Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potentiation of cytotoxic chemotherapy by growth hormone-releasing hormone agonists

Significance Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) and its agonistic analogs, besides augmenting the release of growth hormone from the pituitary, can exert direct stimulatory effects on various extrapituitary tissues. Present oncologic evaluation of growth of a glioblastoma cell line revealed that the combination of GHRH agonist, JI-34, with doxorubicin (DOX) produced greater inhibition in vivo than either drug alone. In vitro, JI-34 also potentiated the effects of DOX, decreased the expression of the neuroectodermal stem-cell antigen, nestin, and up-regulated the glial maturation marker, GFAP. These findings indicate that GHRH agonists can induce differentiation of cancer cells, increasing the response to DOX. These observations expand the known spectrum of activities of GHRH and its analogs and have potential clinical implications for therapy. The dismal prognosis of malignant brain tumors drives the development of new treatment modalities. In view of the multiple activities of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), we hypothesized that pretreatment with a GHRH agonist, JI-34, might increase the susceptibility of U-87 MG glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells to subsequent treatment with the cytotoxic drug, doxorubicin (DOX). This concept was corroborated by our findings, in vivo, showing that the combination of the GHRH agonist, JI-34, and DOX inhibited the growth of GBM tumors, transplanted into nude mice, more than DOX alone. In vitro, the pretreatment of GBM cells with JI-34 potentiated inhibitory effects of DOX on cell proliferation, diminished cell size and viability, and promoted apoptotic processes, as shown by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide proliferation assay, ApoLive-Glo multiplex assay, and cell volumetric assay. Proteomic studies further revealed that the pretreatment with GHRH agonist evoked differentiation decreasing the expression of the neuroectodermal stem cell antigen, nestin, and up-regulating the glial maturation marker, GFAP. The GHRH agonist also reduced the release of humoral regulators of glial growth, such as FGF basic and TGFβ. Proteomic and gene-expression (RT-PCR) studies confirmed the strong proapoptotic activity (increase in p53, decrease in v-myc and Bcl-2) and anti-invasive potential (decrease in integrin α3) of the combination of GHRH agonist and DOX. These findings indicate that the GHRH agonists can potentiate the anticancer activity of the traditional chemotherapeutic drug, DOX, by multiple mechanisms including the induction of differentiation of cancer cells.
Interrelationships of age and the body mass index with risk factors of non‐insulin dependent diabetes in European and migrant Asian males

A comparative study of the interrelationships of age and the body mass index (BMI) with several risk factors for non‐insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) in adult White European (hereafter called European n = 262) and migrant Indian (n = 39) and Pakistani (n = 100) males residing in Peterborough, East Anglia, revealed significantly lower mean total cholesterol (TC), but higher mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in Asian men. Similar associations between age and fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), systolic (SBP), and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure were observed in Asian and European men, but TC, SBP and DBP differed between the ethnic groups. The BMI showed a significant relationship (after removal of the age effect) with SBP and DBP in all ethnic groups, but there was no significant ethnic group heterogeneity in the associations of BMI with FBG, TC, SBP and DBP. The distributions (age and BMI controlled) of TC, SBP and DBP were significantly different in Asians compared with Europeans. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 9:291–296, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease Using Dual-Tree Complex Wavelet Transform, PCA, and Feed-Forward Neural Network

Background. Error-free diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) from healthy control (HC) patients at an early stage of the disease is a major concern, because information about the condition’s severity and developmental risks present allows AD sufferer to take precautionary measures before irreversible brain damage occurs. Recently, there has been great interest in computer-aided diagnosis in magnetic resonance image (MRI) classification. However, distinguishing between Alzheimer’s brain data and healthy brain data in older adults (age > 60) is challenging because of their highly similar brain patterns and image intensities. Recently, cutting-edge feature extraction technologies have found extensive application in numerous fields, including medical image analysis. Here, we propose a dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DTCWT) for extracting features from an image. The dimensionality of feature vector is reduced by using principal component analysis (PCA). The reduced feature vector is sent to feed-forward neural network (FNN) to distinguish AD and HC from the input MR images. These proposed and implemented pipelines, which demonstrate improvements in classification output when compared to that of recent studies, resulted in high and reproducible accuracy rates of 90.06 ± 0.01% with a sensitivity of 92.00 ± 0.04%, a specificity of 87.78 ± 0.04%, and a precision of 89.6 ± 0.03% with 10-fold cross-validation.
Management of recurrent urethral strictures with covered retrievable expandable nitinol stents: long-term results.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term clinical efficacy of temporary placement of covered retrievable stents in the management of recurrent urethral strictures. MATERIALS AND METHODS During the period December 1998-December 2005, 32 men and one adolescent boy (mean age, 48.6 years; range, 16-73 years) with recurrent urethral strictures underwent fluoroscopically guided insertion of a total of 68 stents. Patients without complications underwent elective stent removal 2 or 4 months after stent insertion. Rates of clinical success (long-term clinical and radiographic resolution of urethral strictures) were assessed. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the duration of stent placement in patients with long-term clinical resolution with that in patients with stricture relapse. RESULTS Clinical success was achieved in 18 (55%) of the 33 patients. The mean duration of stent placement in patients with clinical success was significantly different from that in patients who had recurrences (p < 0.0001). Stricture relapse did not occur in only four (20%) of 20 cases of stent placement for 2 months. All 14 stent placements lasting at least 4 months resulted in long-term resolution after a mean follow-up period of 3.6 years. The most common complications necessitating early stent removal were stent migration (33.8% of stents) and tissue hyperplasia (20.6% of stents). CONCLUSION Placement of a covered retrievable stent for a minimum of 4 months is effective in inducing long-term resolution of refractory urethral strictures. Stent migration remains the largest obstacle in achieving adequate duration of stent placement.
Headache (chronic tension-type).

INTRODUCTION Chronic tension-type headache (CTTH) is a disorder that evolves from episodic tension-type headache, with daily or very frequent episodes of headache lasting minutes to days. It affects 4.1% of the general population in the USA, and is more prevalent in women (up to 65% of cases). METHODS AND OBJECTIVES We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of drug treatments for chronic tension-type headache? What are the effects of non-drug treatments for chronic tension-type headache? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library and other important databases up to October 2005 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). RESULTS We found 38 systematic reviews, RCTs or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions. CONCLUSIONS In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: acupuncture, amitriptyline, benzodiazepines, botulinum toxin, cognitive behavioural therapy, Indian head massage, mirtazapine, regular acute pain relief medication, relaxation and electromyographic biofeedback, serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants, and tricyclic antidepressants (other than amitriptyline).
An Improved Recurrence Method for Simple Continuous Linear Programs

⎯In this paper we discuss a special class of continuous linear programs called simple continuous linear programs (SP). In our recent paper [Wen et al. (2009)], we proposed a recurrence algorithm for solving (SP). The major computational works in the proposed algorithm are finding the global minimal values of the given continuous functions on 2 intervals. However, when n becomes large, it could be rather time-consuming. An improved numerical method for finding approximate solutions for (SP) is proposed to overcome the computational bottleneck. Keyword⎯Infinite-dimensional optimization problems; Continuous linear program;
Common Ground? Prospects for Integrating the Economic Geography of Geographers and Economists

Hailed by economists as an idea whose time has come, the ‘new economic geography’ has not been quite as favourably received by geographers. Frequently seen as a prime case of academic imperialism, few appear willing to concede that economists may have something to contribute to economic geography. Conversely, beyond the token reference to vintage publications, economists often dismiss geographers' economic geography as a dead end. In this paper we take a more detached view. Exploring points of convergence and divergence, we identify lessons that either side may learn from the other. While not shying away from existing differences, we conclude that there is indeed some common ground.
Is It Who You Know, or How Many That Counts? Criminal Networks and Cost Avoidance in a Sample of Young Offenders

The aim of the current study is to assess whether criminal networks can help young offenders avoid contacts with the criminal justice system. We examine the association between criminal network and cost avoidance specifically for the crime of cannabis cultivation in a rural region in Quebec, Canada. A self‐report delinquency survey, administered to the region's quasi‐population of high‐school students (N = 1,166), revealed that a total of 175 adolescents had participated in the cannabis cultivation industry (a 15% lifetime prevalence rate). Forty‐seven respondents (27%), including 29 who were arrested, reported having participated in a cultivation site that was detected by the police. Results indicate that “who you know” matters in the cultivation industry, and is an important independent predictor of arrest: very few young growers who were embedded in adult networks were apprehended. Conversely, embeddedness in a youth network emerged as an independent risk factor, especially embeddedness in larger networks.
Assessment of the clinical significance of serum matrix metalloproteinases MMP-2 and MMP-9 in patients with various chronic liver diseases and hepatocellular carcinoma

Summary Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have the ability to degrade basement membranes and may thus play an important role in extracellular matrix turnover in liver fibrosis and carcinogene-sis. Serum levels of MMPs have been suggested as diagnostic markers in these processes. We measured serum MMP-2 and MMP-9 by ELISA in 91 patients with chronic liver disease, including 25 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and in 60 controls. MMP-2 was significantly higher in patients with chronic liver disease compared to controls, and increased with Child-Pugh class. There was a significant correlation between MMP-2 and liver function (bilirubin, albumin, and prothrombin time), and a strong opposite correlation between MMP-9 and these parameters. MMP-2 levels in patients with HCC were significantly higher than in controls, but comparable to patients with chronic liver disease without this malignancy. MMP-9 yielded no significant differences between patients with or without HCC and controls. Serum MMP-2 and to a lesser extent MMP-9 correlate with the severity of liver disease and may reflect changes in extracellular matrix remodeling. Due to a considerable overlap in patients with chronic liver disease with or without HCC, MMP-2 and MMP-9 can not be used as a diagnostic marker for HCC. Theme paper: Part of this paper was originally presented at the joint meetings of the 16th International Congress of the International Society of Fibrinolysis and Proteolysis (ISFP) and the 17th International Fibrinogen Workshop of the International Fibrinogen Research Society (IFRS) held in Munich, Germany, September, 2002.
Political, epistemological, ecological and spiritual dimensions of participation

After briefly introducing the paradigm of experiential, participative action research, four dimensions of participation – the political, epistemological, ecological and spiritual – are explored. The political dimension concerns peoples’ right to have a say in decisions which affect them, and is linked with participatory economics and the development of learning communities; the epistemological dimension concerns that nature of human knowing in a subjective-objective world; the ecological dimension counters the threats to the natural ecology which result from the positivist mindset; and the spiritual dimension suggests that one of the primary purposes of human inquiry is to heal the splits which characterise modern Western consciousness.
Assessment of Aegilops tauschii for Resistance to Biotypes of Wheat Curl Mite (Acari: Eriophyidae)

Abstract Aegilops tauschii, the wild diploid D-genome progenitor of wheat, Triticum aestivum L. , is an important source of resistance to several arthropod pests and pathogens. A total of 108 Ae. tauschii accessions from different geographic regions were evaluated for resistance to biotypes of the wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella Keifer, from Kansas, Nebraska, and Montana. The wheat curl mite is the only vector known to transmit wheat streak mosaic virus. Wheat curl mite resistance was detected in germplasm from all the geographic locations represented. The highest percentage of resistant accessions originated from Turkey, followed by Afghanistan and the Caspian Sea region of Iran. Sixty-seven percent of the accessions exhibited resistance to at least one wheat curl mite biotype and 19% were resistant to all the three biotyopes. Resistance to the accessions tested occurred more frequently in the Nebraska and Kansas biotypes (69% and 64%, respectively) than did resistance to the Montana biotype (42%), although the frequency of resistance was not significant. The differential reactions of accessions to the different wheat curl mite biotypes suggests that Ae. tauschii has at least five different genes for resistance to mite colonization. Ae. tauschii continues to be a very useful source for wheat curl mite resistance genes for bread wheat improvement.
Transcriptomic profile induced in bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells after interaction with multiple myeloma cells: implications in myeloma progression and myeloma bone disease

Despite evidence about the implication of the bone marrow (BM) stromal microenvironment in multiple myeloma (MM) cell growth and survival, little is known about the effects of myelomatous cells on BM stromal cells. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from healthy donors (dMSCs) or myeloma patients (pMSCs) were co-cultured with the myeloma cell line MM.1S, and the transcriptomic profile of MSCs induced by this interaction was analyzed. Deregulated genes after co-culture common to both d/pMSCs revealed functional involvement in tumor microenvironment cross-talk, myeloma growth induction and drug resistance, angiogenesis and signals for osteoclast activation and osteoblast inhibition. Additional genes induced by co-culture were exclusively deregulated in pMSCs and predominantly associated to RNA processing, the ubiquitine-proteasome pathway, cell cycle regulation, cellular stress and non-canonical Wnt signaling. The upregulated expression of five genes after co-culture (CXCL1, CXCL5 and CXCL6 in d/pMSCs, and Neuregulin 3 and Norrie disease protein exclusively in pMSCs) was confirmed, and functional in vitro assays revealed putative roles in MM pathophysiology. The transcriptomic profile of pMSCs co-cultured with myeloma cells may better reflect that of MSCs in the BM of myeloma patients, and provides new molecular insights to the contribution of these cells to MM pathophysiology and to myeloma bone disease.
The role of narrative input in the New Headway ESL course books

Abstract Literature, while perceived as beneficial, is not widely used in the ESL arena. This article discusses a study which set out to investigate proven benefits of using literature in ESL through a review of the current research, at the same time establishing a link between literature and narrative based on'story grammar', which biological determinism claims the human brain is hardwired to use as a language learning tool. Hypothesising that there would be no correlation between theory regarding the presence and application of literature in ESL (as presented in the current research) and the practice (as found in the prominent ESL course, New Headway), the study set out to identify narrative input in New Headway's Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced Levels and to analyse the way in which narrative is used to teach language skills and communicative competence. Contrary to expectations a surprisingly high level of narrative was found and the narrative was exploited in full accordance with current research. The findings indicate that the incorporation of narrative in New Headway is a pedagogically informed decision by the authors to exploit the benefits of literature while at the same time catering to a very heterogeneous audience of international ESL learners.
Prejudice, Stereotypes, and Labeling Effects: Sources of Bias in Person Perception

A preliminary study and 3 experiments compared predictions generated by contrasting models of how group labels bias person perception. An affective model assumed that how much perceivers like different groups mediates bias; a cognition model assumed that perceivers' beliefs regarding different groups mediates bias; and a third model assumed that both affect and cognition are necessary to mediate bias. Perceivers evaluated behavior samples provided by targets who were labeled as either rock music performers or child abusers in the preliminary study and the first 2 experiments; homosexuals or heterosexuals in the third experiment. In all studies, controlling for liking eliminated bias. The preliminary study and Study 3 also showed that controlling for beliefs about the groups eliminated bias. Structural equation modeling provided support for the affect model in Studies 1 and 2, and mixed support for the affect model and the cognition model in Study 3. These studies suggest an important role for affect in judgmental biases
Die Bedeutung des Schamempfindens in einzelnen Diagnosegruppen unter Berücksichtigung der Körperscham

Hintergrund: Schamgefühle wurden trotz ihrer Relevanz in der bisherigen Psychotherapieforschung vernachlässigt. Dies zeigt sich an den wenigen vorhandenen Forschungsarbeiten und der überwiegend einseitigen Ausrichtung der Forschung zu dispositionellen Aspekten des Schamempfindens. Um die Komplexität dieses Affekts besser abdecken zu können, untersucht die vorliegende Studie die Auswirkungen des aktuellen Schamempfindens und der dispositionellen Schamneigung auf die psychotherapeutische Behandlung in Abhängigkeit von Diagnosegruppen. Bislang gibt es keine empirischen Nachweise zu der Frage, ob einzelne Diagnosegruppen in der ambulanten psychotherapeutischen Behandlung stärker mit Schamgefühlen assoziiert sind als andere. Patienten und Methoden: In einer Fragebogenstudie wurden 273 ambulant behandelte Patienten mit der Experience of Shame Scale (ESS) und dem Test of Self-Conscious Affects (TOSCA) untersucht. Gleichzeitig wurden die Diagnose im Rahmen der Therapie und die subjektive Einschätzung der Schamrelevanz erfasst. Die so gewonnenen Daten wurden mittels Varianzanalyse verglichen, um mögliche Unterschiede im Schamerleben in den einzelnen Diagnosegruppen aufzeigen zu können. Ergebnisse: Obwohl die Mehrheit der Patienten der Bearbeitung von Schamgefühlen eine hohe Relevanz beimisst, unterscheiden sie sich nicht bezüglich der überdauernden Scham- und Schulddisposition, wohl aber im aktuellen Schamerleben. Hier sind es insbesondere Patienten mit einer diagnostizierten Essstörung, die sich in einzelnen Schambereichen – insbesondere Charakterscham und Körperscham – von den anderen Diagnosegruppen unterscheiden. Schlussfolgerungen: In der Erforschung von Schamgefühlen erscheint es wichtig, neben der überdauernden Schamneigung auch unterschiedliche Aspekte des aktuellen Schamerlebens zu berücksichtigen und in die Behandlung mit einzubeziehen. Die Reduktion auf ein globales Konstrukt wird diesem komplexen Affekt in seiner psychotherapeutischen Relevanz nicht gerecht.
CONTINUITY OF UTILITY‐MAXIMIZATION WITH RESPECT TO PREFERENCES

This paper provides an easily verifiable regularity condition under which the investor's utility maximizer depends continuously on the description of her preferences in a general incomplete financial setting. Specifically, we extend the setting of Jouini and Napp to include noise generated by a general continuous semi‐martingale and to the case where the market price of risk process is allowed to be a general adapted process satisfying a mild integrability condition. This extension allows us to obtain positive results for both the mean‐reversion model of Kim and Omberg and the stochastic volatility model of Heston. Finally, we provide an example set in Samuelson's complete financial model illustrating that without imposing additional regularity, the continuity property of the investor's optimizer can fail.
Qualitative research practice: a guide for social science studentes and researchers.

sobre metodologia da pesquisa qualitativa, ampliando adeptos e interesses de usá-la nos vários campos do conhecimento das ciências sociais e humanas e das áreas da Saúde e Educação. Ritche, psicóloga, e Jane Lewis, especialista na pesquisa qualitativa, formada em direito, pertencem a uma organização de pesquisa independente inglesa o Centro Nacional de Pesquisa Social criada em 1969, que abriu uma divisão de pesquisa qualitativa em 1985. O livro, por elas organizado, traduz essa experiência em vários campos da pesquisa social e, sobretudo, na política pública, dominada durante longo tempo pelos estudos quantitativos, objetivistas e modelos multicausais. Na coletânea reúnem-se membros daquela organização, especializados em aspectos dos métodos qualitativos, cujas qualificações abraçam: os que combinam estas metodologias com os métodos quantitativos; os que aplicam grupos focais; os interessados na academia, assessorias e formação de pesquisadores, assim como os que fazem pesquisas qualitativas aplicadas às organizações; à avaliação de políticas públicas, enquanto RitChiE, J.; LEwiS, J. (Eds.) Qualitative research practice: a guide for social science studentes and researchers.London: Sage Publications, 2003.