Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Abbreviated Westmead Post-traumatic Amnesia Scale and Pocket Concussion Recognition Tool: Data from amateur sports players in live-match conditions

ABSTRACT Sports-related concussion is a growing public health concern. A short, simple sideline assessment tool is essential for evaluation of concussion at an amateur participation level. The current study examined responses to sideline assessment measures in a sample of amateur Australian Rules Football players competing in real-time live matches who had not sustained a concussion on the day of testing. Participants (N = 127) completed the Abbreviated Westmead Post-traumatic Amnesia Scale (A-WPTAS) and the Pocket Concussion Recognition Tool (Pocket CRT), which contains the Maddocks Questions (assessing orientation and recent memory) and the Postconcussion Symptom Scale (PCSS). The study showed 98.4% of participants passed the A-WPTAS, while 81.9% passed the Maddocks Questions. Participants endorsed a mean of 4.16 (SD = 4.02) symptoms on the PCSS, with 86.6% endorsing at least 1 symptom at a mild level or greater and 40.2% endorsing at least 1 symptom at a moderate or severe level. The current results suggest the Maddocks Questions may not be sufficient for use in an amateur sports context. To reduce the risk for a false positive diagnosis of concussion, it is recommended that the Pocket CRT be complemented with the A-WPTAS for use in an amateur sports context.
Why Do Criminal Trials 'Crack'? An Empirical Investigation of Late Guilty Pleas in Hong Kong

‘Cracked trials’, where defendants enter a late guilty plea after a trial date has been set, are considered a societal problem because public resources set aside for trials are wasted. Various government reports attribute the main cause to tactical defendants playing the system, and reforms have been initiated to encourage early guilty pleas and strongly discourage late ones. The aim of the present study is to investigate the reasons for cracked trials in the Hong Kong context, insofar as the reasons for late guilty pleas can be investigated without the influence of reforms seen in other jurisdictions used to discourage late pleas. A mixed methods approach of courtroom observations and interviews with defendants was adopted. We find that defendants who were represented by publicly-funded lawyers or who were in prolonged pre-trial detention were more disposed to changing their pleas. Subsequent interviews illustrate why these factors are salient. The findings support the notion that it is the pressures of the criminal justice process that lead defendants to ‘crack’ and highlight the costs to defendants for decisions on how to plead that are influenced by considerations other than actual culpability.
High-Throughput Quantitative Analysis of the Human Intestinal Microbiota with a Phylogenetic Microarray

ABSTRACT Gut microbiota carry out key functions in health and participate in the pathogenesis of a growing number of diseases. The aim of this study was to develop a custom microarray that is able to identify hundreds of intestinal bacterial species. We used the Entrez nucleotide database to compile a data set of bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences isolated from human intestinal and fecal samples. Identified sequences were clustered into separate phylospecies groups. Representative sequences from each phylospecies were used to develop a microbiota microarray based on the Affymetrix GeneChip platform. The designed microbiota array contains probes to 775 different bacterial phylospecies. In our validation experiments, the array correctly identified genomic DNA from all 15 bacterial species used. Microbiota array has a detection sensitivity of at least 1 pg of genomic DNA and can detect bacteria present at a 0.00025% level of overall sample. Using the developed microarray, fecal samples from two healthy children and two healthy adults were analyzed for bacterial presence. Between 227 and 232 species were detected in fecal samples from children, whereas 191 to 208 species were found in adult stools. The majority of identified phylospecies belonged to the classes Clostridia and Bacteroidetes. The microarray revealed putative differences between the gut microbiota of healthy children and adults: fecal samples from adults had more Clostridia and less Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria than those from children. A number of other putative differences were found at the genus level.
False positive troponin result caused by a true macrotroponin

Abstract Background: A 35-year-old female presented with complaints of tiredness, shortness of breath and recent onset of chest pain. The cardiac troponin I (cTnI) concentration was elevated at 6.4 μg/L (Abbott Architect reference value: <0.03 μg/L) with a normal ECG. Physical examination, radiological imaging and routine laboratory investigations did not provide an explanation for the elevated cTnI concentration. Methods: Use of different troponin assays, dilutions with assay diluent, addition of mouse serum, polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation and gel filtration chromatography (GFC) were used to investigate possible interference. Results: Troponin concentrations were below the level of detection when measured using all other troponin immunoassays. Serial dilutions of sample and addition of mouse serum did not alter the results. However, PEG precipitation and GFC showed the presence of a high molecular weight immunoreactive protein. Using GFC and protein-A IgG precipitation, the interference could be identified as a macrocomplex containing IgG and (fragments of) cTnI. Conclusions: We report a false positive cTnI result caused by a true macrotroponin, containing IgG and (fragments of) cTnI. This macrotroponin was only immunoreactive in the Abbott Architect cTnI immunoassay. Clinicians should be aware of analytical interference when troponin results are constantly elevated in the absence of (non)coronary causes of an increased troponin.
Estimation of serum malondialdehyde in oral cancer and precancer and its association with healthy individuals, gender, alcohol, and tobacco abuse.

BACKGROUND Tobacco and alcohol induces generation of free radicals and reactive oxygen species, which are responsible for high rate of lipid peroxidation. Malondialdehyde is the most widely used marker of lipid peroxidation. The aim of the study was to estimate serum malondialdehyde level in oral precancer, oral cancer, and normal individuals. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study serum malondialdehyde was measured according to the method of Ohkawa et al in 30 normal individuals and 30 patients each with histopathologically diagnosed oral precancer, and oral cancer. RESULTS The mean serum malondialdehyde level in the control group was found to be 5.107 ± 2.32 ηmol/ml, whereas it was 9.33 ± 4.89 ηmol/ml and 14.34 ± 1.43 ηmol/ml in oral precancer and oral cancer, respectively. There was statistically significant increase in serum malondialdehyde levels in the oral precancer and oral cancer patients compared with the control group. CONCLUSION Increased serum malondialdehyde in oral cancer and oral precancer would serve as a valuable marker for both preventive and clinical intervention, and may deserve further investigation for the early diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.
Human cytomegalovirus UL83-coded pp65 virion protein inhibits antiviral gene expression in infected cells

The initial interaction of human cytomegalovirus with fibroblasts triggers, and then partially blocks, an innate immune response pathway that leads to the induction of IFN-responsive genes and proinflammatory chemokines. Infection of fibroblasts with human cytomegalovirus inhibited their ability to respond to exogenous IFN. Consistent with the observation that the block did not depend on de novo viral protein synthesis, ectopic expression of the viral UL83-coded pp65, an abundant virion protein, inhibited IFN signaling. Furthermore, DNA array analysis showed that infection with a pp65-deficient mutant virus caused a much stronger induction of many IFN-response and proinflammatory chemokine RNAs than infection with wild-type virus. The nuclear DNA-binding activities of transcription factors NF-κB and IRF1 were induced to a much greater extent after infection with the pp65-deficient mutant than with wild-type virus. IFN-stimulated gene factor 3 DNA-binding was modestly enhanced, whereas IRF3 activity was not affected by mutation of pp65. Together, these results imply that pp65, which is delivered to newly infected cells in the virion, antagonizes a pathway that affects NF-κB and IRF1 and prevents the accumulation of mRNAs encoded by numerous cellular antiviral genes.
The Management of Multicultural Work Groups

indicators under these perspectives should be included under organisational cultureor other perspectives. Under the organisational culture perspective three indicators were selected as really important by five respondents, namely: ‘absence rate’, ‘percentage favourable ratings on culture surveys for male and female employees’ and ‘organisation’s ‘openness’ ratings’. Under the community perspective ‘company image’ was selected as most important indicator. The following indicators were selected by four of five respondents as really important on the leadership commitment perspective: ‘leadership participation in designing the vision and strategies for achieving gender mainstreaming’, ‘money and other resources allocated by the leader to the gender mainstreaming initiative’ and ‘leadership behaviour towards work-life balance issues’. Under the workforce profile perspective one indicator was selected as really important by the majority namely: ‘percentage female survival and loss rate’. The research shows that at present the implementation of a gender scorecard is not likely to take place within the sample organisations. Even the organisations that are at the forefront of gender awareness are doubtful that this instrument can be implemented at this stage. There are a number of obstacles to the successful implementation of the gender balanced scorecard including complexity of design, bad economic situation, measurement of intangible assets, the name of the initiative (according to several respondents a general ‘diversity’ or ‘inclusion’ initiative is more likely to be accepted than a gender initiative) and resistance. Most respondents believed that resistance would be the biggest obstacle to the initiative and thus the general awareness and maturity towards gender mainstreaming needs to be increased before such an instrument can be implemented. Besides this, additional measurement instruments, such as checklists and manuals, which can assist with the implementation of gender mainstreaming, have to be developed and tested further. Also the gender balanced scorecard instrument should be tested in practice to review its effectiveness over a long time period in an organisation where the maturity level towards such an initiative has reached an acceptable level.
Public Sector ‘Modernisation’: Examining the Impact of a Change Agenda on Local Government Employees in England

Can public sector reform change service performance for the better? This is a hotly contested debate that carries significant theoretical and practical importance. In England, as in many countries, modernisation was at the heart of local government reform and represented an interpretation of New Public Management into a policy framework. This paper examines the role of the modernisation change agenda in England and what this has subsequently meant for ‘service improvement’. Drawing on both document analyses and qualitative interviews with local government employees, we find that while modernisation sought to establish continuous improvement, unintended consequences of modernisation have led to Staff Reductions, Skill Deficiencies, and Loss of a Competent Middle Core in local government, as well as performance outcomes creating an environment for Commissioning, Service Reduction, and Self‐Policing. Implications for the lasting roles and behaviours of public managers affected by this national change agenda are discussed, and conclusions for theory and practice are drawn.
Does intermunicipal cooperation increase efficiency? A conditional metafrontier approach for the Hessian wastewater sector

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the relationship between intermunicipal cooperation and efficiency of public service provision. Organisational arrangements of public service production, including self-provision, joint provision or contracting, affect incentives and internal transaction costs. Hence, cooperation gains from scale effects need to be balanced against technical inefficiencies. We analyse relative efficiency of wastewater disposal for German municipalities. We employ a conditional analysis in conjunction with a metafrontier approach to calculate relative efficiency measures and technology gap ratios controlling for organisational arrangements and further environmental variables. Jointly providing municipalities and contractor municipalities exhibit lower technical efficiency than self-providing and contracting municipalities. As confirmed by previous research, scale effects from cooperation and contracting apply to small municipalities primarily.
Prospective study of risk factors for attempted suicide among patients with bipolar disorder.

OBJECTIVE There are few prospective studies on risk factors for attempted suicide among representative samples of psychiatric patients with bipolar I and II disorders. We conducted a prospective study to investigate risk for suicide attempts among a secondary-level sample of psychiatric in- and outpatients with bipolar disorder (BD). METHODS In the Jorvi Bipolar Study (JoBS), 1,630 psychiatric in- and outpatients from three Finnish cities were screened for BDs with the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ). Using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders (SCID)-I and -II, 191 patients were diagnosed with BDs (90 bipolar I and 101 bipolar II). Information on suicide attempts during the follow-up was obtained for 176 patients (92%) at the 6-month follow-up and for 160 patients (84%) at the 18-month follow-up. RESULTS During the 18-month follow-up 20% of patients (35/176) attempted suicide. In a Cox regression model, baseline previous suicide attempts (OR 3.8, 95% CI 1.7-8.8; p = 0.001), hopelessness (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1-1.3; p < 0.001), depressive phase at index episode (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.1-5.3; p = 0.03) and younger age at intake (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.91-0.97; p < 0.001) were independent risk factors for suicide attempts during follow-up, whereas factors such as bipolar I or II, or comorbidity did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS During a medium-term follow-up, as many as one-fifth of random psychiatric patients with BD attempted suicide, which highlights the public health importance of suicidal behavior in BD. Previous suicide attempts, hopelessness and depressive phase were the key indicators of risk.
Do Non-Financial Factors Matter for SMEs Performance? Ã¢ÂÂCase from JordanÃ¢ÂÂ

The aim of this study is to investigate the non-financial factors that affect the performance of SMEs in Jordan. The study identified six factors that extracted from previous studies to be examined in order to investigate their impact on the performance of SMEs in Jordan. The identified factors are: product and services, customers and markets, innovation and training, competition, Government policy and intervention and strategy. These factors can be utilized to recognize intricate and problematic areas so as to take corrections. The research population were all managers and employees in the furniture sector in Amman-Jordan. The population consists of the owner and the employees working at furniture sector in Amman city. The study used primary data that collected through survey designed to bring the required data. The finding of the research revealed that government policy, innovations and training, and competition were found to be significant in improving the performance of SMEs in Jordan, others factors were not found significant.
The Utility of Positive Messaging in Promoting Acceptance of Climate Change

This project investigates whether framing climate change in terms of the U.S. military would resonate with climate change deniers by incorporating other aspects of their world-view. A goal of this research is to find common ground, areas not directly connected to climate change in the public’s mind, such as the economy and the military, thereby garnering support for the U.S. to enact meaningful climate change legislation. Anthropogenic climate change is the greatest threat facing the United States yet the warnings of scientists are drowned out by a denial machine created by the fossil fuel industry and aided by many in the Republican party. The denier perspective is continuously reinforced by news media aligned with their platform. An internet survey was conducted to test the hypothesis that the positive message that actions ameliorating climate change benefit America would resonate with climate deniers by incorporating other aspects of their world-view. Survey respondents were informed that the U.S. military connects global warming and threats to national and global security, such as economic stability, terrorism, refugees and the need for increased U.S. military involvement. The respondents were asked if they agree some of the climate change scenarios of the U. S. military are likely to occur and if they support measures to promote economic growth while reducing dependence on oil by supporting alternative energy sources. The survey was conducted by Decision Analyst, using 406 randomly selected respondents from their database of millions of online survey participants. While military concerns were not effective in motivating climate change deniers to action, the survey revealed important findings. Unexpectedly, the most striking result was finding the need for the military to communicate its priorities within its own ranks. Survey respondents who identified themselves as climate change deniers with military affiliations failed to acknowledge the line connecting fossil fuel dependence and the resulting military and security issues. Of this group, 79% of the females and 72% of males were Republican. Regardless of military affiliation, the denier group ranked growth in the U.S. economy as their number one concern which highlights the disconnect between their priorities and the economic effects of failing to halt global warming. I conclude that the climate change message would benefit from shifting from one of science to one including military and economic factors, delivered by a trusted source, such as a well know thought leader and/or the Ad Council.
Strategy, unity and coercion: Lessons from the Palestinian struggle

The Palestinian issue is one of the most pressing moral quandaries and intractable political crises of our time. As activists work to challenge the status quo, scholars should be urgently yet meticulously poring over the collective experiences of this national movement and other national movements in the Mediterranean region, recovering practical lessons from their past failures and successes. In this review essay, we survey four superb recent works of scholarship that undertake this task. Together the books constitute an important, original contribution of archival and interview research conducted in at least six countries across four continents. We present each book’s core findings and strengths, identifying avenues of further research for the authors and broader scholarly community.
What to do with incidental thyroid nodules identified on imaging studies? Review of current evidence and recommendations

Purpose of review To discuss the problem of incidental thyroid nodules (ITN) detected on imaging; summarize the literature for workup methods; and provide recommendations based on current evidence. Recent findings ITN are a common problem, seen in 40–50% of ultrasound and 16% of computed tomography (CT) and MRI studies that include the thyroid. The personal and financial costs of workup frequently outweigh the benefits when considering that the majority of ITN are benign; 25–41% of patients undergo surgery after biopsy, of which more than half ultimately result in a benign diagnosis, and small thyroid cancers have an indolent course. Workup should consider reduction in unnecessary workup in addition to cancer diagnosis. The Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound recommendations have been proposed for ITN detected on ultrasound and found to reduce workup by 30%. For ITN detected on CT, MRI, or PET/CT, a three-tiered system categorization method reduces workup of ITN by 35–46%. Summary The ideal approach to selecting ITN detected on imaging for workup would not be to diagnose all cancers, but to diagnose cancers that have reached clinical significance, while avoiding unnecessary tests and surgery in patients with benign nodules, especially those who have limited life expectancy. The three-tiered system and the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound recommendations are supported by existing studies and focus on reducing unnecessary biopsy.
Hypertension Severity Is Associated With Impaired Cognitive Performance

Background Most evidence of target‐organ damage in hypertension (HTN) is related to the kidneys and heart. Cerebrovascular and cognitive impairment are less well studied. Therefore, this study analyzed changes in cognitive function in patients with different stages of hypertension compared to nonhypertensive controls. Methods and Results In a cross‐sectional study, 221 (71 normotensive and 150 hypertensive) patients were compared. Patients with hypertension were divided into 2 stages according to blood pressure (BP) levels or medication use (HTN‐1: BP, 140–159/90–99 or use of 1 or 2 antihypertensive drugs; HTN‐2: BP, ≥160/100 or use of ≥3 drugs). Three groups were comparatively analyzed: normotension, HTN stage 1, and HTN stage 2. The Mini–Mental State Examination, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and a validated comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests that assessed 6 main cognitive domains were used to determine cognitive function. Compared to the normotension and HTN stage‐1, the severe HTN group had worse cognitive performance based on Mini–Mental State Examination (26.8±2.1 vs 27.4±2.1 vs 28.0±2.0; P=0.004) or Montreal Cognitive Assessment (23.4±3.7 vs 24.9±2.8 vs 25.5±3.2; P<0.001). On the neuropsychological tests, patients with hypertension had worse performance in language, processing speed, visuospatial abilities, and memory. Age, hypertension stage, and educational level were the best predictors of cognitive impairment in patients with hypertension in different cognitive domains. Conclusions Cognitive impairment was more frequent in patients with hypertension, and this was related to hypertension severity.