Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lack of evidence for the efficacy of memantine in mild Alzheimer disease.

OBJECTIVE We directly assessed the clinical trials' evidence for memantine's efficacy in mild Alzheimer disease (AD). Memantine is indicated in the United States and Europe for moderate to severe AD, which is diagnosed if a patient has a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of less than 15 or less than 20, respectively. Yet memantine is very frequently prescribed for mild AD and mild cognitive impairment, and a manufacturer-sponsored meta-analysis claimed its efficacy in mild AD. DATA SOURCES, STUDY SELECTION, AND DATA EXTRACTION Manufacturer-sponsored meta-analyses, registries, presentations, and publications were systematically searched for randomized placebo-controlled, parallel-group clinical trials of memantine in patients with mild to moderate AD. The trials' characteristics and outcomes were extracted by one reviewer and checked by another. Meta-analyses were performed as inverse variance-weighted averages of mean differences using fixed-effects models. Summary results for patients with mild AD were obtained by contrasting the summary results for patients with mild or moderate AD with the summary results for the subset of patients with moderate AD. DATA SYNTHESIS Three trials were identified that included 431 patients with mild AD (ie, with MMSE scores of 20-23) and 697 patients with moderate AD (ie, with MMSE scores of 10-19). There were no significant differences between memantine and placebo on any outcome for patients with mild AD, either within any trial or when data were combined: mean differences (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) on the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog), the Clinician's Interview-Based Impression of Change plus caregiver's input (CIBIC-plus), the Alzheimer Disease Cooperative Study-activities of daily living (ADCS-ADL) scale, and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) were -0.17 (95% CI, -1.60 to 1.26), -0.09 (95% CI, -0.30 to 0.12), 0.62 (95% CI, -1.64 to 2.71), and 0.09 (95% CI, -2.11 to 2.29), respectively. For patients with moderate AD, there were small differences on the ADAS-cog and the CIBIC-plus, -1.33 (95% CI, -2.28 to -0.38) and -0.16 (95% CI, -0.32 to 0.00), respectively, but no differences on the ADCS-ADL scale (-0.57 [95% CI, -1.75 to 0.60]) or the NPI (0.25 [95% CI, -1.48 to 1.99]). CONCLUSIONS Despite its frequent off-label use, evidence is lacking for a benefit of memantine in mild AD, and there is meager evidence for its efficacy in moderate AD. Prospective trials are needed to further assess the potential for efficacy of memantine either alone or added to cholinesterase inhibitors in mild and moderate AD.
Soybean Roots Grown under Heat Stress Show Global Changes in Their Transcriptional and Proteomic Profiles

Heat stress is likely to be a key factor in the negative impact of climate change on crop production. Heat stress significantly influences the functions of roots, which provide support, water, and nutrients to other plant organs. Likewise, roots play an important role in the establishment of symbiotic associations with different microorganisms. Despite the physiological relevance of roots, few studies have examined their response to heat stress. In this study, we performed genome-wide transcriptomic and proteomic analyses on isolated root hairs, which are a single, epidermal cell type, and compared their response to stripped roots. On average, we identified 1849 and 3091 genes differentially regulated in root hairs and stripped roots, respectively, in response to heat stress. Our gene regulatory module analysis identified 10 key modules that might control the majority of the transcriptional response to heat stress. We also conducted proteomic analysis on membrane fractions isolated from root hairs and compared these responses to stripped roots. These experiments identified a variety of proteins whose expression changed within 3 h of application of heat stress. Most of these proteins were predicted to play a significant role in thermo-tolerance, as well as in chromatin remodeling and post-transcriptional regulation. The data presented represent an in-depth analysis of the heat stress response of a single cell type in soybean.
Antecedents of self-regulation: A developmental perspective.

The emerging ability to comply with caregivers' dictates and to monitor one's own behavior accordingly signifies a major growth of early childhood. However, scant attention has been paid to the developmental course of self-initiated regulation of behavior. This article summarizes the literature devoted to early forms of control and highlights the different philosophical orientations in the literature. Then, focusing on the period from early infancy to the beginning of the preschool years, the author proposes an ontogenetic perspective tracing the kinds of modulation or control the child is capable of along the way. The developmental sequence of monitoring behaviors that is proposed calls attention to contributions made by the growth of cognitive skills. The role of mediators (e.g., caregivers) is also discussed. During the second year of life, children increasingly demonstrate signs of selfhood and autonomy. This growing sense of identity, coupled with the ability to recall the dictates of caregivers, leads to a new dimension in behavior. Children begin to appraise the requirements of social and nonsocial situations and to monitor their own behavior accordingly. Slowly and precariously they move toward self-regulation, an achievement that Flavell (1977) descibes as being "one of the really central and significant cognitive-developmental hallmarks of the early childhood period" (p. 64).
Modulation of the regression of atherosclerosis in the hamster by dietary lipids: comparison of coconut oil and olive oil

The Golden Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) has been shown to be a useful model of both human lipoprotein metabolism and the development of atherosclerosis. We report the effects of dietary lipids on the progression and regression of atherosclerosis in this model. In the first study, hamsters fed on coconut oil (150 g/kg diet) and cholesterol (30 g/kg diet) developed lipid-rich lesions in the ascending aorta (0·28 (sd 0·14) mm2) and aortic arch (0·01 (sd 0·01) mm2) after 4 weeks that continued to progress over the next 8 weeks (0·75 (sd 0·41) mm2 and 0·12 (sd 0·11) mm2 for the ascending aorta and aortic arch respectively). Removal of cholesterol from the diet halted this progression. Furthermore, in animals fed on olive oil in the absence of added cholesterol, plasma LDL-cholesterol concentrations were lower (P < 0·05) and the extent of atherosclerotic lesions was reduced (P < 0·001 for both regions of the aorta) compared with animals fed on coconut oil (with no added cholesterol). In a second study, animals were fed on the atherogenic diet for 10 weeks, transferred to diets containing either coconut oil (150 g/kg diet) or olive oil (150 g/kg diet) without added cholesterol and monitored for up to 16 weeks. In the ascending aorta, lesion size doubled in animals fed on coconut oil but stabilized in those fed on olive oil. In the aortic arch, lesion size decreased linearly (P < 0·05, P < 0·001 for coconut oil and olive oil respectively) with the greatest reduction being seen in the olive-oil-fed animals (P < 0·05). Again, progression and regression of atherosclerosis appeared to reflect the relative concentrations of LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol in the plasma. We conclude that the male Golden Syrian hamster represents a useful model of dietary induced regression as well as progression of atherosclerosis.
Cosmic Ray Acceleration at Ultrarelativistic Shock Waves: Effects of a “Realistic” Magnetic Field Structure

First-order Fermi acceleration processes at ultrarelativistic (γ ~ 5-30) shock waves are studied with Monte Carlo simulations. The accelerated particle spectra are derived by integrating the exact particle trajectories in a turbulent magnetic field near the shock. The magnetic field model upstream of the shock assumes finite-amplitude perturbations within a wide wavevector range and with a predefined wave power spectrum, imposed on the mean field component inclined at some angle to the shock normal. The downstream field structure is obtained as the compressed upstream field. We show that the main acceleration process at superluminal shocks is the particle compression at the shock. Formation of energetic spectral tails is possible in a limited energy range only for highly perturbed magnetic fields. Cutoffs in the spectra occur at low energies within the resonance energy range considered. These spectral features result from the anisotropic character of particle transport in the magnetic field downstream of the shock, where field compression produces effectively two-dimensional perturbations. We also present results for parallel shocks. Because of the turbulent field compression at the shock, the acceleration process becomes inefficient for larger turbulence amplitudes, and features observed in oblique shocks are recovered in this case. For small-amplitude perturbations, particle spectra are formed in the wide energy range, and modifications of the acceleration process due to the existence of long-wave perturbations are observed, as reported previously for mildly relativistic shocks. The critical turbulence amplitude required for efficient acceleration at parallel shocks decreases with increasing shock Lorentz factor γ. In both subluminal and superluminal shocks, an increase of γ leads to steeper spectra with lower cutoff energies. The spectra obtained for the "realistic" background conditions assumed in our simulations do not converge to the "universal" spectral index claimed in the literature. Thus, the role of the first-order Fermi acceleration in astrophysical sources hosting relativistic shocks requires serious reanalysis.
Valuation of Self-Insurance and Self-Protection Under Ambiguity: Experimental Evidence

This experimental study, first, compares the individual valuations of two risk reduction mechanisms: self-insurance and self-protection. Second, it investigates these valuations when the loss amount is ambiguous, and compare these values with valuations when loss amounts are known. results confirm that there exists no "framing effect" due to the two risk reduction mechanisms. Ambiguity in the loss amount has a weak impact on the valuation, and using different representations of ambiguity does not change the valuation. Moreover, the mean ratios of ambiguous to risky bids are greater than one for low loss amounts indicating ambiguity aversion. These ratios are not significantly different from one for high loss amounts regardless of the probability of loss levels. Finally, 28 percent of the sample behaved consistent with the predictions of "anchoring and adjustment", while only 6 percent supported the "maximin" predictions.
A Novel Variant of QGA with VNS for Flowshop Scheduling Problem

In this paper, scheduling problem of flowshop with the criterion of minimizing the total flow time has been considered. An effective hybrid Quantum Genetic Algorithm and Variable Neighborhood Search (QGA-VNS or QGA VNS ) has been proposed as solution of Flow Shop Scheduling Problem (FSSP). First, the QGA is considered for global search in optimal solution and then VNS has been integrated for enhancing the local search capability. An adaptive two-point crossover and quantum interference operator (QIC) has been used in quantum chromosomes, which is based on the probability learning and quality of solution at each iteration. Further, a Longest Common Sequence (LCS) method has been adopted to construct the neighborhood solutions for intensifying local search with VNS. The neighborhood solutions will be based on the common sequence similar to the longest common sequence in global solution in each iteration, represented as LCSg. After selection of individual, VNS will be applied further exploring the local search space based on LCS neighborhood solutions. Results and comparisons with different algorithms based on the famous benchmarks demonstrates the effectiveness of proposed QGA-VNS.
HRMism and the Languages of Re-presentation

Storey, John (Ed.). Human Resource Management – A Critical Text. London and New York: Routledge, 1995, pp. 399, $17.99. (pbk). Legge, Karen. Human Resource Management – Rhetorics and Realities. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 1995, pp. 385, £14.99. (pbk).
Investigating fragmentation conditions in self-gravitating accretion discs

The issue of fragmentation in self-gravitating gaseous accretion discs has implications both for the formation of stars in discs in the nuclei of active galaxies, and for the formation of gaseous planets or brown dwarfs in circumstellar discs. It is now well established that fragmentation occurs if the disc is cooled on a time-scale smaller than the local dynamical time-scale, while for longer cooling times the disc reaches a quasi-steady state in thermal equilibrium, with the cooling rate balanced by the heating due to gravitational stresses. We investigate here how the fragmentation boundary depends on the assumed equation of state. We find that the cooling time required for fragmentation increases as the specific heat ratio γ decreases, exceeding the local dynamical time-scale for γ = 7/5. This result can be easily interpreted as a consequence of there being a maximum stress (in units of the local disc pressure) that can be sustained by a self-gravitating disc in quasi-equilibrium. Fragmentation occurs if the cooling time is such that the stress required to reach thermal equilibrium exceeds this value, independent of γ . This result suggests that a quasi-steady, self-gravitating disc can never produce a stress that results in the viscous α parameter exceeding ∼0.06.
Morphological and Photometric Evolution of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies: The Nature of Faint SCUBA Sources

We investigate when and how a dusty starburst galaxy merger can be heavily obscured by dust and consequently becomes an ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG), based on numerical simulations of chemodynamical and photometric evolution of dusty gas-rich major galaxy mergers. We found that a major galaxy merger is more likely to become a ULIRG preferentially in the merger late phase, when the two disks become very close and the very high density dusty gas can obscure heavily the central secondary massive starburst. We furthermore show how the optical and near-infrared morphology of a simulated ULIRG at intermediate (z = 0.4) and high redshift (z = 1-2) can be observed by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in order to present a plausible explanation for the origin of some host galaxies of the faint SCUBA sources recently observed by Smail et al. The results of our numerical simulations imply that some SCUBA sources with apparently faint and compact HST morphology can be higher redshift dust-enshrouded starburst mergers with their outer low surface brightness tidal features hardly detectable in the present optics of the HST.
FoldRate: A Web-Server for Predicting Protein Folding Rates from Primary Sequence

With the avalanche of gene products in the postgenomic age, the gap between newly found protein sequences and the knowledge of their 3D (three dimensional) structures is becoming increasingly wide. It is highly desired to de- velop a method by which one can predict the folding rates of proteins based on their amino acid sequence information alone. To address this problem, an ensemble predictor, called FoldRate, was developed by fusing the folding-correlated features that can be either directly obtained or easily derived from the sequences of proteins. It was demonstrated by the jackknife cross-validation on a benchmark dataset constructed recently that FoldRate is at least comparable with or even better than the existing methods that, however, need both the sequence and 3D structure information for predicting the folding rate. As a user-friendly web-server, FoldRate is freely accessible to the public at www.csbio. sjtu.edu. cn/bioinf/FoldRate/, by which one can get the desired result for a query protein sequence in around 30 seconds.
How Privatization Affects Public Service Quality: An Empirical Analysis of Prisons in England and Wales, 1998–2012

ABSTRACT The impact of privatization on public service quality is an enduring issue in public policy and management. Advocates of privatization suggest that market forces prompt private firms to provide better quality services, while opponents point towards the potential for quality to be traded off against profits. Drawing on incomplete contract and capability theories, we explore a more nuanced possibility: that private providers of public services perform better on dimensions of public service quality that are easier to measure and monitor, and vice versa. Using panel data on service quality in prisons in England and Wales in the period 1998 to 2012, we find that privately managed prisons do perform better on dimensions of quality, such as confinement conditions and prisoner activity, which are more easily measured, whereas public prisons perform better on dimensions of quality, such as levels of order and prisoner safety, which are less easily measured and managed.
Topically Applied Connective Tissue Growth Factor/CCN2 Improves Diabetic Preclinical Cutaneous Wound Healing: Potential Role for CTGF in Human Diabetic Foot Ulcer Healing

Aims/Hypothesis. Topical application of CTGF/CCN2 to rodent diabetic and control wounds was examined. In parallel research, correlation of CTGF wound fluid levels with healing rate in human diabetic foot ulcers was undertaken. Methods. Full thickness cutaneous wounds in diabetic and nondiabetic control rats were treated topically with 1 μg rhCTGF or vehicle alone, on 2 consecutive days. Wound healing rate was observed on day 14 and wound sites were examined for breaking strength and granulation tissue. In the human study across 32 subjects, serial CTGF regulation was analyzed longitudinally in postdebridement diabetic wound fluid. Results. CTGF treated diabetic wounds had an accelerated closure rate compared with vehicle treated diabetic wounds. Healed skin withstood more strain before breaking in CTGF treated rat wounds. Granulation tissue from CTGF treatment in diabetic wounds showed collagen IV accumulation compared with nondiabetic animals. Wound α-smooth muscle actin was increased in CTGF treated diabetic wounds compared with untreated diabetic wounds, as was macrophage infiltration. Endogenous wound fluid CTGF protein rate of increase in human diabetic foot ulcers correlated positively with foot ulcer healing rate (r = 0.406; P < 0.001). Conclusions/Interpretation. These data collectively increasingly substantiate a functional role for CTGF in human diabetic foot ulcers.
A simple recursive algorithm for diagnosis of abrupt changes in random signals

We address the problem of detecting and isolating abrupt changes in random signals. An asymptotic optimal solution to this problem, which has been proposed in previous works, involve the number of computations at time t which grows to infinity with t. We propose another more realistic criterion, establish a new simple recursive change detection/isolation algorithm, and investigate its statistical properties.
Inflammatory response after inhalation of bacterial endotoxin assessed by the induced sputum technique

BACKGROUND Organic dusts may cause inflammation in the airways. This study was performed to assess the usefulness of the induced sputum technique for evaluating the presence of airways inflammation using inhaled endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide) as the inducer of inflammation. METHODS To characterise the inflammatory response after inhalation of endotoxin, 21 healthy subjects inhaled 40 μg lipopolysaccharide and were examined before and 24 hours after exposure. Examinations consisted of a questionnaire for symptoms, spirometric testing, blood sampling, and collection of induced sputum using hypertonic saline. Eleven of the subjects inhaled hypertonic saline without endotoxin exposure as controls. Cell counts, eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP), and myeloperoxidase (MPO) were determined in blood and sputum. RESULTS A significantly higher proportion of subjects reported respiratory and general symptoms after endotoxin inhalation. MPO and the number of neutrophils in the blood were higher and spirometric values were decreased after the lipopolysaccharide challenge. In the sputum MPO, ECP, and the numbers of neutrophils and lymphocytes were higher after the lipopolysaccharide challenge. No significant differences were found after the inhalation of hypertonic saline compared with before, except for a significantly lower number of lymphocytes in the sputum. CONCLUSIONS The results support previous studies that inhaled endotoxin causes an inflammation at the exposure site itself, as well as general effects. Sampling of sputum seems to be a useful tool for assessing the presence of airways inflammation, and the inhalation of hypertonic saline used to induce sputum did not significantly interfere with the results found after inhalation of lipopolysaccharide.
A pr 2 00 2 On generalisations of Calogero-Moser-Sutherland quantum problem and WDVV equations

It is proved that if the Schrödinger equation Lψ = λψ of CalogeroMoser-Sutherland type with L = −∆ + ∑ α∈A+ mα(mα + 1)(α,α) sin(α, x) has a solution of the product form ψ0 = ∏ α∈A+ sinα (α, x), then the function F (x) = ∑ α∈A+ mα(α, x) 2 log (α, x) satisfies the generalised WDVV equations. Introduction. Let A be a finite set of vectors α in the Euclidean space R which generates the space and is invariant under the symmetry x→ −x. We assume that −α is the only vector from A which is proportional to α. Let A+ be its half positive with respect to some linear form. Let us prescribe to each vector α ∈ A a real number (”multiplicity”) mα such that m−α = mα. Consider the following Schrödinger operator L = −∆ + ∑ α∈A+ mα(mα + 1)(α, α) sin(α, x) . (1)
Testing for changes in the unconditional variance of financial time series

Inclan and Tiao (1994) proposed a test for the detection of changes in unconditional variance which has been used in financial time series analyses. In this article we demonstrate some serious drawbacks to the test when used with this type of data. More specifically, it has big size distortions for leptokurtic and platykurtic innovations. Moreover, the size distortions are more extreme for heteroskedastic conditional variance processes. These results invalidate the test's practical use for financial time series. To overcome these problems, we propose new tests that take the fourth order moment properties of disturbances and conditional heteroskedasticity into explicit account. Monte Carlo experiments demonstrate the better performance of these tests. The new tests' application to the same series in Aggarwal, Inclan and Leal (1999) reveal that the changes in variance they detect are spurious.