Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Visnagin protects against doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy through modulation of mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase

A drug that targets the mitochondrial enzyme malate dehydrogenase protects against cardiotoxicity from the anticancer drug doxorubicin. Taming the Red Devil The cancer chemotherapy drug doxorubicin saves lives but its propensity to also inflict damage on the heart has earned it the nickname of the Red Devil. Liu et al. have now identified a compound that can prevent this drug-induced heart damage while leaving its cancer killing qualities intact. This agent, visnatin, was found among 3000 tested on a versatile piscine model, the zebrafish. After doxorubicin treatment, zebrafish hearts too suffer damage and visnagin protected them from injury. These salutary effects of visnagin were also apparent in mice, where it acts through mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase, a key metabolic enzyme. This or similar drugs may prove to be a valuable companion for doxorubicin, allowing it to acquire a less fiendish nickname. Doxorubicin is a highly effective anticancer chemotherapy agent, but its use is limited by its cardiotoxicity. To develop a drug that prevents this toxicity, we established a doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy model in zebrafish that recapitulates the cardiomyocyte apoptosis and contractility decline observed in patients. Using this model, we screened 3000 compounds and found that visnagin (VIS) and diphenylurea (DPU) rescue the cardiac performance and circulatory defects caused by doxorubicin in zebrafish. VIS and DPU reduced doxorubicin-induced apoptosis in cultured cardiomyocytes and in vivo in zebrafish and mouse hearts. VIS treatment improved cardiac contractility in doxorubicin-treated mice. Further, VIS and DPU did not reduce the chemotherapeutic efficacy of doxorubicin in several cultured tumor lines or in zebrafish and mouse xenograft models. Using affinity chromatography, we found that VIS binds to mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase (MDH2), a key enzyme in the tricarboxylic acid cycle. As with VIS, treatment with the MDH2 inhibitors mebendazole, thyroxine, and iodine prevented doxorubicin cardiotoxicity, as did treatment with malate itself, suggesting that modulation of MDH2 activity is responsible for VIS’ cardioprotective effects. Thus, VIS and DPU are potent cardioprotective compounds, and MDH2 is a previously undescribed, druggable target for doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy.
INTERPRETING THE EXPERIENCES OF CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS, AND JEWS ENGAGED IN INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE: A COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH STUDY

This article describes preliminary findings of a doctoral research project undertaken within the doctoral program in adult and continuing education at National-Louis University in Chicago. The project, inspired by the authors' own experiences of interreligious dialogue with each other as well as their encounter with the work of Boys and Lee (1996), investigates the experiences of particular Muslims, Christians, and Jews, who have engaged in interreligious dialogue for at least one year. The authors, a Muslim and a Jewish adult and religious educator, are two of the twenty participants in the study.
Measuring return on investment (ROI) of organizations’ internal communication efforts

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate how senior communication executives measure the effectiveness of organizations’ internal communication efforts and link the efforts with organizations’ business performance.Design/methodology/approach – An online international survey of 264 experienced business communicators was analyzed to identify those specific aspects of internal communication initiatives that have been measured by the organizations on a regular basis. In‐depth interviews with 13 senior communication executives were used as a supplementary approach to share their experiences and insights about measurement challenges in communication practices.Findings – Results suggested that most business communicators and organizations recognized the importance of measuring organizations’ internal communication initiatives; however, limited metrics have been applied to the assessment process. Several specific aspects of internal communication initiatives (e.g., improved job performance, change.
Democracy and Pornography: On Speech, Rights, Privacies, and Pleasures in Conflict

This article investigates the intersections of secrecy/interiority, the state, and speech/expression, and their implications for the rights of women. I propose a critique of commercial pornography that reanimates MacKinnon's claim that pornography and American democracy are in a relationship of mutual reinforcement, and incorporates poststructuralist (Lyotard, Baudrillard, and Butler) commitments to secrecy and unintelligibility, as well as their role in the production of pleasure.
Social policy, social work and age care in Nepal: mapping services and missing links

The emergence of an ageing population is a relatively new phenomenon in Nepal and has only just become an area of interest for researchers, health and social care practitioners and policy-makers. Life expectancy in Nepal has risen by more than 20 years in the past three decades and is currently 68 years of age. Until recently, Nepal was one of the few nations where men, on average, outlived women. As Nepal moves through the health transition this is no longer the case with recent statistics suggesting that an average life expectancy for females is now 69 years, two years greater than males. The ageing process in Nepal provides both challenges and opportunities for professionals, organisations and researchers. This paper provides an overview of the main issues related to an ageing population in Nepal and draws on research conducted under a British Academy Small Grant (BASG) project which ran from April 2011 until April 2012 in collaboration with the Nepal School of Social Work (NSSW), Kathmandu. Central issues emerging from the research suggest the need for more effective policies, better quality of care provision and perhaps more critically the role of advocacy in age-related concerns. Social work will have a key role to play in both advocating for the rights of the older population and ensuring that their needs are met.
Impairment of Circadian Rhythms in Peripheral Clocks by Constant Light Is Partially Reversed by Scheduled Feeding or Exercise

In mammals, circadian rhythms in peripheral organs are impaired when animals are maintained in abnormal environmental light-dark cycles such as constant light (LL). This conclusion is based on averaged data from groups of experimental animals sacrificed at each time point. To investigate the effect of LL housing on the peripheral clocks of individual mice, an in vivo imaging system was used to observe the circadian bioluminescence rhythm in peripheral tissues of the liver, kidney, and submandibular salivary gland in PER2::LUCIFERASE knock-in mice. Using this technique, we demonstrated that the majority of individual peripheral tissues still had rhythmic oscillations of their circadian clocks in LL conditions. However, LL housing caused decreased amplitudes and a broad distribution of peak phases in PER2::LUCIFERASE oscillations irrespective of the state of the animals’ behavioral rhythmicity. Because both scheduled feeding and scheduled exercise are effective recovery stimuli for circadian clock deficits, we examined whether scheduled feeding or scheduled exercise could reverse this impairment. The results showed that scheduled feeding or exercise could not restore the amplitude of peripheral clocks in LL. On the other hand, the LL-induced broad phase distribution was reversed, and peak phases were entrained to a specific time point by scheduled feeding but only slightly by scheduled exercise. The present results demonstrate that LL housing impairs peripheral circadian clock oscillations by altering both amplitude and phase in individual mice. The broad distribution of clock phases was clearly reversed by scheduled feeding, suggesting the importance of scheduled feeding as an entraining stimulus for impaired peripheral clocks.
Do perceptions of being treated fairly increase students’ outcomes? Teacher–student interactions and classroom justice in Italian adolescents

In this study, we have investigated the associations between the students’ perceptions of teachers’ interpersonal behaviour and some school outcomes – namely, academic achievement, learning motivation, and a sense of class belonging – considering the mediating role of classroom justice. Moreover, the impact of the school type was analysed. The research was performed on a population of 614 Italian students enrolled in 2 different types of secondary school, one with an academic orientation, the other with a vocational orientation. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to see the effect of the teachers’ behaviour on the dimensions of justice (i.e., equality, equity, needs, and interpersonal) and that of all these variables on academic achievement, learning motivation, and class belonging. The mediation role of classroom justice was confirmed by the analyses, and so was the impact of the school's orientation. Limitations to the study and future research ideas have also been outlined.
CALR-mutated essential thrombocythemia evolving to chronic myeloid leukemia with coexistent CALR mutation and BCR-ABL translocation.

To the editor: The understanding of the genetic basis of the myeloproliferative neoplasms has increased tremendously in the last few years. [1][1] In essential thrombocythemia (ET), 50% to 65% of the patients carry the JAK2 V617F mutation, whereas only ∼5% of patients carry MPL exon 10 mutations.
Multi-scale Deblurring with Smooth Region Constraints

In this paper, a new multi-scale deblurring method is proposed to remove the motion blur. The method estimates the blur kernel by an alternative algorithm at scales from coarse to fine. After the blur kernel is estimated in the finest scale, the blurred image is restored via image deconvolution. To remove the ringing artifacts, we propose a smooth regions constraint. Combining with the noise prior, image statistical prior and image sparse representation, the smooth region constraints can be used to suppress the ringings in the image deconvolution. The proposed method can estimate the accurate blur kernel and restore the high quality image with ringing removing. Various comparative results demonstrate the efficiency of our method.
Fostering reflective learning in Confucian Heritage Culture environments

This paper reports on two tutors' efforts to foster reflective learning in the context of a business synoptic module delivered as part of a programme of collaborative provision at City University of Hong Kong. In assessing what the design and implementation of processes aimed at fostering reflective learning have accomplished, evaluatory evidence of students' work suggests that Hong Kong Chinese learners are as capable as Western students to adapt to modes of learning and assessment requiring a reflective, deep learning approach.
Sexual Dimorphism of the Feto-Placental Phenotype in Response to a High Fat and Control Maternal Diets in a Rabbit Model

Maternal environment during early developmental stages plays a seminal role in the establishment of adult phenotype. Using a rabbit model, we previously showed that feeding dams with a diet supplemented with 8% fat and 0.2% cholesterol (HH diet) from the prepubertal period and throughout gestation induced metabolic syndrome in adult offspring. Here, we examined the effects of the HH diet on feto-placental phenotype at 28 days post-coïtum (term = 31days) in relation to earlier effects in the blastocyst (Day 6). At 28 days, both male and female HH fetuses were intrauterine growth retarded and dyslipidemic, with males more affected than females. Lipid droplets accumulated in the HH placentas’ trophoblast, consistent with the increased concentrations in cholesteryl esters (3.2-fold), triacylglycerol (2.5-fold) and stored FA (2.12-fold). Stored FA concentrations were significantly higher in female compared to male HH placentas (2.18-fold, p<0.01), whereas triacylglycerol was increased only in HH males. Trophoblastic lipid droplet accumulation was also observed at the blastocyst stage. The expression of numerous genes involved in lipid pathways differed significantly according to diet both in term placenta and at the blastocyst stage. Among them, the expression of LXR-α in HH placentas was reduced in HH males but not females. These data demonstrate that maternal HH diet affects the blastocyst and induces sex-dependent metabolic adaptations in the placenta, which appears to protect female fetuses from developing severe dyslipidemia.
The Future of the Local Jail

*Merlyn Bell is a sociologist based in Seattle. She has served as director of the King County Jail in that city. In the early 1920’s, Joseph Fishman wrote a scathing denunciation of local jails, entitled Crucibles of Crime (Fishman, 1923). Fifty years later, Charles Silberman wrote that jails were &dquo;cesspools of crime&dquo; (Silberman, 1978). Also in the 1970’s, Hans Mattick, perhaps the most knowledgeable recent critic of jails, noted that &dquo;construction is often a substitute for jail reform&dquo; (1974). If he is correct, then history may be repeating itself. In the 50 years intervening between Fishman and Silberman, many jails were replaced or renovated. Half the nation’s jails were constructed between 1950 and 1978 (Mullen, 1980). And jail construction is again a booming business. In the early 1980’s, nearly 500 new jails were being built, at a cost of over $3 billion (Nelson, 1983).
The influence of organizational power on conflict dynamics

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to gain more insight in how line managers react to power use of superiors and subordinates in conflict situations.Design/methodology/approach – The data was collected from 488 line managers; the majority of these managers worked in business services and non‐profit organizations. To measure the reaction of the line manager, the “Test for handling common organizational conflicts” was used, which incorporates a response factor (conflict style) and a situation factor (a combination of the opponent's behaviour and the organizational position). Findings – The results showed, as expected, that managers' dominant or submissive reactions to opponents' dominant or submissive behaviour depend on opponents' power positions. The predicted directions of these relationships were that managers would react more complementarily to their superiors and would react more reciprocally to their subordinates. The hypotheses on the complementary reaction to superiors were supported. Managers s.
Mapping Genetic Variants Underlying Differences in the Central Nitrogen Metabolism in Fermenter Yeasts

Different populations within a species represent a rich reservoir of allelic variants, corresponding to an evolutionary signature of withstood environmental constraints. Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains are widely utilised in the fermentation of different kinds of alcoholic beverages, such as, wine and sake, each of them derived from must with distinct nutrient composition. Importantly, adequate nitrogen levels in the medium are essential for the fermentation process, however, a comprehensive understanding of the genetic variants determining variation in nitrogen consumption is lacking. Here, we assessed the genetic factors underlying variation in nitrogen consumption in a segregating population derived from a cross between two main fermenter yeasts, a Wine/European and a Sake isolate. By linkage analysis we identified 18 main effect QTLs for ammonium and amino acids sources. Interestingly, majority of QTLs were involved in more than a single trait, grouped based on amino acid structure and indicating high levels of pleiotropy across nitrogen sources, in agreement with the observed patterns of phenotypic co-variation. Accordingly, we performed reciprocal hemizygosity analysis validating an effect for three genes, GLT1, ASI1 and AGP1. Furthermore, we detected a widespread pleiotropic effect on these genes, with AGP1 affecting seven amino acids and nine in the case of GLT1 and ASI1. Based on sequence and comparative analysis, candidate causative mutations within these genes were also predicted. Altogether, the identification of these variants demonstrate how Sake and Wine/European genetic backgrounds differentially consume nitrogen sources, in part explaining independently evolved preferences for nitrogen assimilation and representing a niche of genetic diversity for the implementation of practical approaches towards more efficient strains for nitrogen metabolism.
Log Clustering Based Problem Identification for Online Service Systems

Logs play an important role in the maintenance of large-scale online service systems. When an online service fails, engineers need to examine recorded logs to gain insights into the failure and identify the potential problems. Traditionally, engineers perform simple keyword search (such as “error” and “exception”) of logs that may be associated with the failures. Such an approach is often time consuming and error prone. Through our collaboration with Microsoft service product teams, we propose LogCluster, an approach that clusters the logs to ease log-based problem identification. LogCluster also utilizes a knowledge base to check if the log sequences occurred before. Engineers only need to examine a small number of previously unseen, representative log sequences extracted from the clusters to identify a problem, thus significantly reducing the number of logs that should be examined, meanwhile improving the identification accuracy. Through experiments on two Hadoop-based applications and two large-scale Microsoft online service systems, we show that our approach is effective and outperforms the state-of-the-art work proposed by Shang et al. in ICSE 2013. We have successfully applied LogCluster to the maintenance of many actual Microsoft online service systems. In this paper, we also share our success stories and lessons learned.
Scaling distribution Web indicators for complex innovation systems

The Web and innovation systems are interacting complex systems that impact each other. Web indicators used to inform decision-makers about the impact they are having on each must be reproducible and relevant. Web metrics research is young and best-practice methodologies for producing robust indicators are evolving. This study describes a methodology for producing robust indicators of the web presence of the European and Canadian innovation systems. It demonstrates that the emergent properties and scaling characteristics expected of complex systems are captured by these indicators. It illustrates how these indicators can be used to measure the amount of recognition a nation or province’s web presence receives from other nations and provinces in their innovation systems.
Predicting Elections for Multiple Countries Using Twitter and Polls

The authors' work focuses on predicting the 2014 European Union elections in three different countries using Twitter and polls. Past works in this domain relying strictly on Twitter data have been proven ineffective. Others, using polls as their ground truth, have raised questions regarding the contribution of Twitter data for this task. Here, the authors treat this task as a multivariate time-series forecast, extracting Twitter- and poll-based features and training different predictive algorithms. They've achieved better results than several past works and the commercial baseline.
A study of work‐family conflict, family‐work conflict and the contingent effect of self‐efficacy of retail salespeople in a transitional economy

Purpose – The present study aims to contribute to the growing cross‐national body of literature on work‐family conflict (WFC) and family‐work conflict (FWC) issues by examining the interrelationship of these constructs with other variables in the context of a transitional economy.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected using self‐report questionnaires distributed to retail salespeople in Hungary. Hypothesis tests were conducted using structural equation modeling.Findings – The results revealed that WFC is strongly related to job stress, while FWC is not, and that job stress fully mediates the effect of WFC on turnover intentions. It was also found that self‐efficacy, as a moderator, heightened the positive effect of WFC on job stress, but attenuated the effect of FWC.Research limitations/implications – Future research could examine both the deleterious and beneficial effects of role identity spillover and include additional psychological work outcomes beyond turnover intentions. Assessing the im.
Thermal actuated passive bistable MEMS switch

A completely passively operating micro-mechanical switch is presented. The switch composes of a thermal actuator and a curved bistable beam. The actuator comprises V-shaped beams and a lever transmission. It is designed to operate passive only relying on the thermal expansion of the active material (electroplated Ni) and the temperature changes of the surrounding environment, where the temperature ranges from 40°C up to +50°C. The actuator exhibits a temperature dependent deflection sensitivity of 0.9 μm/K and sufficient force to push the bistable beam into is secondary position. Both subsystems are connected via a latching mechanism. A temperature difference of at least 35 K is required for activation of the switch. A self tailored measurement setup is used to quantify the temperature dependent deflections by means of an optical principle. The measured results are in good agreement with results of numerical simulations and analytical models.
Efficacy of a respiratory rehabilitation exercise training package in hospitalized elderly patients with acute exacerbation of COPD: a randomized control trial

Clinical trials identifier NCT02329873 Background Acute exacerbation (AE) of COPD is characterized by a sudden worsening of COPD symptoms. Previous studies have explored the effectiveness of respiratory rehabilitation for patients with COPD; however, no training program specific to acute exacerbation in elderly patients or unstable periods during hospitalization has been developed. Objective To evaluate the effects of a respiratory rehabilitation exercise training package on dyspnea, cough, exercise tolerance, and sputum expectoration among hospitalized elderly patients with AECOPD. Methods A randomized control trial was conducted. Pretest and posttest evaluations of 61 elderly inpatients with AECOPD (experimental group n=30; control group n=31) were performed. The experimental group received respiratory rehabilitation exercise training twice a day, 10–30 minutes per session for 4 days. The clinical parameters (dyspnea, cough, exercise tolerance, and sputum expectoration) were assessed at the baseline and at the end of the fourth day. Results All participants (median age =70 years, male =60.70%, and peak expiratory flow 140 L) completed the study. In the patients of the experimental group, dyspnea and cough decreased and exercise tolerance and sputum expectoration increased significantly compared with those of the patients in the control group (all P<0.05). Within-group comparisons revealed that the dyspnea, cough, and exercise tolerance significantly improved in the experimental group by the end of the fourth day (all P<0.05). Conclusion Results of this study suggest that the respiratory rehabilitation exercise training package reduced symptoms and enhanced the effectiveness of the care of elderly inpatients with AECOPD.