Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identifying Needs in Young Adults With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Qualitative Study

Successful transitional care for young adults entails that healthcare teams recognize and understand the attitudes, perspectives, and developmental maturity of young adults. The aim of this study was to identify the needs of young adults with inflammatory bowel disease. Young adults 18–30 years of age were recruited from the McMaster University Medical Centre adult inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) clinic between July 2012 and May 2013. Semistructured interviews were audio taped, transcribed verbatim, and coded using a constant comparative method. QSR NVivo10 software was used to manage the data. Twenty-one young adults, including 15 subjects diagnosed as adolescents (younger than 18 years) and 6 subjects diagnosed as young adults, were interviewed. Four broad categories of needs were identified: psychosocial, informational, self-advocacy, and daily living needs. The most commonly reported needs were psychosocial and the least common were daily living needs. Results from this study may be used to inform clinical practitioners of potential needs that may be important to the overall quality of patient health during young adulthood. In addition, these findings may be used to evaluate existing transition and self-management tools to measure success of transition interventions more effectively.
Business Cycles, Monetary Transmission and Shocks to Financial Stability: Empirical Evidence from a New Set of Danish Quarterly National Accounts 1948-2010

In Denmark official quarterly national accounts are only available for the period since 1977. The paper constructs a set of summary non-seasonally adjusted quarterly national accounts for Denmark for 1948-2010 in current and constant prices as well as a set of other key quarterly macroeconomic indicators covering the Danish economy since 1948. As a first exploratory analysis of these two new data sets the paper reviews some of the stylised empirical evidence on the business cycle, the monetary transmission mechanism and shocks to financial stability that can be uncovered using filtering techniques and reduced-form vector autoregressive (VAR) models. The long-span data sets make it possible to estimate VAR models of a higher dimension than is usually found in the literature due to degrees-of-freedom problems. The results from the VAR analysis indicate a significant and long-lasting negative impact on real GDP following an exogenous shock to the banking sector's write-down ratio. JEL Classification: C32, C82, E01, E32, E44, E52, N14
Survival of Escherichia coli, Enterococci, and Campylobacter spp. in Sheep Feces on Pastures

ABSTRACT The survival of enteric bacteria in 10 freshly collected sheep fecal samples on pastures was measured in each of four seasons. Ten freshly collected feces were placed on pasture, and concentrations of Escherichia coli, enterococci, and Campylobacter spp. were monitored until exhaustion of the fecal samples. In all four seasons, there was an increase in enterococcal concentrations by up to 3 orders of magnitude, with peak concentrations recorded between 11 and 28 days after deposition. E. coli concentrations increased in three out of four seasons by up to 1.5 orders of magnitude, with peak concentrations recorded between 8 and 14 days after deposition. The apparent growth of E. coli and enterococci was strongly influenced by the initial water content of the feces and the moisture gained during periods of rehydration following rainfalls. Conversely, the results suggested that dehydration promoted inactivation. Campylobacter spp. did not grow and were rapidly inactivated at a rate that tended to be faster at higher temperatures. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of a selection of Campylobacter spp. suggested that these survival data are applicable to a range of Campylobacter spp. , including the most frequently isolated PFGE genotype from sheep in New Zealand, and to genotypes previously observed to cause disease in humans. The results of this study are currently being incorporated into a fecal microbe reservoir model that is designed to assist water managers' abilities to estimate microbial loads on pastures grazed by sheep, including the influence of factors such as rainfall and temperature.
Physiological Responses of Firefighters Wearing Level 3 Chemical Protective Suits While Working in Controlled Hot Environments

Firefighters in Queensland are exposed to hot, humid weather conditions that contribute to the overall workload encountered during emergency operations. Responding to certain hazardous material incidents requires firefighters to wear fully encapsulated chemical protective suits for a maximum period of 20 minutes. The nature of these suits, combined with workload and environmental conditions, poses a potential heat stress problem for firefighters. This study evaluates the heat-induced physiological responses of firefighters while wearing fully encapsulated chemical protective suits in a series of controlled thermal environments. Heart rate, body (aural) temperature, blood pressure, fluid loss, and a rating of perceived exertion were measured to evaluate the effect of increasing ambient air temperature during the performance of standard tasks. The results of the study indicated that the significant increase in heart rate, body temperature, and blood pressure was directly related to the increase in air temperature. The research indicates that the recommended suit wearing time of 20 minutes provided adequate physiological protection under the research conditions.
Contribution of Toll‐like receptor/myeloid differentiation factor 88 signaling to murine liver regeneration

Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) act as innate immune signal sensors and play central roles in host defense. Myeloid differentiation factor (MyD) 88 is a common adaptor molecule required for signaling mediated by TLRs. When the receptors are activated, cells bearing TLRs produce various proinflammatory cytokines in a MyD88‐dependent manner. Liver regeneration following partial hepatectomy (PH) requires innate immune responses, particularly interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α) production by Kupffer cells, although the recognition and activation processes are still unknown. We investigated whether TLR/MyD88 signaling is critical for induction of innate immune responses after PH. In Myd88−/− mice after PH, induction of expression of immediate early genes involved in hepatocyte replication and phosphorylation of STAT3 in the liver, and production of TNF‐α/IL‐6 by and activation of NF‐κB in the Kupffer cells were grossly subnormal and were associated with impaired liver regeneration. However, TLR2, 4 and 9, which recognize gram‐negative and ‐positive bacterial products, are not essential for NF‐κB activation and IL‐6 production after PH, which excludes a possible contribution of TLR2/TLR4 or TLR9 to MyD88‐mediated pathways. In conclusion, the TLR/MyD88 pathway is essential for incidental liver restoration, particularly its early phase. (HEPATOLOGY 2005;41:443–450.)
Attenuated lipotoxicity and apoptosis is linked to exogenous and endogenous augmenter of liver regeneration by different pathways

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) covers a spectrum from simple steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and cirrhosis. Free fatty acids (FFA) induce steatosis and lipo-toxicity and correlate with severity of NAFLD. In this study we aimed to investigate the role of exogenous and endogenous ALR (augmenter of liver regeneration) for FFA induced ER (endoplasmatic reticulum) -stress and lipoapoptosis. Primary human hepatocytes or hepatoma cells either treated with recombinant human ALR (rhALR, 15kDa) or expressing short form ALR (sfALR, 15kDa) were incubated with palmitic acid (PA) and analyzed for lipo-toxicity, -apoptosis, activation of ER-stress response pathways, triacylglycerides (TAG), mRNA and protein expression of lipid metabolizing genes. Both, exogenous rhALR and cytosolic sfALR reduced PA induced caspase 3 activity and Bax protein expression and therefore lipotoxicity. Endogenous sfALR but not rhALR treatment lowered TAG levels, diminished activation of ER-stress mediators C-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), X-box binding protein-1 (XBP1) and proapoptotic transcription factor C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP), and reduced death receptor 5 protein expression. Cellular ALR exerts its lipid lowering and anti-apoptotic actions by enhancing FABP1, which binds toxic FFA, increasing mitochondrial β-oxidation by elevating the mitochondrial FFA transporter CPT1α, and decreasing ELOVL6, which delivers toxic FFA metabolites. We found reduced hepatic mRNA levels of ALR in a high fat diet mouse model, and of ALR and FOXA2, a transcription factor inducing ALR expression, in human steatotic as well as NASH liver samples, which may explain increased lipid deposition and reduced β-oxidation in NASH patients. Present study shows that exogenous and endogenous ALR reduce PA induced lipoapoptosis. Furthermore, cytosolic sfALR changes mRNA and protein expression of genes regulating lipid metabolism, reduces ER-stress finally impeding progression of NASH.
T-type calcium channel blocker Z944 restores cortical synchrony and thalamocortical connectivity in a rat model of neuropathic pain

Abstract Oscillations are fundamental to communication between neuronal ensembles. We previously reported that pain in awake rats enhances synchrony in primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and attenuates coherence between S1 and ventral posterolateral (VPL) thalamus. Here, we asked whether similar changes occur in anesthetized rats and whether pain modulates phase–amplitude coupling between VPL and S1. We also hypothesized that the suppression of burst firing in VPL using Z944, a novel T-type calcium channel blocker, restores S1 synchrony and thalamocortical connectivity. Local field potentials were recorded from S1 and VPL in anesthetized rats 7 days after sciatic chronic constriction injury (CCI). In rats with CCI, low-frequency (4-12 Hz) synchrony in S1 was enhanced, whereas VPL–S1 coherence and theta–gamma phase–amplitude coupling were attenuated. Moreover, Granger causality showed decreased informational flow from VPL to S1. Systemic or intrathalamic delivery of Z944 to rats with CCI normalized these changes. Systemic Z944 also reversed thermal hyperalgesia and conditioned place preference. These data suggest that pain-induced cortical synchrony and thalamocortical disconnectivity are directly related to burst firing in VPL.
Chlamydia pneumoniae IgA‐ and IgG antibodies in young survivors of myocardial infarction. A comparison of antibody detection by a microimmunofluorescence test and an enzyme immunoassay

Abstract. Halvorsen DS, Børvik T, Njølstad I, Gutteberg TJ, Vorland LH, Hansen J‐B (University Hospital of Tromsø; and Institute of Community Medicine, Tromsø, Norway). Chlamydia pneumoniae IgA‐ and IgG antibodies in young survivors of myocardial infarction. A comparison of antibody detection by a microimmunofluorescence (MIF) test and an enzyme immunoassay (EIA). J Intern Med 2002; 251: 142–147.
Extracellular Matrix Made by Bone Marrow Cells Facilitates Expansion of Marrow‐Derived Mesenchymal Progenitor Cells and Prevents Their Differentiation Into Osteoblasts

We cultured MSCs on an ECM made by bone marrow cells to attempt to reconstitute the MSC niche. This ECM promoted replication of mesenchymal progenitors and retention of their multipotentiality. We conclude that the marrow ECM facilitates expansion of mesenchymal progenitors and hypothesize that it plays an important role in the maintenance of MSC stemness.
Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment to Developing Countries

In this paper we explored different factors responsible for variation in foreign direct investment to developing countries. We used macro panel data of 57 low and lower middle income countries for last ten years (2000-2009) to empirically address this question. We used instrumental variable technique to correct for reverse causation and omitted variable bias in our estimates. In addition, we also controlled for country specific and time specific fixed effects to obtain unbiased estimates. This study found that market size is the most important determinant of foreign direct investment to developing countries. Further, stable macroeconomic environment, global integration, availability of skilled labor force and developed financial sector also promote foreign direct investment in developing countries.
The Intrinsic Instability of Financial Markets

In this paper we explain the wild fluctuations of financial prices from the intrinsic amplifying feedback of speculative supply and demand. Formally, we show that an asset return follows a multiplicative random growth with exogenous input, which is well-known to be a generic power-law generating process, and which could thus easily explain the well-established power-law distribution of returns, and other related variables. Moreover, the theory we develop here is a general framework where competing ideas can be discussed in a unified way. The dominant random walk model, for instance, is easily derived in this framework if we superimpose market clearing (central to neoclassical economics). It corresponds to the case where the feedback in price dynamics is ignored in favor of the external input, namely the random inflow of news from the real economy.
Altered circulating levels of adipokine omentin-1 in patients with prostate cancer

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa), one of the most common cancers in men, accounts for nearly 20% of adult malignant neoplasms. Omentin-1 is synthesized in visceral adipose tissue and its concentration in plasma changes with cancers. However, the association between omentin-1 and PCa was rarely studied. Thus, we investigated the plasma omentin-1 levels in PCa patients in Chinese population. Materials and methods: Ninety cases of PCa and 90 matched healthy controls were enrolled in this study. We used ELISA technique to determine the concentration of omentin-1. Results: The concentration of omentin-1 was higher in patients with PCa compared to controls (P<0.001). Additionally, positive correlations were uncovered between omentin-1 with body mass index (r=0.240, P=0.001), waist-hip ratio (r=0.228, P=0.002), and prostate-specific antigen (r=0.589, P<0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that plasma omentin-1 differentiated PCa patients from controls with a sensitivity of 85.9% and a specificity of 83.7%. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that the levels of plasma omentin-1 were increased in PCa patients. Meanwhile, omentin-1 may be a possible biomarker for diagnosing PCa. For validation, more studies should focus on and elucidate the potential mechanism underlying this change.
Building regions: a resource-based view of a policy-led knowledge exchange network

ABSTRACT Building regions: a resource-based view of a policy-led knowledge exchange network. Regional Studies. This study looks to understanding further about how important the choice of intermediary can be in supporting policy-makers in their regional development activities. Drawing on the resource-based view as a framework, it provides new insights into resource combinations underpinning the successful creation and expansion of a regional network for knowledge exchange. Through an in-depth study of a partnership of three intermediaries involved in designing and implementing a regional information and communication technology (ICT) network, the study highlights that policy-makers need to consider not only the organizational resources of intermediaries but also the resources of key individuals from those organizations.
A Negative Feedback Control of Transforming Growth Factor-β Signaling by Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3-mediated Smad3 Linker Phosphorylation at Ser-204*

Through the action of its membrane-bound type I receptor, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) elicits a wide range of cellular responses that regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and apo pto sis. Many of these signaling responses are mediated by Smad proteins. As such, controlling Smad activity is crucial for proper signaling by TGF-β and its related factors. Here, we show that TGF-β induces phos pho ryl a tion at three sites in the Smad3 linker region in addition to the two C-terminal residues, and glycogen synthase kinase 3 is responsible for phos pho ryl a tion at one of these sites, namely Ser-204. Alanine substitution at Ser-204 and/or the neighboring Ser-208, the priming site for glycogen synthase kinase 3 in vivo activity, strengthened the affinity of Smad3 to CREB-binding protein, suggesting that linker phos pho ryl a tion may be part of a negative feedback loop that modulates Smad3 transcriptional activity. Thus, our findings reveal a novel aspect of the Smad3 signaling mechanism that controls the final amplitude of cellular responses to TGF-β.
Cardiac abnormalities in children with sickle cell anemia

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) results in chronic volume overload of the heart due to hemodilution. Previous echocardiographic studies of cardiac function in children with SCA have not accounted for these abnormal loading conditions. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine how the degree of anemia and transfusion status relate to cardiac findings and (2) evaluate cardiac function using load‐independent parameters of function. We evaluated 77 patients with SCA, ages 2 to 22 years (mean ± SD = 11.7 ± 4.7), using physical examination, electrocardiography, and echocardiography. We compared two groups of patients. Group 1 consisted of 57 non‐transfused patients, and Group 2 consisted of 20 patients on a chronic transfusion protocol. Group 1 patients exhibited a significantly lower hemoglobin, higher cardiac output, and larger left ventricular (LV) end‐diastolic dimension and LV mass than groups 2 (P < 0.05). However, the velocity of circumferential fiber shortening‐wall stress index (a load‐independent measure of systolic function) was normal and not statistically different between the two groups. Conversely, the LV myocardial performance index (a measure of combined systolic and diastolic function) was significantly higher in Group 2 (P < 0.001), possibly indicating impaired myocardial diastolic function. SCA in children results in a volume‐overloaded heart with a significant increase in LV dimensions and mass, both proportional to the degree of anemia. Despite these abnormal loading conditions, systolic function is preserved. Patients on a chronic transfusion protocol may develop diastolic dysfunction despite iron chelation therapy. Am. J. Hematol. 70:306–312, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Coevolution between hosts and parasites with partially overlapping geographic ranges

Many host species interact with a specific parasite within only a fraction of their geographical range. Where host and parasite overlap geographically, selection may be reciprocal constituting a coevolutionary hot spot. Host evolution, however, may be driven primarily by selection imposed by alternative biotic or abiotic factors that occur outside such hot spots. To evaluate the importance of coevolutionary hot spots for host and parasite evolution, we analyse a spatially explicit genetic model for a host that overlaps with a parasite in only part of its geographical range. Our results show that there is a critical amount of overlap beyond which reciprocal selection leads to a coevolutionary response in the host. This critical amount of overlap depends upon the explicit spatial configuration of hot spots. When the amount of overlap exceeds this first critical level, host–parasite coevolution commonly generates stable allele frequency clines rather than oscillations. It is within this region that one of the primary predictions of the geographic mosaic theory is realized, and local maladaptation is prevalent in both species. Past a further threshold of overlap between the species oscillations do evolve, but allele frequencies in both species are spatially synchronous and local maladaptation is absent in both species. A consequence of such transitions between coevolutionary dynamics is that parasite adaptation is inversely proportional to the fraction of its host's range that it occupies. Hence, as the geographical range of a parasite increases, it becomes increasingly maladapted to the host. This suggests a novel mechanism through which the geographical range of parasites may be limited.
Curative treatment of experimental autoimmune thyroiditis by in vivoadministration of plasmid DNA coding for interleukin‐10

The autoimmune response in experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT) is characterized by a lymphocyte infiltration of the thyroid gland and by the appearance of circulating autoantibodies to thyroglobulin (Tg). Cytokines play a crucial role in the immunoregulation and pathology of EAT. Systemic administration of IL‐10 has curative effects on EAT, but requires high doses and iterative injections due to the rapid turnover of this molecule. We have designed an original in vivo gene transfer using a mixture of liposomes and poly‐L‐Lysine that greatly enhanced the transfection yield, and induced a fast and long‐lasting expression of IL‐10 on mouse thyroid follicular cells (TFC). IL‐10 expression on TFC of mice wit EAT dramatically wipe out the lymphocytic infiltration in the thyroids. A significant diminution in the proliferative anti‐Tg T cell response was observed, along with a trend towards a Th2 response characterized by decreased production of IFN‐γ and by increased anti‐Tg IgG1/IgG2a Ab ratios. In conclusion, local IL‐10 gene therapy using non‐viral vectors is a novel and promising approach for the treatment of thyroid autoimmune disorders.
Four forms of ‘offender’ rehabilitation: Towards an interdisciplinary perspective

This paper aims to advance the case for a more fully interdisciplinary understanding of offender rehabilitation, partly as a means of shedding light upon and moving beyond contemporary ‘paradigm conflicts’. It begins with a review of current arguments about what a credible ‘offender’ rehabilitation theory requires and by exploring some aspects of current debates about different theories. It goes on to locate this specific kind of contemporary theory building in the context of historical arguments about and critiques of rehabilitation as a concept and in practice. In the third part of the paper, I explore the nature of the relationship between desistance theories and rehabilitation theories, so as to develop my concluding argument; that is, that debates about psychological rehabilitation have been hampered by a failure to engage fully with debates about at least three other forms of rehabilitation (legal, moral, and social) that emerge as being equally important in the process of desistance from crime.
Close-from model of shunt capacitance and inductance of microstrip step discontinuities

Some results for the inductance and capacitance associated with a step discontinuity in a microstrip are available. We present a model on the based on K.C. Gupta proposal for inductance having a maximum deviation 5% and average deviation 3% for isinr =9.6 and compare the numerical calibration with de-embedding techniques used in the planar electromagnetic (EM) simulation (SONNET) for isinr = 2.3, 4.0, 15.1, 20.0 & 40.0. These techniques are used to eliminate the port discontinuities brought by the current/voltage exciting source. The closed form model for step shunt capacitance having a maximum deviation 10% and average deviation 4.66% for 2.3 les isin, les 40.0 against numerical results of the internal equation method. The models have average deviation 0.027 for the Cp and 0.015 for Ls against the results of Sonnet.