Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes in myocardial electrical impedance induced by coronary artery occlusion in pigs with and without preconditioning: correlation with local ST-segment potential and ventricular arrhythmias.

BACKGROUND Myocardial ischemia increases tissue electrical resistivity leading to cell-to-cell uncoupling, and this effect is delayed by ischemic preconditioning in isolated myocardium. Alterations in myocardial resistivity elicited by ischemia in vivo may influence arrhythmogenesis and local ST-segment changes, but this is not well known. METHODS AND RESULTS Myocardial impedance (resistivity [omega x cm] and phase angle [degrees]), epicardial ST segment, and ventricular arrhythmias were analyzed during 4 hours of coronary artery occlusion in 11 anesthetized open-chest pigs; these were compared with 13 other pigs submitted to a similar coronary occlusion preceded by ischemic preconditioning. Myocardial resistivity rose slowly during the first 34+/-7 minutes of occlusion (237+/-41 to 359+/-59 omega x cm), increased rapidly to 488+/-100 omega x cm at 60 minutes, and reached a plateau value (718+/-266 omega x cm, ANOVA; P<.01) at 150+/-69 minutes. By contrast, phase-angle changes began after 17 minutes of ischemia (-3.0+/-1.6 degrees to -4.2+/-1.2 degrees at 29+/-8 minutes) and evolved faster thereafter (-12.5+/-5.3 degrees at 144+/-56 minutes). Marked changes in myocardial impedance were observed during the reversion of ST-segment elevation that occurred 1 to 4 hours after occlusion, but impedance changes were less apparent during the early ST-segment recovery seen at 15 to 35 minutes of ischemia. The second arrhythmia peak (30+/-5 minutes) coincided with the fast change in tissue impedance, and both were delayed (P<.05) by ischemic preconditioning. CONCLUSIONS A rapid impairment of myocardial impedance occurs after 30 minutes of coronary occlusion, and its onset is better defined by shift in phase angle than by rise in tissue resistivity. Phase 1b arrhythmias are associated with marked impedance changes, and both are delayed by preconditioning. Reversion of ST-segment elevation is partially associated with impairment of myocardial impedance, but other factors play a role as well.
Quantitative Gait Analysis Detects Significant Differences in Movement between Osteoarthritic and Nonosteoarthritic Guinea Pig Strains before and after Treatment with Flunixin Meglumine

A computer-aided gait analysis system was used to contrast two guinea pig strains with differing propensity for osteoarthritis (OA), with/without administration of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Walking speed and static/dynamic gait parameters were determined at baseline. Flunixin meglumine was given and animals were evaluated 4, 24, and 72 hours after treatment. Body weight was compared using unpaired t-tests. Knee joints were histologically evaluated using species-specific criteria; indices were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test, followed by Dunn's multiple comparisons. A generalized linear model followed by Tukey's posttests juxtaposed gait parameters; walking speed was a covariate for other outcome measures. Body weight was not different between strains; OA-prone animals demonstrated more progressive chondropathy. At baseline, OA-prone animals had slower walking speeds, narrower hind limb bases of support, shorter stride lengths, and slower limb swing speeds relative to OA-resistant animals. These differences were not detected 4 or 24 hours after treatment. By 72 hours, OA-prone animals had returned to baseline values. These findings indicate a distinct voluntary gait pattern in a rodent model of bilateral primary OA, modification of which may allow rapid screening of novel therapies. Flunixin meglumine temporarily permitted OA-prone animals to move in a manner that was analogous to OA-resistant animals.
Bilingualism and language change: The Extension of Estar in Los Angeles Spanish

Among the important issues dealt with in studies of languages in contact have been the universality of the linguistic processes characteristic of these situations, and the role that a primary language may play in the shaping of the secondary language-as against the possibility of autonomous developments constrained by the linguistic system of the latter. This paper addresses these issues through an examination of the extension of estar in the speech of 27 bilinguals who represent different generations and degrees of Spanish language loss. It focuses mainly on three questions: (a) the path followed by the innovation; (b) the possible changes in the meaning of the form; and (c) the effect of bilingualism on the actuation of the change. The major results of the study are that language contact tends to accelerate internally motivated changes in the system of the less-used language; that direct influence from English is difficult to posit; and that syntactic/semantic changes proceed step by step, in a manner reminiscent of the lexical diffusion of phonological change. *
The HEXACO Model of Personality Structure and the Importance of the H Factor

We give a brief summary of recent research on the structure of personality characteristics, describing the six-dimensional ‘HEXACO’ model that has emerged as the most accurate representation of that structure. We then discuss the importance of personality as a predictor of socially important criteria, describing a variety of examples involving the Honesty–Humility (H) factor. The H dimension, alone or in combination with other factors of the HEXACO model, is related inversely to a wide array of criteria, including criminal activity and other unethical behaviors as well as materialistic and power-seeking tendencies.
The Origin of Cheyenne Pitch Accent

1. A number of Algonkian languages have pitch-accent systems in which pitch functions as an accent or stress, though some investigators have referred to these as twotone systems in which each vowel has one of the two tones.1 Hockett (1946) and Haas (1958) have expressed recognition of a need to account for the existence of these pitchaccent systems in the daughter languages before Bloomfield's reconstructed Proto-Algonkian (PA) can comfortably be viewed as the genetic precursor of all of the languages classified as Algonkian. This paper points out that apparently no change in reconstructed PA is necessary to account for the existence of Cheyenne's pitch accent. 2. Clearly, Cheyenne has distinctive surface pitch patterns; compare the following pairs, in which relatively high pitched syllables have acute accent; these are the syllables with 'pitch accent':2
Assessment of clinical parameters associated with mutational status in metastatic malignant melanoma: a single‐centre investigation of 141 patients

Background Inhibitors of the mutated, constitutively activated BRAF protein have shown efficacy in the treatment of metastatic melanoma in clinical trials. Mutation analysis especially of the BRAF, NRAS and KIT genes is essential to identify patients suitable for targeted therapies and has been introduced into routine patient care.
Inhibition of Src Impairs the Growth of Met-Addicted Gastric Tumors

Purpose: We examined whether inhibition of Src tyrosine kinase, a downstream effector of the MET oncogene, can hinder the malignant properties of gastric tumors dependent on Met for growth and survival. Experimental Design: Sensitivity to Src inhibition was determined in vitro by measuring clonogenic survival (anchorage-independent growth) and in vivo by establishing xenograft models. Four “Met-addicted” gastric carcinoma cell lines (GTL16, MKN45, HS746T, and SNU5) and three Met-independent gastric carcinoma cell lines (KATO III, AGS, and NCI-N87) were treated with the Src inhibitor saracatinib (AZD0530). In GTL16 and KATO III, Src neutralization was also achieved by dasatinib and RNA interference. The biochemical and transcriptional consequences of Src inhibition were explored using anti-phosphoprotein antibodies and oligonucleotide microarrays. Results: Inhibition of Src in Met-addicted gastric carcinoma cell lines (a) decreased the phosphorylation/activation levels of signaling intermediates involved in cell proliferation and protection from apoptosis and down-modulated the expression of several cell cycle regulators; (b) reduced anchorage-independent growth; (c) enhanced impairment of cell viability produced by Met inhibition; and (d) delayed tumorigenesis in xenotransplantation models. Immunohistochemical analysis of tumor xenograft tissues following systemic treatment with saracatinib showed a reduction of tumor cell proliferation index, increased apoptosis, and diminished phospho-focal adhesion kinase and phospho-paxillin staining. Tumor stroma parameters such as angiogenesis or inflammatory infiltration were unaffected. In clonogenic survival assays, gastric carcinoma cells without addiction to Met were less sensitive than Met-addicted cells to Src inhibition. Conclusions: Src is as a key downstream transducer of Met-driven tumor growth. Targeting Src might provide therapeutic benefit in Met-addicted tumors. Clin Cancer Res; 16(15); 3933–43. ©2010 AACR.
Shadow Banking and Bank Capital Regulation

Banks are subject to capital requirements because their privately optimal leverage is higher than the socially optimal one. This is in turn because banks fail to internalize all the costs that their insolvency creates for the non-financial agents using their money-like liabilities to settle transactions. If banks can bypass capital regulation in an opaque shadow-banking system, it may be optimal to relax capital requirements so that liquidity dries up in the shadow-banking system. Tightening capital requirements may spur a surge in shadow-banking activity that leads to an overall larger risk on the money-like liabilities of the formal and shadow banking institutions.
A tissue engineered heart valve implanted in a juvenile sheep model.

BACKGROUND The tissue-engineered (TE) heart valve was developed to improve the durability of tissue heart valves. The aim of this study was to evaluate morphological and histological changes in a TE heart valve consisting of decellularized porcine matrices seeded with viable autologous vascular endothelial cells (AVEC). MATERIAL/METHODS TE valves were implanted into the right ventricular outflow tract of eight juvenile sheep and explanted after 7 days, 3 and 6 months. The valves were evaluated visually, by invasive pressure measurements, X-ray, light microscopy, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy. The calcium content of the cusps was determined quantitatively by atomic absorption spectrometry. RESULTS After valve implantation, all animals showed fast recovery with no complications during the observation period. Invasive pressure measurements presented a mean TE valve pressure gradient of 1.5+/-0.5 mm Hg at 3 and the same at 6 months. Light microscopy showed a monolayer of AVEC on all explanted heart valves, confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and immunohistochemical staining. X-ray examination of explanted TE heart valves showed no cusp calcification, confirmed by atomic absorption spectrometry. CONCLUSIONS All explanted TE heart valves showed AVEC at the inner surface and ingrowth of fibroblast into the decellularized matrix, increasing during the observation period. The calcium contents were very low at explantation in these viable new heart valves.
Immigrant generation, religiosity and civic engagement in Britain

Abstract Immigrant integration appears to be generational in the USA, and further facilitated by religious involvement. We examine whether similar patterns exist in Britain. We find evidence for secularization across ethnic minority groups, measured by private religious practice and religious salience. Communal religious practice appears robust to generational decline. Ethnic minority members of the second generation exhibit lower social trust; for the 1.5 generation, being more religious is associated with lower trust. However, members of the 1.5 and second generation are more civically involved than the first and religiosity further increases civic involvement. While anecdotal accounts suggest that religiosity has a particularly dissociative effect on the second generation, we find no evidence for this. In sum, successive generations of ethnic minority respondents appear to be secularizing; successive generations are more civically involved than the arriving generation, although less trusting; and immigrant religiosity promotes civic integration.
A Learning Framework for Age Rank Estimation Based on Face Images With Scattering Transform

This paper presents a cost-sensitive ordinal hyperplanes ranking algorithm for human age estimation based on face images. The proposed approach exploits relative-order information among the age labels for rank prediction. In our approach, the age rank is obtained by aggregating a series of binary classification results, where cost sensitivities among the labels are introduced to improve the aggregating performance. In addition, we give a theoretical analysis on designing the cost of individual binary classifier so that the misranking cost can be bounded by the total misclassification costs. An efficient descriptor, scattering transform, which scatters the Gabor coefficients and pooled with Gaussian smoothing in multiple layers, is evaluated for facial feature extraction. We show that this descriptor is a generalization of conventional bioinspired features and is more effective for face-based age inference. Experimental results demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art age estimation approaches.
Factors Driving Mobile App Users to Pay for Freemium Services

With the popularity of smart mobile devices, mobile applications (most commonly referred to as an App) have gradually grown up to be a huge commercial market. Therefore, as the variety and download counts of Apps in the application stores of the two biggest operating systems increase, how to make a profit from Apps has become the most concerned issue for developers. Today the freemium strategy is widely observed in mobile App markets. Freemium is a business model by which an App is offered free of charge, but a premium is charged for advanced features. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore the factors driving mobile App users to pay for freemium services based on value-based adoption model. An online survey was conducted to collect empirical data in order to test the research model. The results of PLS analysis indicate that an App user’s intention to pay is determined by perceived value, a thorough comparison of benefits and sacrifices, and trust of developer. Furthermore, perceived value will be affected by perceived effort and perceived usefulness while the App user has no experience on premium service. Finally, the implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed.
Infant mortality in an ‘Age of Great Cities’: London and the English provincial cities compared, c. 1840–1910

Ce travail s'appuie sur les données publiées de l'enregistrement demographique pour évaluer le taux de mortalité infantile annuel pour 21 villes anglaises et 25 districts de Londres entre 1840 et 1910. Une approche géographique comparative permet de différentier les niveaux respectifs de mortalité infantile et de mettre en évidence des cycles courts de ces variations. Si les facteurs locaux ont leur importance (croissance urbaine, conditions sanitaires du moment, méthodes nutritionnelles et qualité du lait mise sur le marché) en matière de mortalité infantile, la concordance observée entre les tendances suggère par son synchronisme que l'ensemble du système urbain était sensible à des influences communes. Les auteurs insistent tout particulièrement sur le role cônjoint du climat et de conditions sanitaires lamentables. Auf der Grundlage veröffentlichter vitalstatistischer Daten werden in diesem Beitrag jährliche Säuglingssterblichkeitsraten für 21 große englische Städte und 25 Londoner Stadtbezirke in der Zeit zwischen 1840 und 1910 erstellt. Ausgehend von einem vergleichenden geographischen Ansatz werden Unterschiede im Niveau der Säuglingssterblichkeit und kurzfristige zyklische Schwankungen untersucht. Während ortsspezifische Faktoren (städtisches Wachstum, hygienische Verhältnisse, Art der Säuglingsernährung und Qualität des Milchangebots) das jeweilige Niveau der Säuglingssterblichkeit beeinflußten, legt die weitgehende Entsprechung in der Chronologie der Veränderungen der Säuglingssterblichkeit nahe, daß es ein Bündel allgemeinerer Faktoren gab, die innerhalb des gesamten urbanen Systems gleichzeitig wirksam waren. Hierbei wird dem Zusammenhang von klimatischen Bedingungen und schlechten hygienischen Verhältnisen besondere Bedeutung beigemessen.
Modeling Social Diffusion Phenomena using Reality Mining

The diffusion of information, ideas, opinions and media in a social network and the influence of individual nodes on the diffusion process are important questions in the social sciences. However, till date, there has been no method to automatically capture fine-grained social interactions between people and utilize it to better model the diffusion process. In this paper, we describe the use of socially-aware mobile phones to capture face-to-face interactions and music diffusion for eighty-percent of the residents of an undergraduate dormitory. We show that observations of
Age‐Specific Differences in the Flexibility of High School Wrestlers

The purpose of this study was to examine age related differences in selected flexibility measures in high school wrestlers. Volunteers (N = 125) were stratified into four age groups: ≤15.00; 15.01–16.00; 16.01–17.00, and ≥17.00 years, which corresponded approximately to the freshman through senior years of high school. The subjects were tested on three measures of flexibility: sit-and-reach, shoulder-and-wrist elevation, and trunk-and-neck extension. In addition, head-and-trunk length, trochanteric height, and arm length were measured to examine relative flexibility differences. The results indicated significant (p<0.05) group differences for absolute and relative (covaried for trochanteric height) flexibility in the sit-and-reach test. The findings provide descriptive data on the flexibility of high school wrestlers using techniques that may be employed in practical settings by trainers and coaches.
Values Enactment in Organizations: A Multi-Level Examination

Business writers and practitioners recommend that core organizational values be integrated into employee work life for enhanced organizational productivity, yet no published studies have empirically examined the antecedents and outcomes of values enactment. Using longitudinal data on 2,622 employees, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) results revealed that tenure and department-level values enactment were significant predictors of individual values enactment. Furthermore, employees who demonstrated high levels of values enactment were less likely to leave, and employees of high or low levels of values enactment in departments whose levels of values enactment matched their own were the most likely to be promoted.
A Computer-Based Intervention for the Education and Therapy of Institutionalized Older Adults.

Institutionalization often presents an unstimulating environment, in addition to requiring a surrender of autonomy. Research has shown that people quickly come to respond to the world in a limited and rigid fashion when their choices and activities are limited. This decline is frequently associated with a corresponding decline in psychological health and, consequently, an increase in depression. According to Seligman (1981), changing depressed individuals’ environment for the better and enhancing their sense of control should serve as an antidepressive. Thus the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a psychoeducational model making use of computer interaction for the therapy, education, and recreation of a group of institutionalized older adults. The results indicated that the computer interaction was an effective tool for increasing these older adults’ cognitive abilities and daily living skills and decreasing their levels of depression.
Different white matter lesion characteristics correlate with distinct grey matter abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis

Background Although MRI measures of grey matter abnormality correlate with clinical disability in multiple sclerosis, it is uncertain whether grey matter abnormality measured on MRI is entirely due to a primary grey matter process or whether it is partly related to disease in the white matter. Methods To explore potential mechanisms of grey matter damage we assessed the relationship of white matter T2 lesion volume, T1 lesion volume, and mean lesion magnetisation transfer ratio (MTR), with MRI measures of tissue atrophy and MTR in the grey matter in 117 subjects with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. Results Grey matter fraction and mean grey matter MTR were strongly associated with lesion volumes and lesion MTR mean (r = ±0.63–0.72). In contrast, only weak to moderate correlations existed between white matter and lesion measures. In a stepwise regression model, T1 lesion volume was the only independent lesion correlate of grey matter fraction and accounted for 52% of the variance. Lesion MTR mean and T2 lesion volume were independent correlates of mean grey matter MTR, accounting for 57% of the variance. Conclusions Axonal transection within lesions with secondary degeneration into the grey matter may explain the relationship between T1 lesions and grey matter fraction. A parallel accumulation of demyelinating lesions in white and grey matter may contribute to the association of T2 lesion volume and lesion MTR with grey matter MTR.
The Ethics of Doping and Anti-Doping: Redeeming the Soul of Sport?

Verner Moller, The Ethics of Doping and Anti-Doping: Redeeming the Soul of Sport? New York: Routledge, 2010. Pp. 165. US$39.95 (pb), $130 (hb). ISBN 978-0-415-48466-4 Verner Moller's The Ethics of .
Glimepiride, a Novel Sulfonylurea, Does Not Abolish Myocardial Protection Afforded by Either Ischemic Preconditioning or Diazoxide

Background—The sulfonylurea glibenclamide (Glib) abolishes the cardioprotective effect of ischemic preconditioning (IP), presumably by inhibiting mitochondrial KATP channel opening in myocytes. Glimepiride (Glim) is a new sulfonylurea reported to affect nonpancreatic KATP channels less than does Glib. We examined the effects of Glim on IP and on the protection afforded by diazoxide (Diaz), an opener of mitochondrial KATP channels. Methods and Results—Rat hearts were Langendorff-perfused, subjected to 35 minutes of regional ischemia and 120 minutes of reperfusion, and assigned to 1 of the following treatment groups: (1) control; (2) IP of 2× 5 minutes each of global ischemia before lethal ischemia; or pretreatment with (3) 30 &mgr;mol/L Diaz, (4) 10 &mgr;mol/L Glim, (5) 10 &mgr;mol/L Glib, (6) IP+Glim, (7) IP+Glib, (8) Diaz+Glim, or (9) Diaz+Glib. IP limited infarct size (18.5±1% vs 43.7±3% in control, P <0.01) as did Diaz (22.2±4.7%, P <0.01). The protective actions of IP or Diaz were not abolished by Glim (18.5±3% in IP+Glim, 22.3±3% in Diaz+Glim;P <0.01 vs control). However, Glib abolished the infarct-limiting effects of IP and Diaz. Patch-clamp studies in isolated rat ventricular myocytes confirmed that both Glim and Glib (each at 1 &mgr;mol/L) blocked sarcolemmal KATP currents. However, in isolated cardiac mitochondria, Glim (10 &mgr;mol/L) failed to block the effects of KATP opening by GTP, in contrast to the blockade caused by Glib. Conclusions—Although it blocks sarcolemmal currents in rat cardiac myocytes, Glim does not block the beneficial effects of mitochondrial KATP channel opening in the isolated rat heart. These data may have significant implications for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in patients with ongoing ischemic heart disease.