Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ki‐67 immunolabelling index is a prognostic indicator in childhood posterior fossa ependymomas

Conventional histological evaluation and subclassification of childhood ependymomas poorly predict their biological behaviour. The Ki‐67 labelling index (Ki‐67 LI), a measure of growth fraction, correlates with the biological behaviour of several neoplasms, and this retrospective study tested the hypothesis that Ki‐67 LI is a prognostic indicator in childhood posterior fossa ependymomas. Immunocytochemistry using an antibody to Ki‐67 was undertaken on 5 μm sections of formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded tissue from 74 cases of childhood (age <16 years.) posterior fossa ependymoma. A Ki‐67 LI was established by counting the proportion of labelled nuclei in more than 1000 cells from several histological fields. Several clinical and histological variables (including Ki‐67 LI) potentially associated with survival were entered into univariate and multivariate analyses using a Cox proportional hazards model.Variables that showed a significant and independent association with survival were Ki‐67 LI (P<0.002), whether total surgical resection had been achieved according to operation records (P<0.03), and whether no adjuvant therapy had been given (P<0.01). Age, sex, and the presence of necrosis or microvascular proliferation did not correlate with survival. In our defined population of patients with ependymomas, Ki‐67 LI is a strong prognostic indicator. We recommend that Ki‐67 LI is used in the histological evaluation of childhood posterior fossa ependymomas during trials of novel adjunctive therapies.
E-Government: Challenges and Opportunities in Botswana

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges encountered in e-government implementation, as well as the potential opportunities available in the context of Botswana society. Design/methodology/approach – A detailed examination and analysis of Botswana's published e-government vision and strategy is presented, together with a review of other relevant literature. Findings – The findings and implications of this study reveal Botswana is still lagging behind in utilizing information and communication technologies for delivering government services online. Practical implications – An understanding of the current status of e-government in Botswana can help policy makers in the country pursue development of the public sector organizations on the one hand, and would be of importance for Botswana's economic future success on the other. Originality/value – This is believed to be the most up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of Botswana's plans and assessment of its level of readiness for delivery of e-government services.
Coexistence of sleep apnea and asthma resulting in severe sleep hypoxemia.

ALTHOUGH significant hypoxemia may be present during status asthmaticus, 1 severe hypoxemia is unusual in chronic bronchial asthma. 2 We report the case of a patient with chronic bronchial asthma who had mild hypoxemia while awake, but the patient was unusual in that he had erythrocytosis. During sleep he had severe hypoxemia that was primarily due to obstructive apnea. A tracheostomy was required for effective treatment of the apnea and hypoxemia. Report of a Case A 66-year-old man from Detroit was referred to National Jewish Hospital and Research Center for evaluation and treatment of asthma. The patient had frequent episodes of intermittent dyspnea accompanied by wheezing for 2 1/2 years before admission. He had never been a cigarette smoker and produced minimal sputum. The patient reported more dyspnea during sleeping hours and awakening almost hourly. His spouse related a history of his loud snoring accompanied by fitful sleep, which had
Attenuation of antipsychotic-induced weight gain with early behavioral intervention in drug-naive first-episode psychosis patients: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to compare an early behavioral intervention (EBI) with nonstructured standard physical care (routine care intervention [RCI]) in preventing antipsychotic-induced weight gain in drug-naive first-episode psychosis patients. METHOD Sixty-one patients with a DSM-IV-diagnosed psychotic disorder were first randomly assigned to 3 different antipsychotic treatments (risperidone [N = 23], olanzapine [N = 18], and haloperidol [N = 21]) and subsequently randomly assigned to the intervention condition (EBI, N = 35) or RCI (N = 27). EBI was specifically designed to teach strategies to enhance control over factors associated with antipsychotic-induced weight gain and consisted of 8 flexible intervention modules that incorporated behavioral interventions, nutrition, and exercise. In the RCI group, patients were informed about potential weight gain and advised to increase their exercise and limit food intake. Body weight and body mass index were measured at baseline and then weekly for 3 months. In addition to change in weight and body mass index, a third outcome measure was the proportion of patients who had gained more than 7% of their body weight at 3 months. Participating patients were referred between August 2002 and September 2004. RESULTS All 61 participants completed the study. Patients in the EBI group gained significantly less weight (mean = 4.1 kg, SD = 4.0) than those allocated to the RCI group (mean = 6.9 kg, SD = 4.5) (p < .01) during the 3-month follow-up period. Similar findings were obtained when both groups were compared on treatment-induced change in body mass index, which was significantly less in the EBI group than in the RCI group (1.40 vs. 2.39 kg/m2) (p < .01). Accordingly, significantly fewer patients in the EBI group (N = 11; 39.3%) than in the RCI group (N = 26; 78.8%) (p < .002) increased their baseline weight by more than 7%, the cutoff for clinically meaningful weight gain. CONCLUSIONS EBI was effective in attenuating antipsychotic-induced weight gain in a drug-naive first-episode psychosis cohort. Patients displayed good adherence to this type of preventive intervention.
Strain Rate Imaging for Noninvasive Functional Quantification of the Left Atrium in Hypertensive Patients with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation

Aim: Strain rate (SR) imaging has been applied to the detection of regional left ventricular (LV) dysfunction but not as much to the assessment of left atrial (LA) function. We aimed to assess atrial myocardial properties during atrial fibrillation (AF) by myocardial velocity, SR and strain, focusing on the effects of hypertension and atrial arrhythmias, especially paroxysmal AF. Methods: We compared 3 groups of a total of 110 consecutive patients with hypertension presenting to our institution: 20 with brief atrial tachycardia, 20 with paroxysmal AF and 70 with hypertension alone. These patients and 32 controls underwent transthoracic echocardiography, tissue velocity imaging (TVI), strain examination and SR imaging. Atrial tissue velocity, strain and SR values of hypertensive patients were compared with those of age-matched controls. Results: Compared with controls, hypertensive patients with paroxysmal AF showed significantly increased atrial myocardial features as assessed by TVI (p < 0.05–0.001). Time to peak late diastolic SR corrected for heart rate (TASRc) and the difference of early diastolic SR (ΔESR) were significantly increased (both p < 0.05), whereas the difference of late diastolic SR (ΔASR) (p < 0.05) and the difference of TASRc (ΔTASRc) (p < 0.001) were significantly decreased; moreover, systolic SR (SSR), ΔASR and ΔTASRc were significantly decreased (p < 0.05, p < 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively), whereas ΔESR was significantly increased (p < 0.01), as compared with hypertensive patients without arrhythmia. No other parameters differed among the 4 groups. Conclusions: SR imaging combined with TVI enables noninvasive quantification of LA dysfunction due to hypertension and paroxysmal AF. In hypertensive patients, paroxysmal AF decreases the efficiency, not the ability, of LA myocardia to reserve potential energy, which suggests that LA myocardial reservoir function decreases. The impaired conductivity of the left atrium leads to decreased total active atrial contraction and prolonged interatrial conduction. Thus, the temporal asynchrony of the atria is enhanced, but contraction asynchrony is reduced.
Corporate Leverage Adjustment: How Much Do Managers Really Matter?

Managers have a significant impact on corporate leverage. The CFO has a somewhat stronger effect than does the CEO. Managerial fixed effects largely wipe out the impact of firm fixed effects. But readily observable managerial attributes and contracts do not account for much of the variation in leverage. The commonly reported negative effect of profits on leverage is observed when a leverage ratio is studied. But theory suggests running separate equations for debt and equity. When this is done, the effect of profits on net equity issuing is negative, and the effect of profits on net debt issuing is positive. JEL classification: G32
Forecasting value-weighted real returns of TSE portfolios using dividend yields

We assess the ability of dividend yields denoted by DYt, to forecast value-weighted real returns, denoted by Rt ,T of Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) portfolios for following return horizons, T: monthly, quarterly, and one to four year. Fama and French [4] applied similar methods to the New York Stock Exchange and found the forecast power increases as the return horizon increases. We find that the Fama and French methods generalize to TSE portfolios, however, it does not apply to all portfolios. We also determine that the Fama and French approach may not lie on solid statistical ground, in that the residual variance is not time invariant. With these drawbacks in mind we consider using the methods of Dynamic Linear Models as discussed in West and Harrison [13], which allow the model parameters to be time varying. We conclude that for the majority of the portfolios, the two methods agree, however, the regression DLM approach does slightly better in comparison with the methods of Fama and French in terms of standarized forecast errors.
An application of fuzzy reasoning to support automated program comprehension

We are developing a knowledge based program understanding/fault localization system called BUGDOCTOR. We describe a system knowledge source called the Plan Processor that retrieves a set of program plans from a plan library using indices called signatures. We propose use of a fuzzy reasoning component to support the Plan Processor with the task of ranking the retrieved plans in order of similarity to the target code. The most similar plan can then be used for the complex plan/code matching required for automated program understanding. Our approach to plan processing may eliminate the need for exhaustive plan library searches, and could lead to automated program understanders that scale up for use on large software systems.
Challenges of small scale farmers access to micro credit (Bada Kaka) in Gassol LGA, Taraba State, Nigeria

Farm credit accessibility has been seen as the surest way of breaking the vicious cycle of poverty in the rural areas of developing countries, particularly in sub Saharan Africa. This study examines the challenges of farm credit accessibility by small scale farmers in Gassol LGA of Taraba State, Nigeria. One hundred and forty (140) farmers were randomly selected from 4 communities in the 2 districts of the LGA. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics tools. The results of the findings show that 70 percent of the farmers in the study area participated in the local micro credit scheme (bada kaka). 68 percent of the farmers viewed this local method of micro credit as a method of negotiating a farmer’s produce before the commencement of the farming season. About 17% of the farmers believed that the local micro credit system is exploitative and does not guaranty increase agricultural productivity. In conclusion, there is need to redesign government agricultural micro credit financing policy to guaranty continuous and timely provision of micro credit to farmers at a very low interest rate.
Technology and market factors impacting value creation and capture in the commercialisation of sustainable energy technologies by new ventures

New ventures and the radical innovations they embrace may provide critical inputs to a green-techno economic paradigm shift (Freeman 1992; Kemp and Schot 1998). A ‘paradigmatic change’ refers to “a radical transformation of the prevailing engineering and managerial common sense for best productivity and most profitable practice” (Freeman 1992 p.135). The beginning of a paradigmatic shift is usually marked by numerous radical innovations, many stemming from new ventures (Tushman and Anderson 1986, Utterback 1994). Modelling the commercialisation challenges to sustainable energy technologies is highly desirable to governments and firms in pursuit of environmental and/or financial gains. Descriptions of the challenges to sustainable energy ventures have tended to focus on either technological or market challenges. The business environment of the sustainable energy venture is described using a model based on Freeman’s innovation process which matches technological capabilities to market opportunities (Freeman 1982). This matching process can lead to value creation and capture which corresponds to commercialisation. This approach has been usefully applied to describe commercialisation challenges to advanced materials ventures with generic, radical technologies (Maine and Garnsey 2006). Reference to Maine and Garnsey (2006) offers insights since sustainable energy technologies include generic, radical technologies in a changing business environment. A process of observation, categorisation and association was used to build theory (Carlisle and Christensen 2005). Observation resulted from reference to literature, case-studies, survey material and ongoing conversations with sustainable energy ventures (Dee 2008, Dee, Ford et al. 2006). Categorisation was enabled through reference to Maine and Garnsey (2006) and other literature. Value creation is a dependent variable which is affected by the matching of technological and market challenges which facilitates the creation of an influence model i.e. the association. The research shows the majority of opportunities and obstacles identified in the commercialisation of sustainable energy technologies are a result of two phenomena: the early stages of a paradigmatic shift in the energy regime, and the structure of the economy which does not encourage sustainability. Framing commercialisation challenges in this manner has several implications for various stakeholders in the business environment, with the conclusion focusing on those that impact new ventures.
Effects of cooling cornea by Low-Temperature Saline Washing on postoperative pain in Photorefractive Keratectomy

Several studies have reported that cooling cornea has effects on alleviating pain post Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK). However, our random prospective self-control study using 52 eyes of 26 myopic patients revealed that there was no significant statistical difference (P > 0.74) in the postoperative pains at both day-1 and day-3 between the experimental eye group (26 myopic eyes, treated with chilled lactated Ringer's saline of 4°C) and the control eye group (26 self control eyes, treated with lactated Ringer's saline of ˜20°C). The result suggests that applying low-temperature balanced saline solution onto corneal surfaces is not an effective analgesia for PRK surgery.
Reactive Oxygen Species Mediate Cytokine Activation of c-Jun NH2-terminal Kinases*

Interleukin 1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) are known to induce production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which have been suggested to act as second messengers. Here we demonstrate that ROS production by bovine chondrocytes upon cytokine stimulation induces c-jun expression. Since c-jun expression is regulated by its own gene product via phosphorylation by c-Jun NH2-terminal kinases (JNKs), we investigated if cytokines and ROS could modulate JNK activity in chondrocyte monolayer cultures. Treatment of bovine chondrocytes with both IL-1 and TNFα leads to rapid induction of JNK activity, stimulating JNK activity 7- and 20-fold, respectively. Importantly, the observation that antioxidant treatment antagonizes IL-1 and TNFα activation of JNK provides strong evidence that ROS can act as mediators of JNK activity. Moreover, potent activation of JNK is also observed by direct addition of the ROS hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to the chondrocyte cultures. Nitric oxide (NO), a multifunctional ROS, also appears to simulate JNK, albeit to a lesser extent. These findings identify JNK as another molecular target for the actions of NO and H2O2. In addition, the inhibitory effect of diphenyleneiodonium on JNK activation implicates the involvement of flavonoid-containing enzymes in the ROS-mediated signaling process. Overstimulation of JNK activity by excessive production of ROS may, therefore, underlie pathological conditions such as arthritis and cancer.
A Statistical Description of the Error on Wind Power Forecasts for Probabilistic Reserve Sizing

As the share of wind power in the electricity system rises, the limited predictability of wind power generation becomes increasingly critical for operating a power system reliably. In most operational and economic models, the wind power forecast error (WPFE) is often assumed to follow a Gaussian or the so-called β-distribution. However, these distributions might not be suited to fully describe the skewed and heavy-tailed character of WPFE data. In this paper, the Lévy α-stable distribution is proposed as an improved description of the WPFE. The method presented allows us to quantify the probability of a certain error, given a certain wind power forecast. Based on recent historical wind power data, the feasibility of the Lévy α-stable distribution as a WPFE description is demonstrated. The added value of this improved statistical model of the WPFE is illustrated in a state-of-the-art probabilistic reserve sizing method. Results show that this new statistical description of the WPFE can hold important information for short-term economic and operational (reliability) studies for power systems with a significant wind power penetration.
Irinotecan fluorouracil plus leucovorin is not superior to fluorouracil plus leucovorin alone as adjuvant treatment for stage III colon cancer: results of CALGB 89803.

PURPOSE Randomized studies have shown that irinotecan (CPT-11) extends survival in metastatic colorectal cancer patients when administered in second-line and when added to fluorouracil (FU) plus leucovorin (LV) in first-line therapy of metastatic colorectal cancer. When this study was initiated, FU plus LV was standard adjuvant treatment for stage III colon cancer. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of weekly bolus CPT-11 plus FU plus LV in the treatment of patients with completely resected stage III colon cancer. METHODS A total of 1,264 patients were randomly assigned to receive either standard weekly bolus FU plus LV regimen or weekly bolus CPT-11 plus FU plus LV. The primary end points of the study were overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS Treatment arms were well-balanced for patient characteristics and prognostic variables. There were no differences in either DFS or OS between the two treatment arms. Toxicity, including lethal toxicity, was significantly higher on the CPT-11 plus FU plus LV arm. CONCLUSION The addition of CPT-11 to weekly bolus FU plus LV did not result in improvement in DFS or OS in stage III disease, but did increase both lethal and nonlethal toxicity. This trial demonstrates that advances in the treatment of metastatic disease do not necessarily translate into advances in adjuvant treatment, and it reinforces the need for randomized controlled adjuvant studies.
Mapping Health Services Trade in South Africa

This paper takes a first look at the South African health sector and the barriers to health services trade. This type of service is mainly traded through investments in hospitals and clinics, through the presence of foreign service providers or through the movement of consumers to access health services abroad. While minimal formal liberalisation has been offered by South Africa under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), trade is certainly occurring. This paper concentrates on defining regulations in the health sector and determining whether these form barriers to trade or are trade enabling. The paper also provides data on the sector under the categories of human resources, health care providers and health care purchasers. It is concluded that policymakers would be wise to exercise due caution when considering health services trade liberalisation as the impact on the public sector may not be positive.
The opportunity of residential property investment vehicles in enhancing affordable rental housing supply

Institutional investors currently play a negligible role in the private rental market in Australia. Their lack of involvement in the private rental sector has been described as a structural weakness in the Australian rental market, and is at variance with institutional investment in residential property in international jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom (UK), Scandinavia and United States (US). This research study investigates the effectiveness of residential investment vehicles in enhancing the supply of private rental properties in Australia and elsewhere. It explores the current opportunity to develop an effective residential investment vehicle to expand the supply of private rental housing in Australia, and to contribute to meeting Australia’s housing needs in the future. This Positioning Paper utilises both international and local evidence, including an AHURI survey of Australian institutional investors, to identify the broad context to residential property investment in Australia and the current and future role of property investment vehicles and institutional investors such as superannuation funds. The implications for housing supply in Australia are discussed in this context. The report finds that while Australian superannuation funds have significant commercial property portfolios, they typically lack exposure to residential property investment. This reflects in the main funds’ concerns over the role of residential property in their investment portfolios and the general lack of listed and unlisted residential property investment vehicles suited to Australian superannuation funds. This finding contrasts with the experience of the US and UK, where there exists both increasing investor interest in, and an increasing range of, listed and unlisted residential investment vehicles which are available to pension funds and other institutional investors.
Paying for What? How Much? And Why (Not)? Predictors of Paying Intent for Multiplatform Newspapers

Propelled by the recent economic recession that caused substantial declines in advertising revenue, some major newspapers have renewed their efforts to find alternative revenue models. This renewed interest in paid content strategy triggered another round of debates on the viability of the “paywall. ” To address the recurring industry debate, this study, based on a national survey of 767 U.S. online adults, systematically evaluated users' paying intent for different newspaper formats, the amount they are willing to pay, as well as users' responses to various payment models being considered by the industry. Results showed the print edition outperforms other formats (Web & “apps”) in terms of usage, preference, and paying intent; and is perceived as the most valuable platform. Paying intent for the online formats (Web & apps) was weak, and so was people's response to each of the 6 payment models under study. Therefore, how users are charged does not make much difference—whether they are charged does. The analysis also identified the predictors of paying intent for newspaper formats and different payment models. Although multiplatform news delivery has become a reality, paying intent for digital news content remains elusive.