Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of exercise in reducing breast and chest-wall pain in patients with breast cancer: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND Breast or chest-wall pain (BCP) is prevalent in 20%-50% of breast cancer survivors, and it affects quality of life (QOL). To determine the feasibility and potential efficacy of an exercise program to improve patient QOL and BCP, such a program was offered to breast cancer patients suffering from BCP. METHODS The study enrolled 10 breast cancer patients with moderate-to-severe BCP at 3-6 months after completion of all adjuvant treatments. These patients participated in a 12-week comprehensive health improvement program (CHIP). Intensity was adjusted to reach 65%-85% of the patient's maximal heart rate. Before the CHIP and at 1 and 6 months after completion of the CHIP, QOL and pain were measured using questionnaires [European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life core and breast cancer modules (QLQ-C30, -BR23) and the McGill Pain Questionnaire short form] completed by the patients. Results were compared with those from case-matched control subjects from another study at McGill University. RESULTS After the CHIP, patients reported significant and clinically important improvements in QOL and symptoms. At 1 and 6 months post-CHIP, patients in the study felt, on average, better in overall QOL than did historical control subjects. CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that patients who experience chronic bcp may benefit from an exercise program. A randomized controlled trial is warranted.
The Nature of Science—Do teachers have the understandings they are expected to teach?

Abstract South Africa is introducing Outcomes Based Education as an approach to teach the new Curriculum 2005 (C2005). The new curriculum contains exciting new aspects for the Natural Sciences. For example, in addition to learning traditional science subject matter, children are expected to develop also an understanding of the ‘changing and contested nature of knowledge in the natural sciences’, i.e. of the ‘Nature of Science’ (NOS). Since curriculum reform depends crucially on the teachers, it is important to find out whether their understandings of the NOS are in accordance with what they are required to teach. We explored existing understandings of the NOS among participants in several teacher professional development programmes through an internationally validated questionnaire backed up by semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire was expanded to elicit possible culturally and socially determined aspects of understandings of the NOS. We compare the teachers' understandings of the NOS with the understandings delineated in C2005. Teachers' understandings differ from those advocated in C2005 but match international research findings. Culturally determined views are found on the status of different knowledge systems. As a follow-up to this study, an exploration is under way into the impact of an in-service teacher-training programme directed at bringing teachers' understandings in line with the requirements of Curriculum 2005.
Sin3a regulates epithelial progenitor cell fate during lung development

Mechanisms that regulate tissue-specific progenitors for maintenance and differentiation during development are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that the co-repressor protein Sin3a is crucial for lung endoderm development. Loss of Sin3a in mouse early foregut endoderm led to a specific and profound defect in lung development with lung buds failing to undergo branching morphogenesis and progressive atrophy of the proximal lung endoderm with complete epithelial loss at later stages of development. Consequently, neonatal pups died at birth due to respiratory insufficiency. Further analysis revealed that loss of Sin3a resulted in embryonic lung epithelial progenitor cells adopting a senescence-like state with permanent cell cycle arrest in G1 phase. This was mediated at least partially through upregulation of the cell cycle inhibitors Cdkn1a and Cdkn2c. At the same time, loss of endodermal Sin3a also disrupted cell differentiation of the mesoderm, suggesting aberrant epithelial-mesenchymal signaling. Together, these findings reveal that Sin3a is an essential regulator for early lung endoderm specification and differentiation. Highlighted article: Loss of Sin3a in the mouse early foregut endoderm leads to defects in lung development and cell cycle arrest of epithelial progenitor cells.
The Fine Line between Linguistic Generalization and Failure in Seq2Seq-Attention Models

Seq2Seq based neural architectures have become the go-to architecture to apply to sequence to sequence language tasks. Despite their excellent performance on these tasks, recent work has noted that these models typically do not fully capture the linguistic structure required to generalize beyond the dense sections of the data distribution (Ettinger et al., 2017), and as such, are likely to fail on examples from the tail end of the distribution (such as inputs that are noisy (Belinkov and Bisk, 2018), or of different length (Bentivogli et al., 2016)). In this paper we look at a model’s ability to generalize on a simple symbol rewriting task with a clearly defined structure. We find that the model’s ability to generalize this structure beyond the training distribution depends greatly on the chosen random seed, even when performance on the test set remains the same. This finding suggests that model’s ability to capture generalizable structure is highly sensitive, and more so, this sensitivity may not be apparent when evaluating the model on standard test sets.
Free radical generation by skeletal muscle of adult and old mice: effect of contractile activity

Oxidative modification of cellular components may contribute to tissue dysfunction during aging. In skeletal muscle, contractile activity increases the generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS). The question of whether contraction‐induced ROS generation is further increased in skeletal muscle of the elderly is important since this influences recommendations on their exercise participation. Three different approaches were used to examine whether aging influences contraction‐induced ROS generation. Hind limb muscles of adult and old mice underwent a 15‐min period of isometric contractions and we examined ROS generation by isolated skeletal muscle mitochondria, ROS release into the muscle extracellular fluid using microdialysis techniques, and the muscle glutathione and protein thiol contents. Resting skeletal muscle of old mice compared with adult mice showed increased ROS release from isolated mitochondria, but no changes in the extracellular levels of superoxide, nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical activity or muscle glutathione and protein thiol contents. Skeletal muscle mitochondria isolated from both adult and old mice after contractile activity showed significant increases in hydrogen peroxide release compared with pre‐contraction values. Contractions increased extracellular hydroxyl radical activity in adult and old mice, but had no significant effect on extracellular hydrogen peroxide or nitric oxide in either group. In adult mice only, contractile activity increased the skeletal muscle release of superoxide. A similar decrease in muscle glutathione and protein thiol contents was seen in adult and old mice following contractions. Thus, contractile activity increased skeletal muscle ROS generation in both adult and old mice with no evidence for an age‐related exacerbation of ROS generation.
Learning-by-Doing and Market Performance

This article studies the implications of learning-by-doing for market conduct and performance. We use a general continuous-time model to show that output increases over time in the absence of strategic interactions, and that a monopolist learns too slowly, compared with the social optimum. We then specialize to a two-period model with linear demand and learning to analyze the case in which firms do consider the effect of their learning on the actions of their rivals. We show that strategic incentives can induce firms to choose decreasing output paths, and that a little diffusion of learning across firms increases output if firms are naive, but decreases output if firms play strategically. We further show that increased learning improves welfare, and that welfare can be improved by using a balanced-budget tax-subsidy scheme which transfers production incentives to the less competitive "mature" phase of the industry.
Microwave-assisted synthesis and evaluation of type 1 collagen–apatite composites for dental tissue regeneration

The aim was to develop an economical and biocompatible collagen-based bioactive composite for tooth regeneration. Acid-soluble collagen was extracted and purified from fish scales. The design was innovated to molecularly tailor the surface charge sites of the nano-apatite providing chemical bonds with the collagen matrix via microwave irradiation technique. The obtained collagen was identified by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis. The composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis/differential scanning calorimetry, and scanning electron microscopy. MC3T3-E1 cell lines were used to assess the biological effects of these materials by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetra zolium bromide (MTT) assay. Indirect contact test was performed by extracting representative elutes in cell culture media and sulforhodamine B analysis was performed. Chorioallantoic membrane assay was conducted to define the new vessels formation behavior. The purity of collagen extracts was determined and showed two α-chains, i.e. the characteristic of type I collagen. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed the characteristic peaks for amide I, I, III, and phosphate for collagen and composites. Scanning electron microscopy images showed three-dimensional mesh of collagen/apatite nano-fibers. Nontoxic behavior of composites was observed and there were graded and dose-related effects on experimental compounds. The angiogenesis and vessels formation behavior were observed in bioactive collagen composite. The obtained composites have potential to be used for tooth structure regeneration.
Development of Financial Market and Economic Growth: Review of Hong Kong, China, Japan, The United States and The United Kingdom

The empirical evidence suggests that the development of stock markets in China, USA, United Kingdom, Japan and Hong Kong have independently a strongly positive correlation with their economic growth. The result brings out an important theory to support for the proposition that the stock market development is one of the key drivers of economic growth in developed and developing countries, whatever the modes of their financial systems, stage of their economic development and types of economic system.
Selective T Cell Expansion during Aging of CD8 Memory Repertoires to Influenza Revealed by Modeling

The aging of T cell memory is often considered in terms of senescence, a process viewed as decay and loss of memory T cells. How senescence would affect memory is a function of the initial structure of the memory repertoire and whether the clonotypes that make up the repertoire decay at random. We examine this issue using the T cell memory generated to the conserved influenza A epitope M158–66, which induces a strong, focused, but polyclonal CD8 T cell response in HLA-A2 individuals. We analyzed the CD8 T cell memory repertoires in eight healthy middle-aged and eight healthy older blood donors representing an average age difference of ∼27 y. Although the repertoires show broadly similar clonotype distributions, the number of observable clonotypes decreases significantly. This decrease disproportionally affects low-frequency clonotypes. Rank frequency analysis shows the same two-component clonotype distribution described earlier for these repertoires. The first component includes lower frequency clonotypes for which distribution can be described by a power law. The slope of this first component is significantly steeper in the older cohort. Generating a representative repertoire for each healthy cohort allowed agent-based modeling of the aging process. Interestingly, simple senescence of middle-aged repertoires is insufficient to describe the older clonotype distribution. Rather, a selective clonotype expansion must be included to achieve the best fit. We propose that responses to periodic virus exposure may drive such expansion, ensuring that the remaining clonotypes are optimized for continued protection.
Regional labor markets and aging in Germany

This paper analyzes how the aging labor force aþects the unemployment rate at the regional level in Germany. A theoretical model of equilibrium unemployment with spatial labor market interactions is used to study the eþects of age-related changes in job creation and job destruction. Using data for 343 districts, we then examine empirically the consequences of an aging labor force for the local labor markets in Germany. We apply diþerent estimation techniques to a spatial and time dynamic panel data model. According to the estimates, aging causes an increase in job destruction. In addition, aging in the local labor market increases job creation, while the spatial aging eþect on job creation in the local district is negative.
Location, Automotive Policy, and Multinational Strategy: The Position of South Africa in the Global Industry since 1995

The South African automotive sector has become much more integrated into the global industry since 1995. Rapid export expansion has shifted its orientation fundamentally away from its focus on the small domestic market and the industry is widely regarded as a success story of South Africa's democratic transition. However, important vulnerabilities remain, and it is by no means clear that the mode of integration has been particularly favorable to the long-term development of the industry. The relatively small size of South Africa's domestic market and its regional location pose clear disadvantages in terms of attracting international investment. Integration into the global industry has therefore been partial and continues to reflect a degree of hesitancy by multinational firms to make really major commitments to the South African industry. The warning signs include recent import expansion and low local content in domestically assembled vehicles. Automotive policy has also produced distortions, encouraged uneconomic investments, and led to unforeseen side effects. These impacts limit the gains that have been made and are likely to cause complications in the future. Copyright (c) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Stock Futures Trading Information and Spot Price Volatility: Evidence from the Indian Pharmaceutical Sector

Exponential GARCH model was employed to examine the impact of futures trading on spot market volatility of the twelve underlying shares of pharmaceutical sector of India. The empirical analysis was conducted for the daily closing price returns of each stock of pharmaceutical firms for the different time periods from 1st January, 1996 through 12th March, 2009. The analysis reveals mixed findings. Most of the selected pharmaceutical stocks reveal an introduction of futures market declined the volatility of underlying spot market. This is followed by positive impact of introduction of futures on the spot market volatility of the selected underlying shares of pharmaceutical firms in India. Besides, the empirical findings of most of the selected pharmaceutical scrips indicate the existence of positive asymmetric response to new information on the volatility of underlying spot market.
The Economic Institutions of Capitalism

In the last two decades, several of the major tenets of the conventional wisdom of industrial organization have been challenged. Where high market shares and concentration were once thought to induce market power and cooperative behavior and thus higher prices, they are now presumed by many to be symptomatic of the greater efficiency (and hence lower prices? ) of the leading firms. Where leading economists like George Stigler I and Jesse Markham' once expressed doubts concerning the extent of efficiency gains stemming from mergers, each new merger wave now brings forth a chorus of new hypotheses about the efficiency gains from mergers.
Modulation of LIN28B/Let-7 Signaling by Propranolol Contributes to Infantile Hemangioma Involution

Objective— Infantile hemangiomas (IHs) are the most common benign vascular neoplasms of infancy, characterized by a rapid growth phase followed by a spontaneous involution, or triggered by propranolol treatment by poorly understood mechanisms. LIN28/let-7 axis plays a central role in the regulation of stem cell self-renewal and tumorigenesis. However, the role of LIN28B/let-7 signaling in IH pathogenesis has not yet been elucidated. Approach and Results— LIN28B is highly expressed in proliferative IH and is less expressed in involuted and in propranolol-treated IH samples as measured by immunofluorescence staining and quantitative RT-PCR. Small RNA sequencing analysis of IH samples revealed a decrease in microRNAs that target LIN28B, including let-7, and an increase in microRNAs in the mir-498(46) cistron. Overexpression of LIN28B in HEK293 cells induced the expression of miR-516b in the mir-498(46) cistron. Propranolol treatment of induced pluripotent stem cells, which express mir-498(46) endogenously, reduced the expression of both LIN28B and mir-498(46) and increased the expression of let-7. Furthermore, propranolol treatment reduced the proliferation of induced pluripotent stem cells and induced epithelial–mesenchymal transition. Conclusions— This work uncovers the role of the LIN28B/let-7 switch in IH pathogenesis and provides a novel mechanism by which propranolol induces IH involution. Furthermore, it provides therapeutic implications for cancers in which the LIN28/let-7 pathway is imbalanced.
Innovation, Investor Sentiment, and Firm-Level Experimentation

Due to frictions like informational externalities, firms invest too little in learning the productivity of newly available technologies through small-scale experimentation. I study the effect of investor sentiment on the relation between technological innovation and future firm-level R&D expenses, which include the resources used for small-scale experimentation. I find that rapidly improving investor sentiment strengthens the effect of technological innovation on one-year-ahead R&D expenses, and that the effect is more pronounced for high-tech firms with tighter financing constraints. The results are not driven by sentiment proxying for technological innovation or by sentiment and R&D expenses being jointly determined. The evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that sentiment counteracts frictions in the process of technology diffusion.
An Index of Inequality: With Applications to Horizontal Equity and Social Mobility

An index of Inequality is constructed which decomposes into two components, corresponding to vertical and "horizontal" equity respectively. Horizontal equity Is defined in terms of changes in the ordering of a distribution. The proposed index is a function to two inequality aversion parameters. One empirical application is for comparison of a pre-tax distribution with a post-tax distribution, and an example of this is given for the distribution of incomes in the UK in 1977. There is a trade-off between "horizontal"and vertical equity, and for particular combinations of the inequality aversion parameters the original distribution will be preferred to the final distribution. The paper concludes with an application of the proposed index to a model of optimal taxation.
Stress-specific Activation Mechanisms for the “Cell Integrity” MAPK Pathway*

Many environmental stresses trigger cellular responses by activating mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. Once activated, these highly conserved protein kinase cascades can elicit cellular responses such as transcriptional activation of response genes, cytoskeletal rearrangement, and cell cycle arrest. The mechanism of pathway activation by environmental stresses is in most cases unknown. We have analyzed the activation of the budding yeast “cell integrity” MAPK pathway by heat shock, hypoosmotic shock, and actin perturbation, and we report that different stresses regulate this pathway at different steps. In no case can MAPK activation be explained by the prevailing view that stresses simply induce GTP loading of the Rho1p GTPase at the “top” of the pathway. Instead, our findings suggest that the stresses can modulate at least three distinct kinases acting between Rho1p and the MAPK. These findings suggest that stresses provide “lateral” inputs into this regulatory pathway, rather than operating in a linear “top-down” manner.
Moving across Borders: Who is Willing to Migrate or to Commute?

Huber P. and Nowotny K. Moving across borders: who is willing to migrate or commute? , Regional Studies. The willingness to commute and migrate across borders is analysed by focusing on the differences in the effects of individual characteristics on migration and commuting propensities. By applying a multinomial probit regression using individual-level survey data on migration and commuting intentions, considerable differences are found between potential cross-border commuters and migrants. Variables measuring the indirect costs of mobility have a smaller impact and gender differences as well as deprivation have a larger impact on the willingness to commute than on the willingness to migrate across borders. In addition, there is evidence of non-linearities in the effects of various variables.
Spatially Displaced Demand and the Changing Geography of House Prices in London, 1995–2006

This paper discusses the links between the growth of high incomes and gentrification in inner London on the homeownership market. It examines changes in average London house prices by borough using data from 1995 to 2006. It shows that while the top priced boroughs in 1995 were still at the top of the distribution in 2006, and the lowest priced boroughs were still at the bottom, there has been a catching up process with some of the highest rates of price inflation in the lowest priced boroughs, and vice versa. It considers various explanations for these changes and outlines the concept of spatially displaced demand from the expensive boroughs to help explain price rises in the cheaper boroughs.
Simplified Normalization of C-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar Data for Terrestrial Applications in High Latitude Environments

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) applications often require normalization to a common incidence angle. Angular signatures of radar backscatter depend on surface roughness and vegetation cover, and thus differ, from location to location. Comprehensive reference datasets are therefore required in heterogeneous landscapes. Multiple acquisitions from overlapping orbits with sufficient incidence angle range are processed in order to obtain parameters of the location specific normalization function. We propose a simpler method for C-band data, using single scenes only. It requires stable dielectric properties (no variations of liquid water content). This method is therefore applicable for frozen conditions. Winter C-band data have been shown of high value for a number of applications in high latitudes before. In this paper we explore the relationship of incidence angle and Sentinel-1 backscatter across the tundra to boreal transition zone. A linear relationship (coefficient of determination R 2 = 0.64) can be found between backscatter and incidence angle dependence (slope of normalization function) as determined by multiple acquisitions on a pixel by pixel basis for typical land cover classes in these regions. This allows a simplified normalization and thus reduced processing effort for applications over larger areas.