Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Capital Mobility and Current Account Imbalance: Nonlinear Threshold Vector Autoregression Approach

In this study, we utilize the growth rate of gross domestic product as the threshold variable to construct two nonlinear threshold vector autoregression models to re-examine the findings in Yan (2007:23) that “current account imbalance causes capital mobility in developed countries; capital mobility causes current account imbalance in emerging countries. ” The nonlinear causality test shows that the findings of Yan (2007) can exist only in certain regimes and the primary factor that affects the causality between current account and financial account (and its components of foreign direct investment, portfolio investment, and other investment) is the asymmetry caused by the business cycle.
Methylated trivalent arsenicals as candidate ultimate genotoxic forms of arsenic: Induction of chromosomal mutations but not gene mutations

Arsenic is a prevalent human carcinogen whose mutagenicity has not been characterized fully. Exposure to either form of inorganic arsenic, AsIII or AsV, can result in the formation of at least four organic metabolites: monomethylarsonic acid, monomethylarsonous acid (MMAIII), dimethylarsinic acid, and dimethylarsinous acid (DMAIII). The methylated trivalent species, as well as some of the other species, have not been evaluated previously for the induction of chromosome aberrations, sister chromatid exchanges (SCE), or toxicity in cultured human peripheral blood lymphocytes; for mutagenicity in L5178Y/Tk+/‐ mouse lymphoma cells or in the Salmonella reversion assay; or for prophage‐induction in Escherichia coli. Here we evaluated the arsenicals in these assays and found that MMAIII and DMAIII were the most potent clastogens of the six arsenicals in human lymphocytes and the most potent mutagens of the six arsenicals at the Tk+/‐ locus in mouse lymphoma cells. The dimethylated arsenicals were also spindle poisons, suggesting that they may be ultimate forms of arsenic that induce aneuploidy. Although the arsenicals were potent clastogens, none were potent SCE inducers, similar to clastogens that act via reactive oxygen species. None of the six arsenicals were gene mutagens in Salmonella TA98, TA100, or TA104; and neither MMAIII nor DMAIII induced prophage. Our results show that both methylated AsV compounds were less cytotoxic and genotoxic than AsV, whereas both methylated AsIII compounds were more cytotoxic and genotoxic than AsIII. Our data support the view that MMAIII and DMAIII are candidate ultimate genotoxic forms of arsenic and that they are clastogens and not gene mutagens. We suggest that the clastogenicity of the other arsenicals is due to their metabolism by cells to MMAIII or DMAIII. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 42:192–205, 2003. Published 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Geographical distribution of the selenium status of herbivores in South Africa

Available information on the selenium (Se) status of grazing herbivores in South Africa is reviewed and collated in the form of a geographical distribution map. Marginal to acute Se deficiencies have been reported to occur in the Midlands region and in mountainous areas of the KwaZulu-Natal province and in the southern coastal region of the Western Cape province. These areas receive a high annual rainfall and the soils are predominantly acid. The Se status of livestock in the highland sourveld areas of the Gauteng, northern Free State and Mpumalanga provinces is varied. Selenium intake appears to be adequate in most areas although localised cases of deficiencies occur. Substantial air and water pollution occurs in some of these areas, and the presence of Se antagonists could increase the incidence of Se deficiency in future. Limited data indicates that vegetation in the arid regions of South Africa provides Se sufficient to meet the requirements of grazing herbivores. Subterranean water from a number of locations contains Se at concentrations higher than the norm for safe drinking water, the impact of which has not yet been established. There are large areas of South Africa for which little or no information on the Se status of grazing animals exist, and further investigations are required.
The multiple-infection transformation.

Attention is drawn to the possibility of misinterpreting results which may arise when the incidence of an organism, or any other event, is expressed as percentage presence or absence on plots of standard area. Disease gradients when expressed as percentage presence are shown to be artificially flattened. The amount of flattening depends on incidence of the disease and the size of plot chosen. A table is given by which the necessary transformation can be made when the organism or event is distributed at random. Examples are given of leaf diseases: (1) distributed at random (Phytophthora infestans); and (2) aggregated (Gymnosporangium juniperivirginianae and G. clavariaeforme). Methods of detecting and measuring aggregation are briefly discussed.
Risk factors for death among patients in French Guiana: 1996–2005

Risk factors for death in an HIV‐infected cohort in French Guiana were studied in 1374 patients between 1996 and 2005. Of these patients, 48.5% were male and 76% were immigrants. Covariates were measured at the time of consultation. There were 223 deaths. Addictions [adjusted hazard ratio (HR)=13; 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.5–30.6; P< 0.001], age >60 years (HR=1.5; 95% CI 0.9–2.5; P=0.13), male gender (HR=1.5; 95% CI 1.03–2.5; P=0.03) and CD4 count <50 cells/μL (HR=9.1; 95% CI 5.1–16.3; P<0.001) were independently associated with death. These results suggest that strategies promoting early diagnosis and better follow‐up of addicted patients would have a significant impact on mortality.
Different effects of invader–native phylogenetic relatedness on invasion success and impact: a meta-analysis of Darwin's naturalization hypothesis

Darwin's naturalization hypothesis (DNH), which predicts that alien species more distantly related to native communities are more likely to naturalize, has received much recent attention. The mixed findings from empirical studies that have tested DNH, however, seem to defy generalizations. Using meta-analysis to synthesize results of existing studies, we show that the predictive power of DNH depends on both the invasion stage and the spatial scale of the studies. Alien species more closely related to natives tended to be less successful at the local scale, supporting DNH; invasion success, however, was unaffected by alien–native relatedness at the regional scale. On the other hand, alien species with stronger impacts on native communities tended to be more closely related to natives at the local scale, but less closely related to natives at the regional scale. These patterns are generally consistent across different ecosystems, taxa and investigation methods. Our results revealed the different effects of invader–native relatedness on invader success and impact, suggesting the operation of different mechanisms across invasion stages and spatial scales.
Differential c‐fos expression in the rhinencephalon and striatum after enhanced sleep–wake states in the cat

In order to delimit the supra‐brainstem structures that are activated during the sleep–waking cycle, we have examined c‐fos immunoreactivity in four groups of polygraphically recorded cats killed after 3 h of prolonged waking (W), slow‐wave sleep (SWS), or paradoxical sleep (PS), following microinjection of muscimol (a γ‐aminobutyric acid, GABA agonist) into the periaqueductal grey matter and adjacent areas [ Sastre et al. (1996) , Neuroscience, 74, 415–426]. Our results demonstrate that there was a direct relationship between a significant increase in c‐fos labelling and the amount of PS in the laterodorsalis tegmenti in the pons, supramamillary nucleus, septum, hippocampus, gyrus cingulate, amygdala, stria terminalis and the accumbens nuclei. Moreover, in all these structures, the number of Fos‐like immunoreactive neurons in the PS group was significantly higher (three to 30‐fold) than in the SWS and W groups. We suggest that the dense expression of the immediate‐early gene c‐fos in the rhinencephalon and striatum may be considered as a tonic component of PS at the molecular level and that, during PS, the rhinencephalon and striatum are the main targets of an excitatory system originating in the pons.
Perfectionism and health: A mediational analysis of the roles of stress, social support and health-related behaviours

This study tested a model derived from personality theory in which perceived stress, perceived social support, health-risk and health-promotion behaviours mediate the relationship between perfectionism and perceived physical health. A sample of 538 undergraduate students completed a web-based survey assessing multi-dimensional perfectionism, perceived stress, perceived social support, health behaviours, physical health and a scale tapping elements of the five-factor model of personality. Analyses that account for the effects of traits from the five-factor model (e.g., neuroticism, conscientiousness and extraversion) indicated that socially prescribed perfectionism was associated with poorer physical health and this association was fully mediated by higher levels of perceived stress and lower levels of perceived social support. Self-oriented perfectionism was related complexly to health such that it was related to poorer health via higher levels of perceived stress, but was also related to better health via higher levels of perceived social support. Our findings illustrate the need for considering key mediators of the link between perfectionism and poor health outcomes.
Personality and American State Differences in Obesity Prevalence

ABSTRACT The study was conducted to determine whether state obesity-prevalence rates can be predicted by state differences in residents’ levels on the Big Five personality variables (O. P. John & S. Srivastava, 1999). State obesity prevalence was the mean percentage of the state population from 2000 to 2005 with a body mass index ≥ 30.0 as assessed by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010), which currently interviews more than 350,000 adults annually. State neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness z scores, based on the responses of 619,397 residents to an Internet survey from 1999 to 2005, were taken from P. J. Rentfrow, S. D. Gosling, and J. Potter (2008). Alaska, Hawaii, and North Dakota had scores outside −3 and +3 standard deviations on at least 1 variable and were excluded as outliers. For the 47 remaining states, state obesity prevalence was significantly correlated with neuroticism (.35), agreeableness (.38), openness (−.44), socioeconomic status (−.74), white percentage (−.34), and urbanization (−.43). Multiple regression analysis showed that socioeconomic status could account for 54.0% of the criterion variance and that agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness together could account for another 17.1%.
Molecular Medicine in Practice PI 3 K Pathway Mutations and PTEN Levels in Primary and Metastatic Breast Cancer

The purpose of this work was to determine whether there are differences in PIK3CA mutation status and PTEN protein expression between primary and matched metastatic breast tumors as this could influence patient management. Paraffin sections of 50 mm were used for DNA extraction and slides of 3 mm for immunohistochemistry (IHC) and FISH. Estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2 IHC were repeated in a central laboratory for both primary tumors and metastases. PTEN levels were assessed by IHC and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway mutations were detected by a mass spectroscopy–based approach. Median age was 48 years (range: 30–83 years). Tumor subtype included 72% hormone receptor positive/HER2 negative, 20% HER2-positive, and less than 7.8% triple receptor negative. Tissues were available for PTEN IHC in 46 primary tumors and 52 metastases. PTEN was lost in 14 (30%) primary tumors and 13 (25%) metastases. There were five cases of PTEN loss and eight cases of PTEN gain from primary tumors to metastases (26% discordance). Adequate DNA was obtained from 46 primary tumors and from 50 metastases for PIK3CA analysis. PIK3CAmutations were detected in 19 (40%) of primary tumors and 21 (42%) of metastases. There were five cases of PIK3CA mutation loss and four cases of mutation gain (18% discordance). There was an increase of the level of PIK3CA mutations in four cases and decrease in one case from primary tumors to metastases. There is a high level of discordance in PTEN level, PIK3CA mutations, and receptor status between primary tumors and metastases that may influence patient selection and response to PI3K-targeted therapies. Mol Cancer Ther; 10(6); 1093–101. 2011 AACR.
Angiogenesis can be stimulated or repressed in vivo by a change in GM3:GD3 ganglioside ratio.

BACKGROUND We had previously observed that rabbit cornea stimulated by an angiogenic factor 1) became richer in total gangliosides and 2) reduced the GM3:GD3 ganglioside ratio. Moreover, experimentally induced global enrichment of corneal gangliosides favors angiogenesis. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The objective of this work was to explain the possible relationship between angiogenic response and changes in the GM3:GD3 ratios observed in vivo. Cornea was utilized because it is avascular and transparent; i.e., the onset of opacity permitted exclusion of angiogenesis produced by a generic inflammatory response. Prostaglandin E1 or basic fibroblast growth factor were applied as angiogenesis triggers. Angiogenesis in vivo and mobilization and growth of microvascular endothelium in vitro were taken as parameters to indicate whether differences in GM3:GD3 ratios could modify the extent of the angiogenic response. RESULTS In vivo angiogenesis, whether prostaglandin E1 or basic fibroblast growth factor induced, was repressed by GM3 and enhanced by GD3 or GM1 enrichment of the cornea. In vitro growth and motility of microvascular endothelium were reduced by GM3 addition to the medium and returned to normal levels by addition of GD3. CONCLUSIONS Formation of new vessels induced by two different angiogenic factors could be stimulated or repressed in the cornea by reduction or enhancement of the GM3:GD3 ratio of tissue gangliosides. Changes in the relative proportion of molecules normally present in adult tissues, like prostaglandin E1, basic fibroblast growth factor, GM3, GD3, were sufficient to modulate or even block angiogenesis.
DC-Bus Design and Control for a Single-Phase Grid-Connected Renewable Converter With a Small Energy Storage Component

This paper presents a control design approach for optimum dynamic response in single-phase grid-connected renewable converters with minimum energy storage components. This is a crucial matter in realizing compact and robust converters without use of bulky and sensitive electrolytic capacitors. Nonoptimum dynamic response results in undesired interruptions of the maximum power point tracking and reduction of the overall efficiency of the system. Common practice is to select a large dc-bus size in order to reduce the double-frequency ripples that cause harmonics and to slow down the dynamic response to avoid large fluctuations on the bus caused by random input power jumps. This paper shows that both problems can be addressed to a great extent by improving the control system and without need to excessively increase the size of the bus component. This paper proposes a control system to achieve these goals and provides an analytical design method to optimize both dynamic response and output current harmonics. The proposed method succeeds to reduce the size of bus component several times without compromising the system performance. Details of the proposed method, mathematical modeling of the bus control and current control systems, simulations, and experimental results are presented and discussed.
[Effect of acupuncture combined behavior intervention on children with autism].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of acupuncture combined behavior intervention on children with autism. METHODS Patients were treated by "Jin's three-needling" as the main measure with the assistance of behavior intervention, and the changes were compared among the three groups (29 cases in combination group, 15 cases in acupuncture group and 10 cases in intervention group) before and after treatment of various factors and scores estimated by the autism behavior checklist (ABC) and autism development checklist (ADC). RESULTS In the combination group, the total scores of ABC and most factors of ABC including body movement, social communication and language factor were improved significantly after treatment (P < 0.01), but there was no significant changes in sense factor and daily life self-caring factor (P > 0.05). Comparison of most items of ADC before and after treatment also showed significant difference (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION Acupuncture combined behavior intervention has better therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of children with autism.
Overview of the FIRE 2017 IRLeD Track: Information Retrieval from Legal Documents

The FIRE 2017 IRLeD Track focused on creating a framework for evaluating different methods of Information Retrieval from legal documents. Therewere two tasks for this track: (i) Catchphrase Extraction task, and (ii) Precedence Retrieval task. In the catchphrase extraction task, the participants had to extract catchphrases (legal keywords) from Indian Supreme Court case documents. In the second task of Precedence Retrieval, the participants were to retrieve relevant or cite-able documents for particular Indian SupremeCourt cases from a set of prior case documents.
BCL2 positive and BCL6 negative diffuse large B cell lymphoma patients benefit from R-CHOP therapy irrespective of germinal and non germinal center B cell like subtypes.

PURPOSE Despite major advances in the treatment of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), approximately one third of the patients progress or die, suggesting the existence of additional oncogenic events. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the "Hans classifier", and BCL2 and MYC protein expression and gene alterations in DLBCL patients treated with CHOP or R-CHOP chemotherapy over a 5-year period. Furthermore, we tried to correlate these parameters with the International Prognostic Index (IPI). METHODS The immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of CD10, BCL6, MUM1 and BCL2 on paraffin-embedded formalin-fixed tumor samples from 103 centroblastic DLBCLs was analyzed. IHC expression of MYC and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for MYC and BCL2 gene alterations was performed on 67 samples using the tissue microarray (TMA) method. RESULTS The Hans algorithm was not predictive of survival in both therapy groups. No significant difference in BCL2 and MYC alterations or MYC protein expression in relation to complete response (CR), event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) was observed in our study. High IPI correlated significantly with poor outcome and it was identified as independent prognostic factor for OS and EFS (both p=0.000). The 5-year OS was 61% in the R-CHOP compared to 38% in the CHOP group (p=0.007). Rituximab significantly improved the OS in the BCL2 positive (60 vs 29%, p=0.008), and the BCL6 negative (73 vs 25%, p=0.001) cases. CONCLUSION IPI is an independent prognosticator for DL-BCL patients and the addition of rituximab significantly improved survival. Furthermore, patients with BCL2+ and BCL6-DLBCL benefited from R-CHOP.
MAQ1 and 7SK RNA Interact with CDK9/Cyclin T Complexes in a Transcription-Dependent Manner

ABSTRACT Positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb) comprises a cyclin (T1 or T2) and a kinase, cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9), which phosphorylates the carboxyl-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II. P-TEFb is essential for transcriptional elongation in human cells. A highly specific interaction among cyclin T1, the viral protein Tat, and the transactivation response (TAR) element RNA determines the productive transcription of the human immunodeficiency virus genome. In growing HeLa cells, half of P-TEFb is kinase inactive and binds to the 7SK small nuclear RNA. We now report on a novel protein termed MAQ1 (for ménage à quatre) that is also present in this complex. Since 7SK RNA is required for MAQ1 to associate with P-TEFb, a structural role for 7SK RNA is proposed. Inhibition of transcription results in the release of both MAQ1 and 7SK RNA from P-TEFb. Thus, MAQ1 cooperates with 7SK RNA to form a novel type of CDK inhibitor. According to yeast two-hybrid analysis and immunoprecipitations from extracts of transfected cells, MAQ1 binds directly to the N-terminal cyclin homology region of cyclins T1 and T2. Since Tat also binds to this cyclin T1 N-terminal domain and since the association between 7SK RNA/MAQ1 and P-TEFb competes with the binding of Tat to cyclin T1, we speculate that the TAR RNA/Tat lentivirus system has evolved to subvert the cellular 7SK RNA/MAQ1 system.
Electrically induced brain‐derived neurotrophic factor release from schwann cells

Regulating the production of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in Schwann cells (SCs) is critical for their application in traumatic nerve injury, neurodegenerative disorders, and demyelination disease in both central and peripheral nervous systems. The present study investigated the possibility of using electrical stimulation (ES) to activate SCs to release BDNF. We found that short‐term ES was capable of promoting BDNF production from SCs, and the maximal BDNF release was achieved by ES at 6 V (3 Hz, 30 min). We further examined the involvement of intracellular calcium ions ([Ca2+]i) in the ES‐induced BDNF production in SCs by pharmacological studies. We found that the ES‐induced BDNF release required calcium influx through T‐type voltage‐gated calcium channel (VGCC) and calcium mobilization from internal calcium stores, including inositol triphosphate‐sensitive stores and caffeine/ryanodine‐sensitive stores. In addition, calcium‐calmodulin dependent protein kinase IV (CaMK IV), mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK), and cAMP response element‐binding protein (CREB) were found to play important roles in the ES‐induced BDNF release from SCs. In conclusion, ES is capable of activating SCs to secrete BDNF, which requires the involvement of calcium influx through T‐type VGCC and calcium mobilization from internal calcium stores. In addition, activation of CaMK IV, MAPK, and CREB were also involved in the ES‐induced BDNF release. The findings indicate that ES can improve the neurotrophic ability in SCs and raise the possibility of developing electrically stimulated SCs as a source of cell therapy for nerve injury in both peripheral and central nervous systems. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Role of Birds in Dispersal of Etiologic Agents of Tick-borne Zoonoses, Spain, 2009

We amplified gene sequences from Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Borrelia garinii, B. valaisiana, B. turdi, Rickettsia monacensis, R. helvetica, R. sibirica sibirica, and Rickettsia spp. (including Candidatus Rickettsia vini) in ticks removed from birds in Spain. The findings support the role of passerine birds as possible dispersers of these tick-borne pathogens.