Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sequence requirements for integration of Moloney murine leukemia virus DNA in vitro

Normal replication of Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV) requires the integration of a DNA copy of the viral RNA genome into a chromosome of the host. In this work, we characterize the DNA sequences at the ends of the linear proviral precursor that are required for integration in the presence of MoMLV integration protein in vitro. We found that nine bases of MoMLV DNA at each end of a linear model substrate were sufficient for near-maximal levels of integration and that four bases of MoMLV DNA at each end were sufficient for low levels of correct integration. We also found that a 3'-terminal A residue was preferred for integration. We infer from the limited DNA sequence requirements for integration that factors in addition to DNA sequence direct integration protein to act at the ends of the viral DNA.
Susceptibility to Trypanosoma cruzi is modified by a previous non‐related infection

Helminth infections are frequently massive, chronic and strong inductors of Th2‐type cytokines. This implies that infection by such parasites could alter the susceptibility to subsequent infections by other pathogens, particularly intracellular parasites. We therefore explored whether a persistent infection, caused by Taenia crassiceps cysticerci, in BALB/c mice could affect susceptibility to a later infection by Trypanosoma cruzi. We found that the presence of the cysticerci indeed modified the immune response and the susceptibility to T. cruzi, and that these modifications depended on the time‐course evolution of the initial infection. Coinfection with the protozoan in the early stages of the helminth infection, induced a delay on the onset of parasitaemia, early specific production of IFN‐γ and high specific production of IL‐4. A significant increase in susceptibility to T. cruzi was observed only when mice were coinfected in late stages when the helminth load is greater and a Th2 type response against it is predominant. The in vitro specific response to T. cruzi antigens was then characterized by low levels of both IFN‐γ and IL‐4. These findings suggest that chronic helminth infections could potentially have a significant influence over the immune response and hence susceptibility to other pathogens.
An update on bronchodilators in Phase I and II clinical trials

Introduction: Inhaled bronchodilators are the mainstay of the current management of COPD at all stages of the disease, and are critical in the symptomatic management of asthma. Therefore, there is still considerable interest in finding novel classes of broncholytic drugs or, at least, in improving the existing classes of bronchodilator. Areas covered: This review paper mainly focuses on bronchodilators that are in Phase I and II clinical trials. Expert opinion: To date, finding new classes of bronchodilators has proved difficult. Consequently, many research groups have sought to improve the existing classes of bronchodytic drugs. The majority of programs in development for novel bronchodilators are focused on developing new ligands that interact with β2-adrenoceptors and/or muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in a manner that enhances their bronchodilator effectiveness and duration of action, which allows only one administration per day, although the twice-daily dosing of bronchodilators is still considered a useful approach to the symptomatic treatment of COPD, and improving their safety profiles. Moreover, the current opinion is that it is advantageous to develop inhalers containing combinations of long-acting bronchodilator drugs in an attempt to simplify treatment regimes as much as possible. Another goal is to develop novel combinations of one or two classes of long-acting bronchodilators along with inhaled corticosteroids.
Restorative justice and non-custodial measures: Panacea to recidivism and prison congestion in Nigeria

A functional justice system is a pointer to economic growth, development and stability. A system which is characterized by problems ranging from but not limited to abuse of court processes, bureaucracy, lack of funds for the judiciary and the police, delay in trial, non-reformation of correctional institutions, congestion of prisons, and recidivism will be abhorrent to social justice, foreign investment and human rights principles, thereby, affecting the economic, infrastructural and human development of the state. The criminal justice system comprising of the police, the judiciary and the correctional agencies provides solutions to these problems and patterns the direction of crime policy in a state. This paper posits that the Nigerian state should provide the necessary framework to complement the traditional utilitarian system of punishment, ‘imprisonment’, and pursue a more victim /offender engagement for prevention of crime, guarantee non-custodial treatment for crime offenders, and consequently forestall recidivism and decongest the prisons. Key words : Restorative justice, Non-custodial measures, Prison congestion, Courts, Recidivism
POPULATION STRUCTURE AT TWO GEOGRAPHIC SCALES IN THE BURROWING CRUSTACEAN CALLICHIRUS ISLAGRANDE (DECAPODA, THALASSINIDEA): HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY BARRIERS TO PLANKTONIC DISPERSAL

Abstract There has been much recent interest in the extent to which marine planktonic larvae connect local populations demographically and genetically. Uncertainties about the true extent of larval dispersal have impeded our understanding of the ecology and evolution of marine species as well as our attempts to effectively manage marine populations. Because direct measurements of larval movements are difficult, genetic markers have often been used for indirect measurements of gene flow among marine populations. Here we examine data from allozymes, mitochondrial DNA sequences, and microsatellite length polymorphisms to assess the extent of gene flow among populations of the burrowing crustacean Callichirus islagrande. All three types of markers revealed a genetic break between populations separated by the Louisiana Chenier Plain. The extent of mitochondrial sequence divergence across this break indicates that the nominal species, C. islagrande, consists of at least two lineages that have been reproductively isolated for about a million years. Within the eastern lineage microsatellite allele frequencies were significantly heterogeneous among populations as little as 10 km apart. Maximum likelihood estimates of gene flow and effective population size based on a coalescent model for the microsatellite data indicated that local populations are nearly closed. A model-based clustering method identified four or five groups from the microsatellite data, although individuals sampled from each location generally consisted of mixtures of these groups. This suggests a mechanism that would lead to genetic differentiation of open populations: gene flow from different source populations that are themselves genetically distinct.
Vitamin Profile of 563 Gravidas during Trimesters of Pregnancy

Objective: Gestation imposes metabolic stress on the mother which heightens as pregnancy progresses. The need for quantifying circulating vitamins is important for identifying pitfalls in metabolic imbalance and nutritional status. For this reason we wanted to analyze blood vitamin concentrations of B12, thiamin, biotin, pantothenate, B6, niacin, riboflavin, folate, vitamins A, C, E and total carotenes to determine if imbalances occur during the trimesters of pregnancy. Methods: We randomly selected 563 gravidas who volunteered for this study from the obstetrical clinic of New Jersey Medical School; 132 were in 1st trimester, 198 were in 2nd trimester, and 233 were in 3rd trimester. All were healthy, taking a good diet and supplemented with vitamins. Blood, from an antecubital vein, was analyzed for thiamin, biotin, B12, B6, pantothenate, riboflavin, nicotinate, folates, vitamins A, E, C and total carotenes. Gravidas were classified as being normovitaminemic, hypervitaminemic or hypovitaminemic compared with blood vitamins seen in healthy non-pregnant, non-vitamin supplemented women. Result: Hypervitaminemic levels of folate, biotin, pantothenate and riboflavin were found during any trimester of pregnancy due to vitamin supplementation. Despite the vitamin supplementation, a high percent of vitamin A, B6, niacin, thiamin and B12 hypovitaminemia was noted during pregnancy trimesters. An especially high percentage of niacin deficiency was seen during the 1st trimester; it worsened in later trimesters; B12 deficits increased during the late trimesters. Combination deficits of niacin, thiamin, vitamins A, B6, B12 were noted in each of the trimesters. Conclusions: Despite vitamin supplementation, a vitamin profile of pregnancy indicates that vitamin deficits exist during the trimesters. Also, combination hypovitaminemias of deficient vitamins were noted; this indicates that a vitamin deficit during pregnancy does not occur in isolation.
University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) academic department chairs' self-perceived utilization of Bolman and Deal's four-frame theoretical model

This study examined the Bolman and Deal leadership orientation preferred by academic department chairs (ADCs) of Educational Leadership or Administration programs at member colleges and universities of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). A secondary purpose of the study was to examine how the preferred frame of the chairs varied according to the ADC’s gender, age, racial/ethnic identification, and years of experience in their current chair position. Data were collected from 48 ADCs of 74 UCEA public and private member institutions using the Leadership Orientations Survey; a questionnaire that measures leadership behaviors, style, and the overall effectiveness of the respondent as a leader and as a manager. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. This study found: (a) the Human Resource Frame is the preferred leadership orientation among ADCs; (b) the second preference is the Structural Frame, the Symbolic Frame was the third preferred orientation, and the least preferred frame was the Political Frame, and (c) there were no statistically significant differences in preferred frames based on personal and professional variables. An additional finding was that all ADCs in this study saw themselves equally balanced as a faculty member and administrator or they perceived themselves as more of an administrator than a faculty member.
Suppression of Osteoblast Function by Titanium Particles*†

In order to understand the effect of particulate debris on osteoblast function, we studied the effect of different particles, including titanium and polystyrene, on bone collagen mRNA (messenger RNA) with the use of Northern blot hybridization analysis, and we studied the effect of the particles on the biosynthesis of bone collagen with analysis of 3H-proline incorporation and with the Western blot technique. The steady-state levels of mRNA for procollagens &agr;1(I) and &agr;1(III) were markedly suppressed in human MG-63 osteoblast-like cells exposed to phagocytosable titanium particles that were smaller than three micrometers. Both titanium and polystyrene particles smaller than three micrometers suppressed the expression of the gene that codes for collagen, and the suppression of the expression of the gene was related to the size but not to the composition of the particles. The biosynthesis of both type-I and type-III collagen also was decreased in cells that had been treated with titanium particles. Neither the viability nor the proliferation of cells was affected by particulate debris. These data indicate that phagocytosable titanium particles can significantly suppress the expression of the gene that codes for collagen in osteoblast-like cells (p < 0.05).
Firms’ experience of SME-friendly policy and their participation and success in public procurement

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to test the relationship between firms’ experience of SME-friendly policy and their participation and success in public procurement. Methodology – Hypothesised relationships between SME-friendly policy and three outcome variables - frequency of tendering, success rate in public contract competitions, and commercial orientation towards the public sector - are tested using survey data from 2755 SME respondents. Findings – SME-friendly policy is found to be significant in explaining success rates and commercial orientation towards the public sector marketplace. It is not significant in explaining frequency of tendering. Originality – This study puts forward and tests an original model of SME-friendly procurement policy and its associated outcomes for firms. It develops a comprehensive 16-item instrument to measure SME-friendly procurement policy. It uses SMEs as research informants instead of public buyers. Limitations – The context for the study is Ireland. However, given institutional similarities in national public procurement regimes, particularly among EU Member States, the findings have relevance beyond the Irish context. The research design is cross-sectional and so does not allow for any causal claims to be made.
Case‐controlled review of Clostridium difficile‐associated diarrhoea in Southern Tasmania

Aim: While the incidence of Clostridium difficile‐associated diarrhoea (CDAD) has increased sharply over the last 15 years, its risk factors are still not well defined. The aim of this study was to review cases of CDAD at the major teaching hospital in Tasmania, Australia, to identify risk factors for CDAD and their association with prognosis.
MicroRNA-432 functions as a tumor suppressor gene through targeting E2F3 and AXL in lung adenocarcinoma

Abnormal proliferation and drug resistance are the hallmarks of lung adenocarcinoma (LAD). Dispite the advances in diagnosis and therapy, the 5-year survival remains low. Increasing studies regarding its pathological mechanism have been focused on microRNA (miRNA) due to its nodal regulatory properties. This study aims to characterize the expression of miR-432 in LAD and investigate its effects on the proliferation and sensitivity of lung cancer cells to cisplatin. Here, we report that downregulation of miR-432 in LAD tissues was correlated with a higher clinical stage (p = 0.03) and poor prognosis (p = 0.036). Additionally, miR-432 expression was negative correlated with high Ki67 labeling index (p = 0.016) in our cohorts. Functionally, over-expression of miR-432 inhibits cell proliferation through arresting cell cycle and sensitizes tumor cells to cisplatin. Mechanistically, miR-432 functions by directly targeting E2F3 and AXL, and they, in turn, mediate the regulation of miR-432 towards cell proliferation and cisplatin sensitivity. Importantly, miR-432 levels are negatively correlated with the levels of E2F3 and AXL in human LAD tissues. These results demonstrated that miR-432 functions as a tumor-suppressive miRNA and may represent a prognostic parameter and therapeutic target for LAD.
Circadian temperature rhythms in rabbit pups and in their does

Circadian rhythms of mammals are generated endogenously, the master oscillator system residing in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN). Previous experiments have indicated that the rabbit has a feeding entrainable circadian oscillator (FEO) which is supposed to be of greatest importance during the early infancy of the rabbit. Here we report the course of telemetrically monitored core body temperature of rabbit pups and of their does. Temperature increased from 37.6 ± 0.3 °C on day 2 to 39.5 ± 0.1 °C on day 28 of life. The pups showed a 24 h temperature rhythm even during their first days of life. Temperature increased 2½-3 h prior to nursing for 0.4-0.8 °C and rose for an additional 0.4-0.6 °C immediately after milk ingestion. The anticipatory, but not the postprandial component persisted when nursing was skipped twice. The persistence of a rhythm in the absence of any entraining agent is crucial for its endogenous generation. In the doe, the core body temperature gradually decreased during the last 2/3 of pregnancy. During parturition it steeply rose for 1.5-1.7 °C and attained a plateau of 39.7 ± 0.2 °C during lactation. The circadian rhythm persisted during the whole course of pregnancy and lactation. Thus, in the rabbit an endogenous, feeding entrainable circadian oscillator appears to operate from the first days of life. It is of functional significance in that it alerts the pup in time so that it is able to utilize the singular short presence of the doe for maximal milk intake.
Simultaneous cerebrovascular and cardiovascular responses during presyncope.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Presyncope, characterized by symptoms and signs indicative of imminent syncope, can be aborted in many situations before loss of consciousness occurs. The plasticity of cerebral autoregulation in healthy humans and its behavior during this syncopal prodrome are unclear, although systemic hemodynamic instability has been suggested as a key factor in the precipitation of syncope. Using lower body negative pressure (LBNP) to simulate central hypovolemia, we previously observed falling mean flow velocities (MFVs) with maintained mean arterial blood pressure (MABP). These findings, and recent reports suggesting increased vascular tone within the cerebral vasculature at presyncope, cannot be explained by the classic static cerebral autoregulation curve; neither can they be totally explained by a recent suggestion of a rightward shift in this curve. METHODS Four male and five female healthy volunteers were exposed to presyncopal LBNP to evaluate their cerebrovascular and cardiovascular responses by use of continuous acquisition of MFV from the right middle cerebral artery with transcranial Doppler sonography, MABP (Finapres), and heart rate (ECG). RESULTS At presyncope, MFV dropped on average by 27.3 +/- 14% of its baseline value (P < .05), while MABP remained at 2.0 +/- 27% above its baseline level. Estimated cerebrovascular resistance increased during LBNP. The percentage change from baseline to presyncope in MFV and MABP revealed consistent decreases in MFV before MABP. CONCLUSIONS Increased estimated cerebrovascular resistance, falling MFV, and constant MABP are evidence of an increase in cerebral vascular tone with falling flow, suggesting a downward shift in the cerebral autoregulation curve. Cerebral vessels may have a differential sensitivity to sympathetic drive or more than one type of sympathetic innervation. Future work to induce dynamic changes in MABP during LBNP may help in assessing the plasticity of the cerebral autoregulation mechanism.
ARE HOUSING PRICE CYCLES ASYMMETRIC? EVIDENCE FROM THE US STATES AND METROPOLITAN AREAS

This paper investigates asymmetry in US housing price cycles at the state and metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level, using the Triples test (Randles, Flinger, Policello, & Wolfe, 1980) and the Entropy test of Racine and Maasoumi (2007). Several reasons may account for asymmetry in housing prices, including non-linearity in their determinants and in behavioural responses, in particular linked to equity constraints and loss aversion. However, few studies have formally tested the symmetry of housing price cycles. We find that housing prices are asymmetric in the vast majority of cases. Taking into account the results of the two tests, deepness asymmetry, which represents differences in the magnitude of upswings and downturns, is found in 39 out of the 51 states (including the District of Columbia) and 238 out of the 381 MSAs. Steepness asymmetry, which measures differences in the speed of price changes during upswings and downturns, is found in 40 states and 257 MSAs. These results imply that linear models are in most cases insufficient to capture housing price dynamics.
A Hybrid Time-Frequency Domain Equalizer for Single Carrier Broadband MIMO Systems

Single carrier frequency domain equalization (SC-FDE) has recently been receiving much attention as an attractive technology for broadband wireless communications for its advantages such as low peak-to-average ratio and reduced sensitivity to carrier frequency offsets, when compared to orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. In this paper, we investigate its combination with multi-input multi-output (MIMO) technology and propose a novel hybrid time-frequency domain equalizer, FDE-NP, which consists of a feedforward frequency domain equalizer and an array of time domain noise predictors (NPs). It is shown that the proposed scheme has lower complexity and achieves better performance and complexity trade-off than the conventional FDE designs. To evaluate the system performance, we will propose an accurate theoretical analysis based on the modified Chernoff bound and show that it is not only applicable to the proposed FDE-NP scheme, but also to general MIMO systems with equalization. By using the developed modified Chernoff bound and along with the simulation results, we will show that the proposed FDE-NP scheme can achieve significant performance improvement over the conventional FDE MIMO schemes.
Thiotepa-based high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem-cell rescue in patients with recurrent or progressive CNS germ cell tumors.

PURPOSE To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) followed by autologous stem-cell rescue (ASCR) in patients with relapsed or progressive CNS germ cell tumors (GCTs). PATIENTS AND METHODS Twenty-one patients with CNS GCTs who experienced relapse or progression despite having received initial chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy were treated with thiotepa-based HDC regimens followed by ASCR. RESULTS Estimated overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) rates for the entire group 4 years after HDC were 57% +/- 12% and 52% +/- 14%, respectively. Seven of nine (78%) patients with germinoma survived disease-free after HDC with a median survival of 48 months. One patient died as a result of progressive disease (PD) 39 months after HDC, and another died as a result of pulmonary fibrosis unrelated to HDC 78 months after ASCR without assessable disease. However, only four of 12 patients (33%) with nongerminomatous germ cell tumors (NGGCTs) survived without evidence of disease, with a median survival of 35 months. Eight patients with NGGCTs died as a result of PD, with a median survival of 4 months after HDC (range, 2 to 17 months). Patients with germinoma fared better than those with NGGCTs (P =.016 and.014 for OS and EFS, respectively). Patients with complete response to HDC also had significantly better outcome (P <.001 for OS and EFS) compared with patients with only a partial response or stable disease. There were no toxic deaths because of HDC. CONCLUSION Dose escalation of chemotherapy followed by ASCR is effective therapy for patients with recurrent CNS germinomas and might be effective in patients with recurrent NGGCTs with a low tumor burden.