Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Findings by an International Collaboration on SJS/TEN With Severe Ocular Complications

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) is an acute inflammatory vesiculobullous reaction of the skin and mucosa, e.g., the ocular surface, oral cavity, and genitals. In patients with extensive skin detachment and a poor prognosis, the condition is called toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). Not all, but some patients with SJS/TEN manifest severe ocular lesions. Approximately 50% of SJS/TEN patients diagnosed by dermatologists and in burn units suffer from severe ocular complications (SOC) such as severe conjunctivitis with pseudomembrane and ocular surface epithelial defects in the acute stage. In the chronic stage, this results in sequelae such as severe dry eye and visual disturbance. Before 2005, our group of Japanese scientists started focusing on ophthalmic SJS/TEN with SOC. We found that cold medicines were the main causative drugs of SJS/TEN with SOC and that in Japanese patients, HLA-A*02:06 and HLA-B*44:03 were significantly associated with cold medicine-related SJS/TEN with SOC (CM-SJS/TEN with SOC). We expanded our studies and joined scientists from Korea, Brazil, India, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Kingdom in an international collaboration to detect the genetic predisposition for SJS/TEN with SOC. This collaboration suggested that in Japanese patients, cold medicines, including NSAIDs, were the main causative drugs, and that HLA-A*02:06 was implicated in Japanese and Korean patients and HLA-B*44:03 in Japanese-, Indian-, and European ancestry Brazilian patients. Our joint findings reveal that there are ethnic differences in the HLA types associated with SJS/TEN with SOC.
Orgasm consistency and its relationship to women's self-reported and genital sexual response

Abstract:According to the Incentive Motivation Model (IMM) of sexual response, the rewarding and pleasurable aspects of a sexual act strengthen its incentive value and capacity to trigger sexual motivation. One such sexual reward is orgasm consistency, the percentage of time that orgasm is experienced during a sex act. Orgasm consistency may serve to influence the incentive value of a sexual behaviour. We tested this tenet of the IMM by examining whether orgasm consistency predicted women's sexual responses to films depicting various sex acts. Data were collected from four separate studies examining women's genital and subjective sexual response. Participants (N = 144, age range = 18–65) were presented with neutral and erotic film stimuli while their genital arousal was assessed using vaginal photoplethysmography or thermography. Participants reported their sexual arousal level before, during, and after each stimulus presentation, and completed questionnaires assessing sexual history and experiences, sexual interests, and sexual functioning. Orgasm consistency during penile–vaginal intercourse (PVI) significantly predicted genital arousal to films depicting PVI, but similar relationships were not observed between genital or self-reported arousal and orgasm consistency during receptive oral sex and masturbation. Findings suggest that increasing orgasm consistency to a sex act may increase its incentive value, thereby triggering greater genital response to depictions of that act. Lack of consistent orgasm or generally pleasurable and rewarding sex may limit the capacity of sex acts to trigger sexual motivation in future sexual encounters, thus contributing to low sexual arousal and desire in women.
Expectations and Social Influence Dynamics in Economics ExSIDE Working Paper Series

This paper builds on recent insights from network theory and on the rich dataset made available by the Panama Papers in order to investigate the micro-economic dynamics of tax-evasion. We model offshore financial entities documented in the Panama Papers as links between jurisdictions in the global network of tax evasion. A quantitative analysis shows that the resulting network, far from being a random collection of bilateral links, has key features of complex networks such as a core-periphery structure and a fat-tail degree distribution. We argue that these structural features imply that policy must adopt a systemic perspective on the matter. We offer three sets of insights from this perspective. First, we identify through centrality measures tax havens that ought to be priority policy targets. Second, we show that efficient tax treaties must contain exchange information clauses and link tax-havens to non-haven jurisdictions. Third, we show that the optimal deterrence strategies for a social-planner facing a strategic tax-evader in a Stackelberg competition can be characterized using the notion of Bonacich centrality. JEL: H26, H87, D85, C54
Stock Prices and Inflation: Evidence from the Four Asian Tigers

Using monthly data from the 1980s to 2010 for the Four Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan), this study finds the existence of the long-run Fisher effect via Johansen cointegration tests. However, the elasticities of stock prices with respect to consumer price indexes range from 1.895 for Singapore to 3.060 for Taiwan, all significantly greater than one. In the short run, the unexpected shock from the consumer price index has a significant negative impact on the stock price in South Korea, but the same type of impacts are not significant for the other three Asian Tigers countries.
Nowcasting Daily Population Displacement in Ukraine through Social Media Advertising Data

In times of crisis, real-time data mapping population displacements are invaluable for targeted humanitarian response. The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, forcibly displaced millions of people from their homes including nearly 6 million refugees flowing across the border in just a few weeks, but information was scarce regarding displaced and vulnerable populations who remained inside Ukraine. We leveraged social media data from Facebook’s advertising platform in combination with preconflict population data to build a real-time monitoring system to estimate subnational population sizes every day disaggregated by age and sex. Using this approach, we estimated that 5.3 million people had been internally displaced away from their baseline administrative region in the first three weeks after the start of the conflict. Results revealed four distinct displacement patterns: large-scale evacuations, refugee staging areas, internal areas of refuge, and irregular dynamics. While the use of social media provided one of the only quantitative estimates of internal displacement in the conflict setting in virtual real time, we conclude by acknowledging risks and challenges of these new data streams for the future.
Extinction and environmental change across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary in Tanzania

The Eocene-Oligocene transition (between ca. 34 and 33.5 Ma) is the most profound episode of lasting global change to have occurred since the end of the Cretaceous. Diverse geological evidence from around the world indicates cooling, ice growth, sea-level fall, and accelerated extinction at this time. Turnover in the oceanic plankton included the extinction of the foraminifer Family Hantkeninidae, which marks the Eocene-Oligocene boundary in its type section. Another prominent extinction affected larger foraminifera, which resulted in the loss of some of the world's most abundant and widespread shallow-water carbonate-secreting organisms. However, problems of correlation have made it difficult to relate these events to each other and to the global climate transition as widely recorded in oxygen and carbon isotope records from deep-sea cores. Here, we report new paleontological and geochemical data from hemipelagic sediment cores on the African margin of the Indian Ocean (Tanzania Drilling Project Sites 11, 12 and 17). The Eocene-Oligocene boundary is located between two principal steps in the stable-isotope records. The extinction of shallow-water carbonate producers coincided with an extended phase of ecological disruption in the plankton and preceded maximum glacial conditions in the early Oligocene by ∼200 k.y.
A study of the roles of some immunological biomarkers in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis

Autoimmune rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic condition closely correlated with a variety of autoantibodies (Abs) that could be considered diagnostic and prognostic markers. The current research was designed to detect the diagnostic values for a number (n) of these auto-Abs in RA detection and to evaluate the accuracy of a combined diagnostic scheme. This prospective study was conducted between September 2021 and August 2022 and included 110 subjects with RA, 70 individuals with other autoimmune disorders as positive controls (PC), and 50 unrelated, apparently healthy individuals as healthy controls (HC). The eligibility criteria for all study groups were followed stringently. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was employed to measure rheumatoid factors (RF), cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (CCP-Abs), mutated citrullinated vimentin antibodies (MCV-Abs), anti-perinuclear factor antibodies (APF-Abs), and anti-keratin antibodies (AKA). We calculated the specificity, sensitivity, and predictive values of all auto-Abs. Significantly higher levels of anti-CCP-Abs, anti-MCV-Abs, APF-Abs, and AKAs were reported in the RA patients compared to the HC and PC subjects. RF levels, however, were only statistically elevated when compared to the HC individuals. Anti-APF-Abs had a higher sensitivity rate (70.9%), and anti-CCP-Abs had a higher specificity rate (94.16%) compared to other auto-Abs, whereas the combined detection scheme revealed a higher sensitivity (81.81%) and excellent specificity (90.83%) compared to the two former auto-Abs. Anti-perinuclear factor-Ab was a highly sensitive test, and CCP-Ab was a surpassingly specific assay for identifying RA. Furthermore, the combined detection scheme is an essential serological approach for RA diagnosis and crucial in differentiating this disease from other autoimmune diseases, thus promoting early diagnosis and treatment.
Genetics The Role of miR-155 Gene Expression in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease that can cause prolonged, inflamed, and progres - sive disability. MicroRNAs influence the processes of autoimmune disease through systemic consequences, including irritant activities of the immune system. Aim of the study: This research aims to evaluate the range of expression profile of the circu - lating miRNA155 gene as a potential diagnostic biomarker in RA patients in which specific antibodies with high sensitivity for RA are the anti-CCP antibodies. Method: The overall number comprised 36 RA patients and 14 healthy individuals with ages ranging from 20 to 60 years. All samples from patients and control are suspected of being diagnosed with the anticitrullinated protein antibodies test (ACPA) by the enzyme sorbent enzyme assay (ELISA). Relative quantification (RQ) of miRNA155 expression was performed after extraction of miRNA from serum from all participants and was estimated using RT-qPCR. Result: RA showed a significant increase in miRNA155 profile expression depending on the expression fold (11.12-fold expression ± 1.08), in comparison to healthy individuals, as significant (p ≤ 0.0001) of anti-ccp Abs in RA patients in whom they were at risk and evaluated the change in expression levels. In conclusion: The study identified upregulation in circulated miRNA155, which may serve as a prognostic form as a biomarker for the development of disease.
Taiwanese and American mothers' goals and values for their children's futures

Cross‐cultural research on parents' socialization goals and practices with young children has increasingly shown that parents promote aspects of both independence and interdependence in their children. However, few studies have examined parents' long‐term goals for their children's futures, which may be equally or more influential than short‐term socialization goals on children's development. This study compared long‐term goals and values for young children in a sample of 201 mothers from two industrialized countries: Taiwan and the United States. Six dimensions of long‐term goals and values were measured: agency and self‐direction, power and achievement, intimacy and enjoyment, conformity and tradition, family relatedness, and benevolence and universalism. Controlling for maternal education, there were no group differences in the importance attached to agency, benevolence, and family relatedness: Both groups attached highest importance to agency and benevolence, and considered family relatedness much les.
Heme and Chlorophyll Intake and Risk of Colorectal Cancer in the Netherlands Cohort Study

Background: The evidence for red meat as a determinant of colorectal cancer remains equivocal, which might be explained by differences in heme content. Heme is the pro-oxidant, iron-containing porphyrin pigment of meat and its content depends on the type of meat. Chlorophyll from green vegetables might modify this association. Methods: The Netherlands Cohort Study was initiated in 1986 when a self-administered questionnaire on risk factors for cancer was completed by 120,852 subjects ages 55 to 69 years. After 9.3 years of follow-up through the Cancer Registry, 1,535 incident colorectal cancer cases (869 men and 666 women) were available. Nineteen of the 150 items in the validated dietary questionnaire related to consumption of specific types of fresh and processed meat. Heme iron content was calculated as a type-specific percentage of the total iron content and chlorophyll content of vegetables was derived from the literature. Results: Multivariate rate ratios for quintiles of heme iron intake and colon cancer were 1.00, 0.98, 1.04, 1.13, and 1.29 (Ptrend = 0.10) among men and 1.00, 1.31, 1.44, 1.18, and 1.20 (Ptrend = 0.56) among women, respectively. No consistent associations were observed for rectal cancer. Rate ratios for colon cancer increased across successive quintiles of the ratio of heme/chlorophyll among men only (1.00, 1.08, 1.01, 1.32, and 1.43; Ptrend = 0.01). No associations were observed between fresh meat and colorectal cancer. Conclusion: Our data suggest an elevated risk of colon cancer in men with increasing intake of heme iron and decreasing intake of chlorophyll. Further research is needed to confirm these results. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(4):717–25)
Challenges of Chinese Language Education in Multi-lingual Societies: Hong Kong and Singapore

This paper aims to study the current challenges of Chinese language education in the multilingual societies of Hong Kong and Singapore through policy documents. After the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the role of Putonghua is far more important than before due to political and economic reasons. However, the medium of instruction for the Chinese Language subject in Hong Kong has long been Cantonese since the British colony days. A change in the medium of instruction from mother-tongue Cantonese to Putonghua is a shift from L1 to L2. This paper will discuss the feasibility of this long term policy of Hong Kong Education Bureau with reference to Singapore’s experience. Currently, Singapore faces the problem of declining standard of reading and writing in Huayu (Putonghua in China) and this paper will investigate the reason for that and suggest possible remedies.
The Study of Impact from the GAANFIS Model on Business Performance

Not only does business performance serve a major indicator for investors' decision, but it also has a lot to do with employees' living. Generally speaking, when predicting or analyzing business performance classification, most researchers adopt corporate financial early-warning or credit rating models, which pretty much use previous data and facts. Therefore, this paper brings about an alternative method to discriminate between excellent and poor business management, so as to take preventive measures prior to business crisis or bankruptcy. We collect the financial reports and financial ratios from the listed firms in mainland China and Taiwan as our samples to build up four kinds of forecasting models for business performance. The empirical results show that the GAANFIS model provides better classification forecasting capability than other models do, while ANFIS model adjusted by Genetic Algorithm could effectively enhance the classification forecasting capability.
Preferred shopping destination: Hong Kong versus Singapore

Visitor shopping is an important contributor to the economy of Hong Kong as it accounts for more than half the total visitors' expenditure. Owing to its significance, and strong competition from Singapore, Hong Kong must re-examine the city's attraction to shoppers. The tourism and retail industries of Hong Kong must formulate effective strategies to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the shopping environment in both cities. This study surveys 309 international visitors about their shopping expectations and perceptions of Hong Kong and Singapore in 15 attributes. Results were analysed by SPSS software (Statistical Package for Social Science) using the techniques of frequencies and paired t-tests. Singapore outperforms Hong Kong notably in many areas, such as language ability, attitude and efficiency of service staff. The findings indicate an urgency for Hong Kong to strive harder. In conclusion, the article provides some recommendations for the city to re-establish its reputation as the ‘shopping paradise’ of the Asia Pacific region and to meet the challenge of Singapore as the preferred shopping destination. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Volatility Linkages Among Gold Futures in Emerging Markets

ABSTRACT We aim to detect the cross-border volatility linkages among gold futures in emerging markets, which still remain an untapped area. China, India, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey, and U.S. futures markets are included in the sample. The volatility linkage analyses confirm the existence of volatility transmission among the majority of the sample countries’ gold futures. This article carries vital inferences and implications for policy makers and investors. The policy making is particularly important for China, which is a relatively isolated market. From investors’ perspective, the results indicate that the risk diversification and cross-market hedging opportunities in the emerging gold futures markets are quite limited.
What is the cause of palate lesions? A case report.

OBJECTIVES Trauma to the oral tissues can be caused by fellatio. Few cases are reported in the literature. METHODS A case of oral palate lesions is presented and discussed. RESULTS The patient developed a large band of petechial haemorrhage extending across the soft palate following the practice of fellatio. The diagnosis was made through an interview with the patient, which disclosed a probable case for fellatio as the cause of the palatal spots. At the follow-up visit 14 days later, the lesions disappeared. CONCLUSIONS Oral sex activity has increased over the last decades. The dental care professional should be aware that lesions of the palate may result from sexual behaviour. With this possibility in mind, those working in the area of head and neck medicine should consider fellatio as an addition to the differential aetiology of intraoral petechiae.
Chapter 4. Services Growth in India: A Look Inside the Black Box

It is now widely recognized that the pattern of growth in India in recent years has been an unconventional one. Virtually all labor-abundant developing countries—such as Taiwan, South Korea, and China—saw the shares of manufactures in GDP and employment rise and those of agriculture fall during their high-growth phases. In contrast, during its recent high-growth phase, India has witnessed the share of manufactures in GDP stagnate despite a decline in the share of agriculture in it. Moreover, the movement of workers out of the agricultural sector has been extremely piecemeal, with the absolute number of workers in agriculture still rising due to the rising size of the workforce. An additional diff erence between the experiences of countries like Taiwan, South Korea, and China and that of India has been with respect to labor-intensive manufactures. While the former set of countries saw these products’ share of GDP and employment rapidly rise, India experienced no such change during the high-growth phase. In India, services have grown more rapidly than manufactures. Th e somewhat exceptional pattern of growth in India poses several puzzles. First, why have manufactured goods in general and labor-intensive products in particular responded sluggishly to the liberalizing reforms since 1991? Second, why have services grown more rapidly in the post-reform period? And fi nally, why has the transition from a primarily agrarian and rural to an urban and modern structure been slower in India? Specifi cally, why has the movement of labor out of agriculture into industry been slower than in other fast-growing developing countries? To be sure, economic reforms, including opening to trade and foreign investment and freeing up domestic controls, have helped improve the OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRST-PROOF, 06/19/12, NEWGEN
Context-specific theorizing in ICT4D research

Scholars have provided diverse reasons for the failure of information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) research to achieve positive results. Like the information systems (IS) field (Hong, Chan, Thong, Chasalow, & Dhillon, 2014), we contend that context-specific theorizing may hold a promise for researchers to make both theoretical and practical contribution to ICT4D research especially for empirical studies that use positivist epistemology. This theorization process requires the researcher to seek genuine context and theory that combine to address a specific context-based research problem. The interpretive paradigm is the predominant epistemology for ICT4D studies (Lin, Kuo, & Myers, 2015). With the interpretive paradigm, the context of the research emerges as a researcher indulges herself or himself in the research setting. The context and theory combine to provide explanation for the phenomenon that the paper seeks to study. As an example, Lin et al. (2015) show how critical realist research approach afforded them the opportunity to learn that a specific ICT4D implementation in a predominant Taiwanese aboriginal community was paraded as a successful project by the Taiwanese government and the mainstream Taiwanese but as unproductive by the aboriginals for whom the system was implemented. The authors through iterative theoretical revision gained the trust of the subjects of the study and understood the “true” state of events related to the implementation of the information communication technology (ICT) in the community and how postcolonial contextual variables were pervasive and derailed real progress in the local community. Lin et al. (2015) show that although the mainstream spent considerable effort to showcase a specific ICT innovation in the aboriginal community as a successful ICT4D project, the community itself did not benefit from the innovation because what was considered as an innovation toward development and emancipation was a “windowdressed” propaganda. These scholars call for more critical realist research where scholars who participate in ICT4D research will speak out for the marginalized. This call reiterates the concerns of other scholars and practitioners that ICT4D projects and for that matter programs geared toward emancipating the underdeveloped have become hegemonic such that beneficiaries are not achieving the benefits that the architects of such programs or projects promise (Easterly, 2006; Escobar, 1997; Qureshi, 2015). Heeks (2010) calls this a mismatch of local realities and the ICT4D model from the “global North. ” The purpose of this editorial is to challenge positivist research to contribute to the development agenda by seeking the right theories and right contextual variables so