic spectrum access allows effective use of radio frequency and prevents its underutilization in many real-world networks. It enables unlicensed users to temporarily “borrow” unused spectrum while ensuring that the rights of the incumbent license holders are respected. Problems of optimization of joint access of primary and secondary users can be effectively solved by means of queueing theory. In this paper, the analysis of a novel queueing model suitable for the optimization of access is implemented under quite general assumptions about the system parameters. There are several types of primary customers having different requirements for the service time and preemptive priority over secondary customers. Secondary customers can share a server, while primary customers occupy the whole server. The arrival flow is described by the marked Markovian arrival process. The service time distribution is of phase-type. Effect of retrials of secondary customers is taken into account. An effective way for the analysis of multi-server queues with many types of customers and heterogeneous requirements to the service process is provided and applied.
Early versus delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy in treatment of acute cholecystitis.

BACKGROUND Acute cholecystitis is one of the most frequent diseases occurring in the developed countries of the world. Since the advent of laparoscopic cholecystectomy there has been a lack of agreement regarding the timing of the operation in the treatment of acute cholecystitis. METHODS From September 2012 to January 2015 we carried out a prospective randomized trial at the IIIrd Surgical Department of University Hospital Milosrdní bratia in Bratislava. The aim of the trial was to compare the two basic approaches of the treatment of acute cholecystitis. During our trial, 62 patients with acute cholecystitis were admitted to the surgery department and 31 patients were treated with an early laparoscopic cholecystectomy within 72 hours after the appearance of the symptoms. Other 31 patients were primarily treated with antibiotics and subsequently underwent a delayed cholecystectomy after 6-8 weeks. RESULTS Our results suggest several advantages of the early laparoscopic cholecystectomy such as shorter operation time, lower conversion rate, shorter length of hospital stay, shorter postoperative convalescence and lower cost of hospitalization. CONCLUSION According to these results we believe that immediate laparoscopic cholecystectomy (within 24 hours from the patient's admission to hospital) should become a preferred method of treatment of the patients with acute cholecystitis (Tab. 1, Fig. 2, Ref. 17).
Mayoral scalar strategies and the role of the central state after the financial crisis

ABSTRACT Much has been written about state rescaling, politics of scale and the rise of cities and regions in Europe. Little is known, however, about the impact of the financial crisis on these processes. By taking the view of city mayors, this paper presents a comprehensive and timely re-evaluation of central tenets of this literature in the turbulent aftermath of the financial crisis. The analysis shows the variegated pathways of state rescaling before and after the financial crisis, the multifaceted scalar strategies with which mayors have responded in different countries and cities, and the impact of such strategies on their perception of a centralisation towards the national state. The paper concludes by emphasising the continued dominance of the central state, whereas potentials for the rise of cities are rather to be sought at subnational than at European or global scales.
Circulating AMH reflects ovarian morphology by magnetic resonance imaging and 3D ultrasound in 121 healthy girls.

CONTEXT In adult women, Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is produced by small growing follicles, and circulating levels of AMH reflect the number of antral follicles as well as primordial follicles. Whether AMH reflects follicle numbers in healthy girls remains to be elucidated. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate whether serum levels of AMH reflects ovarian morphology in healthy girls. DESIGN AND SETTING This was a population-based cohort study involving the general community. PARTICIPANTS Included in the study were 121 healthy girls 9.8-14.7 years of age. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Clinical examination, including pubertal breast stage (Tanner's classification B1-5), ovarian volume, as well as the number and size of antral follicles were assessed by two independent modalities: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Ellipsoid volume, follicles ≥2 mm; and Transabdominal ultrasound, Ellipsoid and 3D volume, follicles ≥1 mm. Circulating levels of AMH, inhibin B, estradiol, FSH, and LH were assessed by immunoassays; T and androstenedione were assessed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. RESULTS AMH reflected the number of small (MRI 2-3 mm) and medium (4-6 mm) follicles (Pearson's Rho [r] = 0.531 and r = 0.512, P < .001) but not large follicles (≥7 mm) (r = 0.109, P = .323). In multiple regression analysis, small and medium follicles (MRI ≤ 6 mm) remained the main contributors to circulating AMH (β, 0.501; P < .001) whereas the correlation between AMH and estradiol was negative (β, -0.318; P = .005). In early puberty (B1-B3), the number of AMH-producing follicles (2-6 mm) correlated positively with pubertal stages (r = 0.453, P = .001), whereas AMH levels were unaffected (-0.183, P = .118). CONCLUSIONS Similarly to adult women, small and medium antral follicles (≤6 mm) were the main contributors to circulating levels of AMH in girls.
Isolation and Characterization of a Human STAT1Gene Regulatory Element

The transcription factor STAT1 plays a pivotal role in signal transduction of type I and II interferons (IFNs). STAT1 activation leads to changes in expression of key regulatory genes encoding caspases and cell cycle inhibitors. Deficient STAT1 expression in human cancer cells and virally mediated inhibition of STAT1 function have been associated with cellular resistance to IFNs and mycobacterial infection in humans. Thus, given the relative importance of STAT1, we isolated and characterized a human STAT1 intronic enhancer region displaying IFN-regulated activity. Functional analyses by transient expression identified a repressor region and type I and II IFN-inducible elements within the STAT1 enhancer sequence. A candidate IRF-E/GAS/IRF-E (IGI) sequence containing GAAANN nucleotide repeats was shown by gel shift assay to bind to IFN regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1), but not to IFN-stimulated gene factor-3 (ISGF-3) or STAT1–3. An additional larger IGI-binding complex containing IRF-1 was identified. Mutation of the GAAANN repeats within the IGI DNA element eliminated IRF-1 binding and the IFN-regulated activity of the STAT1 intronic enhancer region. Transfection of the IFN-resistant MM96 cell line to express increased levels of IRF-1 protein also elevated STAT1, STAT2, and p48/IRF-9 expression and enhanced cellular responsiveness to IFN-β. Reciprocating regulation between IRF-1 andSTAT1 genes and encoded proteins indicates that an intracellular amplifier circuit exists controlling cellular responsiveness to the IFNs.
Germ‐line transformation of the South American malaria vector, Anopheles albimanus, with a piggyBac/EGFP transposon vector is routine and highly efficient

Stable and efficient germ‐line transformation was achieved in the South American malaria vector, Anopheles albimanus, using a piggyBac vector marked with an enhanced green fluorescent protein gene regulated by the Drosophila melanogaster polyubiquitin promoter. Transgenic mosquitoes were identified from four independent experiments at frequencies ranging from 20 to 43% per fertile G0. Fluorescence was observable throughout the body of larvae and pupae, and abdominal segments of adults. Transgenic lines analysed by Southern hybridization had one to six germ‐line integrations, with most lines having three or more integrations. Hybridized transposon vector fragments and insertion site sequences were consistent with precise piggyBac‐mediated integrations, although this was not verified for all lines. The piggyBac/PUbnlsEGFP vector appears to be a robust transformation system for this anopheline species, in contrast to the use of a piggyBac vector in An. gambiae. Further tests are needed to determine if differences in anopheline transformation efficiency are due to the marker systems or to organismal or cellular factors specific to the species.