Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stimulatory Action of Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors on Hematopoiesis: A Review

The presented review summarizes experimental data obtained with a mouse model when investigating the relationship between inhibition of prostaglandin production and hematopoiesis. While prostaglandin E2 acts in a negative feedback control of myelopoiesis, inhibition of cyclooxygenases, responsible for its production, shifts the feedback to positive control. Based on these relationships, agents inhibiting cyclo-oxygenases, known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), can activate hematopoiesis and be protective or curative under myelosuppressive states. The effectiveness of therapeutic use of NSAIDs in these situations is expressive especially under the selective inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), when undesirable side effects of cyclooxygenase-1 inhibition, like gastrointestinal damage, are absent. The effects of the clinically approved selective COX-2 inhibitor, meloxicam, were investigated and demonstrated significant hematopoiesis-stimulating and survival-enhancing actions of this drug in sublethally or lethally γ-irradiated mice. These effects were connected with the ability of meloxicam to increase serum levels of the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. It can be inferred from these findings that selective COX-2 inhibitors might find their use in the treatment of myelosuppressions of various etiologies.
Online, set, go - Design and empirical test of an IT-based physical activity intervention

Financial services have been a recurrent subject of a multichannel inquiry but investigation into the wealth management area is scarce. This paper intends to fill the gap and presents the results of a questionnaire directed at customers of a financial conglomerate. The objective of this research is to examine which variables influence consumers’ channel preferences in the wealth management context, and to find out possible differences between the customers who prefer predominantly electronic service or personal service delivery. Logistic regression and t-tests are used in the analysis. The perceived channel attributes of personalization, convenience and safety, relationship strength, and the internet and wealth management knowledge influence the channel preferences. Typical wealth management customers prefer multichannel service delivery; only 4 % of customers prefer pure electronic service, and 14 % of customers prefer pure personal service. There are several aspects that differentiate those customers who prefer predominantly electronic or personal service. The preference for the electronic channel indicated investments in shares, independent decision making style in wealth management tasks and reliance on electronic information channels. In addition, the customers who perceive relationship strength with the service provider as weaker prefer predominantly eservices, which should give impetus for action among the management in the financial service
Ultrastructure of Placenta of Gravidas with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Objectives. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) leads to an abnormal placental environment which may cause some structural alterations of placenta and affect placental development and function. In this study, the ultrastructural appearances of term placentas from women with GDM and normal pregnancy were meticulously compared. Materials and Methods. The placenta tissues of term birth from 10 women with GDM and 10 women with normal pregnancy were applied with the signed informed consent. The morphology of fetomaternal interface of placenta was examined using light microscopy (LM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results. On LM, the following morphological changes in villous tissues were found in the GDM placentas when compared with the control placentas: edematous stroma, apparent increase in the number of syncytial knots, and perivillous fibrin deposition. On TEM, the distinct ultrastructural alterations indicating the degeneration of terminal villi were found in the GDM placentas as follows: thickening of the basal membrane (BM) of vasculosyncytial membrane (VSM) and the VSM itself, significantly fewer or even absent syncytiotrophoblastic microvilli, swollen or completely destroyed mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum, and syncytiotrophoblasts with multiple vacuoles. Conclusion. Ultrastructural differences exist between GDM and control placentas. The differences of placenta ultrastructure are likely responsible for the impairment of placental barrier and function in GDM.
Energy Scheduling of Electric Vehicles for Electricity Market Participation

Global policy targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has led to increased interest in electric vehicles (EV) and their integration into the electricity network. Batteries in EVs offer flexibility from the demand side that could potentially compete against generating resources for providing power system services. Existing power markets, however, are not well suited to encourage direct participation of flexible demand from small consumers such as EV owners. The introduction of an aggregator agent with the functions of gathering and representing the energy needs of EV owners in electricity markets could prove useful in this regard. In this thesis, mathematical models are developed for optimizing the EV aggregator agent's: a) energy schedule for day-ahead electricity market participation, b) energy schedule for regulating power market (RPM) participation and c) energy portfolio to determine the power contracts to be obtained from forward electricity market. The modeling is done by accumulating individual vehicle batteries and treating them as a single large battery. The centralized charging and discharging of this battery is then scheduled based on the traveling needs of the EV owners determined by an aggregated driving profile and the cumulative electrical energy needs of vehicles over the optimization horizon. Two methods for scheduling EV demand, named as joint scheduling method (JSM) and aggregator scheduling method (ASM), are presented. The developed methods are then applied on selected test systems to observe the effects of EV demand scheduling on prices in the day-ahead, regulating power and retail markets. The results from the day-ahead market case study indicate that the scheduling of EV energy using JSM at high EV penetration levels of 75-100% could lead to lowering of day-ahead market prices as compared to a simpler control method such as fixed period charging. Results from RPM case study indicate that EV aggregator could potentially perform arbitrage provided that they plan and bid competitively against other market players, while considering the additional costs associated with vehicle-to-grid discharge. The case study results from energy portfolio optimization of the aggregator point to the monetary benefits from demand flexibility of EV batteries to both the electricity retailer, in the form of increased profits, and to EV owners through higher cost savings. It was found that the savings by customers could be attained provided that the ratio of variable to fixed price retail contracts is greater than 30:70 for a 10% EV penetration level and exceeds 50:50 for a 30% EV penetration level.
How Do Financing Constraints Affect Firms' Equity Volatility?

Higher firm equity volatility is often associated with non-fundamental trading by investors or constraints on firms’ ability to insulate their value from economic risks. This paper provides evidence that an important determinant of higher equity volatility among R&D-intensive firms is fewer financing constraints on firms’ ability to access growth options. I provide evidence for this effect by studying how persistent shocks to the value of firms’ tangible assets (real estate) affect their subsequent equity volatility. The analysis addresses concerns about the identification of these balance sheet effects and shows that these effects are consistent with broader patterns on the equity volatility of R&D-intensive firms.
The Role of Remuneration Structures in Hedge Fund Performance

In this paper, we rationalize the persistent abnormal performance of hedge funds. We show how the commitment to deliver an absolute return, the decreasing returns to scale to which hedge fund strategies are subject, and the performance-linked compensation combine with the incomeaximizing behavior of managers to effectively align the interests of investors and managers. Thanks to the coexistence of these elements, managers have an incentive to control the size of the funds. Therefore, performance-diluting flows do not occur and abnormal performance persists. The model can quantitatively reproduce many empirical facts about hedge funds.
The “Crisis” in Medical Malpractice: A Comparison of Trends in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia

As the sense of crisis in medical malpractice reemerged in the United States in the early 1980s, other countries previously thought immune to liability problems were experiencing similar difficulties. In fact, the frequency and severity of malpractice claims and the cost of malpractice insurance have risen as dramatically in Canada and the U.K. as in the United States, despite legal systems in the U.K. and Canada that are generally less favorable to potential plaintiffs. The absolute level of claims and insurance costs are still lower in the U.K. and Canada than in the U.S., but the gap is narrowing. This paper reviews the evidence on recent trends in claims, awards and insurance premiums in these three countries and comments on the lessons that can be learned from this cross-national comparison.
An examination of the inter-relationships between, and gains from, investing in African emerging stock markets

In recent years there has been a significant increase in the flow of investment into emerging equity markets. The low return correlations between this class of stock market and developed equity markets has allowed global investors the opportunity to earn higher portfolio returns while at the same time reducing overall portfolio risk. The investment climate in emerging markets has improved vastly and many of these countries have experienced superior rates of economic and capital market growth and, increasingly, they are contributing to global trade and investment. Emerging capital markets are now recognised as a distinct investment class and have become an essential component of any global investment strategy. Until recently, African stock markets were not considered as mainstream investment opportunities. However, in recent times there have been widespread structural and economic improvements in many African countries and they have sought to attract foreign investment. These changes have resulted in impressive economic and capital market growth; African markets are now becoming recognised as a legitimate investment destination and capital flows to these countries are beginning to increase. This thesis attempts to shed light on the potential of these newly emerging African stock markets to offer UK investors the opportunity for international portfolio diversification. The analysis begins by conducting a Johansen cointegration analysis and Granger causality tests to examine the inter-relationships between African markets and the UK, in order to determine their time-varying potential for investment. The results of this analysis suggest that stock markets in Africa are weakly related to that of the UK and that opportunities for diversification could be significant. The second part of the thesis builds upon these results and investigates the magnitude of the risk-return gains available from investing in African stock markets. In so doing, the xi analysis seeks to examine, on an ex-post basis, whether a sample of African equity indices might have offered higher returns for relatively lower levels of risk as compared to a UK or World index only portfolio. The results of the analysis reveal that African markets can offer a UK investor risk-return gains that are significantly greater than those available from investing solely in the domestic market. This finding applied to all periods examined. The final section in this thesis examines the gains available in African stock markets on an ex-ante basis. In particular, various forecasting techniques are employed in order to assume the conditions under which investors operate. Creating portfolios based on historical data and comparing the results to the theoretical gains available, the study analyses the predictability of returns in African stock markets. The findings from this ex-ante analysis suggest that it may be difficult for UK investors to achieve the theoretical gains available from investing in African stock markets.
Using volunteered geographic information for an automated provision of indoor location based services

iv computing individual routes in a multi-level building, whereby the developed application is ubiquitously accessible in common browsers via a web-based 3D application. The second applications discussed the utilization of crowdsourced indoor geodata for complex multiagent indoor evacuation simulations. For static aspects of the building and the geometry, IndoorOSM is perfectly suitable, whereas in contrast fast-changing dynamic aspects, such as building population or moving objects, cannot be simulated when purely using crowdsourced indoor geodata. This thesis concludes that extending OSM with IndoorOSM allows moving significantly forward to the major goal of “Using VGI for an automated provision of Indoor LBS”. Without expensive data acquisition or license costs, both standard-based 3D city models and indoor LBS can be generated fully automatically.
Evolution of Fitness Trade-Offs in Locally Adapted Populations of Pseudomonas fluorescens*

Local adaptation seems to be common in natural systems, but the genetic causes of its evolution remain poorly understood. Here we characterize the genetic causes of trade-offs generating local adaptation in populations of Pseudomonas fluorescens that had previously been evolved for specialization on three different carbon resources. We measured the fitness effects of mutations that arose during selection in that environment and in alternative environments to quantify the degree of specialization. We find that all mutations are beneficial in the environment of selection and that those arising later during adaptation are associated with increasingly antagonistic effects in alternative environments compared with those arising earlier, consistent with a multioptima version of Fisher’s geometric model of adaptation. We also find that fitness of pairs of beneficial mutations are consistently less than additive in selection environments, producing a pattern of diminishing returns, but are more variable in alternative environments, being either positive or negative. Finally, we find that mutations in genes associated with loss of motility are beneficial across all environments, whereas mutations involving other functions, such as gene regulation, had more variable effects, being more environment specific. Taken together, these results provide a detailed account of the genetics of specialization and suggest that the evolution of trade-offs associated with local adaptation may often result from the antagonistic effects of beneficial mutations substituted later in adaptation.
Determinants of European cross-border mergers and acquisitions

This paper investigates the determinants of European cross-border M&As using a large database. Specifically, we identify some of the different factors which contribute to the efficiency of the firms and divide these into two groups: those which can be changed through a merger or acquisition and those which cannot be altered and are more related to the environment where the acquired firm is established. Using a gravity model we find evidence for both of what have become to be known as the governance and outcome hypotheses. Additionally, we do not find any supporting evidence for more intense M&A activity between euro-zone countries.
Fetal gene transfer by intrauterine injection with microbubble-enhanced ultrasound.

Intrauterine injection of naked DNA expressing luciferase, green fluorescent protein (GFP), or beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) and fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled oligodeoxynucleotide (FITC-ODN), in combination with microbubble-enhanced ultrasound (US), referred to as the "shotgun method" (SGM), produced high-level protein expression in fetal mice. With the SGM, luciferase expression increased approximately 10(3)-fold in comparison with expression after injection of naked DNA alone. Electron microscopic analysis demonstrated transient formation of pores on the skin surface after intraamniotic (i.a.) injection with the SGM. Widespread expression of GFP and beta-gal and delivery of FITC-ODN were observed in multiple fetal tissues adjacent to the injection points. PCR analysis indicated that germline transfection was only transient following intraperitoneal (i.p) injection, and there was no evidence of transfer of the reporter gene to the offspring. Thus, SGM might provide a useful means to clarify the molecular mechanisms of genetic diseases in utero, as well as a tool to develop gene therapies in utero.
Comorbidities as predictors of incidental prostate cancer after Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate: diabetes and high-risk cancer

Abstract Prostate cancer can be diagnosed as an incidental finding during the pathological examination of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) specimens by Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP). BPH and comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia often coexist in elderly people. We identified which comorbidities can be used to predict the presence of incidental prostate cancer, particularly high-risk cancer, in men who had undergone HoLEP. On the basis of pathological findings of HoLEP specimens, patients with incidental cancer were categorized as low-risk (Gleason ≤6 and T1a) or high-risk (all others). Of the 654 patients who underwent HoLEP, 41 patients (6.3%) were identified as having incidental cancer (25 low-risk and 16 high-risk). There were no significant factors for overall prostate cancers. However, a significantly higher frequency of diabetes was observed in patients with high-risk cancer compared to those with BPH (31% vs. 13%; p = .033). Logistic regression analysis using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and prostate volume (PV), and smoking showed that diabetes was an independent predictor of high-risk cancer (odds ratio, 3.15; 95% confidence interval, 1.06–9.43). Diabetes may be an important predictor of the presence of high-risk prostate cancer in men with BPH who have undergone HoLEP.
Information Technology Investments and Organizational Productivity and Performance: An Empirical Investigation

The extent to which investment in information technology (IT) is related to organizational performance and productivity remains an open question in the minds of managers responsible for such investment decisions. Most past research into this relation has been based on cross-sectional analyses of 1-year periods. Attempts to determine relations between IT investment and the associated effect of that investment in such short periods have resulted in mostly mixed or negative findings. This study is thought to be the first to apply a multiyear, cross-sectional analysis. In the research, covering a 3-year period and involving firm-level data for a broad cross-section of U.S. industry, we found positive relations between higher levels of IT investment and selected measures representing organizational performance and productivity. These results, being based on multiyear analysis, are thought to be an important contribution in view of the fact that much of the existing literature in the area has failed to explain conclusively the economic impact of IT investment on organizational performance and productivity.
Access to health care and preventable hospitalizations.

To the Editor. —The elegant study by Dr Bindman and colleagues1provides strong evidence that preventable hospitalizations are a useful marker for monitoring access to care. Nevertheless, there are many unanswered questions about why the poor are hospitalized more frequently. Although this study looked at "propensity to seek health care," the symptoms used to measure this were serious (bleeding, shortness of breath) and may not reflect the decision-making process for most patients with ambulatory care—sensitive conditions. It may be that the more dramatic the symptom, the less likely there will be a difference in care-seeking behavior according to access barriers. If participants had been asked questions about less serious symptoms, such as a cough with purulent sputum production for 2 days, differences in health care-seeking behavior may have been significant in predicting preventable hospitalizations. Differences in case mix between poor and nonpoor patients also deserve further consideration. Although adjustments
ACUTE diffuse interstitial fibrosis of the lungs.

ACUTE diffuse interstitial fibrosis of the lungs is a disease of unknown causation characterized by sudden onset of cough, hemoptysis, dyspnea, cyanosis, and fever. Death from cardiac failure or pulmonary asphyxia has occurred in the reported cases after an illness of a few weeks. The disease was first described by Hamman and Rich, 1 who reported four cases and identified one instance from the previous literature. 2 The detailed description of the pathologic anatomy that these authors presented established the fundamental change as diffuse proliferation of fibrous connective tissue which involved the interstitial tissue of the lungs, with subsequent alterations in the pulmonary circulation. Associated pathologic changes consisted of metaplasia of the epithelium of the bronchi and of the pulmonary alveolar lining, the formation of intra-alveolar hyaline membranes, and thickening of the pulmonary arterioles. Since the original description by Hamman and Rich 10 additional instances of this disease have appeared in the
A new bisabolane sesquiterpenoid from Euphorbia chrysocoma

The new sesquiterpenoid (6R)-2-chloro-6-[(1S)-1,5-dimethylhex-4-en-1-yl]-3-methylcyclohex-2-en-1-one (1), together with ten known compounds, (6R)-6-[(1S)-1,5-dimethylhex-4-en-1-yl]-3-methylcyclohex-2-en-1-one (2), bauerenol acetate (3), lupenone (4), α-amyrenone (5), β-sitosterol (6), stigmasterol (7), β-amyrin (8), ursolic acid (9), betulinic acid (10), scopolin (11), have been isolated from the roots of Euphorbia chrysocoma Lévl. et Vant. Their structures have been elucidated by spectroscopic data.
Deep Sequencing Analysis of RNAs from Citrus Plants Grown in a Citrus Sudden Death-Affected Area Reveals Diverse Known and Putative Novel Viruses

Citrus sudden death (CSD) has caused the death of approximately four million orange trees in a very important citrus region in Brazil. Although its etiology is still not completely clear, symptoms and distribution of affected plants indicate a viral disease. In a search for viruses associated with CSD, we have performed a comparative high-throughput sequencing analysis of the transcriptome and small RNAs from CSD-symptomatic and -asymptomatic plants using the Illumina platform. The data revealed mixed infections that included Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) as the most predominant virus, followed by the Citrus sudden death-associated virus (CSDaV), Citrus endogenous pararetrovirus (CitPRV) and two putative novel viruses tentatively named Citrus jingmen-like virus (CJLV), and Citrus virga-like virus (CVLV). The deep sequencing analyses were sensitive enough to differentiate two genotypes of both viruses previously associated with CSD-affected plants: CTV and CSDaV. Our data also showed a putative association of the CSD-symptomatic plants with a specific CSDaV genotype and a likely association with CitPRV as well, whereas the two putative novel viruses showed to be more associated with CSD-asymptomatic plants. This is the first high-throughput sequencing-based study of the viral sequences present in CSD-affected citrus plants, and generated valuable information for further CSD studies.