Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Cooperatively Modulate Macrophage Apoptosis via Toll Like Receptor 2 and Calcium Homeostasis

The emergence of drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) together with reports of co-infections with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has renewed interest to better understand the intricate mechanisms prevalent during co-infections. In this study we report a synergistic effect of M. tuberculosis and HIV-1, and their antigens Rv3416 and Nef, respectively, in inhibiting apoptosis of macrophages. This inhibition involves the TLR2 pathway and second messengers that play complementing and contrasting roles in regulating apoptosis. Interestingly, the route of calcium influx into cells differentially regulates apoptosis during antigenic co-stimulation. While calcium released from intracellular stores was anti-apoptotic, calcium influx from the external milieu was pro-apoptotic. Further, molecular sensors of intracellular calcium release aid in antigen mediated inhibition of apoptosis. A cross-regulation between oxidative burst and differential routing of calcium influx governed apoptosis. Interestingly, the HIV-1 Nef supported anti-apoptotic responses in macrophages whereas Vpu had no significant effect. These results point to a synergistic liaison between M. tuberculosis and HIV-1 in regulating macrophage apoptosis.
Gender Difference of Alanine Aminotransferase Elevation May Be Associated with Higher Hemoglobin Levels among Male Adolescents

Background To explore the gender difference of ALT elevation and its association with high hemoglobin levels. Methods A cross-sectional study of 3547 adolescents (2005 females, mean age of 16.5? .3 years) who were negative for hepatitis B surface antigen received health checkups in 2006. Body mass index (BMI), levels of hemoglobin, ALT and cholesterol were measured. ALT >42 U/L was defined as elevated ALT. Elevated ALT levels were detected in 112 of the 3547 participants (3.3%), more prevalent in males than in females (5.4% vs. 1.4%, p<0.001). Hemoglobin levels had a significant linear correlation with ALT levels in both genders. Abnormal ALT started to occur if hemoglobin >11 g/dl in females or >13.5 g/dl in males, but the cumulative cases of elevated ALT increased more quickly in males. Proportion of elevated ALT increased as either the BMI or hemoglobin level rise, more apparent in male adolescents. Logistic regression modeling showed odds ratio (95% confidence interval) were 24.7 (15.0–40.6) for BMI ≥27 kg/m2; 5.5 (2.9–10.4) for BMI 24–27 kg/m2; 2.7 (1.3–5.5) for Q5 (top 20th percentile) hemoglobin level; and 2.6 (1.6–4.1) for male gender. Further separately fitting the logistic models for two genders, the significance of Q5 hemoglobin level only appeared in the males. Conclusions High hemoglobin level is a significant risk factor of ALT elevation after control hepatitis B, obesity and gender. Males have greater risk of abnormal liver function which may be associated with higher hemoglobin levels.
Children's Reactions to Pain: A Psychiatrist's Perspective

AIN and the reactions to pain are expressed in a diversity of ways at a children's hospital. Pain becomes so closely linked with anxiety and fear that it is directly obvious how anxiety potentiates pain and how pain of itself promotes anxiety. Some children who have had little experience with pain appear startled when pain occurs, like an animal blindecl by the headlights of a car. Occasionally , a child z-vill use pain as an attention getting device, moaning in agony as soon as his parent ~tr~tlks through the door. Chronic pain complicating a chronic illness can promote regression in a child's behavior beyond what may be expected from the chronic illness itself. In a burned child, pain appears to be the central factor in influencing his behavior. ' 1 Pain appears to carry the primary responsibility for the feelings of anger, guilt, anxiety, depression, and the tendency tc regression. Nover's five-year-old boy, who lacked sensation below. the waist from birth and incurred a severe leg burn, did not demonstrate the characteristic behavior just described. He ate well and slept well throughout his hospitalization-a notable exception to most children with burns. When looking at pain developmentally, one immediately comes to some very basic questions: At what age do infants feel pain? J When are children able to localize pain? The answers to these simple questions are not totally known. Pain cannot be readily measured. Like anxiety, it has sl subjective quality that eludes precise definition. With adults, pain is often gauged by both verbal and r2c>nverhal communications from the patient. W'ith infants and toddlers, the difficulty is increased because one must rely entirely on nonlanguage observations. Whei-i thinking about responses to pain in infants, we must bear in mind two important components: 1) the perception c~f pain itself; 2) the memory of past pain-the psychic factor. The t~~~~c~te. During circumcision, babies in the first few days of life will commonly react to the clamping of the foreskin. Their reaction is a total body movement. The cries and screams associated with the procedure are generally brief and will cease on distraction. Indeed, some surgeons will operate on neonates without anesthesia for procedures that may last long periods of time.2 2 This is of considerable concern to an
Evidence on Individual Preferences for Longevity Risk

The standard model of intertemporal choice assumes risk neutrality toward the length of life: due to additivity, agents are not sensitive to a mean preserving spread in the length of life. Using a survey fielded in the RAND American Life Panel (ALP), this paper provides empirical evidence on possible deviation from risk neutrality with respect to longevity in the U.S. population. The questions we ask allow to find the distribution as well as to quantify the degree of risk aversion with respect to the length of life in the population. We find evidence that roughly 75% of respondents were not neutral with respect to longevity risk. Higher income households are more likely to be risk averse. We do not find evidence that the degree of risk aversion varies with age or education.
Myostatin is a skeletal muscle target of growth hormone anabolic action.

Myostatin is a cytokine that has recently been shown to selectively and potently inhibit myogenesis. To investigate the mechanisms of anabolic actions of GH on skeletal muscle growth, we examined the in vitro and in vivo effects of GH on myostatin regulation. Twelve GH-deficient hypopituitary adult subjects were treated with recombinant GH (5 micro g/kg.d) in a double-blind, placebo-controlled fashion. Body composition and physical function were assessed and skeletal muscle biopsies from the vastus lateralis performed at 6-monthly intervals during 18 months of treatment. Myostatin mRNA expression was significantly inhibited to 31 +/- 9% (P < 0.001) of control by GH but not by placebo administration (79 +/- 11%) as determined by quantitative real-time PCR normalized for the housekeeping glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene. The inhibitory effect of GH on myostatin was sustained after 12 and 18 months of GH treatment. These effects were associated with increases in lean body mass and translated into enhanced aerobic performance as determined by maximal oxygen uptake and ventilation threshold. Parallel in vitro studies of skeletal muscle cells demonstrated significant reduction of myostatin expression by myotubes in response to GH, compared with vehicle treatment. Conversely, GH receptor antagonism resulted in up-regulation of myostatin in myoblasts. Given the potent catabolic actions of myostatin, our data suggest that myostatin represents a potential key target for GH-induced anabolism.
Carrier mean free path and temperature imbalance in mesoscopic wires

Non-coherent electronic transport in metallic nanowires exhibits different carrier temperatures for the non-equilibrium forward and backward populations in the presence of electric fields. Depending on the mean free path that characterizes inter-branch carrier backscattering transport regimes vary between the ballistic and diffusive limits. In particular, we show that the simultaneous measurements of the electrical characteristics and the carrier distribution function offer a direct way to extract the carrier mean free path even when it is comparable to the conductor length. Our model is in good agreement with the experimental work on copper nanowires by Pothier {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 79}, 3490 (1997)] and provides an elegant interpretation of the inhomogeneous thermal broadening observed in the local carrier distribution function as well as its scaling with external bias.
Simulation software and model reuse: a polemic

Is it really true that simulation models and simulation software should always be regarded as candidates for reuse, or is it better to be selective? What are the obstacles to simulation software and model reuse? Can these be surmounted and, if so, at what cost? There is a range of levels at which simulation software may be reused, a range of costs to be borne and range of benefits that may be achieved. It is crucial to consider the issue of validity when considering model reuse and this needs to be a fundamental part of any reuse strategy. There may be circumstances in which reuse is economic, especially when a small, low-fidelity model will suffice.
Using an analytical power model to survey power saving approaches in backbone networks

Several approaches exist to categorize power savings in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) networks. In this paper we survey current power saving techniques in backbone telecommunication networks, based on an analytical power model. This categorization allows for a more intuitive understanding of the power saving potential of different approaches, and shows that in order to achieve large savings (i.e. more than 10 times reduction of the current power consumption), effort will need to be concentrated on those techniques that reduce either the traffic volume or the equipment power rating. The survey in this paper also provides the basis for a more quantitative evaluation of future power saving techniques.
Vacuolating toxin production in clinical isolates of Helicobacter pylori with different vacA genotypes.

A vacuolating cytotoxin encoded by vacA in Helicobacter pylori is known as a potential virulent determinant. The relationship between different vacA alleles, vacuolating ability, and H. pylori-related diseases was investigated. Genetic analysis of 119 isolates from Taiwanese patients revealed that 104 strains were s1a/m2, 13 strains were characterized as the s1a/m1T type, which was more homologous to the s1a/m1 strains, and 2 were characterized as the s1a/m1Tm2 chimeric type. Production of high-grade cytotoxin among 11 strains with s1a/m1T was higher (72.7%) than among 66 strains with s1a/m2 (21.2%) (P < .01). Peptic ulcer occurred in 76.9% of 13 patients with s1a/m1T strains compared with 46.2% of 104 patients with s1a/m2 strains (P < .05). These results suggest that s1a/m1T strains are associated with increased cytotoxic activity and higher ulcer prevalence than are s1a/m2 strains.
Economía regional desde una perspectiva neoclásica: De convergencia y otras historias

En los ultimos anos. Ios macroeconomistas de orientacion neoclasica han mostrado un gran interes por algunas cuestiones de economia regional. Este articulo explica por que y explora algunos de los temas centrales de esta li-teratura. Tras resumir brevemente el marco teorico que ha guiado esta linea de investigacion y la metodologia empleada en el analisis empirico de la con-vergencia regional, se examinan algunos de los resultados mas relevantes de trabajos recientes. A continuacion, se discute la que parece ser la interpreta-cion dominante de la evidencia empirica y algunas de sus implicaciones tanto teoricas como de politica regional. Finalmente, se cuestionan algunos aspectos de esta interpretacion y se senalan algunos temas que merecerian mayor atencion en la investigacion futura.
Assessing the prevalence of paranasal sinuses anatomical variants in patients with sinusitis using Cone Beam Computer Tomography

Background and aims To asses, by using the Cone Beam CT (CBCT) reformatted images, the presence of anatomical variants of the sinonasal cavities and to determine the correlation of these variations with the onset of maxillary sinus inflammations. Method The study is a retrospective one and consists of the investigation of 130 patients with CBCT imaging, patients that were referred to the Maxillo-Facial Clinic, Radiology Department of the Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca, for clinical symptoms of sinusitis within a period of 24 months. The images were analyzed for the presence of different anatomical variations and sinus inflammation. The CBCT images were obtained using a NewTom 3G scanner and the data acquired were statistically analyzed using Chi-square test, Odds ratio data and confidence intervals, with a determined p<0.05 considered to be statistically significant. Results The anatomical variants were detected both in the inflammation and control group. From the spectrum of variations concha bullosa, deviation of uncinate process and asymmetrical ethmoid roof presented significant association with sinusitis. The deviated position of the uncinate process appeared in more than 50% of patients in the positive group [OR=2.55] compared with a third of the control group. Concha bullosa was observed in 31% cases, 23% in the control group and 34% in the positive group [OR=1.73]. Haller cells showed a small difference between groups [OR=1.14] whereas the ethmoid roof asymmetry was evidently more prevalent in the inflammation group. Conclusion The anatomical variants of the paranasal sinuses are not incidental, being found in a large number of patients and may be a predisposing factor in the onset and recurrence of sinuses inflammation. The CBCT technique, due to the finest multiplanar reconstruction, permits a very good pre-therapeutic assessment of these predisposing conditions.
Sustainability reports in China: Content analysis

As an important component of modern management system, sustainability reporting in China was studied based on 162 stand-alone sustainability reports published by 116 Chinese enterprises till the end of 2008. Specifically, key topics and concrete content of these sustainability reports were investigated and compared from different aspects such as environmental, social, economic issues and corporate governance. After summarizing main findings, recommendations were proposed to possibly accelerate the sustainability reporting progress in China.
Acute Thermotherapy Prevents Impairments in Cutaneous Microvascular Function Induced by a High Fat Meal

We tested the hypothesis that a high fat meal (HFM) would impair cutaneous vasodilation, while thermotherapy (TT) would reverse the detrimental effects. Eight participants were instrumented with skin heaters and laser-Doppler (LD) probes and tested in three trials: control, HFM, and HFM + TT. Participants wore a water-perfused suit perfused with 33°C (control and HFM) or 50°C (HFM + TT) water. Participants consumed 1 g fat/kg body weight. Blood samples were taken at baseline and two hours post-HFM. Blood pressure was measured every 5–10 minutes. Microvascular function was assessed via skin local heating from 33°C to 39°C two hours after HFM. Cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) was calculated and normalized to maximal vasodilation (%CVCmax). HFM had no effect on initial peak (48 ± 4 %CVCmax) compared to control (49 ± 4 %CVCmax) but attenuated the plateau (51 ± 4 %CVCmax) compared to control (63 ± 4 %CVCmax, P < 0.001). Initial peak was augmented in HFM + TT (66 ± 4 %CVCmax) compared to control and HFM (P < 0.05), while plateau (73 ± 3 % CVCmax) was augmented only compared to the HFM trial (P < 0.001). These data suggest that HFM negatively affects cutaneous vasodilation but can be minimized by TT.
A Kalman filter with censored data

In this paper a state estimation problem is addressed where part of the available data are interval censored. Censored and non-censored data are taken into account in an optimal manner via an extension of the state estimation technique known as the Kalman filter. This estimation procedure improves on the performance of estimators based only on non-censored data.
Software Pipelining for Nested Loops

In this paper, we present a novel framework of software pipelining for nested loops. Under this framework, a periodic scheduling function, called r-periodic schedule, is associated with each operation of the loop body in the entire iteration space. We present a simple problem formulation as well as e cient solutions which gives provable asymptotically time-optimal schedule for nested loops under our program model. It also provides some useful insights on the interplay between unimodular loop transformation and ne-grain scheduling under a uni ed framework. The main results are: We show that, for nested loops under our program model, software pipelining problem can be formulated into a very simple linear programming problem based on r-periodic schedules. We prove that the r-periodic scheduling is asymptotically time-optimal, that is, it is asymptotically as good as the best schedule | the free schedule where statements can be freely scheduled as early as possible subject only to data dependence constraints. When the nesting level n is small, we present an e cient polynomial time solution method. This surprisingly e cient solution is based on a vectorized extension of the solution of the minimum cost-to-time ratio cycle (MCTRC) problem [29]. It is often desirable to use a small xed periodicity r in the schedule. We present an e cient solution to handle this situation. A discussion of related and future work is included.
Strength in Numbers: Networks as a Solution to Occupational Traps

The "new classical" theory states that families in low-skill occupations with low levels of human capital can stay poor from one generation to the next, while families in high-skill occupations with correspondingly high levels of human capital stay wealthy, despite being endowed with the same level of ability on average. This paper proposes an informal institutional mechanism--the community-based network--through which families belonging to the same neighbourhood or kinship group can bootstrap their way out of such low-skill occupational traps. The insight from the dynamic model that is developed is that once they form, new networks providing mutual support to their members and substituting for inherited parental human capital and wealth will strengthen most rapidly in historically disadvantaged communities, generating a correspondingly high level of intergenerational mobility. These predictions are successfully tested using unique data from India. The analysis in this paper, coupled with an emerging empirical literature on networks and migration, provides a new perspective on mobility in developing countries, with restrictive traditional networks decaying even as new networks supporting collective mobility form and strengthen over time. Copyright 2011, Oxford University Press.
Field theory of the RNA freezing transition

Folding of RNA is subject to a competition between entropy, relevant at high temperatures, and the random, or random-looking, sequence, determining the low-temperature phase. It is known from numerical simulations that for random as well as biological sequences, high- and low-temperature phases are different, e.g. the exponent ρ describing the pairing probability between two bases is in the high-temperature phase and in the low-temperature (glass) phase. Here, we present, for random sequences, a field theory of the phase transition separating high- and low-temperature phases. We establish the existence of the latter by showing that the underlying theory is renormalizable to all orders in perturbation theory. We test this result via an explicit two-loop calculation, which yields ρ≈1.36 at the transition, as well as diverse other critical exponents, including the response to an applied external force (denaturation transition).
Determination of green aboveground biomass in desert steppe using litter-soil-adjusted vegetation index

Abstract Accurate estimation of green aboveground biomass in arid and semiarid grassland is essential for a variety of studies, such as sustainable grassland management, fire risk assessment, climate change, and environmental degradation. A great need exists for the establishment of robust method for estimating green aboveground biomass in arid and semiarid grassland due to the influences of soil background and litter. In the study, a new index (litter-soil-adjusted vegetation index, L-SAVI) was proposed to estimate green aboveground biomass in arid and semiarid grassland. The L-SAVI was also evaluated based on biomass and spectra in situ measurements in the desert steppe of Inner Mongolia. Results showed that, the performance of the new index was better than that of NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index), SAVI (soil-adjusted vegetation index), MSAVI (modified soil-adjusted vegetation index), OSAVI (optimised soil-adjusted vegetation index), TSAVI (transformed soil-adjusted vegetation index), ATSAVI (adjusted transformed soil-adjusted vegetation index), PVI (perpendicular vegetation index), GSAVI (green-adjusted vegetation index), and L-ATSAVI (litter-corrected ATSAVI) in our study site. The logic behind the L-SAVI was to enable the SAVI to be less sensitive to litter by incorporating the CAI (cellulose absorption index) in the SAVI. In conclusion, the L-SAVI is a suitable predictor for complementing existing vegetation indices on green aboveground biomass estimation in arid and semiarid grassland.
Determinants of voluntary disclosures in Kenyan companies annual reports

In recent years, the Kenyan Government has initiated reforms at the Nairobi Stock Exchange aimed at transforming the exchange into a vehicle for mobilising domestic savings and attracting foreign capital investments. Consequently, the corporate financial reporting, and in particular, the level of voluntary disclosure is a vital part of the process for building investor confidence (local and foreign) and trust. Drawing on prior corporate disclosure research, this study examines factors associated with voluntary disclosure of four types of information: general and strategic, financial, forward-looking, and social and board information in the annual reports of Kenyan companies. This study provides longitudinal examination of voluntary disclosure practices in the annual reports of listed companies in Kenya from 1992 to 2001. The study investigates the extent to which corporate governance attributes, ownership structure and company characteristics influence voluntary disclosure of various types of information. Due to the panel nature of our data, to estimate the determinants of voluntary disclosure of various types of information, we use pooled Ordinary Least Square (OLS) with Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSEs). Our results indicate that, disclosures of all types of information are influenced by corporate governance attributes, ownership structure and corporate characteristics. In particular, the results also suggest that size and companies in the agricultural sector are significantly associated with the voluntary disclosure of all four types of information disclosures. Keywords: Voluntary disclosures, companies’ annual reports, Kenya