Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanical characterization of articular cartilage by combining magnetic resonance imaging and finite-element analysis—a potential functional imaging technique

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides a method for non-invasive characterization of cartilage composition and structure. We aimed to see whether T1 and T2 relaxation times are related to proteoglycan (PG) and collagen-specific mechanical properties of articular cartilage. Specifically, we analyzed whether variations in the depthwise collagen orientation, as assessed by the laminae obtained from T2 profiles, affect the mechanical characteristics of cartilage. After MRI and unconfined compression tests of human and bovine patellar cartilage samples, fibril-reinforced poroviscoelastic finite-element models (FEM), with depthwise collagen orientations implemented from quantitative T2 maps (3 laminae for human, 3–7 laminae for bovine), were constructed to analyze the non-fibrillar matrix modulus (PG specific), fibril modulus (collagen specific) and permeability of the samples. In bovine cartilage, the non-fibrillar matrix modulus (R = −0.64, p < 0.05) as well as the initial permeability (R = 0.70, p < 0.05) correlated with T1. In bovine cartilage, T2 correlated positively with the initial fibril modulus (R = 0.62, p = 0.05). In human cartilage, the initial fibril modulus correlated negatively (R = −0.61, p < 0.05) with T2. Based on the simulations, cartilage with a complex collagen architecture (5 or 7 laminae), leading to high bulk T2 due to magic angle effects, provided higher compressive stiffness than tissue with a simple collagen architecture (3 laminae). Our results suggest that T1 reflects PG-specific mechanical properties of cartilage. High T2 is characteristic to soft cartilage with a classical collagen architecture. Contradictorily, high bulk T2 can also be found in stiff cartilage with a multilaminar collagen fibril network. By emerging MRI and FEM, the present study establishes a step toward functional imaging of articular cartilage.
Maternal protein intake during pregnancy and offspring overweight 20 y later.

BACKGROUND Animal studies have shown that protein intake in pregnancy may influence offspring fat metabolism and adiposity. The macronutrient ratio in human pregnancy appears to be important for offspring glucose tolerance; however, less is known about the influence on offspring adiposity. OBJECTIVE We examined the relation between maternal dietary protein intake during pregnancy and offspring anthropometric measures and biomarkers of adiposity and glucose metabolism. DESIGN We used a prospective cohort of 965 Danish pregnant women recruited in 1988-1989 with offspring follow-up at 19-21 y. Macronutrient intake was collected in gestational week 30, and we divided protein according to its source (animal and vegetable including cereals). Offspring body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)) and waist circumference were recorded at follow-up (n = 695-697), and biomarkers were quantified in a subset (n = 443) of participants. We used multivariable linear and log-binomial regression to calculate effect estimates and 95% CIs for a 1:1-g substitution of carbohydrates for protein. RESULTS Offspring mean (±SD) BMI was 22.1 ± 3.3 and 22.8 ± 2.9 for women and men, respectively. The prevalence of overweight (BMI ≥25) was 16.9% for women and 19.1% for men. We showed that a 1:1-g substitution of animal protein for carbohydrates increased risk of BMI ≥25 in female [quartile 4 compared with quartile 1: risk ratio (RR): 3.36; 95% CI: 1.52, 7.42] and male (quartile 4 compared with quartile 1: RR: 2.22; 95% CI: 0.92, 5.35) offspring. These results appeared to be accounted for by protein from meat sources. The results could not be explained by postnatal risk factors. CONCLUSIONS Protein from animal sources, primarily meat products, consumed during pregnancy may increase risk of overweight in offspring; this association appeared to be stronger for female offspring. Because of the lack of information on postnatal exposure in this cohort, these results are hypothesis-generating and need to be replicated in other cohorts.
Cyclooxygenase-1 and -2 Are Required for Production of Infectious Pseudorabies Virus

ABSTRACT We have recently shown that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) transcription is markedly induced after herpes simplex virus type 1 and pseudorabies virus (PRV) infections of rat embryonic fibroblast (REF) cells (N. Ray and L. W. Enquist, J. Virol. 78:3489-3501, 2004). For this study, we investigated the role of cyclooxygenase induction in the replication and growth of PRV. We demonstrate here a concordant increase in COX-2 mRNA and protein levels after the infection of REF cells. Inhibitors blocking the activity of cyclooxygenases caused a dramatic reduction in PRV growth. Viral growth could be restored if prostaglandin E2, the final product of COX-2 activity, was added simultaneously with the COX inhibitors. Immediate-early protein IE180, major capsid protein VP5, and glycoprotein expression were slightly reduced in the presence of COX-2 inhibitors, but expression of the early protein EP0 was not affected by COX inhibition. Viral DNA replication was marginally reduced in the presence of a COX-1/2 inhibitor, but there was no defect in viral DNA cleavage. Electron microscopy analysis revealed an increased number of unusual empty capsid structures in the nuclei of cells infected with PRV in the presence of a COX-1/2 inhibitor. These capsid structures shared some characteristics with procapsids but had a novel appearance by negative staining. Our data establish a role for COX-1 and COX-2 in facilitating the efficient growth and replication of PRV in primary cells.
Demographic review of a captive colony of callitrichids (Callithrix kuhlii)

Although reports on colony demographics for a variety of callitrichid species are available in the literature, to date there has not been a detailed examination of Wied's black tufted‐ear marmoset (Callithrix kuhlii). The purpose of this study is to present colony demographics for C. kuhlii from the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Callitrichid Research Center from 1991 to 2002. C. kuhlii are currently held in a number of zoological parks in the United States and abroad; however, the University of Nebraska at Omaha held the only breeding colony in North America. Here we report data on lifespan, sex ratio, litter size, and interbirth interval (IBI) for that captive breeding colony. Am. J. Primatol. 69:1–7, 2007. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Markov Chain Monte Carlo Estimation of Default and Recovery: Dependent via the Latent Systematic Factor

It is a well known fact that recovery rates tend to go down when the number of defaults goes up in economic downturns. We demonstrate how the loss given default model with the default and recovery dependent via the latent systematic risk factor can be estimated using Bayesian inference methodology and Markov chain Monte Carlo method. This approach is very convenient for joint estimation of all model parameters and latent systematic factors. Moreover, all relevant uncertainties are easily quantified. Typically available data are annual averages of defaults and recoveries and thus the datasets are small and parameter uncertainty is significant. In this case Bayesian approach is superior to the maximum likelihood method that relies on a large sample limit Gaussian approximation for the parameter uncertainty. As an example, we consider a homogeneous portfolio with one latent factor. However, the approach can be easily extended to deal with non-homogenous portfolios and several latent factors.
Residential Mobility and Tenure Choice in the Swedish Housing Market

This thesis consists of three self-contained essays concerned with the microeconomics of housing.In Essay 1 I examine the determinants of residential mobility among Swedish households within the framework of duration models. The results give support to the widely acknowledged life cycle - housing cycle connection. Demographic factors are important; age, household size, and the stability of household size all influence residential mobility to a great extent. The notion of a housing career is very plausible. The analysis also indicates that economic factors are important. Changes in the economic environment may disrupt the planned housing career. A higher household income tends to shorten stays in a particular dwelling. An increased cost of owning a home reduces the probability that a renter household should move. This might be interpreted as evidence that the planned housing career is disturbed, i.e. the move from renting to owning is postponed for many households.Essay 2 expands on the findings in essay 1 in that the link between the stage in the life cycle and the choice of housing tenure is looked at more closely. The main questions that I address in the second paper are how changing circumstances in the domestic sphere and on the labor market affect transitions between different housing tenures, and thereby also the resulting housing tenure distribution in the economy. On the individual level these factors are found to influence tenure transitions greatly. However, I also find that the resulting long-term distribution of households over housing tenures is little affected by increases or decreases in the arrival rate of these events.In Essay 3 I explore how the pattern of owner occupation has evolved during the period 1970-97, and examine how a few "typical" households have been able to further their housing situation during this period. Results from the study show that the pattern of owner occupancy differs markedly between age cohorts; households today are much more likely to go through a housing career than they were 30 years ago. Moreover, gender effects vanish over time and household composition is not as important for home ownership in the end of the period as in the beginning. Results also show that the negative impact of being foreign born on the probability of owner occupancy has increased since 1970, and that the influences of household income and relative cost of owned housing have become more pronounced over time.
Subcellular localization of Photofrin® determines the death phenotype of human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells triggered by photodynamic therapy: When plasma membranes are the main targets

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a kind of photochemo‐therapeutic treatment that exerts its effect mainly through the induction of cell death. Distinct types of cell death may be elicited by different PDT regimes. In this study, the mechanisms involved in the death of human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells triggered by PDT with Photofrin® (a clinically approved photosensitizer) were characterized. Photofrin distributes dynamically in A431 cells; the plasma membranes and Golgi complex are the main target sites of Photofrin after a brief (3 h) and prolonged (24 h) incubation, respectively. Cells with differentially localized Photofrin displayed distinct death phenotypes in response to PDT. The effects of PDT on cells with plasma membrane‐localized Photofrin were further studied in details. Cells stopped proliferating post PDT at Photofrin dose >7 μg/ml, and at higher dose (28 μg/ml) plasma membrane disruption and cell swelling were observed immediately after PDT. Dramatic alterations of several important signaling events were detected in A431 cells post Photofrin®‐PDT, including (i) immediate formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), (ii) rapid activation of c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase, (iii) delayed activation of caspase‐3 and cleavage of polyADP‐ribose polymerase and p21‐activated kinase 2, and (iv) loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. Intriguingly, the characteristics of typical apoptosis such as phosphatidylserine externalization and DNA fragmentation were not detected in the cell death process caused by this PDT regime. In conclusion, our results show that when plasma membranes are the main targets, Photofrin‐PDT can lead to instant ROS formation and subsequent activation of downstream signaling events similar to those elicited by many apoptotic stimuli, but the damage of plasma membranes renders the death phenotype more necrosis like. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Market Reaction to Goodwill Impairments

Abstract This paper examines the information content of goodwill write-downs under International Accounting Standard (IAS) 36 (Impairment of Assets) and Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 142. We investigate whether the informational value depends on the reliability of the news. Using a sample of 564 goodwill write-down announcements issued from 2005 to 2009, we find a negative capital market reaction to announcements of unexpected goodwill write-offs. Our results indicate that investors react more negatively when a country's level of legal protection is low and allows more management discretion. We further report that market reaction is associated with managers explaining the write-down decision and depends on the verifiability of these explanations. Investors react more negatively when an unverifiable internal explanation is given and less negatively when a verifiable external explanation is provided. We do not find significant differences between write-down announcements under SFAS 142 and IAS 36.
The QLBS Q-Learner goes NuQLear: fitted Q iteration, inverse RL, and option portfolios

The QLBS model is a discrete-time option hedging and pricing model that is based on Dynamic Programming (DP) and Reinforcement Learning (RL). It combines the famous Q-Learning method for RL with the Black–Scholes (–Merton) (BSM) model's idea of reducing the problem of option pricing and hedging to the problem of optimal rebalancing of a dynamic replicating portfolio for the option, which is made of a stock and cash. Here we expand on several NuQLear (Numerical Q-Learning) topics with the QLBS model. First, we investigate the performance of Fitted Q Iteration for an RL (data-driven) solution to the model, and benchmark it versus a DP (model-based) solution, as well as versus the BSM model. Second, we develop an Inverse Reinforcement Learning (IRL) setting for the model, where we only observe prices and actions (re-hedges) taken by a trader, but not rewards. Third, we outline how the QLBS model can be used for pricing portfolios of options, rather than a single option in isolation, thus providing its own, data-driven and model-independent solution to the (in)famous volatility smile problem of the Black–Scholes model.
Thermoregulatory performance and habitat selection of the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina)

Conservation requires knowledge of the interaction between an organism and its environment. Thermal conditions have an important role in habitat selection, movement, and maintenance of physiological processes for ectotherms. We found that box turtles chose cooler temperatures than expected and allowed their body temperatures to match the environment, but that this had little effect on their movement.
Reconsidering the Role of Conflict in the Lives of Refugees: The Case of Somalis in Europe

Based upon qualitative research with Somali refugees in two European host countries – the UK and the Netherlands - this paper explores the micro-level experiences and ongoing effects of the Somali conflict on their lives in exile. Challenging predominant macro-level framings of refugees in these settings, it supports a micro-level analysis of their experiences and lives. It analyses their ongoing connections with the conflict in Somalia, and reveals how this can affect aspects of their integration and emotional health while in exile, alongside social problems such as poverty, drug use and divorce.
Antitumor activity of 4-O-Methylhonokiol in human oral cancer cells is mediated via ROS generation, disruption of mitochondrial potential, cell cycle arrest and modulation of Bcl-2/Bax proteins.

PURPOSE The plant-derived natural product 4-O-methylhonokiol (MH) has been reported to possess tremendous pharmacological potential ranging from neuroprotection to anticancer activity. However, the anticancer activity of MH in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells has not been evaluated. In the present study, MH was evaluated for its anticancer activity against OSSC PE/CA-PJ41 cells and the possible underlying mechanism was determined. METHODS Cell cytotoxicity was evaluated by colorimetrybased MTT assay while the effects on cell cycle phase distribution were assessed by flow cytometry. Effects of MH on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were evaluated by flow cytometry. Western blot assay was finally utilized to study the effects of MH on key cancer and apoptosis-linked proteins including Bax and Bcl-2. RESULTS MH induced cytotoxicity in OSCC PE/CA-PJ41 cells with an observed IC50 of 1.25 μM. It also caused significant increase in the production of ROS and disrupted the MMP in a dose-dependent manner. The reduction in MMP favored mitochondrial apoptotic pathway which was further confirmed by determining the expression of Bax and Bcl-2. It was observed that MH downregulated the expression of Bax and upregulated the expression of MMP, ultimately leading to apoptosis of OSSC PE/CA-PJ41 cells. Additionally, MH also caused G2/M cell cycle arrest in a dose-dependent manner. CONCLUSION Taken together, our results indicate that 4-Omethylhonokiol may prove a potential natural anticancer molecule against human oral carcinoma cells.
Land, Water, and Ownership

Role des droits de propriete du sol et de l'eau dans l'allocation des ressources. Le mecanisrne des prix ne peut conduire a une allocation efficace des ressources qui ne font pas l'objet de propriete. C'est ce que nous constatons en comparant l'histoire de l'utilisation du sol et de l'eau en amerique du Nord. La meme conclusion va d'ailleurs pour l'utilisation de l'air. Dans cet article, l'auteur d6fend la these selon laquelle les problemes de la pollution des eaux seraient regles plus facilement en etablissant une grille des droits d'usage de l'eau plut6t que par l'institution de systemes complexes de prix temoins. Une solution qui s'impose d'elle-meme consiste dans le paiement de droits d'usage des biens libres. On parvient ainsi a la mise sur pied d'un systeme de prix pour l'utilisation des biens libres dans le cas oi; l'usage conduit 'a leur d6terioration ou leur destruction. L'auteur n'accepte pas l'idee selon laquelle le systeme des prix temoins se justifie par l'existence des econoinies ou des deseconomies externes, et cela pour deux raisons. D'abord l'existence d'un systeme de prix reels permet de transformer les externalites technologiques nuisibles en externalites pecuniaires acceptables pour la societe. En second lieu, la these des externalites ignore la mobilite des individus tout en reconnaissant celle des agents de pollution. Enfin l'auteur conclut que, dans le cadre des certains choix collectifs, l'etablissement d'un marche des ressources dite libres est non seulement economiquement rentable, mais se traduit par des reductions considerables des frais d'administration.
The importance of water management in hotels: a framework for sustainability through innovation

This paper highlights the global phenomenon of the crisis in the quality and quantity of water supplies and how tourism generally and hotels specifically may have contributed to the situation. The major internal and external barriers for Small Medium Enterprises adopting Environmental Management Systems, including water, are listed. The paper proposes a water management framework for hotels and other types of accommodation that leverages on the concept of innovation. Taking into account the various levels of knowledge and technological capabilities in water management, the framework is developed based on the commonly known 3R approach in environmental management, with the addition of another R (Reaching). It is proposed that hotels can innovate and enhance their water management approaches under these 4Rs: Innovative Reducing, Innovative Reusing, Innovative Reaching and Innovative Recycling. The framework offers examples and strategies about how hotels of different sizes, with differing financial, technical, knowledge and managerial capacities could address the challenge of implementing water management and obtain commercial benefit. A detailed case study is provided of a gray and black water recycling system in a Malaysian resort. Other examples of a range of water management methods are also discussed.
A NOTE ON THE REAL EFFECTS OF MONETARY SHOCKS: A LIMITED PARTICIPATION MODEL

This paper presents a monetary stochastic general equilibrium model that allows the real cyclical movements of the economy to be explained as a consequence of exogenous monetary, public spending, and technology shocks. The model is calibrated and simulated, and its accuracy in replicating the cyclical movements in the real variables is compared with that of the standard real business cycle (RBC) model. We find that our model fits the observed data better than the existing RBC models, especially for the labor market.
Women on board: evidence from a masculine industry

Purpose – This paper aims to provide insights on the gender-performance relationship, this paper studies the impact of board gender diversity on firm performance, by taking into account the “critical mass” of women directors and their educational level. Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses are tested on a unique dataset of 211 European Union publicly listed companies in 2012 belonging to the construction industry from 28 different countries through a set of ordinary least squares regressions. Findings – The evidence shows that the “critical mass” rather than the simple presence of women has an incremental benefit on firm performance. In addition, results show that the educational level of women directors negatively affects firm performance, as it might impact the dynamics within the boardroom. Research limitations/implications – The quantitative nature of the study does not allow drawing strong inferences on behavioral processes and dynamics in and around the boardroom. Nevertheless, this study wi.
The ecological disturbance caused by fishing in the North Sea

Current knowledge of the ecological disturbance caused by fishing to marine fish and benthic invertebrate communities is reviewed. This review considers the various components of mortality caused by fishing (eg landings, discards, trawl escapees, etc) and examines the information currently available, or required, to determine the importance of each component in assessing the mortality of fish and benthos caused by fishing
First Steps for Educational Research

18 In order to contribute effectively I must first make some brief general points, and then apply these to particular issues raised by other speakers. I want to stress, though, that it is the general points which are the really important ones: given a firm grasp of these, any intelligent and serious person can apply them for himself, without the assistance of professional philosophers. This is, in fact, rarely done: but the cause lies in a lack of seriousness rather than a lack of philosophical expertise.
Assessing the Relative Informativeness and Permanence of Pro Forma Earnings and GAAP Operating Earnings

This study investigates whether market participants perceive pro forma earnings to be more informative and more persistent than GAAP operating income by analyzing a sample of 1,149 actual pro forma press releases. We find that pro forma announcers report frequent GAAP losses and are mostly concentrated in the service and high-tech industries. Our analyses of short-window abnormal returns and revisions in analyst' one-quarter-ahead earnings forecasts indicate that pro forma earnings are more informative and more permanent than GAAP operating earnings. Our evidence suggests that market participants believe pro forma earnings are more representative of "core earnings" than GAAP operating income.