Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
INFLUENCE OF DOPAMINERGIC, ADRENERGIC AND CHOLINERGIC BLOCKADE AND TRH ADMINISTRATION ON GH RESPONSES TO GRF 1–29

In order to establish the influence of dopaminergic, á‐adrenergic and cholinergic pathways on GRF‐mediated GH release we have studied the GH responses to GRF 1–29 (100 or 50 μg as i.v. bolus) alone and in combination with metoclopramide (MCP, 10 mg, i.v.), thymoxamine (THYM, 210 μg/min, 150 min infusion), and atropine (1.2 mg, i.v.). We have also investigated any possible interaction between TRH and GRF in view of the reported inhibitory effects of TRH infusion on stimulated GH release. Dopaminergic and á‐adrenergic blockade with MCP and THYM respectively, did not have any effect on the GH responses to GRF. This lack of effect strongly suggests that any action which these neurotransmitters may exert on GH secretion is not at a pituitary level. TRH did not modify the GH response to GRF suggesting that the inhibitory effect on stimulted GH secretion is exerted at a hypothalamic level. In contrast, GH responses to GRF were significantly reduced by prior administration of atropine. These data support the view that cholinergic pathways play an important role in the regulation of GH secretion and such control may be exerted at both hypothalamic and pituitary levels.
Posaconazole for primary antifungal prophylaxis in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia or myelodysplastic syndrome during remission induction chemotherapy: a single‐centre retrospective study in Korea and clinical considerations

Posaconazole was introduced as the primary antifungal prophylaxis (PAP) in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients during remission induction chemotherapy. Data on breakthrough invasive fungal infections (IFIs) from various centres are essential, as there are several considerations in treating IFIs in the posaconazole era. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of posaconazole PAP and identify characteristics of IFIs at a single centre in Korea. We retrospectively reviewed consecutive patients with AML/MDS undergoing remission induction chemotherapy between December 2010 and November 2013. Of the 424 patients, 140 received posaconazole and 284 received fluconazole prophylaxis. The incidence of breakthrough proven/probable IFIs (15.5% vs. 2.9%, P < 0.001) and empirical antifungal treatment (EAFT) (45.8% vs. 12.9%, P < 0.001) decreased in the posaconazole group compared to the fluconazole group. In the posaconazole PAP group, two cases of breakthrough mucormycosis were noted among 13 proven/probable/possible IFI cases (15.4%). Overall and IFI‐related mortality was 12.1% and 1.9% respectively. Fungus‐free survival was significantly higher in the posaconazole group (74.7% vs. 87.1%, P = 0.028). Breakthrough IFIs and EAFT decreased significantly after posaconazole PAP. The benefit in fungus‐free survival was noted with posaconazole PAP. Clinicians should be vigilant to identify non‐Aspergillus IFIs with active diagnostic effort.
How Fast Can the New Economy Grow? A Bayesian Analysis of the Evolution of Trend Growth

This paper uses consumption data to estimate the trend growth rate for the "new economy. " The analysis starts with the assumption that a trend break in GDP should be accompanied by a trend break in consumption. But because consumption is forward looking and smoother than GDP, it should be easier to detect a trend break in the former. The forward looking nature of consumption allows us to incorporate the private expectations of U.S. households about the new economy. The relative smoothness makes it easier to separate changes in trend growth from ordinary cyclical movements. The evidence confirms that there has been an increase in trend growth over the last 5 years, but the increase seems rather modest. The new economy is likely to grow more rapidly than in the 1970s, but not as fast as in the 1950s or early 1960s.
Valuing Human Life: Estimating the Present Value of Lifetime Earnings, 2000

Abstract Objectives. This paper describes the methodology for estimating the present value of lifetime earnings (PVLE) for the year 2000. Methods. Estimation takes into account life expectancy by gender and age group, percent of people in the labor force or keeping house, current pattern of earnings at successive ages, an imputed value for household production, and the discount rate. Results. At a discount rate of 3 percent, males and females aged 20-24 have the highest PVLE — $1,517,045 and $1,085,188 respectively. Lifetime earnings for men are higher than for women. Higher discount rates yield lower values at all ages. Conclusions. The present value of lifetime earnings yields useful estimates of the valueof life. These estimates are conservative compared with other approaches.
Mesophilic Cellulolytic Clostridia from Freshwater Environments

Eight strains of obligately anaerobic, mesophilic, cellulolytic bacteria were isolated from mud of freshwater environments. The isolates (C strains) were rod-shaped, gram negative, and formed terminal spherical to oval spores that swelled the sporangium. The guanine plus cytosine content of the DNA of the C strains ranged from 30.7 to 33.2 mol% (midpoint of thermal denaturation). The C strains fermented cellulose with formation primarily of acetate, ethanol, CO2, and H2. Reducing sugars accumulated in the supernatant fluid of cultures which initially contained ≥0.4% (wt/vol) cellulose. The C strains resembled Clostridium cellobioparum in some phenotypic characteristics and Clostridium papyrosolvens in others, but they were not identical to either of these species. The C strains differed from thermophilic cellulolytic clostridia (e.g., Clostridium thermocellum) not only in growth temperature range but also because they fermented xylan and five-carbon products of plant polysaccharide hydrolysis such as d-xylose and l-arabinose. At 40°C, cellulose was degraded by cellulolytic mesophilic cells (strain C7) at a rate comparable to that at which C. thermocellum degrades cellulose at 60°C. Substrate utilization and growth temperature data indicated that the C strains contribute to the anaerobic breakdown of plant polymers in the environments they inhabit.
A Framework for Forecasting the Components of the Consumer Price

Inflation is a far from homogeneous phenomenon, but this fact is ignored in most work on consumer price inflation. Using a novel methodology grounded in theory, the ten sub-components of the consumer price index (excluding mortgage interest rates, or CPIX) for South Africa are modeled separately and forecast, four quarters ahead. The method combines equilibrium correction models in a rich multivariate form with the use of stochastic trends estimated by the Kalman filter to capture structural breaks and institutional change. This research is of considerable practical use for monetary policy, allowing sectoral sources of inflation to be identified. Aggregating the forecasts of the components with appropriate weights from the overall index, potentially indicates the gains to be made in forecasting the idiosyncratic sectoral behaviour of prices, over forecasting the overall consumer price index.
Estimating pass-through: structure and stability

This paper estimates the pass-through relationship between exchange rates and import prices for the United States using recursive techniques across a variety of specifications to examine structural and coefficient stability in a systematic fashion. Results of estimations: 1) indicate that pass-through at the macroeconomic level is a complicated amalgamation of disparate industrial structures that involves more than one long-run equilibrium relationship between the variables of interest, and 2) call into question the prevailing wisdom that foreign firms changed their pricing behavior in light of the large appreciation in the exchange value of the dollar in the early 1980s.
Agribusiness and society: corporate responses to environmentalism, market opportunities and public regulation.

* List of Tables and Figures * Notes on Contributors * 1. Agribusiness and Environmentalism: The Politics of Technology Innovation and Regulation - Kees Jansen and Sietze Vellema * Part I Agribusiness responses to environmentalism in the market * 2. Reconciling Shareholders, Stakeholders, and Managers: Experiencing the Ciba-Geigy Vision for Sustainable Development - William Vorley * 3. Monsanto Facing Uncertain Futures: Immobile Artefacts, Financial Constraints and Public Acceptance in Technological Change - Sietze Vellema * 4. The Appearance and Disappearance of GM Tomato: Innovation Strategy, Market Formation and the Shaping of Demand - Mark Harvey * 5. Contrasting Paths of Corporate Greening in Antipodean Agriculture: Organics and Green Production - Kristen Lyons, David Burch, Geoffrey Lawrence, and Stewart Lockie * 6. Room to Manoeuvre? (In)Organic Agribusiness in California - Julie Guthman * Part II Regulating corporate agribusiness: new roles for the public sector * 7. Greening Bananas and Institutionalizing Environmentalism: Self-Regulation by Fruit Corporations - Kees Jansen * 8. The DBCP Cases: Seeking Access to Justice to Make Agribusiness Accountable in the Global Economy - Erika Rosenthal * 9. Business and Biotechnology: Regulation and the Politics of Influence - Dominic Glover and Peter Newell * 10. Social Struggles and Regulation of Transgenic Crops in Brazil - Victor Pelaez and Wilson Schmidt * 11. Private versus Public? Agenda Setting in International Agro-technologies - Paul Richards
Immune-Regulatory Transcriptional Responses in Multiple Organs of Atlantic Salmon After Tributyltin Exposure, Alone or in Combination with Forskolin

Tributyltin (TBT) is a widespread marine pollutant that influences physiological conditions of fish and other aquatic organisms. In addition to effects on reproduction, the immune system has been proposed as a possible target for TBT effects. In the present study, the effects of TBT exposure were examined on the expression of genes involved in immune system compentence in liver and head kidney of Atlantic salmon, in the presence and absence of a second-messenger activator (forskolin). Juvenile salmon were force-fed a diet containing TBT (0—solvent control, 0.1, 1, or 10 mg/kg fish) for 72 h. Consequently, fish from the control group and 10-mg/kg TBT group were exposed to the adenylate cyclase (AC) activator forskolin (200 μg/L) for 2 or 4 h. Forskolin was selected for this study because it is known to exhibit potent immune system enhancement by activating macrophages and lymphocytes. After sacrifice, liver and head kidney were sampled and transcript changes for interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-10, transforming growth factor (TGF) β, interferon (INF) α, INFγ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α, Mx3, and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 were determined in both tissues by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) using gene-specific primers. TBT, when given alone and also in combination with forskolin, decreased IL-1β, TNFα, IFNγ, IFNα, Mx3, and IGF-1 gene expression. In contrast, IL-10 and TGFβ transcripts were increased after TBT exposure alone and also in combination with forskolin. Generally, these effects were largely dependent on TBT dose and time of exposure when given in combination with forskolin. Overall, our findings suggest a possible immunomodulatory effect of TBT, possibly involving cAMP activation.
Family profiles in eating disorders: family functioning and psychopathology

Research has studied family functioning in families of patients suffering from eating disorders (EDs), particularly investigating the associations between mothers’ and daughters’ psychopathological symptoms, but limited studies have examined whether there are specific maladaptive psychological profiles characterizing the family as a whole when it includes adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED). Through the collaboration of a network of public and private consultants, we recruited n=181 adolescents diagnosed for EDs (n=61 with AN, n=60 with BN, and n=60 with BEDs) and their parents. Mothers, fathers, and youths were assessed through a self-report measure evaluating family functioning, and adolescents completed a self-report questionnaire assessing psycho-pathological symptoms. Results showed specific family functioning and psychopathological profiles based on adolescents’ diagnosis. Regression analyses also showed that family functioning characterized by rigidity predicted higher psychopathological symptoms. Our study underlines the importance of involving all members of the family in assessment and intervention programs when adolescent offspring suffer from EDs.
Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in southern Indian controls and patients with gastroduodenal disease

Abstract The spiral organism Helicobacter pylori has been casually implicated in the genesis of various gastroduodenal diseases. Since these diseases are common in southern India, this study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of H. pylori in the gastric mucosa of asymptomatic adults and patients with various gastroduodenal diseases. H. pylori was detected in the gastric mucosa of 25 of 30 (83.3%) normal volunteers. Prevalence rates in the disease groups were also high, and included 38 of 41 patients with duodenal ulcer (92.6%), 13/16 with gastric ulcer (81.3%), and 85/119 subjects (71.4%) with non‐ulcer dyspepsia. Light microscopic examination of the gastric mucosa provided the best method of detecting H. pylori. H. pylori colonization was significantly associated with histological abnormalities, mainly chronic atrophic gastritis (147) and superficial gastritis (11), while only three of 161 H. pylori positive patients had histologically normal antral mucosa. Ultrastructural examination revealed changes in the apical complex of the gastric mucosal cells in response to bacterial adhesion, with mucus depletion and cellular damage. Bacteria were also noted disrupting the tight junctions and entering the intercellular spaces. The high prevalence of H. pylori infection may explain the high incidence of gastritis, duodenal ulceration and gastric carcinoma in this population. However, in this population, the prevalence of infection in asymptomatic individuals was nearly as high as that in duodenal ulcer, underlining the need for further study to identify the differences in host response or bacterial pathogenicity that lead to the development of ulcer in only some individuals.
Survival Rates in Closed and Open Vitrification for Human Mature Oocyte Cryopreservation: A Meta-Analysis

Background/Aims: Survival of warmed oocytes is the first part and is one of the most important aspects of in vitro fertilization following oocyte cryopreservation. There is no definite conclusion about the difference in survival rates between closed and open vitrification for oocyte cryopreservation. This study aimed to investigate whether there is a difference in survival rates between closed and open vitrification for cryopreservation of human mature oocytes. Methods: A literature search was performed using the MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Embase databases. A total of 4 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Results: In the frequentist meta-analysis, the random effects model showed no statistically significant difference in survival rates between closed and open vitrification (risk ratio [RR] 0.8873, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.7658–1.0280). However, an effect size deviation of the RR from 1.0 and a borderline trend of the 95% CI were noted. In the Bayesian meta-analysis, the posterior probability that closed vitrification would decrease the survival rate when compared to that with open vitrification was 83.04% for the random effects model. Conclusion: It is not yet possible to conclude that closed vitrification is an aseptic alternative to open vitrification in human mature oocyte cryopreservation.
Entrepreneurship in Indigenous Australia: the importance of Education

In the Coalition’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs 1998 election policy statement, The Honourable John Herron, Senator for Queensland and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, claimed that a second term Howard/Fischer government would continue to assist Indigenous Australia to move beyond welfare by continuing to target key areas that include education and economic development (Herron 1998:1).
Bone Mineralization during a Developing Zinc Deficiency 1 2

Summary Alterations in bone mineralization were examined during the progression of a zinc deficiency in rats. One hundred rats were divided into three groups and fed the following diets: zinc sufficient, ad libitum; zinc deficient, ad libitum; and zinc sufficient, pair-fed the daily intake of the deficient group. Plasma zinc concentration of the zinc-deficient group decreased dramatically during the first 24 hr of deficient diet and continued to decline over the next 2 days. Body weight gain essentially stopped after 1 week. During the experimental period of 23 days, femur zinc concentration decreased 61%, while total femur zinc decreased 37%. Yet, both the total and concentration of calcium and phosphorus increased and the Ca:P ratio remained relatively constant. The present data indicate that zinc can be released from bone during periods of dietary zinc deficiency. Furthermore, the decrease in zinc appears to be independent from calcium and phosphorus in the bone.
Examining Suicide Protective Factors Among Black College Students

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the nascent literature on resilience and suicidality among Black Americans by examining factors that may predict less suicidal behavior among this population. The authors hypothesized that reasons for living, life satisfaction, and religious awareness would account for unique variance in suicidal thoughts and behavior among Black Americans, above the variance accounted for by depressive symptoms. They also hypothesized that reasons for living and religious awareness would be stronger inverse predictors among Black women than Black men. Results indicated that both depression and life satisfaction were stronger predictors of suicidal behavior among Black men. Among women, only reasons for living was a significant inverse predictor of suicidal thoughts and behavior. More frequent reasons for living moderated the relationship between depression and suicidal thoughts and behavior among Black women.
Genetic network programming with route nodes

Many classical methods such as Genetic Algorithm (GA), Genetic Programming (GP), Evolutionary Strategies (ES), etc. have accomplished significant contribution to the study of evolutionary computation. And in the past decade, a new approach named Genetic Network Programming (GNP) has been proposed. It is designed for especially solving complex problems in dynamic environments. Generally speaking, GNP is based on the algorithms of existed classical evolutionary computation techniques and uses the data structure of directed graphs which becomes the unique feature of GNP. So far, many studies have indicated that GNP can solve the complex problems in the dynamic environments very efficiently and effectively. Focusing on GNP's distinguished expression ability of the graph structure, this paper proposes an enhanced architecture for the standard GNP in order to improve the performance of GNP by using the exploited information extensively during the evolution process of GNP. In the enhanced architecture, the important gene information of the elite individuals is extracted and accumulated during evolution. And among the accumulated information, some of them are selected and encapsulated in the Route Nodes which are used to guide the evolution process. In this paper, the proposed architecture has been applied to the tile-world which is an excellent bench mark for evaluating the evolutionary computation architecture. The performance of the GNP with Route Nodes (GNP-RN) is compared with the conventional GNP. The simulation results show some merits of the proposed method over the conventional GNPs demonstrating its superiority.
Online Purchasing Intention: Factors and Effects

Consumers’ direct use of Internet to purchase online still remains poor. This reluctance is a difficulty for the survival of e-commerce-based firms. It is then necessary to better attest for the reasons which push consumers to adopt or reject purchasing online. It is with these concerns that this study tries to determine the factors explaining online purchasing behaviour. The results indicate that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and previous experience are the factors which determine Internet use as a new business tool. This study adds to the existing literature the empirical validation of a model that integrates the effect of experience, gender and the traditional variables of the technology acceptance model on online purchasing intention. Understanding well the factors influencing online purchasing would allow firms the possibility of adjusting their strategies to finally attract most of their potential consumers and profit most from the opportunities offered by e-commerce. Key words: E-Commerce; Attitude towards online purchasing; Online purchasing intention
Two tonB Systems Function in Iron Transport in Vibrio anguillarum, but Only One Is Essential for Virulence

ABSTRACT We have identified two functional tonB systems in the marine fish pathogen Vibrio anguillarum, tonB1 and tonB2. Each of the tonB genes is transcribed in an operon with the cognate exbB and exbD genes in response to iron limitation. Only tonB2 is essential for transport of ferric anguibactin and virulence.
ZEB1‐mediated melanoma cell plasticity enhances resistance to MAPK inhibitors

Targeted therapies with MAPK inhibitors (MAPKi) are faced with severe problems of resistance in BRAF‐mutant melanoma. In parallel to the acquisition of genetic mutations, melanoma cells may also adapt to the drugs through phenotype switching. The ZEB1 transcription factor, a known inducer of EMT and invasiveness, is now considered as a genuine oncogenic factor required for tumor initiation, cancer cell plasticity, and drug resistance in carcinomas. Here, we show that high levels of ZEB1 expression are associated with inherent resistance to MAPKi in BRAFV600‐mutated cell lines and tumors. ZEB1 levels are also elevated in melanoma cells with acquired resistance and in biopsies from patients relapsing while under treatment. ZEB1 overexpression is sufficient to drive the emergence of resistance to MAPKi by promoting a reversible transition toward a MITFlow/p75high stem‐like and tumorigenic phenotype. ZEB1 inhibition promotes cell differentiation, prevents tumorigenic growth in vivo, sensitizes naive melanoma cells to MAPKi, and induces cell death in resistant cells. Overall, our results demonstrate that ZEB1 is a major driver of melanoma cell plasticity, driving drug adaptation and phenotypic resistance to MAPKi.