Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dopamine‐agonists and impulsivity in Parkinson's disease: Impulsive choices vs. impulsive actions

The control of impulse behavior is a multidimensional concept subdivided into separate subcomponents, which are thought to represent different underlying mechanisms due to either disinhibitory processes or poor decision‐making. In patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), dopamine‐agonist (DA) therapy has been associated with increased impulsive behavior. However, the relationship among these different components in the disease and the role of DA is not well understood. In this imaging study, we investigated in PD patients the effects of DA medication on patterns of brain activation during tasks testing impulsive choices and actions. Following overnight withdrawal of antiparkinsonian medication, PD patients were studied with a H2 (15)O PET before and after administration of DA (1 mg of pramipexole), while they were performing the delay discounting task (DDT) and the GoNoGo Task (GNG). We observed that pramipexole augmented impulsivity during DDT, depending on reward magnitude and activated the medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex and deactivated ventral striatum. In contrast, the effect of pramipexole during the GNG task was not significant on behavioral performance and involved different areas (i.e., lateral prefrontal cortex). A voxel‐based correlation analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between the discounting value (k) and the activation of medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate suggesting that more impulsive patients had less activation in those cortical areas. Here we report how these different subcomponents of inhibition/impulsivity are differentially sensitive to DA treatment with pramipexole influencing mainly the neural network underlying impulsive choices but not impulsive action. Hum Brain Mapp 35:2499–2506, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sensitive Wavelengths Selection in Identification of Ophiopogon japonicus Based on Near-Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging Technology

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology has increasingly been applied as an analytical tool in fields of agricultural, food, and Traditional Chinese Medicine over the past few years. The HSI spectrum of a sample is typically achieved by a spectroradiometer at hundreds of wavelengths. In recent years, considerable effort has been made towards identifying wavelengths (variables) that contribute useful information. Wavelengths selection is a critical step in data analysis for Raman, NIRS, or HSI spectroscopy. In this study, the performances of 10 different wavelength selection methods for the discrimination of Ophiopogon japonicus of different origin were compared. The wavelength selection algorithms tested include successive projections algorithm (SPA), loading weights (LW), regression coefficients (RC), uninformative variable elimination (UVE), UVE-SPA, competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS), interval partial least squares regression (iPLS), backward iPLS (BiPLS), forward iPLS (FiPLS), and genetic algorithms (GA-PLS). One linear technique (partial least squares-discriminant analysis) was established for the evaluation of identification. And a nonlinear calibration model, support vector machine (SVM), was also provided for comparison. The results indicate that wavelengths selection methods are tools to identify more concise and effective spectral data and play important roles in the multivariate analysis, which can be used for subsequent modeling analysis.
Fruit and Vegetable Consumers’ Behavior: Implications for Organized Retailers in Emerging Markets

The authors attempt to understand selected behaviors of fruit and vegetable consumers of mid-sized cities of a developing economy, which are important for any retailer to appreciate. The study was carried out in two mid-sized cities of the Orissa state of India with 100 respondents by using the specially developed questionnaire. Statistical tools were used to analyze the data. The study revealed that vegetables are consumed in greater quantity and purchased more frequently than fruits. Consumers attached more importance to credence attributes than to search and experience attributes while making their purchase decisions. Family income and consumers’ education were found to have significant influence on the consumers’ willingness to pay for graded and packaged products. Organized retailers can take cues from the findings of the study to decide about location, nature and quality of assortment, and their marketing strategies.
The development of accounting regulations in Egypt: Legitimating the International Accounting Standards

Purpose - This paper seeks to understand the processes of setting accounting standards in a developing country in transition, namely Egypt. It explores the social, political as well as economic forces that underlie the development of financial accounting regulations implemented throughout two longitudinal periods; starting with the beginning of socialism and extending to liberalism. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on in-depth interviews and an analysis of documents. It relies on the institutional theory notions of coercive, mimic and normative isomorphic mechanisms to link the changes in the financial accounting regulations to the changes in the wider social and institutional context wherein organizations operate, while, at the same time, exploring the legitimation processes underlying the development of domestic accounting standards similar to the International Accounting Standards (IASs). Findings - The paper finds that the major changes in the state's political philosophy, the regulators' motivations and the processes of the accountancy profession provided a momentum to the formulation of Egyptian Accounting Standards (EAS). Though similar to IASs, they were acted upon to overcome the pre-existing socialist accounting practices, while, at same time, increasing organizational members' adherence to the processes of privatization. Research limitations/implications - Although the empirical findings suggest that “globalization forces” through technical as well as financial assistance programmes created pressures during the standard-setting processes, a full investigation and explanation of such pressures are an area of future research. Originality/value - The paper contributes to the understanding of how IASs are diffused in a country in transition and the role of these standards during that country's transformation processes towards the market economy.
Individual and combined roles of CYP3A, P‐glycoprotein (MDR1/ABCB1) and MRP2 (ABCC2) in the pharmacokinetics of docetaxel

Docetaxel is one of the most widely used anticancer drugs. A major problem with docetaxel treatment, however, is the considerable interpatient variability in docetaxel exposure. Another disadvantage of the drug is that it has a very low oral bioavailability and can, therefore, only be administered intravenously. The drug‐metabolizing enzyme CYP3A and the drug transporter MDR1 (P‐glycoprotein) are major determinants of docetaxel pharmacokinetics. In vitro studies have indicated that docetaxel is also a substrate for the drug transporter MRP2, but the in vivo importance of MRP2 for docetaxel is currently unknown. We, therefore, investigated the role of MRP2 in the pharmacokinetics of docetaxel by utilizing Mrp2−/− mice. We also generated and characterized Cyp3a/Mdr1a/b/Mrp2−/− combination knockout mice to get more insight into how these drug‐handling systems work together in determining docetaxel pharmacokinetics. The systemic exposure in Mrp2−/− mice was not significantly different from wild‐type, after either oral or intravenous administration. Strikingly, however, in Cyp3a/Mdr1a/b/Mrp2−/− mice, systemic docetaxel exposure was increased 166‐fold after oral administration when compared with wild‐type mice, and 2.3‐fold when compared with Cyp3a/Mdr1a/b−/− mice. Interestingly, this 166‐fold increase was disproportionate compared with that for the separate Cyp3a (12‐fold) or Mdr1a/b/Mrp2 (4‐fold) knockouts. The oral bioavailability was increased to 73% in the Cyp3a/Mdr1a/b/Mrp2−/− strain, versus only 10% in wild‐type mice. Our data thus indicate that in the absence of CYP3A and Mdr1a/b activity, Mrp2 has a marked impact on docetaxel pharmacokinetics. These findings could have important implications for improving the oral bioavailability and reducing the variability in docetaxel exposure.
Social Capital and Political Participation in South Korea

This article, using the second and third waves of the World Values Surveys study, investigates the development of social capital as understood in terms of civic engagement in Korea. The causal antecedents of social capital and its consequences on mass political attitudes and behaviors are also examined. For the purpose of the empirical studies in this article, however, we evaluate the influence of associational life on a single aspect of political participation, namely political protest. The findings indicate that there is a sharp rise in the percentage of civic engagement over a six-year period between 1990 and 1996 (roughly between the democratic transition and the period of consolidation) and that there is a consistent association between only one form of civil society participation, namely, membership in trade unions and elite-challenging action (protest potential). Consequently, contrary to the findings in prior studies, social capital plays a minor role in political participation in Korea.
The effect of chicory (Cichorium intybus) and sulla (Hedysarum coronarium) on larval development and mucosal cell responses of growing lambs challenged with Teladorsagia circumcincta

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of grazing different bioactive forages on acquired immunity against Teladorsagia circumcinta infection. The development of immunity was assessed by following the response of trickle-infected lambs grazing chicory (Cichorium intybus; IC), sulla (Hedysarum coronarium; IS) or grass/clover (Lolium perenne/Trifolium repens; IGC), to a single challenge infection. Parasite-naive lambs, grazing grass/clover, were also challenged with the single infection dose providing the uninfected control (UGC) group. Trickle infection significantly reduced worm establishment, inhibited larval development and increased mucosal mast cell (MMC) and globule leucocyte (GL) cells. Grazing treatment (chicory, sulla or grass/clover) significantly affected adult worm (P<0·05), late-L4 (P<0·01) and mid-L4 (P<0·01) larval-stage recoveries of the trickle-infected lambs, with IGC group always carrying higher worm burdens than either IC or IS lambs. MMC and GL cells of trickle-infected lambs were positively correlated with the proportion of early-L4 worms recovered and negatively correlated with both the proportion of adult worms recovered and the total worm establishment, suggesting that the observed effects were due to an enhanced immune response. The results suggest elevated immune responses against T. circumcincta infections in growing lambs grazing on either sulla or chicory compared to those grazing on grass/clover, probably due to differences in forage nutritional values.
Enduring legacy of a toxic fan via episodic redistribution of California gold mining debris

Significance This paper is of fundamental interest to the millions of residents living at the downstream end of this and other global river basins beset by industrial metals mining. Sediment-bound Hg has contaminated food webs of the San Francisco Bay-Delta, but the dominant geographical sources of Hg to downstream ecosystems in this and similar river basins are debated. Likewise, the processes by which Hg is delivered to lowlands and the patterns of its floodplain deposition are poorly understood. This research addresses a gap in generic theory of postmining fan evolution that enables anticipation, prediction, and management of contamination risk to food webs. The interrelationships between hydrologically driven evolution of legacy landscapes downstream of major mining districts and the contamination of lowland ecosystems are poorly understood over centennial time scales. Here, we demonstrate within piedmont valleys of California’s Sierra Nevada, through new and historical data supported by modeling, that anthropogenic fans produced by 19th century gold mining comprise an episodically persistent source of sediment-adsorbed Hg to lowlands. Within the enormous, iconic Yuba Fan, we highlight (i) an apparent shift in the relative processes of fan evolution from gradual vertical channel entrenchment to punctuated lateral erosion of fan terraces, thus enabling entrainment of large volumes of Hg-laden sediment during individual floods, and (ii) systematic intrafan redistribution and downstream progradation of fan sediment into the Central Valley, triggered by terrace erosion during increasingly long, 10-y flood events. Each major flood apparently erodes stored sediment and delivers to sensitive lowlands the equivalent of ∼10–30% of the entire postmining Sierran Hg mass so far conveyed to the San Francisco Bay-Delta (SFBD). This process of protracted but episodic erosion of legacy sediment and associated Hg is likely to persist for >104 y. It creates, within an immense swath of river corridor well upstream of the SFBD, new contaminated floodplain surfaces primed for Hg methylation and augments/replenishes potential Hg sources to the SFBD. Anticipation, prediction, and management of toxic sediment delivery, and corresponding risks to lowland ecology and human society globally, depend on the morphodynamic stage of anthropogenic fan evolution, synergistically coupled to changing frequency of and duration extreme floods.
Comparative Analysis of the Oocytes and Early Development of Two Species of Curimatidae Teleost Fish

Curimatella lepidura and Steindachnerina elegans are small forage fish, constituting an important link in the food chain, serving as food for larger commercial fish. In this study, characteristics of the eggs, of the oocyte's surface ultrastructure and of the embryogenesis are first described for these species. Absolute fecundity was 40864 ± 8769 oocytes for C. lepidura and 22089 ± 8710 oocytes for S. elegans. Oocytes of both species are yellowish, weakly adhesive and with a post‐fertilization diameter of 1019.5 ± 20.6 μm and 978.75 ± 29.16 μm for C. lepidura and S. elegans, respectively. The ultrastructural analysis, using scanning electron microscopy, showed that the oocyte's surface of both species has pore canals over the entire surface and a funnel‐shaped micropyle. At 24°C, the embryonic development of C. lepidura was completed 25 h after fertilization, and blastopore closure occurred in 7 h 30 min. In S. elegans, larvae hatched 20 h after fertilization, and blastopore closure occurred in 7 h 15 min. The fertilization rate was 74.5 ± 7.96 and 71.2 ± 10.8% for C. lepidura and S. elegans, respectively. This study provides important support for clarifying phylogenetic relationships and in ecological and zoological understanding of Neotropical Curimatidae fish.
Moral Sentiments and Reciprocal Obligations: The Case for Pension Fund Investment in Community Development

Squeezed between increasing entitlement expenditures and static or declining real revenues, state-funded urban development is increasingly perceived as an unaffordable luxury. At the same time, the power and significance of the banking sector is giving way to new kinds of financial institutions that have little or no interest in community development. Not surprisingly, it is often argued that pension funds ought to be more sensitive to community needs. However, some analysts argue that pension funds are properly only the agents of plan beneficiaries; any investment that took into account community needs would be, in effect, an unjustified tax on individuals' future welfare. Furthermore, analysts are very doubtful about the integrity of public pension plan investment decision-making. In this paper, I set out a morally informed justification of public pension plan investment in community development. In doing so, I develop a model of community development that stresses the reciprocal nature of the obligations embedded in the relationship between the community and pension plan beneficiaries. This approach also has significant implications for a wide variety of private sponsored plans. The paper begins with an assessment of pension fund decision-making and the practices of the investment management industry, drawing upon related research on pension fund capitalism. It goes on to issues of social obligation, referencing recent research on the nature of social contracts. To give the analysis empirical relevance I refer to the much disputed decision of the West Virginia legislature to require their public pension funds' Investment Management Board to invest in the state government's corrections authority.
Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP) in an Agriculturally-Dominated Watershed, Southeastern USA

Human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) quantifies alteration of the biosphere caused by land use change and biomass harvest. In global and regional scale assessments, the majority of HANPP is associated with agricultural biomass harvest. We adapted these methods to the watershed scale and calculated land cover change and HANPP in an agricultural watershed in 1968 and 2011. Between 1968 and 2011, forest cover remained near 50% of the watershed, but row crop decreased from 26% to 0.4%, pasture increased from 19% to 32%, and residential area increased from 2% to 10%. Total HANPP decreased from 35% of potential Net Primary Productivity (NPP) in 1968 to 28% in 2011. Aboveground HANPP remained constant at 42%. Land use change accounted for 86%–89% of HANPP. Aboveground HANPP did not change despite the major shift in agricultural land use from row crop and pasture. The HANPP and land use change in Doddies Creek watershed reflects changing land use patterns in the southeastern US, driven by a complex interaction of local to global scale processes including change in farm viability, industrialization of agriculture, and demographic shifts. In the future, urbanization and biofuel production are likely to become important drivers of HANPP in the region. At the watershed scale, HANPP can be useful for improving land use decisions and landscape management to decrease human impact on the ecosystem and ensure the flow of ecosystem services.
Candidate Genes Colocalized to Linkage Regions in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background and Aims: The genes encoding for tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and the vitamin D receptor (VDR) are colocalized to inflammatory bowel disease-associated linkage regions on chromosomes 6, 7 and 12. An association study of these gene polymorphisms with ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease and a stratification according to disease phenotypes was performed in order to identify gentically homogenous subgroups. Patients and Methods: 119 healthy, unrelated controls, 95 patients with Crohn’s disease and 93 patients with ulcerative colitis were genotyped for the (G to A) –308 TNF-α promoter polymorphism on chromosome 6, the codon 497 EGFR polymorphism on chromosome 7 and the TaqI polymorphism of the VDR gene on chromosome 12. After genotyping, patients were stratified according to the respective disease phenotype. Results: A disequilibrium in the distribution of the VDR genotypes was found in patients with ulcerative colitis compared to controls (p = 0.024). In fistulizing and fibrostenotic Crohn’s disease the ‘TT’ genotype was significantly reduced compared with other phenotypes (p = 0.006), whereas the ‘tt’ genotype was found more frequently (p = 0.04). The frequency of the WT allele of the EGFR gene was significantly higher in ulcerative colitis (p = 0.04) than in controls. Further significant differences, concerning the associations of the different polymorphisms and disease susceptibility or clinical phenotypes, were not observed. Conclusions: Regardless of the disease phenotype, the associations between the polymorphisms and inflammatory bowel disease investigated herein are modest, even after stratification for the disease phenotypes. Hence, these polymorphisms are unlikely to confer the reported linkage between inflammatory bowel disease and chromosomes 6, 7 and 12.
Species Diversity in Local Neutral Communities

We extend the neutral theory of macroecology by deriving biodiversity models (relative species abundance and species‐area relationships) in a local community‐metacommunity system in which the local community is embedded within the metacommunity. We first demonstrate that the local species diversity patterns converge to that of the metacommunity as the size (scale) of the embedded local community increases. This result shows that in continuous landscapes no sharp boundaries dividing the communities at the two scales exist; they are an artificial distinction made by the current spatially implicit neutral theory. Second, we remove the artificial restriction that speciation cannot occur in a local community, even if the effects of local speciation are small. Third, we introduce stochasticity into the immigration rate, previously treated as constant, and demonstrate that local species diversity is a function not only of the mean but also of the variance in immigration rate. High variance in immigration rates reduces species diversity in local communities. Finally, we show that a simple relationship exists between the fundamental diversity parameter of neutral theory and Simpson’s index for local communities. Derivation of this relationship extends recent work on diversity indices and provides a means of evaluating the effect of immigration on estimates of the fundamental diversity parameter derived from relative species abundance data on local communities.
Experience in daily practice with ipilimumab for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma: an early increase in lymphocyte and eosinophil counts is associated with improved survival.

BACKGROUND Ipilimumab is a recently approved immunotherapy that has demonstrated an improvement in the overall survival (OS) of patients with metastatic melanoma. We report a single-institution experience in patients treated in a compassionate-use program. PATIENTS AND METHODS In this prospective study, patients were treated between June 2010 and September 2011. Inclusion criteria were a diagnosis of unresectable stage III or IV melanoma, at least one previous line of chemotherapy, and survival 12 weeks after the first perfusion. Four courses of ipilimumab were administered at a dose of 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks. RESULTS Seventy-three patients were included. Median OS was 9.1 months (95% CI 6.4-11.3) from the start of ipilimumab. Immune-related adverse events were observed in 45 patients (62%), including 19 grade 3-4 events (26%). No drug-related death occurred. A lymphocyte count >1000/mm(3) at the start of the second course and an increase in the eosinophil count >100/mm(3) between the first and second infusions were correlated with an improved OS. CONCLUSION Ipilimumab toxic effect is manageable in real life. Biological data such as lymphocyte and eosinophil counts at the time of the second ipilimumab infusion appear to be early markers associated with better OS.