Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Big Five Personality Traits and Attitudes towards Immigrants

Recent research suggests that the Big Five personality traits are important determinants of a wide range of political and social attitudes. In spite of this, the impact of personality traits on attitudes towards immigrants has been unattended in sociological research. On the basis of insights from personality psychology, we extend the sociological approach to immigrant-specific prejudice by analysing the effects of personality using a large and nationally representative sample of the Dutch population. Moreover, we consider personality jointly with situational predictors of attitudes towards immigrants. The results confirm that some personality traits are associated with attitudes towards immigrants, beyond the effect of socio-economic, attitudinal and contact predictors. We conclude that combining insights from sociology and personality psychology in the study of dispositional and situational determinants of attitudes towards immigration is a fruitful avenue for research.
Study of peritoneal elastic lamina invasion and extramural venous invasion in stage 2 colorectal carcinoma

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The present study is aimed at evaluating the peritoneal elastic lamina invasion and extramural venous invasion using elastic stain in colorectal cancers and to identify its significance in staging. METHODS: In this study paraffin blocks from 50 colonic carcinoma specimens were stained with H and E stain and Elastic stain. These includes 44 T3 cases and 6 T4 cases. Identification and intactness of elastic lamina was studied in all the cases and recorded. RESULTS: Out of 50 cases studied, 30 cases were identified to have elastic lamina with elastic stain. Among the cases which were staged as T3, 3 cases were found to have peritoneal invasion. Peritoneal invasion was confirmed in all the T4 cases. Venous invasion was found in 3 cases in addition to the 4 cases identified by H and E stain. CONCLUSION: To conclude, elastic stain can be used regularly as surrogate marker to assess peritoneal invasion and lymphovascular invasion for proper staging and better treatment.
DMSO_A_205568 1743..1749

Mahmud Mahamid Tawfik Khoury Baker Mahamid Wisam Sbeit Amir Mari Wiliam Nseir 1Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit, Nazareth Hospital EMMS, Nazareth, Israel; 2Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel; 3Department of Gastroenterology, Galilee Medical Center, Nahariya, Israel; 4Internal Medicine Department, Nazareth Hospital EMMS, Nazareth, Israel Background: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and fatty liver disease are both associated with the metabolic syndrome (MS); the aim of this study was to investigate whether patients with AAA are also at a higher risk for fatty liver disease. Methods: A case-control retrospective study. Patients diagnosed with AAA were compared with ageand sex-matched controls regarding the prevalence of fatty liver disease. Extracted data include anthropometric parameters, clinical and laboratory data, and liver imaging. Results: 995 patients were enrolled in the final analysis, 495 patients with AAA and 500 ageand sex-matched controls. The prevalence of fatty liver disease among AAA subjects was 48.9% compared with 21.2% among the controls (P<0.005). After adjusting for age, smoking, body mass index, and MS components, the logistic regression analysis indicates that AAA (men: OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.17, 1.49, P=0.001; women: OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.06, 1.43, P=0.002), obesity (men: OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.17, 1.59, P<0.001; women: OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.07, 1.52, P=0.012), hypertension (men: OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.13, 1.46, P=0.001; women: OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.00, 1.33, P=0.045), MS (men: OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.19, 1.53, P=0.001; women: OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.16, 1.42, P=0.002) were associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NAFLD/NASH). The prevalence of liver cirrhosis was 1.23%; subjects with obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and AAA had increased risk for cirrhosis (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.18, 3.22, P=0.014; OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.09, 2.72, P=0.0027; OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.29, 3.42, P=0.004; OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.08, 2.87, P=0.027, respectively). Conclusion: AAA patients are at increased risk for NAFLD/NASH, may predict advance liver disease and liver cirrhosis.
Translational Genomics for Crop Breeding, Volume II: Abiotic Stress, Yield and Quality Translational Genomics for Crop Breeding, Volume II: Abiotic Stress, Yield and Quality

In the context of global climate change and population explosion, feeding the world’s population and addressing the issues of malnutrition, especially in developing countries, are daunting tasks before the global scientific community. The yield gains achieved through conventional breeding are not very promising, as several abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, cold, flooding, submergence, and mineral toxicity have been leading to significant yield losses and reducing the quality of produce. In recent years, advances in genomics research and next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have largely facilitated understanding and identifying gene networks that are involved in controlling genetic variation for agronomically valuable traits in elite breeding populations. The availability of genome-sequence information, transcriptomic resources, molecular markers, and genetic maps for major crops such as rice, maize, and sorghum have enabled adoption of genomics-assisted breeding (GAB) approaches, including marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC) and marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS). Nevertheless, during the last decade significant genomic resources were also developed in less-studied crops and efforts are underway in deploying these genomic tools in breeding. Furthermore, the new bioinformatics approaches and decision-support tools developed are able to enhance the precision in selection and complement the success of GAB approaches. This volume essentially focuses on the research on abiotic stress tolerance and the quality enhancement of agricultural produce. Further, this introductory chapter summarizes the key success stories and lessons learned in the field of genomics tools for crop improvement. In addition, this chapter also emphasizes the essence of deploying genome-wide association mapping and nested association mapping (NAM), as well as genomic selection (GS) approaches for crop improvements, in the context of the availability of a plethora of low-cost and high-throughput sequencing technologies. Translational Genomics for Crop Breeding, Volume II: Abiotic Stress, Yield and Quality. Edited by Rajeev K. Varshney and Roberto Tuberosa. C © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Empirical Analysis on the Influence of Interest Rates on Foreign Direct Investment in Sierra Leone

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been renowned over the years as a key engine that ignite economic growth in developing countries by promoting the host country’s economic growth indicators like market development, labour training, financial inflow, technology transfer and skills. It can impact the host economy through a variety of channels such as principally adding to the resources available for investment and capital formation, innovative capacity and organizational and managerial practices.
DDDT_A_224442 4035..4051

Tarek A Ahmed 1,2 Mohammed A Mussari Seham El-Sayed Abdel-Hady Khalid M El-Say 1,2 1Department Of Pharmaceutics, Faculty Of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 2Department Of Pharmaceutics And Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty Of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11651, Egypt Background: Injectable in situ gel (ISG) systems suffer from high initial drug release that may result in toxic effects. Objective: This work aimed to develop an injectable sustained release rosuvastatin (RSV) ISG formulation with minimum initial drug burst and improved hyperlipidemic efficacy. Methods: Six formulation factors that affect RSV release after 0.5, 2 and 24 hrs have been screened and the significant ones were optimized utilizing an experimental design tool. The optimum ISG formulation components were physicochemically characterized. Kinetic treatment, dissolution efficiency and mean dissolution time were investigated for the developed ISG formulations. Pharmacodynamic effects of the optimized ISG formulation were studied and compared to ISG formulation loaded with free RSV and to a marketed oral drug product. Results: The concentration polylactide-co-ε-caprolactone (25: 75), the surfactant hydrophilic lipophilic balance (HLB) and the ratio of surfactant to polyethylene glycol 400 were significantly affecting the release of RSV during the first 24 h. Physicochemical characterization demonstrated complete dispersion of RSV in the polymeric matrix with slight changes in the drug crystalline structure. The optimized formulation demonstrated acceptable syringeability, good flow rate and was able to extend the in vitro drug release for 34 days. The ISG formulations complied with Weibull model. Pharmacodynamic study revealed a sustained reduction in the lipid profile that lasted for 21 days with a marked decrease in the lipid level during the first 24 hrs from the ISG system loaded with free RSV. Conclusion: The optimized RSV ISG formulation could be considered a promising strategy due to a reduction in dosing frequency and enhancement in hypolipidemic efficacy.
Facilitating long-term urban freight sustainability: indicator integration in a policy evaluation framework

Objectives and motivation Freight mobility in urban areas represents to a growing extent a major challenge for modern cities in Europe. While the urban population and – inherently – the demand for goods grows steadily, the need to organise freight movements in an efficient and sustainable way is pressing. Europe’s logistics sector faces the tremendous challenge to halve its fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions, while catering in a cost-effective way for goods transportation in the next decades (Smokers, Tavasszy, Chen & Guis, 2014). In the Belgian region of Flanders, representatives of both policy and industry initiated a number of activities in order to address this need. However, for local authorities to introduce competent solutions, correctly estimating the effect of these solutions on the city’s main concerns is crucial. Two difficulties currently impede a sustainable mobility evaluation at the local city level. Firstly, a gap exists in suitable urban freight sustainability indicators that fit the context. Secondly, local authorities in charge of urban mobility solutions generally lack the required skills and/or funds to individually collect, process, analyse and implement data-sets. Therefore, the abstract first proposes the identification of appropriate indicators for evaluating the sustainability of urban mobility, and the integration of these indicators in a composite index. Secondly, the data availability is analysed and solutions for currently lacking data are proposed. Thirdly, the selected indicators are linked to an integrated policy evaluation framework, containing tools such as an external cost calculator, social cost-benefit analysis and multi-actor multi criteria analysis. In this way, a better monitoring of the long-term shift towards sustainable urban freight movements is envisioned.
A Single Source Based Asymmetric Multilevel Converter

This research paper of asymmetric multilevel conver ter describes about the new structure that can prod uce increased number of output voltage waveform using a single source and reduced number of power electron ic components. In designing a multilevel converter, th e power electronic switches play a very imperative rol as it describes the installation area, cost, configuratio n complexity and may more things that play a signif icant role while designing. The prime function of multilevel convert er is to abolish total harmonic distortion and to i ncorporate desired ac voltage from several separate dc sources . Each level consists of H-Bridge converter units. High efficiency, high voltage capability, lower switchin g losses are its prime advantages. A multilevel pow er converter structure can be introduced as an alternative in me dium voltage and high power situations. This struct ure not only achieves high power ratings but also empower the us e of renewable energy sources. It finds its basic a pplication in adjustable speed drives, Static Var Compensator (ST ATCOM).
Managing Life-threatening Traumatic Hemorrhage

Millions of people die from major trauma annually. 30-40% of these deaths are due to exsanguination, with nearly half dying prior to hospital arrival. When properly managed, these deaths are preventable. This paper summarizes data relating to the extent of hemorrhage as a cause of mortality in the traumatic arena. An overview of the pathophysiological steps occurring during massive bleeding and their clinical implication is presented. A variety of treatment options, both historical and current, is then discussed, including vascular occlusion methods and hemostatic dressings, along with their limitations and complications. Finally, WoundClot, a new hemostatic gauze, is introduced, which not only requires no compression when it is applied, but allows the first responder to rapidly and effectively treat more than one casualty within seconds. Additionally, it is adaptable to a wide array of clinical applications, both traumatic and surgical, including situations where vascular occlusion methods are not practical or are contraindicated.
A case series of rituximab induced tuberculosis

Rituximab has a myriad of clinical uses, ranging from its disease modifying action in rheumatoid arthritis, to its role in chemotherapy for cancer. Being an anti CD20 monoclonal antibody, it controls inflammation by targeting peripheral B cells including those present in the synovium. The use of Rituximab is associated with some side effects such as cytopenias and increased risk of infections such as JC virus reactivation leading to multifocal encephalopathy. The role of Rituximab as an immunosuppressant has been established. However, its association with tuberculosis in endemic countries like India is yet to be understood well. The study was a cross sectional study of the two cases reported about the incidence of tuberculosis in patients receiving infusions of rituximab for rheumatoid diseases. These adverse drug reactions were reported to the nearest pharmacovigilance center through the Vigiflow portal of WHO and were assessed for their causality as per the WHO scale. A 45 year old male patient, a known case of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, presented to a tertiary care hospital with high grade fever with chills and rigors after which he was diagnosed with pleural effusion due to tuberculosis. The patient was on immunosuppressants which included Rituximab, Mycophenolate Sodium, Prednisolone and Hydroxychloroquine. Rituximab was withdrawn and the remaining medications were continued as per the initial plan. A 19 year old male patient, a known case of dermatomyositis and dilated cardiomyopathy, presented to a tertiary care hospital with complaints of fever with chills and rigors, and breathlessness on exertion which was followed by the diagnosis of miliary tuberculosis. Earlier, the patient was on Rituximab, Cyclophosphamide, Hydroxychloroquine and Prednisolone. Plan of further infusions of Rituximab and Cyclophosphamide was terminated while the remaining medications were continued. Both the patients were put on anti tubercular therapy and are now improving. The association of bacterial infections like tuberculosis with the use of Rituximab is not well understood. However, Rituximab being an immunosuppressant can be considered to be related to this infection. In our case series we readdress this association through a literature review.
Reliability of Self-Reported Concussion History in Retired NFL Players

As with other medical events, concussion history is typically dependent upon self-report, although little is known about the accuracy or reliability of such information. We assessed the reliability of lifetime self-reported concussion histories from 27 retired players from the National Football League (NFL) at baseline and one to two years later. The following data points were collected: history of any concussion with loss of consciousness (LOC), number of concussions with LOC, and total number of concussions (with or without LOC). We found perfect agreement between reports at time 1 and time 2 in terms of presence or absence of concussion with LOC. Intra class correlations revealed significant agreement between time points on number of concussions with LOC (ICC = 0.72) and total number of concussions (ICC = 0.90). Retrospective reports of concussions appear to be reliable over time. Research Article Reliability of Self-Reported Concussion History in Retired NFL Players Nyaz Didehbani1*, Kristin Wilmoth1, Lindy Fields4, Christian LoBue1, Jeremy Strain5, Jeffrey Spence6, Marisara Dieppa2, Munro Cullum1-3 and John Hart2 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA 2Department of Neurology & Neurotherapeutics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA 3Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, USA 4Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, USA 5Department of Neurology, Washington University in St. Louis, USA 6Center for Brain Health to Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas,
Male Breast Cancer: No Evidence of Human Papillomavirus Etiology

Background and Aims: Once hypothetical, association between virus and cancer is a reality in many diseases. A possible role of Human papilloma virus (HPV) in breast carcinogenesis is conflicting. The purpose of this study was to investigate the existence of HPV in archival breast cancer specimens of male patients. Material and Methods: The Pathology Department's archives between 1998-2008 were scanned. Tissue blocks of 27 male breast cancers and 27 gynecomastia tissue specimens were included to the study. DNA was extracted according to manufacturer's protocol. Results: This study was not able to demonstrate HPV infection nor in male breast cancer or gynecomastia tissue specimens. Conclusions: This is the first study investigating the presence of HPV in male breast cancer samples. All investigated tumoral and non-tumoral samples were negative for HPV DNA. According to our findings, possibility of HPV function in in breast oncogenesis decreases.
Discrimination in Access to Housing: A Test on Urban Areas in Metropolitan France

[eng] We measure the extent of discrimination in access to rental housing in the private sector using a test in the 50 largest urban areas in Metropolitan France, covering several grounds of discrimination: age, origin, place of residence and combinations thereof. The protocol consisted of sending, between June and December 2016, five fictitious applications in response to a selection of 5,000 advertisements for private rental housing spread throughout Metropolitan France. We check whether discrimination in access to housing depends on the characteristics of the applicants, those of the advertiser and those of the local context. We do not highlight any discrimination based on the applicant’s age. We do find a positive effect of reporting living in low-rent housing or in a housing estate. We also find significant discrimination according to origin, which penalises applicants whose surnames and first names indicate a North African or African origin.
OPTO_A_242818 57..66

Silvia Tavazzi 1,2 Federica Cozza Gabriele Nigrotti Chiara Braga Natalia Vlasak Silvano Larcher 4 Fabrizio Zeri 1,2,5 1Department of Materials Science, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy; 2Research Centre in Optics and Optometry (COMiB), University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy; 3Hoya Vision Care, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; 4Hoya Lens Italy, Milan, Italy; 5Ophthalmic Research Group, School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, UK Purpose: The work was aimed at comparing contrast sensitivity performance in an indoor environment with two filters, which differ only in the presence of a band at 450±20 nm in the transmittance spectrum. Patients and Methods: Thirty-nine subjects participated. The filters were the Standard (ST) and Professional (PRO) Drive lenses (Hoya, Japan), the latter showing the attenuation band at 450 nm. Photopic contrast sensitivity (CS) was measured at different spatial frequencies from 1.5 to 18 cpd through Functional Acuity Contrast Test with both lenses (LogCSST and LogCSPRO, respectively). The areas under the curves of LogCSST and LogCSPRO as a function of the spatial frequency were also considered. Results: In the range of the measured values of LogCSST for the thirty-nine participants, at each spatial frequency and also for the areas, the difference Δ = LogCSPRO – LogCSST was found to decrease and change sign from positive to negative as a function of LogCSST, thus allowing to deduce a threshold (LogCSthreshold) for LogCSST corresponding to Δ=0. Significant CS worsening was found with the PRO compared to the ST lens for the subjects showing LogCSST > LogCSthreshold. Vice versa, CS improvement was found when LogCSST < LogCSthreshold. Conclusion: In the choice of a blue-filtering lens, practitioners should take into consideration that the attenuation of light in the range 420–470 nm is expected to produce a CS worsening in subjects showing a relatively high initial CS (higher than a threshold CS). For these subjects, the general reduction of transmitted light intensity prevails on possible advantages. On the contrary, subjects showing a relatively low initial CS are expected to show a CS improvement because the attenuation of light in the range 420–470 nm is expected to reduce intraocular scattering and to mimic the effect as an optical filter of the human macular pigment, advantages which prevail on the reduction of the transmitted light intensity.
Engine Static Sealing with CorkRubber Flat Gaskets Influence of the Ethanol Percentage in Blends with Gasoline

The increasing use of biofuels, namely blends of gasoline with ethanol, requires the identification of the impact they have on the components of the fuel admission system of internal combustion engines. In this work, are presented the main results of the study of the suitability of corkrubber gaskets to seal engines using gasoline mixed with ethanol. In order to evaluate the chemical compatibility of four (4) corkrubber composites, several samples were immersed in different blends of gasoline with ethanol to determine the changes of hardness, volume, thickness and weight after 168 hours of immersion. The results of these tests differed between materials, but all of them showed less tolerance to blends with low and medium percentages of ethanol (E5, E10, E25, E50) when compared to gasoline or blends with higher percentages of ethanol (E85). To test the material in conditions as close as possible to the service conditions, it were done two validation tests that allowed to evaluate the corkrubber gaskets performance. In the first test, E15 and E50 blends flowing through three (3) carburetors connected to a reservoir during 100 hours cycle, allowed to gauge the response of materials to chemical attack when subjected to compression. In the second test, corkrubber gaskets manufactured with two (2) of the four (4) composites tested were installed in a Honda GCV 160 engine, subjecting them to the operation of the engine for periods of 100 hours in order to evaluate the gaskets performance based on visual inspection. At the end of the work it is possible to conclude that the corkrubber composites passed the tests for sealing of gasoline and blends of gasoline with ethanol.