Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A trial of recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor for the treatment of very low birthweight infants with presumed sepsis and neutropenia

OBJECTIVES The primary objective was to investigate the safety of recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) for the treatment of very low birthweight infants (VLBW) with sepsis and relative neutropenia, specifically with regard to worsening of respiratory distress and thrombocytopenia and all cause mortality. Secondary objectives were to evaluate duration of ventilation, intensive care, and antibiotic use as markers of efficacy. DESIGN Neonates (⩽ 28 days) in intensive care, with birth weights of 500–1500 g, absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of ⩽ 5 × 109/l, and clinical evidence of sepsis, were randomly assigned to receive either rhG-CSF (10 μg/kg/day) administered intravenously (n = 13), or placebo (n = 15) for a maximum of 14 days, in addition to standard treatment and antibiotics. All adverse events, oxygenation index, incidence of thrombocytopenia, all cause mortality, duration of ventilation, intensive care and antibiotic treatment, and ANC recovery were compared between the two groups. RESULTS Adverse events and oxygenation index were not increased by, and thrombocytopenia was not attributable to, treatment with rhG-CSF. At 6 and 12 months postmenstrual age, there were significantly fewer deaths in the group receiving rhG-CSF (1/13 v 7/15; p ⩽ 0.038). There was a non-significant trend towards a reduction in duration of ventilation, intensive care, and antibiotic use in the rhG-CSF group. There was a significantly more rapid increase in ANC in the rhG-CSF treated babies (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS In a small randomised placebo controlled trial in a highly selected group of neonates, adjuvant treatment with rhG-CSF increased ANC rapidly, and no treatment related adverse events were identified. Mortality at 6 and 12 months postmenstrual age was significantly lower in the treatment group. A large trial investigating efficacy in a similar group of neonates is warranted. Key messages rhG-CSF increases the absolute neutrophil count in very low birthweight infants with neutropenia and sepsis Thrombocytopenia is not an effect of rhG-CSF treatment Potential beneficial effects on long term survival require further investigation
Stress and the School Psychologist

Representative groups of English (n = 20) and Australian (n = 34) school psychologists were asked to complete the School Psychologists and Stress Inventory (SPSI) and their responses compared with those of a larger but more disparate US sample. Similar levels of stress were reported in all three countries but specific differences as well as similarities were found in the identification of sources of stress. Some possible reasons for these differences are speculated and the strengths and weaknesses of the questionnaire approach to stress is discussed.
Resource sharing using the rollback mechanism in hierarchically scheduled real-time open systems

In this paper we present a new synchronization protocol called RRP (Rollback Resource Policy) which is compatible with hierarchically scheduled open systems and specialized for resources that can be aborted and rolled back. We conduct an extensive event-based simulation and compare RRP against all equivalent existing protocols in hierarchical fixed priority preemptive scheduling; SIRAP (Subsystem Integration and Resource Allocation Policy), OPEN-HSRPnP (open systems version of Hierarchical Stack Resource Policy no Payback) and OPEN-HSRPwP (open systems version of Hierarchical Stack Resource Policy with Payback). Our simulation study shows that RRP has better average-case response-times than the state-of-the-art protocol in open systems, i.e., SIRAP, and that it performs better than OPEN-HSRPnP/OPEN-HSRPwP in terms of schedulability of randomly generated systems. The simulations consider both resources that are compatible with rollback as well as resources incompatible with rollback (only abort), such that the resource-rollback overhead can be evaluated. We also measure CPU overhead costs (in VxWorks) related to the rollback mechanism of tasks and resources. We use the eXtremeDB (embedded real-time) database to measure the resource-rollback overhead1.
Cognitive process in second language reading: transfer of L1 reading skills and strategies

Two crosslinguistic experiments were conducted with 83 skilled readers from four contrasting L1 orthographic backgrounds. Experiment 1 tested the effects of blocking either visual or sound information on lexical decision-making. Experiment 2 examined the effects of heterographic homophones (e.g. eight and ate) on reading comprehension. Data from the two experiments demonstrate that the subjects utilize cognitive skills and strategies developed in their L 1 when reading English as an L2, suggesting that (a) L1-L2 cognitive process transfer does take place in L2 reading and also that (b) orthographic structure exerts a significant influence on cognitive processess in reading.
Male contraceptive efficacy of poly herbal formulation, contracept-TM, composed of aqueous extracts of Terminalia chebula fruit and Musa balbisiana seed in rat

Abstract Context: Terminalia chebula Retz (Combretaceae) and Musa balbisiana Colla (Musaceae) have a traditional reputation as a male contraceptive. Objective: To determine the hypo-testicular activity of aqueous extracts of Terminalia chebula (fruit) and Musa balbisiana (seed) separately, and in composite manner at the ratio of 1:1 named as ‘Contracept-TM’ compared to cyproterone acetate (CPA), for developing a polyherbal contraceptive. Materials and methods: The separate extract of above said plants or ‘Contracept-TM’ at the dose of 40 mg/100 g body weight of rat/day or CPA at 2 mg/100 g body weight of rat/day was administered for 28 days. Spermiological, androgenic and oxidative stress sensors, LD50 and ED50/100 g body weight values were measured. Results: Treatment of individual, ‘Contracept-TM’ or CPA resulted significant decrease in the count of spermatogonia A (36.36–49.09%), pre-leptotene spermatocyte (19.11–55.30%), mid-pachytene spermatocyte (28.65–47.28%) and step 7 spermatid (29.65–51.59%). Activities of testicular Δ5, 3β (21.25–48.02%),17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (29.75–55.08%), catalase (19.06–43.29%) and peroxidase (30.76–62.82%), levels of testosterone (28.15–63.44%), testicular cholesterol (19.61–49.33%), conjugated diene (29.69–84.99%) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (41.25–86.73%) were elevated compare to the control. The ED50 and LD50 values were 40 mg and 5.8 g (T. chebula), 48 mg and 6.3 g (M. bulbisiana), 40 mg and 6.0 g (‘Contracept-TM’), respectively. Discussion and conclusion: The said spermiological and androgenic sensors’ levels were decreased significantly by ‘Contracept-TM’ than its constitutional individual plant extract and it may be comparable to standard anti-testicular drug like CPA. So, it may be concluded that above polyherbal formulation is potent for inducing hypo-testicular activity.
Evidence for human microRNA-offset RNAs in small RNA sequencing data

MicroRNA-offset-RNAs (moRNAs) were recently detected as highly abundant class of small RNAs in a basal chordate. Using short read sequencing data, we show here that moRNAs are also produced from human microRNA precursors, albeit at quite low expression levels. The expression levels of moRNAs are unrelated to those of the associated microRNAs. Surprisingly, microRNA precursors that also show moRNAs are typically evolutionarily old, comprising more than half of the microRNA families that were present in early Bilateria, while evidence for moRNAs was found only for a relative small fraction of microRNA families of recent origin.
In Vitro Investigation of the Hepatobiliary Disposition Mechanisms of the Antifungal Agent Micafungin in Humans and Rats

The purpose of the present study was to elucidate the transport mechanisms responsible for elimination of micafungin, a new semisynthetic echinocandin antifungal agent, which is predominantly cleared by biliary excretion in humans and rats. In vitro studies using sandwich-cultured rat and human hepatocytes were conducted. Micafungin uptake occurred primarily (∼75%) by transporter-mediated mechanisms in rat and human. Micafungin uptake into hepatocytes was inhibited by taurocholate (Ki = 61 μM), Na+ depletion (45–55% reduced), and 10 μM rifampin (20–25% reduced); these observations support the involvement of Na+-taurocholate-cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP/Ntcp) and, to a lesser extent, organic anion-transporting polypeptides in the hepatic uptake of micafungin. The in vitro biliary clearance of micafungin, as measured by the B-CLEAR technique, amounted to 14 and 19 μl/(min · mg protein) in human and rat, respectively. In vitro biliary excretion of micafungin was reduced by 80 and 75% in the presence of the bile salt export pump (BSEP) inhibitors taurocholate (100 μM) and nefazodone (25 μM), respectively. Biliary excretion of micafungin also was reduced in the presence of breast cancer resistance protein inhibitors [N-(4-[2-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-6,7-dimethoxy-2-isoquinolinyl)ethyl]-phenyl)-9,10-dihydro-5-methoxy-9-oxo-4-acridine carboxamide (GF120918) (10 μM) and fumitremorgin C (10 μM)]. In vitro biliary excretion of micafungin was not significantly altered by coincubation with P-glycoprotein or multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 inhibitors. These results suggest that NTCP/Ntcp and BSEP/Bsep are primarily responsible for hepatobiliary disposition of micafungin in human and rat. Interference with hepatic bile acid disposition could be one mechanism underlying hepatotoxicity associated with micafungin in some patients.
Evidence that androgens are the primary steroids produced by Xenopus laevis ovaries and may signal through the classical androgen receptor to promote oocyte maturation

Steroid-induced maturation of Xenopus oocytes has long served as a model for studying meiosis. Progesterone has been considered the relevant steroid controlling maturation, perhaps through interactions with classical progesterone receptors. In this study, we provide evidence that androgens, rather than progesterone, are the physiologic mediators of Xenopus oocyte maturation. Androgens were equal or more potent activators of maturation in vitro relative to progesterone and were significantly more abundant in the serum and ovaries of β-human chorionic growth hormone-stimulated frogs. Androgen action appeared to be mediated by classical androgen receptors (ARs) expressed in oocytes, as androgen-induced maturation and signaling was specifically attenuated by AR antagonists. Interestingly, we found that progesterone was rapidly converted to the androgen androstenedione in isolated oocytes by the enzyme CYP17, suggesting that androgens may be promoting maturation even under conditions typical for “progesterone-mediated” maturation assays. Androgens are thought to play an important role in ovarian development as well as pathology, and signaling through the AR may prove to be a major regulatory mechanism mediating these processes.
Modeling Cultural Dynamics

EVOC (for EVOlution of Culture) is a computer model of culture that enables us to investigate how various factors such as barriers to cultural diffusion, the presence and choice of leaders, or changes in the ratio of innovation to imitation affect the diversity and effectiveness of ideas. It consists of neural network based agents that invent ideas for actions, and imitate neighbors' actions. The model is based on a theory of culture according to which what evolves through culture is not memes or artifacts, but the internal models of the world that give rise to them, and they evolve not through a Darwinian process of competitive exclusion but a Lamarckian process involving exchange of innovation protocols. EVOC shows an increase in mean fitness of actions over time, and an increase and then decrease in the diversity of actions. Diversity of actions is positively correlated with population size and density, and with barriers between populations. Slowly eroding borders increase fitness without sacrificing diversity by fostering specialization followed by sharing of fit actions. Introducing a leader that broadcasts its actions throughout the population increases the fitness of actions but reduces diversity of actions. Increasing the number of leaders reduces this effect. Efforts are underway to simulate the conditions under which an agent immigrating from one culture to another contributes new ideas while still fitting in.
The Household Bankruptcy Decision

Personal bankruptcy filings have risen from 0.3 percent of households per year in 1984 to around 1.35 percent in 1998 and 1999, transforming bankruptcy from a rare occurrence to a routine event. Lenders lost about $39 billion in 1998 due to personal bankruptcy filings. But economists have little understanding of why households file for bankruptcy or why filings have increased so rapidly. Until very recently, studying the household bankruptcy decision was very difficult, because no household-level data set existed that included information on bankruptcy filings. In this paper, we use new data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, which includes information on bankruptcy filings, to estimate a model of households’ bankruptcy decisions. We find support for the strategic model of bankruptcy, which predicts that households are more likely to file when their financial benefit from filing is higher. Our model predicts that an increase of $1,000 in households’ financial benefit from bankruptcy would result in a 7-percent increase in the number of bankruptcy filings. Our model also predicts that if the 1997 National Bankruptcy Review Commission’s proposed changes in bankruptcy exemption levels were implemented, there would be a 16-percent increase in the number of bankruptcy filings each year. But if the $100,000 cap on homestead exemptions recently passed by the U.S. Senate were adopted, our model predicts that there would be only a negligible effect on the number of filings. We find little support for the nonstrategic model of bankruptcy which predicts that households file when adverse events occur which reduce their ability to repay. Finally, controlling for state and time fixed effects, our model shows that households are more likely to file for bankruptcy if they live in districts with higher aggregate filing rates.
Beyond the Impasse: New Directions in Development Theory

Development theory in the past decade has met with increasingly heavy criticism. Dependency theories, as well as modes of production and world-system approaches, have come to be considered as internally inconsistent and inadequate for explaining the increasing diversity and unevenness of the Third World. This book confronts the theoretical impasse which many feel has been reached. Development scholars from various disciplines review recent changes in research priorities, procedures and orientations, and detect the emergence of new and diverse lines of theoretical development in the field. In particular, they deal with the important meta-theoretical, political, cultural and ethical questions that have come to the fore.
The Influence of Cortical Maturation on the BOLD Response: An fMRI Study of Visual Cortex in Children

We performed blood oxygenation level–dependent (BOLD) functional MR imaging in 11 children younger than 5 y of age and 10 children older than 5 y of age. All but five of the children in the older age group were tested under light anesthesia. We examined the cerebral oxidative metabolism (CMRO2) associated with the processing of a flashed and a reversing checkerboard stimulus. These stimuli had been shown in a previous study to induce identical vascular responses. The reversing checkerboard activated twice the neuronal population of the flashed checkerboard, doubling the CMRO2 associated with it. We compared the extent of activation for the positive BOLD response and found that it did not differ between the different age groups. We estimated the oxidative metabolism by examining the change in the local deoxyhemoglobin (HbR) concentration using ΔR2*. Because both stimuli induced the same vascular response, any increase in oxygen requirement would have to be met by the identical blood volume. Increasing CMRO2 will therefore result in an increase in the oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), which raises the local HbR concentration. In the younger children, both checkerboard stimuli produced identical, high HbR concentrations. In the older children, the HbR concentration to the flashed stimulus was significantly lower than to the reversing stimulus. We conclude that, for identical stimuli, the oxidative energy requirement associated with the cortical processing is higher in young children than in older children because the presence of superfluous synaptic connections in the immature visual system activates a larger neuronal population.
Online versus face-to-face deliberation: Who? Why? What? With what effects?

Although there has been much speculation regarding the strengths and weaknesses of face-to-face versus online deliberative settings, no studies have systematically compared the two. Drawing on a national sample of Americans who reported deliberating face-to-face and/or online, we examine these two deliberative settings with regard to the participants, the motivations, the process, and the effects. Our findings, although tentative, suggest that the two settings are distinct in several important ways. Relative to face-to-face deliberation, online deliberation over-represents young, male, and white users, attracts more ideological moderates, generates more negative emotions, and is less likely to result in consensus and political action. At the same time, online deliberators perceived online settings as more politically and racially diverse. Implications for understanding the democratic potential of different forms of deliberation are discussed.
Facilitating Self-Study of Professional Development: Researching the Dynamics of Teacher Learning

In this study a teacher educator worked with two elementary teachers to facilitate a self-study of their learning during a professional development programme. The programme extended for 6 months and was underpinned by four learning processes—reflection, sharing, action and feedback. The two teachers documented their learning experiences and were interviewed several times during and after the study. At the end of the 6-month period, the teachers sketched and shared models of their learning and then collaborated to produce a joint model. Sue learned that she needed to start with a small change in her teaching and that her learning involved multiple factors that interacted to create change. Loraine learned that focusing on the teaching of science reminded her of childhood experiences and that it was important for her to analyse why she taught the way she did. Self-study helped the teachers to develop insights about how they learned and enabled them to better understand and manage their own professional development.
RNA interference as a tool to study gene function in bovine oocytes

RNA interference (RNAi) has become a well‐established technique to study gene function in several species. Our objective was to develop a RNAi approach to study gene function in bovine oocytes. In the first experiment, three different treatments including a 20 min exposure to cytochalasin B, a 6 hr maturation in cycloheximide, and a combination of these two treatments were tested to improve oocyte survival following microinjection. The cycloheximide/cytochalasin B treatment greatly increased (P<0.02) the survival rate of the microinjected oocytes. In the second experiment, we assessed the effect of both cyclin B1 and GFP dsRNA on cyclin B1 mRNA and protein expression. The injection of cyclin B1 dsRNA resulted in a decrease in cyclin B1 mRNA and protein, while the cyclin B2 mRNA remained unaffected. Furthermore, the injection of GFP dsRNA did not interfere with cyclin B1 mRNA or protein nor with the ability of the oocyte to mature properly. In addition, the lack of cyclin B1 in the oocyte led to activation in 10% of the oocytes as evidenced by the presence of a pronucleus. However, the use of an additional 10 hr of maturation in the presence of 6‐dimethylaminopurine (6‐DMAP) prevented germinal vesicle breakdown and allowed a longer exposure to dsRNA. This procedure increased the percentage of activated oocytes to 33% and is likely to result from an increased length of time for dsRNA processing and for degradation of the cyclin B1 mRNA to occur. In conclusion, RNAi represents a useful technique to study gene function in the bovine oocyte. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 70: 111–121, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Partial purification and characterization of exopolygalacturonase II and III of Penicillium frequentans

Previous studies from our laboratory have demonstrated that the fungus Penicillium frequentans produces high levels of polygalacturonase and pectinesterase. Endopolygalacturonase I (Endo-PG I) and Exopolygalacturonase I (Exo-PG I) were previously purified and characterized. In the present study two extracellular polygalacturonases were separated, partially purified and biochemically characterized. Both were characterized as exopolygalacturonases so they were named exopolygalacturonase II (Exo-PG II) and exopolygalacturonase III (Exo-PG III) which had a molecular mass of 63 kDa (Exo-PG II) and 79 kDa (Exo-PG III). The Km values were 1.6 and 0.059 g/L and the Vmax values were 2571 and 185 U/mg, respectively. The optimum temperature was 50oC for both enzymes, while the optimum pH was 5.0 for Exo-PG II and 5.8 for Exo-PG III.
Critical analysis of Chicana/o children's literature: moving from cultural differences to sociopolitical realities

In an effort to humanize the curriculum, to honor student voice and identity, and tap the cultural and linguistic knowledge of our students, two teacher educators engage their preservice teachers in the collective use of Chicana/o children’s literature. The authors describe a series of questions they designed in order to scaffold teachers' ability to analyze the extent to which literature stereotypes Chicano/a children, rejects their linguistic realities, and/or minimizes existing inequities. A series of assignments challenge preservice teachers' simplistic conceptualizations of inequality. In addition, they create a critical literacy poster/lesson plan, which can empower youth by simultaneously fostering academic competence and engaging them in social action.
Printed WORM Memory on a Flexible Substrate Based on Rapid Electrical Sintering of Nanoparticles

Fully printed low-voltage programmable resistive write-once-read-many (WORM) memory on a flexible substrate is investigated. The memory concept is demonstrated using inkjet-printed silver nanoparticle structures on a photopaper. The initial high-resistance state “0” is written into the low-resistance state “1” using rapid electrical sintering. A key advantage is low writing power and energy. The long-term stability of the initial nonsintered state is found to require special attention to obtain a sufficient shelf storage time. The memory design offers potential for high-throughput roll-to-roll production.