Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of an High-Fat Diet Enriched in Lard or in Fish Oil on the Hypothalamic Amp-Activated Protein Kinase and Inflammatory Mediators

The high fat diet (HFD) rich in lard induces obesity, inflammation and oxidative stress, and the deregulation of hypothalamic nuclei plays an important role in this mechanism. One important factor involved in the food intake and inflammation is adenosine monophosphate-dependent kinase (AMPK), a serine/threonine kinase activated by phosphorylation. Omega (ω)3-polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are dietary compounds known to attenuate the obesity-related diseases, although the molecular mechanisms underlying their actions in the hypothalamus are not completely understood. We hypothesized that the beneficial effects of PUFA may be mediated by AMPK in the hypothalamus. To this aim, rats were fed a control diet (CD), or isocaloric HFD containing either fish oil (FD; rich in ω3-PUFA) or lard for 6 weeks, and the activation of AMPK, inflammatory state (IKKβ, TNF-α) and oxidative stress were analyzed in the hypothalamus. In addition, we also studied serum lipid profile, homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) index, and pro-inflammatory parameters. Our results showed, at the hypothalamic level of LD-fed rats, an increase of AMPK activation, inflammation and oxidative stress, while no modifications were detected in FD-fed animals compared to CD. In addition body weight gain, serum lipid profile, pro-inflammatory parameters and insulin resistance were reduced in FD animals compared to LD. In conclusion, our data indicate that the substitution of saturated by unsaturated fatty acids in the diet has beneficial effects on modulation of hypothalamic inflammation and function in obesity, underlying, at hypothalamic level, the interaction among insulin and/or leptin resistance, AMPK activation and hyperphagia.
Geometrical shapes and swaying movements of realistic tree: design and implementation

Trees and plants are important elements of outdoor scenes, therefore, it makes demands of research involved in computer graphics on methods to realize the natural-looking trees and plants in various environmental condition, such as windy or stormy weather, to contribute more facticity to the virtual reality. The paper starts from introducing the general background. Then, an approach adopting a series of statistical curves as inputted parameters of tree morphogenesis and motion depiction, which represent ramification modes, phyllotaxes or motion profiles of leaves and stems. Finally, some experimental models in virtual scene were showed. We focus on the faithful morphogenesis of tree, swaying motion in wind and the appropriate rendering speed. Aside, all the inputted statistical curves can be modified interactively to integrate the research work of botanists and other experts, which vary with species and districts. Within this methodology, various plant models can be created easily and rapidly without any botanic background, and faithful motion of tree in wind can be simulated easily with proper engineering accuracy and effective computation.
Mapping Precipitation Variability Using Different Interpolation Methods

Precipitation data are available from recording stations that present point samples. Spatial interpolation may be used to estimate precipitation at unsampled sites. The present analysis is based on the annual precipitation totals observed at Danube Plain, Bulgaria. Precipitation variability is presented by deviation of annual precipitation totals. The investigated period is 2000 2004 and the reference period is 1961-1990. The paper demonstrates the implementation of different interpolation methods into meteorological data analysis.
Characteristics and Prognostic Implications of High-Risk HPV-Associated Hypopharyngeal Cancers

Background High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is an oncogenic virus that causes oropharyngeal cancers, and it has a favorable outcome after the treatment. Unlike in oropharyngeal cancer, the prevalence and role of high-risk HPV in the etiology of hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC) is uncertain. Objective The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect and prognostic significance of high-risk HPV in patients with HPSCC. Methods The study included 64 subjects with HPSCC who underwent radical surgery with or without radiation-based adjuvant therapy. Primary tumor sites were the pyriform sinus in 42 patients, posterior pharyngeal wall in 19 patients, and postcricoid area in 3 patients. High-risk HPV in situ hybridization was performed to detect HPV infection. Results The positive rate of high-risk HPV in situ hybridization was 10.9% (7/64). There was a significant difference in the fraction of positive high-risk HPV among pyriform sinus cancer (16.7%), posterior pharyngeal wall cancer (0%), and postcricoid area cancer (0%) (p = 0.042). The laryngoscopic examination revealed a granulomatous and exophytic appearance in 85.7% (6/7) of patients with high-risk HPV-positive pyriform sinus cancer, but in only 31.4% (11/35) of patients with high-risk HPV-negative pyriform sinus cancer (p = 0.012). Significant correlations were found between positive high-risk HPV and younger age (p = 0.050) and non-smoking status (p = 0.017). HPV-positive patients had a significantly better disease-free survival (p = 0.026) and disease-specific survival (p = 0.047) than HPV-negative patients. Conclusions High-risk HPV infection is significantly related to pyriform sinus cancer in patients with HPSCC.
A phase II trial of dacomitinib , an oral pan-human EGF receptor ( HER ) inhibitor , as fi rst-line treatment in recurrent and / or metastatic squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck †

A. R. Abdul Razak1, D. Soulières2, S. A. Laurie3, S. J. Hotte4, S. Singh5, E. Winquist6, S. Chia7, C. Le Tourneau1, P.F. Nguyen-Tan2, E. X. Chen1, K. K. Chan1, T. Wang8, N. Giri9, C. Mormont10, S. Quinn11 & L. L. Siu1* Department of Medical Oncology, Princess Margaret Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto; Department of Medical Oncology, Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal-Hôpital Notre-Dame, Montréal; Department of Medical Oncology, Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa; Department of Medical Oncology, Juravinski Cancer Centre, Hamilton; Department of Medical Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Toronto; Department of Medical Oncology, London Health Sciences Centre, London; Department of Medical Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, Canada; Pfizer Oncology, Groton; Pfizer Oncology, La Jolla, USA; Pfizer Oncology, Montréal, Canada; Pfizer Oncology, Cambridge, USA
Relation Mining in the Biomedical Domain using Entity-level Semantics

This work explores the use of semantic information from background knowledge sources for the task of relation mining between medical entities such as diseases, drugs, and their functional effects/actions. We hypothesize that the semantics of medical entities, and the information about them in different knowledge sources play an important role in determining their interactions and can thus be exploited to infer relations between these entities. We capture entities' semantics using a number of resources such as Wikipedia, UMLS Semantic Network, MEDCIN, MeSH and SNOMED. Depending on coverage and specificity of the resources, and features of interest, different classifiers are learnt. An ensemble based approach is then used to fuse together individual predictions. Using a human-curated ontology as the gold standard, the proposed approach has been used to recognize ten medical relations of interest. We show that the proposed approach achieves substantial improvements in both coverage and performance over a distant supervision based baseline that uses sentence-level information. Finally, we also show that even a simple ensemble approach that combines all the semantic information is able to get the best coverage and performance.
A ‘Leaky Bucket’ in the Real World: Estimating Inequality Aversion Using Survey Data

Existing evidence of inequality aversion relies on data from class-room experiments where subjects face hypothetical questions. This paper estimates the magnitude of inequality aversion using representative survey data, with questions related to the real-economy situations the respondents face. The results reveal that the magnitude of inequality aversion can be measured in a meaningful way using survey data, but the estimates depend dramatically on the framing of the question. No matter how measured, the revealed inequality aversion predicts opinions on a wide range of questions related to the welfare state, such as the level of taxation, tax progressivity and the structure of unemployment benefits.
Routing and spectrum assignment for 1+1:1 lightpath services in elastic optical networks

This paper extends single failure to dual failure recovery for an elastic optical network (EON) with 1+1:1 network protection. The issue of routing and spectrum assignment (RSA) is studied with objective of minimizing the maximal number of frequency slots (FSs) used. The key principle for protection capacity sharing among second protection lightpaths is identified. An Integer Linear Programing (ILP) model and a spectrum window plane (SWP)-based heuristic algorithm are developed for RSA of 1+1:1 protected EON. Simulation results show that the proposed SWP-based algorithm can achieve better capacity utilization than the shortest-path (SP) algorithm and is almost as efficient as the ILP model.
On the Nature of Syntactic Variation: Evidence from Complex Predicates and Complex Word-Formation

Stable URL:http://links.jstor.org/sici? sici=0097-8507%28200106%2977%3A2%3C324%3AOTNOSV%3E2.0. CO%3B2-ELanguage is currently published by Linguistic Society of America.Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available athttp://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtainedprior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content inthe JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained athttp://www.jstor.org/journals/lsa.html. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printedpage of such transmission.The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academicjournals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers,and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community takeadvantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. http://www.jstor.orgSun Jan 6 16:47:09 2008
DOES AEROBIC EXERCISE TRAINING PROMOTE CHANGES IN STRUCTURAL AND BIOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF THE TENDONS IN EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS? A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

To develop a systematic review to evaluate, through the best scientific evidence available, the effectiveness of aerobic exercise in improving the biomechanical characteristics of tendons in experimental animals. Two independent assessors conducted a systematic search in the databases Medline/PUBMED and Lilacs/BIREME, using the following descriptors of Mesh in animal models. The ultimate load of traction and the elastic modulus tendon were used as primary outcomes and transverse section area, ultimate stress and tendon strain as secondary outcomes. The assessment of risk of bias in the studies was carried out using the following methodological components: light/dark cycle, temperature, nutrition, housing, research undertaken in conjunction with an ethics committee, randomization, adaptation of the animals to the training and preparation for the mechanical test. Eight studies, comprising 384 animals, were selected; it was not possible to combine them into one meta-analysis due to the heterogeneity of the samples. There was a trend to increasing ultimate load without changes in the other outcomes studied. Only one study met more than 80% of the quality criteria. Physical training performed in a structured way with imposition of overloads seems to be able to promote changes in tendon structure of experimental models by increasing the ultimate load supported. However, the results of the influence of exercise on the elastic modulus parameters, strain, transverse section area and ultimate stress, remain controversial and inconclusive. Such a conclusion must be evaluated with reservation as there was low methodological control in the studies included in this review.
Association of the LILRA3 Deletion with B-NHL and Functional Characterization of the Immunostimulatory Molecule

LILRA3 is the sole soluble member of the LILR family. Previous studies from our group had shown that a 6.7 kb genetic deletion of LILRA3 is associated with MS and Sjögren’s syndrome. An impairment of the immune response leads to a predisposition for B-NHL, so we wanted to study whether the deletion of LILRA3 is also a risk factor for B-NHL, as well as the function of LILRA3. We discovered that the frequency of the homozygous LILRA3 deletion was significantly higher in B-NHL (6%) than in blood donors (3%) (P = 0.03). We detected binding of fluorochrome-conjugated recombinant LILRA3 to monocytes and B-cells. Incubation of PBMCs with recombinant LILRA3 induced proliferation of CD8+ T-cells and NK cells, as determined by CFSE staining. Using a transwell system, we demonstrated that LILRA3-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation was mediated by monocytes and required both cell contact and soluble factors. Secretion of IL-6, IL-8, IL-1β and IL-10 in the cell supernatant was stimulated by LILRA3. We conclude that LILRA3 is an immunostimulatory molecule, whose deficiency is associated with higher frequency of B-NHL.
The Swedish model for resolving the banking crisis of 1991-93. Seven reasons why it was successful

This study presents the main features of the Swedish approach for resolving the banking crisis of 1991-93 by condensing them into seven policy lessons. The main features of the Swedish approach to the banking crisis of 1991-93 concern political unity, a government blanket guarantee, swift policy action,an adequate legal and institutional framework, full disclosure of information, a differentiated resolution policy, and the proper design of macroeconomic policies.
Molecular Detection and Genotyping of Chlamydia psittaci in Captive Psittacines from Costa Rica

Oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs from 117 captive psittacine birds presented at veterinary clinics (88) and from shelters/rescue centers of wildlife (29) were collected to determine the prevalence of C. psittaci in captive birds in Costa Rica. Samples were collected during 2009 from a total of 19 different species of parrots, with Ara macao (33), Amazona autumnalis (24), Amazona ochrocephala (21), and Ara ararauna (8) being the most representative species sampled. C. psittaci was detected in four (3.4%) birds using molecular detection (PCR). The positive samples belonged to birds presented at veterinary clinics; three of them were Ara macao and one Amazona ochrocephala. Three birds were adults; all positive birds showed no symptoms of illness and lived in homes with other birds, two in San José and two in Heredia. Sequencing was used to confirm the PCR positive results, showing that two samples of C. psittaci belonged to genotype A, representing the first report of the presence of this genotype in Costa Rica. The detection of this bacterium in captive psittacine birds shows that there is a potential risk for people living or having contact with them and that there is a possibility of infecting other birds.
Cortical barrel field ablation and unconditioned whisking kinematics

The effects of “barrel cortex” ablation upon the biometrics of “exploratory” whisking were examined in three head-fixed rats which had previously sustained unilateral ablation of the left cortical “barrel field” under electrophysiological control. Unconditioned movements of a pair of bilaterally homologous whiskers (C-1, Right, Left) were monitored, optoelectronically, with other whiskers present. Whisking movements on the intact and ablated side were analyzed with respect to kinematics (protraction amplitude and velocity) whisking frequency and phase relationships between whisking movement on the two sides of the face. Histological analysis confirmed complete removal of S-1 “barrel cortex”. In normal animals whisking movements have a characteristic rhythm (6-9 Hz), and protractions on the two sides of the face tend to be both synchronous and of very similar amplitudes. In the lesioned animals, whisking frequency was unchanged and whisking movements remained bilaterally synchronous. However, there was a significant difference between the amplitude of Right and Left whisker movements which was evident many months postoperatively. Our results suggest that the deficits in vibrissa-mediated tactile discrimination reported after “barrel” field ablation may reflect an impairment in the animal's ability to modulate whisking parameters on the two sides of the face to meet the functional requirements of a discriminative whisking task. The effects upon whisking amplitude seen after unilateral barrel field ablation are consistent with a model in which the activity of a whisking Central Pattern Generator is modulated by descending inputs to achieve sensorimotor control of whisking movement parameters.
Executive Compensation and Horizon Incentives: An Empirical Investigation of Corporate Cash Payout

The recent financial crisis has renewed the interest in executives’ compensation-related horizon incentives. This paper examines how the short-termism in CEO compensation affects corporate cash payout through share repurchases using a new measure of compensation horizon incentive. In contrast to the conventional wisdom that firms buy back shares after poor stock performance, we find that CEOs with short compensation horizons are more likely to buy back shares after good performance. To bolster already high stock price, they have incentives to repurchase to boost up reported EPS towards analysts’ expectations, and to cater to investors with short investment horizons. This short-termism is not related to corporate governance, but is more severe in firms that have less liquid stocks. While long-term shareholders do not benefit from such repurchases, short-termist CEOs benefit by selling their own holdings when firms are buying. Our findings suggest that some large cash payouts by firms with short managerial horizons during the repurchase binge in 2005-2008 may be premature, which portraits a striking contrast from the liquidity constraints that many firms experienced later during the crisis. ∗ I thank Long Chen, Jie Gan, Radha Gopalan, Vidhan Goyal, Paul Malatesta, and seminar participants in Singapore Management University for their helpful comments. Author contacts: Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University, 50 Stamford Road, Singapore 178899. Email: shenghuang@smu.edu. sg. Tel: (65) 68280252
Distributed under Creative Commons Cc-by 4.0 the Effects of Elevated Pain Inhibition on Endurance Exercise Performance

Background. The ergogenic effects of analgesic substances suggest that pain perception is an important regulator of work-rate during fatiguing exercise. Recent research has shown that endogenous inhibitory responses, which act to attenuate nociceptive input and reduce perceived pain, can be increased following transcranial direct current stimulation of the hand motor cortex. Using high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS; 2 mA, 20 min), the current study aimed to examine the effects of elevated pain inhibitory capacity on endurance exercise performance. It was hypothesised that HD-tDCS would enhance the efficiency of the endogenous pain inhibitory response and improve endurance exercise performance. Methods. Twelve healthy males between 18 and 40 years of age (M = 24.42 ± 3.85) were recruited for participation. Endogenous pain inhibitory capacity and exercise performance were assessed before and after both active and sham (placebo) stimulation. The conditioned pain modulation protocol was used for the measurement of pain inhibition. Exercise performance assessment consisted of both maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and submaximal muscular endurance performance trials using isometric contractions of the non-dominant leg extensors. Results. Active HD-tDCS (pre-tDCS, −.32 ± 1.33 kg; post-tDCS, −1.23 ± 1.21 kg) significantly increased pain inhibitory responses relative to the effects of sham HD-tDCS (pre-tDCS, −.91 ± .92 kg; post-tDCS, −.26 ± .92 kg; p = .046). Irrespective of condition, peak MVC force and muscular endurance was reduced from pre-to post-stimulation. HD-tDCS did not significantly influence this reduction in maximal force Discussion. Despite increasing pain inhibitory capacity relative to sham stimulation, active HD-tDCS did not significantly elevate maximal force production or muscular endurance. These findings question the role of endogenous pain inhibitory networks in the regulation of exercise performance.
CRIMINOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF DETERRENCE HYPOTHESIS

This paper empirically estimates disaggregated crime categories for Sabah from 1968 to 2006. The criminometric analysis incorporated in a within sample analysis of cointegration and error correction framework and the beyond sample analysis using the decompositions of variance. Our findings suggest that any support for the deterrence hypothesis is sensitive to the inclusion of prison or courts related variables. In the long run we find that only robbery is exogenous in all crime model tested however, the beyond sample estimation proves that in longer time period of approximately 50 years the post-sample dynamic VDCs imply that a substantial portion of the variance of the forecast error of these crime are explained by their explanatory variables. The presence of cointegration between these variables tends to suggest that these economic and deterrent variables, along with alternative types of crime, are bound together by common trends. In other words, it can be said that although these cointegrated variables will have short-run or temporal deviations from their long-run common trends, eventually forces will be set in motion that will bring all the variables into states of equilibrium.
Autosomal trisomy syndromes: a detailed study of 27 cases of Edwards' syndrome and 27 cases of Patau's syndrome.

The three autosomal trisomy syndromes, which appear to be specific and well documented, are Down's syndrome (trisomy 21), Edwards' syndrome (trisomy 18), and Patau's syndrome (trisomy 13-15). Down's syndrome was decribed in 1866 (Down, 1866), and the chromosomal nature of the disorder was demonstrated by Lejeune, Turpin, and Gautier in 1959. The rarer Edwards' and Patau's syndromes were described only in 1960 by Edwards et al. (1960) and Patau et al. (1960). Down's syndrome is well known and will only be discussed where a comparison of the three syndromes is relevant.