Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adipocytokines and breast cancer risk.

BACKGROUND Many researches suggested that obesity increased the risk of breast cancer, but the mechanism was currently unknown. Adipocytokines might mediate the relationship. Our study was aimed to investigate the relationship between serum levels of resistin, adiponectin and leptin and the onset, invasion and metastasis of breast cancer. METHODS Blood samples were collected from 80 newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed breast cancer patients and 50 age-matched healthy controls. Serum levels of resistin, adiponectin and leptin were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA); fasting blood glucose (FBG), lipids, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC) were assayed simultaneously. RESULTS Serum levels of adiponectin ((8.60 +/- 2.92) mg/L vs (10.37 +/- 2.81) mg/L, P = 0.001) and HDL-c were significantly decreased in breast cancer patients in comparison to controls. Serum levels of resistin ((26.35 +/- 5.36) microg/L vs (23.32 +/- 4.75) microg/L, P = 0.000), leptin ((1.35 +/- 0.42) microg/L vs (1.06 +/- 0.39) microg/L, P = 0.003), FBG and triglyceride (TG) in breast cancer patients were increased in contrast to controls, respectively. However, we did not find the significant difference of the serum levels of resistin, adiponectin and leptin between premenopausal breast cancer patients and healthy controls (P = 0.091, 0.109 and 0.084, respectively). The serum levels of resistin, adiponectin and leptin were significantly different between patients with lymph node metastasis (LNM) and those without LNM (P = 0.001, 0.000 and 0.006, respectively). The stepwise regression analysis indicated that the tumor size had the close correlation with leptin (R(2) = 0.414, P = 0.000) and FBG (R(2) = 0.602, P = 0.000). Logistic regression analysis showed that reduced serum levels of adiponectin (OR: 0.805; 95% CI: 0.704 - 0.921; P = 0.001), HDL (OR: 0.087; 95% CI: 0.011 - 0.691, P = 0.021), elevated leptin (OR: 2.235; 95% CI: 1.898 - 4.526; P = 0.004) and resistin (OR: 1.335; 95% CI: 1.114 - 2.354; P = 0.012) increased the risk for breast cancer; Reduced serum levels of adiponectin (OR: 0.742; 95% CI: 0.504 - 0.921; P = 0.003) and elevated leptin (OR: 2.134; 95% CI: 1.725 - 3.921; P = 0.001) were associated with lymph node metastasis of breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS The decreased serum adiponectin levels and increased serum resistin and leptin levels are risk factors of breast cancer. The low serum adiponectin levels and high serum leptin levels are independent risk factors for metastasis of cancer. The association between obesity and breast cancer risk might be explained by adipocytokines.
Redpin - adaptive, zero-configuration indoor localization through user collaboration

Redpin is a fingerprint-based indoor localization system designed and built to run on mobile phones. The basic principles of our system are based on known systems like Place Lab or Radar. However, with Redpin it is possible to consider the signal-strength of GSM, Bluetooth, and WiFi access points on a mobile phone. Moreover, we devised methods to omit the time-consuming training phase and instead incorporate a folksonomy-like approach where the users train the system while using it. Finally, this approach also enables the system to expeditiously adapt to changes in the environment, caused for example by replaced access points.
Boundary Management, Interplexity, and Nostalgia: Managing Marginal Identities in Public Health Working

Abstract This article explores identity dynamics in public health working at the level of the institutional identity ascribed to public health professionals, and the identity work that public health workers perform. Drawing on focus group research with school nurses and community midwives in England, the article identifies two important but neglected areas for interrogating public health worker's identity work: boundary management and interplexity. We suggest that school nurses and community midwives do identity work from marginal positions: positions that exist in the shadow of bio-medicine, but from which new strands of identity are performed in spaces of micro-emancipation. However, while new strands of identity are revealed through individual performance, the very marginality of these professionals in terms of institutional, conceptual and physical resources are shown to prevent development of sustainable public health discourses. On this basis, we suggest that marginal professions might seek self-protection from dominance in nostalgia for modernity.
Generation of heavy-chain-only antibodies in mice

We have generated transgenic mice containing hybrid llama/human antibody loci that contain two llama variable regions and the human D, J, and Cμ and/or Cγ constant regions. Such loci rearrange productively and rescue B cell development efficiently without LC rearrangement. Heavy-chain-only antibodies (HCAb) are expressed at high levels, provided that the CH1 domain is deleted from the constant regions. HCAb production does not require an IgM stage for effective pre-B cell signaling. Antigen-specific heavy-chain-only IgM or IgGs are produced upon immunization. The IgG is dimeric, whereas IgM is multimeric. The chimeric HCAb loci are subject to allelic exclusion, but several copies of the transgenic locus can be rearranged and expressed successfully on the same allele in the same cell. Such cells are not subject to negative selection. The mice produce a full antibody repertoire and provide a previously undescribed avenue to produce specific human HCAb in the future.
A Quasigeostrophic Model for Moist Storm Tracks

The effect of moisture and latent heat release is investigated in the context of a three-level quasigeostrophic model on the sphere. The model is based on an existing dry model that was shown to be able to reproduce the midlatitude synoptic and low-frequency variability of the troposphere. In addition to potential vorticity equations, moisture evolution equations are included with a simple precipitation scheme. The model can be forced using reanalysis datasets to represent the observed climatology. After the description of the model, the Northern Hemisphere midlatitude climatic characteristics of the moist model are compared to its dry counterpart and to the 40-yr ECMWFRe-Analysis (ERA-40). The jet of the moist model is weakened in its central and northern part and enhanced in its southern part compared to the dry version, which generally decreases the model biases compared to reanalyses. Latent heating processes are mainly responsible for the global decrease in westerlies in the jet-core regions. Precipitation mainly occurs slightly poleward of the jet axes, thereby reducing the meridional temperature gradient and the wind through thermal wind balance. The mean synoptic activity is reduced according to the decrease in baroclinicity, as well as the mean low-frequency variability. A diagnosis of synoptic wave breaking is performed and the characteristics of the moist model are closer to the ones found in reanalyses, especially with more occurrence of cyclonic wave breaking. Weather regimes are slightly better represented in the moist model, although changes are weak compared to the intrinsic model biases. The behavior of the moist model around its climatology indicates that it could be used to run sensitivity experiments.
The influence of family on Thai students’ choices of international education

International students are key protagonists in the Australian educational system. Although much research has been conducted to better understand various aspects related to factors affecting their choices of international education, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the influence of personal sources. This study employs both qualitative and quantitative approaches to clarify this research problem. The qualitative phase identifies the influence from the Thai family into five categories: finance, information, expectation, persuasion, and competition. The quantitative phase examines the influence of five factors on five choices of international education. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings for the marketing of international education to Thailand.
Cellular basis of interferon formation and hyporeactivity after exposure to bacterial lipopolysaccharide.

Endotoxin apparently induces interferon in only a few types of cell, yet it produces strong hyporesponsiveness to a large number of agents. After incubation for 24 hr with endotoxin in vitro, tissue cultures of thymus, spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes, and to a lesser extent, liver and lung produced interferon. Lymphoid tissues of bone marrow-derived (B-) cells (sacculus rotundus, appendix, and Peyer's patches) and kidney did not produce interferon. Adherent spleen cells produced more interferon than nonadherent cells. Purification of spleen cells on a bovine serum albumin gradient showed that light, DNA-synthesizing cells made interferon in response to endotoxin or polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid. Mouse spleen cells produced a "late" interferon 24-48 hr after exposure to endotoxin, which, in contrast to "early" interferon (produced at 0-24 hr) from spleen and other tissues, is stable at 56 C for 60 min. It is suggested that this late interferon represents a "B-cell" interferon. Hyporeactivity was produced in vitro by endotoxin only in tissues that make endotoxin-induced interferon, a fact consistent with the theory that the interferon-inducing mechanism must be initiated before hyporeactivity results. The fact that endotoxin has been found to act on a fairly large range of cells (i.e., macrophages, thymus-derived cells, and probably B-lymphocytes) explains its ability to produce broad hyporesponsiveness.
Supercontinuum generation in the mid-infrared using dispersion engineered chalcogenide glass waveguides

We report the generation of a mid-IR supercontinuum created by passing ≈8psec duration pulses at ≈3260nm through dispersion-engineered As<sub>2</sub>S<sub>3</sub> and Ge<sub>11.5</sub>As<sub>24</sub>Se<sub>64.5</sub> waveguides.
Psychotic features and the course of Alzheimer's disease: relationship to cognitive, electroencephalographic and computerized tomography findings

Thirty‐one of 50 patients satisfying the NINCDS‐ADRDA criteria of probable or possible Alzheimer's disease showed psychotic features during a 2‐year observation period. Paranoid delusions were reported in 23 patients, delusional misidentification in 17, visual hallucinations in 16 and auditory hallucinations in 8. All of the 7 patients who died within the observation period had suffered from psychotic features even before the preterminal phase of illness. A faster progression of illness towards more severe stages of dementia was associated with paranoid delusions and hallucinations but not with delusional misidentification. We could not prove a significant influence of age, age of onset, cognitive performance, ventricular enlargement or the severity of quantitative electroencephalographic changes at initial examination on the course of illness. This may indicate that specific psychotic features and their potential organic substrate exert an effect on the progression of illness and on survival in Alzheimer's disease, which is not related to gross brain atrophy and generalized neurophysiological changes.
Pharmacogenomics of antidepressant treatment effects

There has been considerable promise and hope that pharmacogenomics will optimize existing treatments for major depression, as well as identify novel targets for drug discovery. Immediately after the sequencing of the human genome, there was much hope that tremendous progress in pharmacogenomics would rapidly be achieved. In the past 10 years this initial enthusiasm has been replaced by a more sober optimism, as we have gone a long way towards the goal of guiding therapeutics based on genomics. While the effort to translate discovery to clinical applications is ongoing, we now have a vast body of knowledge as well as a clear direction forward. This article will provide a critical appraisal of the state of the art in the pharmacogenomics of depression, both in terms of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics.
Teaching university modules in sixth forms: the shifting boundaries of post‐compulsory education?

Post‐compulsory education in the UK is growing in complexity. A little explored feature of this complexity is the development of collaborative arrangements between higher education institutions and providers of sixth form education under which students can study university modules whilst pursuing their sixth form studies. This article reports the findings of a recent project designed to explore the feasibility of such arrangements. A range of existing provision is identified focusing on both academic high achievers and students from socio‐economic groups that are currently under‐represented in higher education. The article reviews such arrangements in the context of government policy, the changing nature of sixth form and higher education, and the boundaries that have been drawn between what have traditionally been viewed as separate elements of the English and Welsh education systems. It considers the impact of such provision on the two main groups of students studied and highlights some of the issues arising out of these partnerships between higher education and sixth form institutions.
Lipoprotein(a) and Other Serum Lipid Subfractions Influencing Primary Patency after Infrainguinal Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty

Purpose: To evaluate the influence of serum lipid subfraction concentrations on arterial patency after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) in patients with infrainguinal peripheral artery occlusive disease (PAOD). Methods: From January 2007 to June 2008, a prospective study was conducted involving 39 patients (29 men; mean age 68.6±10.0 years) with infrainguinal PAOD in 41 limbs who had preprocedural lipid assessment and underwent successful PTA (<30% residual stenosis). Patient demographics, Fontaine clinical stage classification, Texas University Classification of ulcers, coexisting medical conditions, endovascular procedures, and lipid profiles were collected in a database. Follow-up included clinical and duplex ultrasound evaluation at discharge and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. To analyze any correlation between various lipid subfractions and the loss of primary patency (Cox proportional hazards modeling), the patients were dichotomized into high and low groups according to these thresholds: LDL-C >100 mg/dL, HDL-C <40 mg/dL, Lp(a) >30 mg/dL, and an Apo(B)/Apo(A) ratio >0.8 mg/dL. Results: Mean follow-up was 7.5 months (range 3–12). After 1, 3, and 6 months, the primary patency rates by Kaplan-Meier analysis were 94.9%, 73.7%, and 64.1%, respectively. Restenosis at 6 months was significantly related to female gender (HR 95.9, 95% CI 6.8 to 1352.5, p=0.001), HDL-C <40 mg/dL (HR 86.9, 95% CI 6.4 to 1183.1, p=0.001), LDL-C >100 mg/dL (HR 9.6, 95% CI 1.6 to 57.4, p=0.013), and Lp(a) >30 mg/dL (HR 6.1, 95% CI 1.4 to 26.3, p=0.016). Conclusion: Our results suggest that Lp(a), LDL-C, and HDL-C are independent risk factors for restenosis after infrainguinal PTA.
Inadvertent plagiarism in everyday life

Inadvertent plagiarism is a source monitoring error described in laboratory studies. In the present study, the existence of this phenomenon in everyday life and the impact of a variable considered in laboratory (i.e. source similarity) were investigated. Two hundred and two participants were asked to remember an episode involving inadvertent plagiarism in the past, and to describe it. Results showed that inadvertent plagiarism occurs in real life conditions with respect to various types of activities. Moreover, source similarity had an impact on inadvertent plagiarism. In particular, same-sex plagiarism occurred more often than opposite-sex plagiarism. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Contagion in financial networks

This paper develops an analytical model of contagion in financial networks with arbitrary structure. We explore how the probability and potential impact of contagion is influenced by aggregate and idiosyncratic shocks, changes in network structure and asset market liquidity. Our findings suggest that financial systems exhibit a robust-yet-fragile tendency: while the probability of contagion may be low, the effects can be extremely widespread when problems occur. And we suggest why the resilience of the system in withstanding fairly large shocks prior to 2007 should not have been taken as a reliable guide to its future robustness.
Science students' critical examination of scientific information related to socioscientific issues

It is widely accepted that to be scientifically literate one needs to have the ability to make thoughtful decisions about socioscientific issues (SSI). This includes critical assessment of scientific claims and arguments involved. In this study we asked 89 science education students with substantial academic qualifications in science, working in groups of two and three, to assess the reliability of scientific claims in an article of their own choice, but related to a socioscientific issue, and to present their evaluation in a short text. In analyzing the students' texts, we focused on the criteria they had explicitly and implicitly used in their evaluations. Through a qualitative analysis, we identified 13 different criteria focusing on empirical and theoretical adequacy, completeness of presented information, social aspects, and manipulative strategies. An inspection of the students' evaluations revealed that they drew upon knowledge of possible institutional interests, different signs of competence and an appreciation of concurrent expert views, but also methodological norms in science, specialized content knowledge, and an appreciation of evidence and disclosure of sources. The number of criteria used and the quality of their application varied, indicating that critical examination of texts with a science dimension needs to be emphasized in science teacher education. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed90:632–655, 2006
Increasing the emotional engagement of first year mature-aged distance students: Interest and belonging

This research followed 19 mature-aged distance students through their first semester of undergraduate study. The analysis of interviews and video diaries presented in this paper focuses on two key elements of emotional engagement: interest and belonging. Findings highlight the importance of interest triggered by personal preferences and experiences. Interest led to enjoyment, increased behavioural engagement with greater time and effort expended, and improved cognitive engagement in terms of depth and breadth of learning. In contrast, there was less evidence of the social side of emotional engagement, belonging. Participants felt little connection to the university, but connecting with fellow students through face-to-face courses and online forums was important for some to reduce their sense of isolation. However, distance study was not for all. The findings highlight the need for staff to consider emotional engagement when designing and delivering the curriculum and when interacting with students, particularly in the all-important first year.
On the mechanism for efficient repression of the interleukin-6 promoter by glucocorticoids: enhancer, TATA box, and RNA start site (Inr motif) occlusion

The feedback inhibition of interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene expression by glucocorticoids represents a regulatory link between the endocrine and immune systems. The mechanism of the efficient repression of the IL-6 promoter by dexamethasone (Dex) was investigated in HeLa cells transiently transfected with plasmid constructs containing different IL-6 promoter elements linked to the herpesvirus thymidine kinase gene (tk) promoter and the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene (cat) and cotransfected with cDNA vectors constitutively expressing either the active wild-type or inactive mutant human glucocorticoid receptor (GR). The induction by interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor, phorbol ester, or forskolin of IL-6-tk-cat chimeric constructs containing a single copy of the IL-6 DNA segment from -173 to -151 (MRE I) or from -158 to -145 (MRE II), which derive from within the multiple cytokine- and second-messenger-responsive enhancer (MRE) region, was strongly repressed by Dex in a wild-type GR-dependent fashion irrespective of the inducer used. The induction by pseudorabies virus of an IL-6 construct containing the IL-6 TATA box and the RNA start site ("initiator" or Inr element) but not the MRE region was also repressed by Dex in the presence of wild-type GR. DNase I footprinting showed that the purified DNA-binding fragment of GR bound across the MRE, the TATA box, and the Inr site in the IL-6 promoter; this footprint overlapped that produced by proteins present in nuclear extracts from uninduced or induced HeLa cells. Imperfect palindromic nucleotide sequence motifs moderately related to the consensus GR-responsive element (GRE) motif were present at the Inr, the TATA box, and the MRE II site in the IL-6 promoter; although MRE I and a GR-binding site between -201 and -210 in IL-6 both lacked a discernible inverted repeat motif, their sequences showed considerable similarity with negative GRE sequences in other Dex-repressed genes. Surprisingly, chimeric genes containing MRE II, which lacks a recognizable GACGTCA cyclic AMP- and phorbol ester-responsive motif, were strongly induced by both phorbol ester and forskolin, suggesting that MRE II (ACATTGCACAATCT) may be the prototype of a novel cyclic AMP- and phorbol ester-responsive element. Taken together, these observations suggest that ligand-activated GR represses the IL-6 gene by occlusion not only of the inducible IL-6 MRE enhancer region but also of the basal IL-6 promoter elements.
Mixed-Species Effects on Soil C and N Stocks, C/N Ratio and pH Using a Transboundary Approach in Adjacent Common Garden Douglas-Fir and Beech Stands

Mixed forest of Douglas-fir and beech has been suggested as one of the possible future forest types in Northwest Europe but the effects of this mixed forest on soil properties relative to monoculture stands are unknown. In a transboundary investigation of adjacent common garden Douglas-fir and beech stands, we determined the effects on topsoil properties. However, responses of C and N stocks, the C/N ratio and pH were site- and soil layer-specific and were mainly single-sided and without synergistic effects. Beech reduced the soil C and N stocks in Douglas-fir at the nutrient-poor site, caused an increase in the C/N ratio in the forest floor and mineral soil at both nutrient-poor and -rich sites, and reduced the acidifying effect of Douglas-fir at the nutrient-poor site. These results do not support the hypothesis that mixture effects would be consistent across sites and soil layers. The lack of synergistic effects may be attributed to the relatively similar litter quality or rooting depth that prevented any larger niche differentiation and complementarity. The results indicate that the transboundary approach within a mature common garden proved useful as a platform to test tree species interactions, and this approach could be explored in soil studies until dedicated mixed-species common gardens reach maturity.