Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic Variations of Melatonin Receptor Type 1A are Associated with the Clinicopathologic Development of Urothelial Cell Carcinoma

Melatonin counteracts tumor occurrence and tumor cell progression in several cancer types in vitro and in vivo. It acts predominantly through its melatonin receptor type 1A (MTNR1A), and genetic variations of MTNR1A affect the susceptibility several diseases and cancer. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of MTNR1A gene polymorphisms on the susceptibility to and clinicopathological characteristics of urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC). We recruited 272 patients with UCC and 272 normal controls to analyze three common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs2119882, rs13140012, and rs6553010) of MTNR1A related to cancer risk and clinicopathological relevance according to a TaqMan-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We found that these three SNPs of MTNR1A were not associated with UCC susceptibility. However, patients with UCC who had at least one G allele of MTNR1A rs6553010 (in intron 1) were at higher risk (1.768-fold, 95% confidence interval: 1.068~1.849) of developing an invasive stage (p < 0.026), compared to those patients with AA homozygotes. In conclusion, polymorphic genotypes of rs6553010 of MTNR1A might contribute to the ability to predict aggressive phenotypes of UCC. This is the first study to provide insights into risk factors associated with intronic MTNR1A variants in the clinicopathologic development of UCC in Taiwan.
Genetic and environmental influences on sodium intake determined by using half-day urine samples : the Healthy Twin Study 1 – 3

Background: Salt is essential in our diet, but excess intake is a well-established risk factor for hypertension. The presence and importance of genetic contributions to salt intake, however, are not well understood. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine whether a genetic predisposition and an environmental influence exist for sodium intake and salt habit. Design: In a twin-family cohort, half-day urine samples from 1204 individuals (133 pairs of monozygotic twins, 29 pairs of dizygotic twins, and 880 singletons) were collected to assess 24-h sodium intakes. Daily total sodium intake, sodium density per calorie (Na-D), and salt habit questions were analyzed with adjustment for other epidemiologic characteristics. We calculated heritability (h2) and intraclass correlations to examine the genetic and shared environmental contributions to total sodium intake traits. Results: The average sodium intake was 208.4 6 107.0 mmol/d. Men had a higher absolute sodium intake (242.6 6 117.4 mmol/d), but Na-D did not differ by sex. Moderate genetic influences existed (h2 = 0.31–0.34) for sodium intake and Na-D. We also found that sharing current residence rather than being a family member explained 22% of the variance in Na-D. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that both genetic predisposition and shared environment contribute to sodium intakes and salt habits alike. Am J Clin Nutr 2013;98:1410–6.
Vitamin D Up-Regulates the Vitamin D Receptor by Protecting It from Proteasomal Degradation in Human CD4+ T Cells

The active form of vitamin D3, 1,25(OH)2D3, has significant immunomodulatory properties and is an important determinant in the differentiation of CD4+ effector T cells. The biological actions of 1,25(OH)2D3 are mediated by the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and are believed to correlate with the VDR protein expression level in a given cell. The aim of this study was to determine if and how 1,25(OH)2D3 by itself regulates VDR expression in human CD4+ T cells. We found that activated CD4+ T cells have the capacity to convert the inactive 25(OH)D3 to the active 1,25(OH)2D3 that subsequently up-regulates VDR protein expression approximately 2-fold. 1,25(OH)2D3 does not increase VDR mRNA expression but increases the half-life of the VDR protein in activated CD4+ T cells. Furthermore, 1,25(OH)2D3 induces a significant intracellular redistribution of the VDR. We show that 1,25(OH)2D3 stabilizes the VDR by protecting it from proteasomal degradation. Finally, we demonstrate that proteasome inhibition leads to up-regulation of VDR protein expression and increases 1,25(OH)2D3-induced gene activation. In conclusion, our study shows that activated CD4+ T cells can produce 1,25(OH)2D3, and that 1,25(OH)2D3 induces a 2-fold up-regulation of the VDR protein expression in activated CD4+ T cells by protecting the VDR against proteasomal degradation.
eather growth bars as a biomarker of habitat fragmentation in the urasian treecreeper ric

Habitat fragmentation poses a major threat to animal species worldwide. However, a lack of accurate and easy-to-collect biomarkers can hamper the identification of populations vulnerable to fragmentation. Ptilochronology, the measurement of growth bar length from feathers, has been shown to respond to individual nutritional status and may thus serve as a useful biomarker of habitat fragmentation in birds. We examined the influence of habitat fragmentation on feather growth bar length in the free-living
Self-Regulation Abilities and Spanish-Speaking Preschoolers’ Vocabulary and Letter-Word Skills in Spanish and English

ABSTRACT Research Findings: This study examined the heterogeneity in Spanish-speaking children's (N = 117; M age = 53 months; SD = 5 months; 57% boys) vocabulary and letter-word skills in English and Spanish after one year of preschool and the extent to which early self-regulation abilities (i.e., executive function and effortful control) were associated with that variability. Data were gathered via teacher and parent surveys and standardized assessments. Three distinct profiles of Spanish-speaking preschoolers were identified using cluster analysis. One group exhibited high levels of Spanish and English vocabulary and letter-word skills (a.k.a. high-balanced bilinguals). The other two groups exhibited predominantly Spanish or English vocabulary and letter-word skills (a.k.a. Spanish- or English-dominant). Multinomial logistic regression analyses (controlling for children's nonverbal cognitive ability) revealed that effortful control skills enhanced children's probability of being classified as high-balanced bilinguals versus Spanish-dominant; however, this was evident only for the children whose parents reported speaking exclusively Spanish at home. Executive function abilities appeared to be unrelated to preschoolers' bilingual classification, and thus their English vocabulary and letter-word skills. Practice or Policy: The findings have implications for early education programs working to increase the school readiness of Spanish-speaking children by highlighting the key role that effortful control may play in supporting their learning of English skills, particularly for those whose parents speak exclusively Spanish at home.
Protestant and Catholic Distinctions in Secularization

Abstract Differences between Protestants and Catholics in religious beliefs and behavior are revisited in the light of growing theoretical and empirical evidence for stages of secularization and a remaining religious core in Western societies. To what extent are remaining Protestants more religious than before and compared with remaining Catholics? Analyzing repeated cross-sectional survey data from 1985 to 2012 in the US, Canada, and Great Britain, we find that, in most cases, Protestant affiliation has declined more significantly than Catholic affiliation. Yet, individuals who declare themselves as belonging to a Protestant denomination have higher rates of regular service attendance, prayer, and Christian beliefs than those previously. They have also surpassed these same rates among Catholics in both the US and Canada and are on track to do so in Britain in the coming years.
Real or Evasion Responses to the Wealth Tax ? Theory and Evidence from Sweden ∗

This paper addresses the behavioral effects of an annual wealth tax. I use Swedish tax records over the period 1999-2006 to estimate bunching at kink points in the progressive tax schedule and find significant estimates of the implied elasticity of taxable net wealth at about 0.3. Exploiting features of the institutional setting, I decompose the effects into a reporting response and a saving response. The results suggest that an increase in the tax is likely to stimulate evasion rather than deter savings. I merge tax records with military enlistment records on cognitive ability and find that high-skilled individuals respond more to the tax. This suggests that the incidence of the tax falls disproportionally on the cognitively less able. JEL code: H22, H23, H26, H31.
Sarcopenia and mortality among a population‐based sample of community‐dwelling older adults

Sarcopenia is a risk‐factor for all‐cause mortality among older adults, but it is unknown if sarcopenia predisposes older adults to specific causes of death. Further, it is unknown if the prognostic role of sarcopenia differs between males and females, and obese and non‐obese individuals.
Vibrational entropy differences between mesophile and thermophile proteins and their use in protein engineering

We recently introduced ENCoM, an elastic network atomic contact model, as the first coarse‐grained normal mode analysis method that accounts for the nature of amino acids and can predict the effect of mutations on thermostability based on changes vibrational entropy. In this proof‐of‐concept article, we use pairs of mesophile and thermophile homolog proteins with identical structures to determine if a measure of vibrational entropy based on normal mode analysis can discriminate thermophile from mesophile proteins. We observe that in around 60% of cases, thermophile proteins are more rigid at equivalent temperatures than their mesophile counterpart and this difference can guide the design of proteins to increase their thermostability through series of mutations. We observe that mutations separating thermophile proteins from their mesophile orthologs contribute independently to a decrease in vibrational entropy and discuss the application and implications of this methodology to protein engineering.
THE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY OF DREAMS. 1997. By: Mark Solms. Published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 292 pages. $C78.00

NO, thereby relieving chronic angina; the identification of histochemical NADPH diaphorase reaction in brain as NO synthetase; how stimulation of excitatory pathways in brain stimulates the formation of cGMP, where NO is the intracellular messenger; and why in septic shock and chronic inflammatory disorders an excess of nitrate is excreted in the urine. The three isoforms of NO synthetase, Type I, II and III, and their genes, are clearly described. Section 2, which contains three chapters, covers the pathological implications of NO, and should be required reading for all students preparing for fellowship examinations in neurology, medicine and surgery. A unique aspect of this book is the inclusion in Sections 3 and 4 of experimental approaches, protocols, and techniques used for the measurement of nitric oxide. These are very helpful to any researcher wishing to venture into this new field. This book, in paperback and inexpensive, is highly recommended to all graduate students, clinicians, and pharmacologists. It is by far the best introduction to this unique new field of research. The biochemistry may be somewhat densely written but is worth the added effort. The figures are clear and informative. There is a helpful glossary, and the two appendices are comprehensive tables of the distribution of constitutive NO synthase as determined by immunohistochemical study of peripheral tissues in which nitric oxide is identified as a neurotransmitter. Finally, research on the basic mechanisms and role of nitric oxide in health and disease is not static, and new discoveries are bound to appear in the future.
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LEVEL OF MOBBING AND PROFESSIONAL BURNOUT AMONG TURKISH FOOTBALL TRAINERS

The aim of this study is to identify the relationship between exposure to workplace mobbing and the level of professional burnout among football trainers. For this purpose, Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) were administered to 515 football trainers who participated in the 2010-2011 Turkish trainer development seminar that was jointly organized by Football Federation of Turkey and Turkey Football Coaches Association in various regions including Ankara, Batman, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Gaziantep, Mardin, Tokat and Samsun. T-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used for statistical purposes. The findings of the research show that in the job sub-dimension, the trainers from the age group of 19-29 scored significantly higher than the other groups and that the trainers of 30-39 and 40-49 age groups scored significantly higher than the group of 50 years and above. It was observed that there is a significant difference between the average emotional exhaustion and depersonalization subscale scores of the trainers who were mobbed and the ones who were not. It can be said that trainers' level of exposure to mobbing was decisive in the increase of their emotional exhaustion and depersonalization levels. The study concludes that there were instances of mobbing; however, they were not intense or systematic. Moreover, the relation between mobbing behaviors, whether experienced first-hand or merely witnessed, and the trainers' burnout levels suggests that the more mobbing the trainers were exposed to in their clubs, the higher "emotional exhaustion" and "depersonalization" levels they developed in addition to the diminishing sense of personal accomplishment.
The role of organizational facilitators in promoting job-related mental health and group service effectiveness: a two-wave analysis

ABSTRACT This study aimed to add to knowledge by providing a more systematic integration of work characteristics, workers’ health and performance. The two-wave multi-source study was conducted to test the relationship over time between the healthy states of groups of service-oriented workers and their service effectiveness when their organizations provide facilitators such as training, technical support and autonomy. The study takes healthy states to be a composite of affective-motivational and competent collective states (collective vigour and service competence) and service effectiveness. Service effectiveness was a combination of service quality as assessed by customers and their loyalty intentions. Data from 53 hotels and restaurants in Spain were aggregated from 256 boundary workers (i.e. workers in direct contact with customers) and 530 customers at Time 1 and from 470 customers at Time 2 six month later. Structural equation modelling showed that organizational facilitators at Time 1 were related to the service effectiveness reported by customers at Time 2, and also that there was a relationship between service effectiveness at Time 1 and the healthy states reported by the groups at Time 2. That is, contrary to what is widely believed, there was an influence of performance on well-being.
Apoptotic cell clearance in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an incurable multi-organ autoimmune disease characterized by a wide array of clinical manifestations, ranging from skin and mucosal lesions to severe injuries in the central nervous system, kidneys and other organs. The disease primarily affects women in their reproductive years, and its prevalence is estimated to vary between 12 and 64 cases per 100,000 in Europeanderived populations and to be higher in non-European-derived populations (1). The presence of autoantibodies directed against a set of intracellular constituents classifies SLE as an autoimmune disease. In fact, autoantibodies to nuclear and cytoplasmic components, can be present years before the diagnosis of SLE and progressive accumulation frequently precedes the onset of the disease.
Endangered species: science writers in the Canadian daily press

The last comprehensive study of Canadian science journalists and science reporting was done over 20 years ago (Dubas and Martel 1973). A more recent content analysis of seven major Canadian dailies found most science stories are “hard” news in style and originate from wire sources (Einsiedel 1992). This 1994 survey of 105 of Canada's daily English-language newspapers and their commitment to science journalism revealed a general weakening and dilution of reporter allocation. Over 50 percent of Canadian dailies did not allocate a science reporter. Only 18 full-time science reporters were identified. A follow-up of 45 journalists covering science at least half-time revealed most covered science policy. The vast majority had no science training. Time problems and competing demands hindered professional development. Confirming suggestions of previous literature, this study also indicates the Canadian daily newspaper structure is not supportive of the style of reportage required for quality science writing, nor of the development of such writers.
Influence of previous exposure to human parvovirus B19 infection in explaining susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis: an analysis of disease discordant twin pairs.

OBJECTIVES--To assess the association between exposure to parvovirus B19 and susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS--One hundred and fifty five twin pairs (76 monozygotic (MZ) and 79 dizygotic (DZ)), discordant for RA, were tested for the presence of IgG antiparvovirus antibodies using ELISA. The data obtained were analysed using conditional logistic regression, from which odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS--Overall, there was no association between exposure to parvovirus and RA (OR = 1.2, 95% CI: 0.7-1.7). However, in two subgroups there was a suggestion of an association. These were: (1) pairs where the affected twin was rheumatoid factor (RF) seronegative (OR = 2.0, 95% CI: 0.9-12.4) and (2) in opposite-sexed twin pairs where the affected twin was female (OR = 3.0, 95% CI: 0.9-11.6). CONCLUSION--Previous exposure to parvovirus infection did not explain disease susceptibility in both MZ and DZ discordant pairs with rheumatoid arthritis. This infection, however, might be relevant in some subgroups.
Concentrations of fetuin-A, osteoprotegerin and α-Klotho in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the concentrations of fetuin-A, osteoprotegerin (OPG) and α-Klotho protein in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis at different stages of the disease, and to demonstrate that fetuin-A, osteoprotegin and α-Klotho may be used as markers of the severity of cirrhosis. A total of 54 patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis treated in various hospitals in the Lublin region of Poland were randomly enrolled. The control group consisted of 18 healthy individuals without liver disease, who did not drink alcohol. Serum levels of fetuin-A, OPG and α-Klotho were measured by ELISA kits. Levels of fetuin-A were significantly reduced in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis compared with the control group. OPG levels were higher in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis than in the controls, whereas the levels of α-Klotho were comparable in the cirrhosis and control groups. No statistically significant differences in the concentrations of fetuin-A, OPG and α-Klotho protein were demonstrated according to type of liver cirrhosis. The findings of the present study revealed a significant negative correlation between the level of α-Klotho protein and C-reactive protein in the patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Concentrations of fetuin-A were lower, whereas those of OPG were higher, in the alcoholic liver cirrhosis group compared with the control group. Fetuin-A, OPG and α-Klotho may not be good indicators of liver cirrhosis severity. In conclusion, fetuin-A and OPG may be used in the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis.
Heuristics-Based Replication Schemas for Fast Information Retrieval over the Internet

Internet today, has transformed into a global information hub. The increase in its usage and magnitude have sparkled various research problems. Because of the diverse user population, along with the frequency of access requests, the need for data replication in order; to decrease latency and communication cost, to optimize bandwidth, to effectively utilize the storage space, and to add reliability to the system has emerged to the surface along with object caching. In this paper we address the fine-grained replication of data among a set of Internet sites and develop its cost model. We solve this problem by proposing data placement algorithms. Four of our proposed techniques are based on the A-star state space searching algorithm. The optimal A-star based technique is complemented by three sub-optimal heuristics, and two natural (greedy based) selection algorithms: Local and Global Min-Min. These algorithms are effective in various environments providing vendors and users with the choice of algorithms that guarantee fast or optimal or both types of solutions.
Parkinsonism and Related Disorders

WethankKimandJeonfor theirdeepinterestinandcommentson our study. We know thatwe canhardly drawany definite conclusions from our study because it was not a large trial with long-term followup. Our pilot study tested the possibility of acupuncture and bee venomacupuncture(BVA)asadjuvanttherapiesforidiopathicParkinson’s disease (IPD), and obtained promising preliminary results [1]. Recent studies regarding minimal clinically important change (MCIC), which was to assess therapeutic interventions for Parkinson’s disease, suggested that cutoffs fora MCIC are scores of 2.5–5pointson UPDRS part III and 5–8 points on combined UPDRS parts II þ III [2–4]. Our study results showed that BVA improved 5 points on UPDRS part III and 7 points for UPDRS parts II þ III scores after 8 weeks of treatment. Additionally, acupuncture improved 4 points on UPDRS part III. These results demonstrate the possibility for relevant and equivalent clinical effects of both therapies. Based on these results, we planned a larger, long-term follow-up and placebo-controlled trial, which is currently in progress. After completing this ongoing study, we may be able to answer the questions regarding the specifi ct herapeutic effects of acupuncture and BVA, as well as how long those effects last. Kim et al. mentioned the non-difference between acupuncture and BVA. One of the objectives of our study was to compare the effects of acupuncture and BVA. As described in the paper, we did not find a significant difference [1]; therefore, it is difficult to determine which therapy is more beneficial for IPD at the present time. Regarding the question of data from subjects who dropped out, we attempted to analyze of the results from all of the subjects. However, several subjects dropped out before follow-up assessments could be completed. Therefore, we did not include those subjects’ data in the statistical analysis. Most of those subjects dropped out due to long-term travel, business trips, or other personal reasons, even though they had wanted to participate in the study continuously. Acknowledgment
Description of Dryocosmus destefanii new species (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini) from Quercus suber L. in Italy.

A new species, Dryocosmus destefanii Cerasa Melika n. sp. associated with a Cerris section oak, Quercus suber L. , is described from Italy. Description, diagnosis, host associations and biology for the new species and an illustrated identification key to the Western Palaearctic Dryocosmus species are given. The description is supported by morphological and molecular data.