Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence for an endogenous per1‐ and ICER‐independent seasonal timer in the hamster pituitary gland

Most mammals use changing annual day‐length cycles to regulate pineal melatonin secretion and thereby drive many physiological rhythms including reproduction, metabolism, immune function, and pelage. Prolonged exposure to short winter day lengths results in refractoriness, a spontaneous reversion to long‐day physiological status. Despite its critical role in the timing of seasonal rhythms, refractoriness remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was therefore to describe cellular and molecular mechanisms driving the seasonal secretion of a key hormone, prolactin, in refractory Syrian hamsters. We used recently developed single cell hybridization and reporter assays to show that this process is initiated by timed reactivation of endocrine signaling from the pars tuberalis (PT) region of the pituitary gland, a well‐defined melatonin target site, causing renewed activation of prolactin gene expression. This timed signaling is independent of per1 clock gene expression in the suprachiasmatic nuclei and PT and of melatonin secretion, which continue to track day length. Within the PT, there is also a continued short day‐like profile of ICER expression, suggesting that the change in hormone secretion is independent of cAMP signaling. Our data thus identify the PT as a key anatomical structure involved in endogenous seasonal timing mechanisms, which breaks from prevailing day length‐induced gene expression. —Johnston, J. D. , Cagampang, F. R. A. , Stirland, J. A. , Carr, A. ‐J. F. , White, M. R. H. , Davis, J. R. E. , Loudon, A. S. I. FASEB J. 17, 810–815 (2003)
How do patients define "good" and "bad" doctors?

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY Knowledge of hospital patients' perceptions of doctors' qualities is limited. The purpose of this study was to explore hospital patients' definitions of "good" and "bad" doctors. METHODS Semi-structured interviews conducted with 68 consecutive hospital patients. The questions explored the characteristics of good/bad doctors. Responses were subjected to content analysis. RESULTS The patients' mean age was 72.7 (+/- 15) years; 61% were female. Content analysis produced 9 categories connoted positively/negatively; the mean number of categories/patient response was 2.4 (+/- 1.3), ranging from 1-6. Sensitivity/insensitivity to feelings were in the forefront, together with the importance of the relational dimension and the need to provide treatment tailored to the patient's needs. Patients' responses emphasised "bad" doctors' use of medicine as self-serving and not serving the patient. CONCLUSION This qualitative enquiry made it possible to gather information on the patients' expectations or beliefs outside physicians' or health researchers' pre-established categories. It emphasised that acknowledging possible areas of uncertainty may be less threatening for the doctor's image than exhibiting scientific proficiency unadapted to the patient's expectations and needs.
Rent assistance and health: findings from Detroit

Abstract This study assesses the relationship between rent assistance and health in a longitudinal, population-representative sample collected in the Detroit metro area. Previous research has found that rent assistance recipients are less healthy than otherwise similar non-recipients in the cross-section, but the evidence about the effects of rent assistance on health in the long run is ambiguous. Our study uses panel survey data to compare the health of recipients and eligible non-recipients at the study’s onset and four years later at follow-up with respect to an extensive set of physical, mental and behavioural health outcomes. Our results demonstrate that rent assistance recipients are in worse overall health than non-recipients, but also provide suggestive evidence that the programme may buffer health declines in the medium term. However, the positive buffering effects may be erased in the long run, as we simultaneously observed an increase in smoking among rent assistance recipients. Our study shows that the current shortage of rent assistance may have implications for population health.
Decreased beta-amyloid1-42 in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

OBJECTIVES Decreased levels of Abeta1-42 are found in CSF of patients with AD. Because early stages of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and AD share several clinical features, we investigated Abeta1-42 levels in CSF of these groups, inferring that this might give additional help in differentiating patients with CJD from AD patients. METHODS We investigated 27 patients with CJD, 14 patients with AD, 19 patients with other dementias, and 20 nondemented controls (NDC) for Abeta1-42 in CSF. Twenty-four of the 27 CJD patients were neuropathologically verified. All the neuropathologically verified patients presented with a type 1 prion protein pattern. CJD patients were all homozygous for methionine at codon 129. Except in five CJD patients, no beta-amyloid plaques were seen. Additionally, APOE status was determined in patients with CJD. RESULTS Levels of Abeta1-42 in CSF were decreased in patients with AD as well as in CJD. Levels of Abeta1-42 in CSF of patients with CJD and AD were significantly different from the other dementia and NDC groups. There was no substantial difference between the CJD and AD groups (p = 0.66). Decreased levels of Abeta1-42 did not correlate with the APOE epsilon4 load in patients with CJD. CONCLUSION Low levels of Abeta1-42 in CSF do not exclude a diagnosis of CJD. Decreased levels of Abeta1-42 in CSF can occur without beta-amyloid plaque formation in the brain. However, the underlying mechanism of this phenomenon must be elucidated.
Molecular Pathogenesis of Genetic and Inherited Diseases Using siRNA Technique to Generate Transgenic Animals with Spatiotemporal and Conditional Gene Knockdown

Based on the RNAi technique, we have developed a new approach that generates transgenic animals capable of mimicking human genetic diseases. The new system is a combination of siRNA with Cre-loxP and tetracycline-on. It has the characteristics of being stable, inheritable, and inducible, with the siRNA able to be transcribed tissue specifically. To support the ability of this new method to generate a model for a disease, we created an ABCA1-deficient mouse line that mimics Tangier disease under controlled conditions. Thus, it should now be possible to rapidly establish human genetic diseases as a whole animal model without the use of embryonic stem cell and gene targeting. This system also provides a tool for pathological and pharmacological studies of aspects peculiar to particular human genetic diseases. (Am J Pathol 2004, 165:1535–1541)
Value Capture in Hierarchically Organized Value Chains

We study how the structure of negotiations in a value chain affects the distribution of value among its members. To this end, we generalize the Shapley value and the core to hierarchical bargaining situations. While the core yields no concrete predictions, the Shapley value analysis suggests that positions most conducive to value capture are those that allow to realize large complementarity gains. If the game exhibits “supercomplementarity,” then it is advantageous if a firm's negotiation partners are grouped into clusters. Using examples from the aircraft and white goods industries, we assess whether the firms’ actions are consistent with model predictions.
Living outside the Financial Mainstream: Alternative Financial Service Use among People with Disabilities

ABSTRACT This study explored factors related to the use of alternative financial services (i.e., payday loans, prepaid debit cards, pawn shops, auto title lenders, and rent-to-own stores) among a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (N1 = 27,564), and a sub-sample of people with disabilities (PWDs) (N2 = 1,232). Using secondary data from the Financial Industry Regulation Authority’s 2015 National Financial Capabilities Study (NFCS), two separate logistic regression models revealed several significant individual and institutional level factors that predicted alternative financial service use among both samples. The full-sample model was found to be significant, χ2(10) = 3,917.22, p < . 001, as was the sub-sample model, χ2(10) = 193.43, p < . 001. Additionally, it was found that PWDs were twice as likely to use alterative financial services than people without disabilities. Further research is recommended to empirically explore the consequences of alternative financial service use among PWDs. Implications of this study are targeted toward social work researchers, policy makers, and human service practitioners.
‘Could I be imagining this?’ – the dialectic struggles of people with persistent unexplained back pain

Purpose. To explore how patients with persistent unexplained pain interpret and utilise the biopsychosocial model. This might have an impact on the outcome from treatment programmes that adopts a biopsychosocial approach. Method. We conducted three interviews with 20 patients attending a pain management programme for persistent unexplained back pain; prior to attending the course, immediately following the course and at 1 year. We used the methods of grounded theory. Results. Patients battled through several dialectic tensions in an attempt to legitimise their pain: First, patients wanted a medical diagnosis but also recognised that psychosocial factors contributed to their pain. Second, although the outward appearance of pain was important to legitimacy, it was also important not to appear ‘too ill’. Third, meeting others with unexplained pain reinforced credibility, but patients also described how they were not ‘like the others’. Finally, although holding on to one's self was important, patients also described an acceptance of loss. Conclusions. These dialectic tensions are likely to have an impact on a person's decision to embrace the biopsychosocial model, and might therefore effect their outcome. Health care professionals should be sensitive to the cultural ambiguity of patients with persistent unexplained pain.
Towards Low-loss 1-bit Quantization of User-item Representations for Top-K Recommendation

Due to the promising advantages in space compression and inference acceleration, quantized representation learning for recommender systems has become an emerging research direction recently. As the target is to embed latent features in the discrete embedding space, developing quantization for user-item representations with a few low-precision integers confronts the challenge of high information loss, thus leading to unsatisfactory performance in Top-K recommendation. In this work, we study the problem of representation learning for recommendation with 1-bit quantization. We propose a model named Low-loss Quantized Graph Convolutional Network (L^2Q-GCN). Different from previous work that plugs quantization as the final encoder of user-item embeddings, L^2Q-GCN learns the quantized representations whilst capturing the structural information of user-item interaction graphs at different semantic levels. This achieves the substantial retention of intermediate interactive information, alleviating the feature smoothing issue for ranking caused by numerical quantization. To further improve the model performance, we also present an advanced solution named L^2Q-GCN-anl with quantization approximation and annealing training strategy. We conduct extensive experiments on four benchmarks over Top-K recommendation task. The experimental results show that, with nearly 9x representation storage compression, L^2Q-GCN-anl attains about 90~99% performance recovery compared to the state-of-the-art model.
Then suddenly he went right off the rails: Mothers’ stories of adolescent cannabis use

Abstract Adolescent drug use provides challenges for parents, health professionals and the wider community. Of those adolescents who use drugs, cannabis is often the drug of choice. A number of adolescents will develop problems associated with cannabis use, and the burden of managing these problems will fall on the family, particularly the mother. This paper explores adolescent cannabis use from the perspective of mothers of affected young people. Twelve women took part in conversational style audio-taped interviews. Stories were extracted from the resulting narratives and were analysed guided by the work of Anderson and Jack (1991). Detailed findings are grouped under the themes: First awareness: ‘I couldn’t deny it was happening’; Constant vigilance: ‘I watched his every move’; Cannabis and family life: ‘I’d start to shake when he walked into the house’; Disrupted lives: ‘I was terrified he’d go to prison’; Shifting aspirations: ‘just staying alive’; and, Maintaining a loving relationship: ‘always told him I loved him’. Implications for nursing practice are drawn from the findings.
Inequality in an Equal Society

A society in which everybody is the same at the same stage of the life-cycle will exhibit substantial income and wealth inequality. We use this idea to empirically quantify natural inequality – the share of observed inequality attributable to life-cycle profiles of income and wealth. We document that recent increases in inequality in the United States and other developed countries are both larger than observed rates would suggest, and represent a distinct change from the period 1960-1980. Extrapolating our measures forward suggests that natural inequalities will fluctuate over the next 20 years before settling to a new higher level.
In Vitro and In Vivo Activities of Aminoadamantane and Aminoalkylcyclohexane Derivatives against Trypanosoma brucei

ABSTRACT We reported recently that the bloodstream form of the African trypanosome, Trypanosoma brucei, is sensitive to the anti-influenza virus drug rimantadine. In the present report we describe the trypanocidal properties of a further 62 aminoadamantane and aminoalkylcyclohexane derivatives. Seventeen of the compounds were found to be more active than rimantadine, with four inhibiting growth in vitro of T. brucei by >90% at concentrations of 1 μM. The most active derivative (1-adamantyl-4-amino-cyclohexane) was about 20 to 25 times more effective than rimantadine. We observed a correlation between structural features of the derivatives and their trypanocidal properties; hydrophobic substitutions to the adamantane or cyclohexane rings generally enhanced activity. As with rimantadine, the activity in vitro varied with the pH. T. brucei was more sensitive in an alkaline environment (including a normal bloodstream pH of 7.4) and less sensitive under acidic conditions. Tests for activity in vivo were carried out with a mouse model of infection with a virulent strain of T. brucei. Although the parasitemia was not eliminated, it could be transiently suppressed by >98% with the most active compounds tested. These results suggest that aminoadamantane derivatives could have potential as a new class of trypanocidal agents.
Co-payments in long-term home care: do they affect the use of care?

We study the effect of a policy change in co-payments on the use of long-term home care in The Netherlands. The change increased co-payments for persons with considerable household financial assets. For identification we apply a difference-in-difference analysis with matched treatment and control groups. We find a significant effect at the extensive margin: persons affected by the policy change are less likely to take up care. The magnitude of the response increases over time, corresponding with an average annual price elasticity of demand of -0.14 and a price elasticity of -0.26 for episodes of care one year after the change. We do not find a significant effect at the intensive margin: persons who take up care do not use less hours of care.
Approaches to Innovation and Transformation in Library and Information Science Education (Lise) in Nigeria

This paper discusses the concepts of innovation and transformation in relation to Library and Information Science Education (LISE). It also presents an overview of the history and current status of LISE in Nigeria. Different approaches to be adopted by LIS schools to ensure innovations and transformation in the training of information professionals are discussed. The paper reveals some challenges associated with LISE in Nigeria. These include lack of autonomy, lack of collaboration among LIS schools and other relevant departments. Others are inadequate and incompetent LIS teachers, and differences in LIS programme structure. It is advocated that the philosophy, goals and objectives of the programme; curriculum adopted and adapted; teaching methodology, state of infrastructural facilities are the cardinal points driving innovation and transformation in the profession. In conclusion, the paper notes that LIS schools in Nigeria and everywhere need to adopt relevant innovation and transformation approaches to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and competences needed to function effectively in any information environment. This paper recommends among others, the standardization of LIS curriculum, provision of technology-driven facilities, training and re-training of LIS teachers.
Autocrine amplification of integrin αIIbβ3 activation and platelet adhesive responses by deoxyribose-1-phosphate

Summary Using direct injection mass spectrometry (DIMS) we discovered that deoxyribose-1-phosphate (dRP) is released by platelets upon activation. Interestingly, the addition of exogenous dRP to human platelets significantly increased platelet aggregation and integrin αIIbβ3 activation in response to thrombin. In parallel, genetically modified platelets with double genetic deletion of thymidine phosphorylase and uridine phosphorylase were characterised by reduced release of dRP, impaired aggregation and decreased integrin αIIbβ3 activation in response to thrombin. In vitro platelet adhesion onto fibrinogen and collagen under physiological flow conditions was potentiated by treatment of human platelets with exogenous dRP and impaired in transgenic platelets with reduced dRP release. Human and mouse platelets responded to dRP treatment with a sizeable increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and the pre-treament with the antioxidant apocynin abolished the effect of dRP on aggregation and integrin activation. Experiments directly assessing the activation of the small G protein Rap1b and protein kinase C suggested that dRP increases the basal levels of activity of these two pivotal platelet-activating pathways in a redox-dependent manner. Taken together, we present evidence that dRP is a novel autocrine amplifier of platelet activity, which acts on platelet redox levels and modulates integrin αIIbβ3.
Nitrososphaera viennensis, an ammonia oxidizing archaeon from soil

Genes of archaea encoding homologues of ammonia monooxygenases have been found on a widespread basis and in large amounts in almost all terrestrial and marine environments, indicating that ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) might play a major role in nitrification on Earth. However, only one pure isolate of this group from a marine environment has so far been obtained, demonstrating archaeal ammonia oxidation coupled with autotrophic growth similar to the bacterial counterparts. Here we describe the cultivation and isolation of an AOA from soil. It grows on ammonia or urea as an energy source and is capable of using higher ammonia concentrations than the marine isolate, Nitrosopumilus maritimus. Surprisingly, although it is able to grow chemolithoautotrophically, considerable growth rates of this strain are obtained only upon addition of low amounts of pyruvate or when grown in coculture with bacteria. Our findings expand the recognized metabolic spectrum of AOA and help explain controversial results obtained in the past on the activity and carbon assimilation of these globally distributed organisms.
Overview of lupus nephritis management guidelines and perspective from Asia

Lupus nephritis (LN) is a common and important manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Evidence suggests higher rates of lupus renal involvement in Asian populations, and maybe more severe nephritis, compared with other racial or ethnic groups. The management of LN has evolved considerably over the past three decades, based on observations from clinical studies that investigated different immunosuppressive agents including corticosteroids, cyclophosphamide, azathioprine, mycophenolic acid, calcineurin inhibitors and novel biologic therapies. This is accompanied by improvements in both the short‐term treatment response rate and long‐term renal function preservation. Treatment guidelines for LN have recently been issued by rheumatology and nephrology communities in U.S.A. and Europe. In view of the racial difference in disease manifestation and response to therapy, and the substantial disease burden in Asia, a panel of 15 nephrologists and rheumatologists from different Asian regions with extensive experience in lupus nephritis – the Steering Group for the Asian Lupus Nephritis Network (ALNN) – met and discussed the management of lupus nephritis in Asian patients. The group has also reviewed and deliberated on the recently published recommendations from other parts of the world. This manuscript summarizes the discussions by the group and presents consensus views on the clinical management and treatment of adult Asian patients with LN, taking into account both the available evidence and expert opinion in areas where evidence remains to be sought.
Optimal Pricing with Sequential Consumption in Networks

In this paper, we consider a model with a monopoly firm who sells social goods sequentially to a group of customers in a network. We show that, with symmetric social interactions, the optimal pricing under arbitrary launch sequence is independent of customers' network positions, the launch sequence, and the underlying social interaction relations among customers. This generalizes the previous network-independent prices in the simultaneous-launch case. Therefore, for any given sequence, the firm can obtain a higher profit by offering sequentially to some groups of simultaneous-move customers. As a consequence, the optimal sequence turns out to be a chain structure. Moreover, we establish the pecking order by which the firm shall approach customers following the sequence of descending valuation-cost margins, and with homogeneous margins any chain attains the optimal revenue. The sequence independence of the optimal pricing does not hold when either the social interaction is asymmetric or the firm is restricted to use uniform pricing. Nevertheless, the profit optimality of the chain structure extends to both variants of the basic model.