Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fish oil increases raft size and membrane order of B cells accompanied by differential effects on function[S]

Fish oil (FO) targets lipid microdomain organization to suppress T-cell and macrophage function; however, little is known about this relationship with B cells, especially at the animal level. We previously established that a high FO dose diminished mouse B-cell lipid raft microdomain clustering induced by cross-linking GM1. To establish relevance, here we tested a FO dose modeling human intake on B-cell raft organization relative to a control. Biochemical analysis revealed more docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) incorporated into phosphatidylcholines than phosphatidylethanolamines of detergent-resistant membranes, consistent with supporting studies with model membranes. Subsequent imaging experiments demonstrated that FO increased raft size, GM1 expression, and membrane order upon cross-linking GM1 relative to no cross-linking. Comparative in vitro studies showed some biochemical differences from in vivo measurements but overall revealed that DHA, but not eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), increased membrane order. Finally, we tested the hypothesis that disrupting rafts with FO would suppress B-cell responses ex vivo. FO enhanced LPS-induced B-cell activation but suppressed B-cell stimulation of transgenic naive CD4+ T cells. Altogether, our studies with B cells support an emerging model that FO increases raft size and membrane order accompanied by functional changes; furthermore, the results highlight differences in EPA and DHA bioactivity.
Digital natives: Everyday life versus academic study

Access to and use of technology by ‘digital native’ students studying in our universities has been an area of much speculation, though relatively little empirical research. This has led some pundits to call for a radical rethink of how higher education uses technology to deliver education. Others are more circumspect and think it is necessary to hear directly from these ‘digital natives’ about their actual technology practices before jumping to such conclusions. This paper reports on a study that aimed to do just that; the study comprised a survey of the technology access and practices in both everyday life and for academic study of first year university students. The findings suggest that, for the participants of this study, access and usage of technology does not neatly fit into the stereotype of the ‘digital native’. Access to and use of some technologies was found to be quite high whilst others have significant levels of non-adoption. A comparison was made between technologies and activities undertaken as part of students’ everyday life in contrast to their academic study and it was found that the usage rates were generally lower for academic study. Access to and use of different technologies for different purposes is variable and university teachers and policymakers need to take this variability into account when making changes at the course or institution levels. What is also required is more in-depth investigation of the technology practices of these ‘digital natives’ to understand how technology is transforming their social and academic lives and, importantly, how they are shaping technology to suit their lives.
A demographic snapshot of midwives in Victoria

Midwifery in Victoria has experienced significant change over the last twenty years. Over more recent years, midwifery workforce issues have become prominent with studies highlighting an ageing midwifery population and a high proportion of part time employment. During a study conducted in 2005 that explored midwives’ attitudes to online and computer based learning the demographic data proved to warrant more detailed analysis. This paper presents a discussion on that data. Participants for the study were drawn from the membership of the Australian College of Midwives (ACM)Victorian branch. However, while the sample was small (n=169), the findings presented in the paper add to the existing body of knowledge around the midwifery workforce in Victoria. They reinforce that the midwifery workforce remained an ageing one, predominantly female, and a significant percentage were employed on part time or casual bases. With graduates emerging from recently introduced undergraduate midwifery programs, it is argued that it is timely for larger studies of the midwifery workforce to be conducted. Studies should seek to explore a range of factors such as reasons why midwives are choosing not to work in full time employment.
Influence of Protein Synthesis on NO(3) Reduction, NH(4) Accumulation, and Amide Synthesis in Suspension Cultures of Paul's Scarlet Rose.

Changes in the concentrations of NH(4) (+) and amides during the growth of suspension cultures of rose (Rosa cv. Paul's Scarlet) cells were examined. When cells were grown in medium possessing only NO(3) (-) as a nitrogen source, the concentrations of NH(4) (+) and amides increased to 4.0 x 10(-1) and 5.9 micromoles per gram fresh weight, respectively. The amounts of both constituents declined during the later stages of growth. When a trace amount of NH(4) (+) was added to the NO(3) (-) base starting medium, the concentration of NH(4) (+) in the cells was increased to 7.0 x 10(-1) micromoles per gram fresh weight.A comparison between the concentration of NH(4) (+) in the cells (4.3 x 10(-4) molar) with the K(m) values for glutamate dehydrogenase (5 x 10(-3) molar) and glutamine synthetase (1.7 x 10(-5) molar) showed that the endogenous NH(4) (+) would have to be concentrated 10-fold in compartments possessing glutamate dehydrogenase in order for the substrate to reach one-half the saturation level for that enzyme.The influence of protein synthesis on the level of NH(4) (+) and amides was examined by blocking protein synthesis with cycloheximide or puromycin and measuring changes in NH(4) (+) and amide concentration over the subsequent 4 hours. The level of both NH(4) (+) and amides showed substantial increases when protein synthesis was blocked. Ammonium accumulated to concentrations surpassing those reported by other authors to be toxic to plants. The reduction of NO(3) (-) did not appear to be influenced by the blockage of protein synthesis.
Analysis of the Regulated Transcriptome of Neisseria meningitidis in Human Blood Using a Tiling Array

ABSTRACT Neisseria meningitidis is the major cause of septicemia and meningococcal meningitis. During the course of infection, the bacterium must adapt to different host environments as a crucial factor for survival and dissemination; in particular, one of the crucial factors in N. meningitidis pathogenesis is the ability to grow and survive in human blood. We recently showed that N. meningitidis alters the expression of 30% of the open reading frames (ORFs) of the genome during incubation in human whole blood and suggested the presence of fine regulation at the gene expression level in order to control this step of pathogenesis. In this work, we used a customized tiling oligonucleotide microarray to define the changes in the whole transcriptional profile of N. meningitidis in a time course experiment of ex vivo bacteremia by incubating bacteria in human whole blood and then recovering RNA at different time points. The application of a newly developed bioinformatic tool to the tiling array data set allowed the identification of new transcripts—small intergenic RNAs, cis-encoded antisense RNAs, mRNAs with extended 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions (UTRs), and operons—differentially expressed in human blood. Here, we report a panel of expressed small RNAs, some of which can potentially regulate genes involved in bacterial metabolism, and we show, for the first time in N. meningitidis, extensive antisense transcription activity. This analysis suggests the presence of a circuit of regulatory RNA elements used by N. meningitidis to adapt to proliferate in human blood that is worthy of further investigation.
Adaptive estimation and identification for discrete systems with Markov jump parameters

Linear discrete-time stochastic dynamical systems with parameters which may switch among a finite set of values are considered. The switchings are modeled by a finite state ergodic Markov chain whose transition probability matrix is unknown and is assumed to belong to a compact set. A novel scheme, called truncated maximum likelihood estimation, is proposed for consistent estimation of the transition probabilities given noisy observations of the system output variables. Conditions for strong consistency are investigated assuming that the measurements are taken after the system has achieved a statistical steady state. The case when the true transition matrix does not belong to the unknown transition matrix set is also considered. The truncated maximum likelihood procedure is computationally feasible, whereas the standard maximum likelihood procedure is not, given large observation records. Finally, using the truncated ML algorithm, a suboptimal adaptive state estimator is proposed and its asymptotic behavior is analyzed.
Improvements in Outcomes and Disparities of ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Care: The Miami-Dade County ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Network Project.

The strategy of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has led to major outcome improvements in this patient population, and within this strategy, early reperfusion remains a critical component for improved survival. Although outcomes after percutaneous revascularization have improved, disparities in cardiovascular care remain an important challenge, particularly in large metropolitan areas in the United States. The Miami-Dade County STEMI Network is an Emergency Medical Services (EMS)–led program established in 2007 with the goal to improve quality of care for patients with STEMI by reducing time from 911 contact to reperfusion. South Florida has a unique patient population with diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, highest proportion of older adults as compared with other states, and with women outnumbering men at older ages.1 A probability-sampled, household-based survey in Miami-Dade County found that non-Hispanic whites constitute only 9.4% of the population with the majority being blacks, Hispanic, or Haitian blacks (non-English speaking ≈37.8%). 1 In this population, 53% of the residents had high school equivalent (or less) degree as formal education, and 34.5% were below the US poverty threshold.1 Furthermore, one quarter of all households had at least 1 member who was uninsured at some point, and 3 of 5 households had at least 1 member who used Medicare for coverage. Although potentially significant component of disparities is related to patients’ clinical characteristics and socioeconomic factors, these vulnerable groups are at increased risk for suboptimal care, particularly for patients with cardiovascular disease. In a random sample from South Florida, one quarter of all households had at least 1 member who had a heart attack or acute cardiovascular illness within 5 years of the study.1 Within Miami-Dade County and South East Florida, the presence of 6 EMS response systems with different directors and administrative staff, the …
The Autonomous Life: A Pure Social View

In this paper I propose and develop a social account of global autonomy. On this view, a person is autonomous simply to the extent to which it is difficult for others to subject her to their wills. I argue that many properties commonly thought necessary for autonomy are in fact properties that tend to increase an agent's immunity to such interpersonal subjection, and that the proposed account is therefore capable of providing theoretical unity to many of the otherwise heterogeneous requirements of autonomy familiar from recent discussions. Specifically, I discuss three such requirements: (i) possession of legally protected status, (ii) a sense of one's own self-worth, and (iii) a capacity for critical reflection. I argue that the proposed account is not only theoretically satisfying but also yields a rich and attractive conception of autonomy.
TrustJS: Trusted Client-side Execution of JavaScript

Client-side JavaScript has become ubiquitous in web applications to improve user experience and reduce server load. However, since clients are untrusted, servers cannot rely on the confidentiality or integrity of client-side JavaScript code and the data that it operates on. For example, client-side input validation must be repeated at server side, and confidential business logic cannot be offloaded. In this paper, we present TrustJS, a framework that enables trustworthy execution of security-sensitive JavaScript inside commodity browsers. TrustJS leverages trusted hardware support provided by Intel SGX to protect the client-side execution of JavaScript, enabling a flexible partitioning of web application code. We present the design of TrustJS and provide initial evaluation results, showing that trustworthy JavaScript offloading can further improve user experience and conserve more server resources.
Influence of Landscape and Field-Level Agricultural Management on a Mediterranean Farmland Winter Bird Community

Summary. We studied the response to agricultural management factors of birds wintering in an unirrigated cereal farmland area of central Spain, examining the influence on species richness, abundance and community composition of different field-level and landscape-level agricultural management variables related to intensification. Our initial hypothesis was that landscape-level management factors exert a stronger effect on wintering bird species richness, total abundance and community composition than field-level ones. The particular responses of the most frequent species (skylark Alauda arvensis, corn bunting Emberiza calandra and meadow pipit Anthus pratensis) were also examined. Richer assemblages were found in more substrate-diverse plots with natural vegetation patches or in plots with higher yield crops, while the more abundant ones, dominated by the skylark, occupied more homogeneous areas dominated by cereals and arable land. As expected, landscape-level management factors explained a much greater proportion of variance in community composition compared to field-level factors (71% vs 29%, respectively). Species richness per se was favoured by substratediverse plots containing patches of natural vegetation, but also by plots where cereal crops were more productive in the previous harvest, declining in more homogeneous plots dominated by cereal crops and arable land in general. Conversely, skylark abundance and total abundance increased as landscapes became more homogeneous and dominated by cereals and arable land, although the relationship for total abundance only approached significance. Results suggest that the current landscape structure and levels of agricultural production of cereal farmland in central Spain can host relatively abundant winter populations of seed-eating and open landscape specialists like the skylark, although certain levels of habitat diversity need to be guaranteed to ensure the maintenance of rich wintering bird communities.
Cytokine gene transcripts for tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-2, and interferon-gamma in human pulmonary allografts.

BACKGROUND Cytokines participate in host responses to allografts, largely through recruiting and activating various regulatory and effector cells. We performed this study to determine the feasibility of using polymerase chain reaction methodology to define the expression of three important cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-2, and interferon-gamma) in human pulmonary allografts. METHODS Twenty-six graft-derived samples (11 transbronchial biopsy and 8 macrophage and 7 lymphocyte cell pellets isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage) were obtained from 13 lung transplant recipients and treated as follows: extraction of RNA; reverse transcription of RNA to complementary DNA; polymerase chain reaction amplification of cDNA with oligonucleotide primers specific for the three cytokines; gel electrophoresis of the polymerase chain reaction products; and verification of correct cytokine message by Dot blot technique (with specific 32P-labeled oligonucleotide probes). RESULTS Concomitant pathologic evaluation of biopsy specimens from these 13 recipients showed five diagnostic groups: "normal" (no rejection/infection), n = 2; acute rejection, n = 4; nonspecific inflammation, n = 3; infection, n = 3; and obliterative bronchiolitis, n = 1. Interleukin-2 was expressed predominantly in acute rejection and infection (seven of ten and five of six samples positive, respectively), whereas tumor necrosis factor-alpha was expressed mainly in nonspecific inflammation (four of five samples) and somewhat less in rejection (six of ten). Interferon-gamma was expressed less frequently (in two of six samples with infection, but in none of ten with rejection and none of five with nonspecific inflammation). Serial data from one patient (6 months apart) showed considerable increase in interleukin-2 and interferon-gamma expression as she progressed from normal histologic status to obliterative bronchiolitis. CONCLUSIONS Cytokine gene transcripts can be determined from minute samples derived directly from pulmonary allografts. Although our data are insufficient to make definitive conclusions, the suggestion of trends of cytokine expression in different posttransplantation pathologic conditions may indicate a useful role for this approach in the clinical evaluation of the lung transplant recipient.
Two Accrual Anomalies: A Dichotomy of Accrual-Return Relations

Motivated by the findings that the aggregate (discretionary) accruals positively predicts one-year-ahead firm-level stock returns and that there is a considerable amount of co-movement in firm-level (discretionary) accruals, we decompose firm-level (discretionary) accruals into a market-wide component and a firm-specific component. We document robust evidence that the two orthogonal (discretionary) accrual components affect stock returns in qualitatively opposite ways - while the firm-specific component negatively predicts next-period stock returns, firms with a higher level of market-wide component have on average higher next-period stock returns. Moreover, the two accrual-return relations co-exist and the accrual anomaly due to the firm-specific component of (discretionary) accruals largely supersedes the conventional accrual anomaly documented in Sloan (1996) and Xie (2001). Furthermore, a hedge strategy explicitly exploiting the two accrual anomalies yields a significantly higher return than that of a typical accrual strategy built only on firm-level (discretionary) accruals. Our analysis shows that accounting information such as (discretionary) accruals affects the stock market through both market-wide and firm-specific channels. We briefly discuss potential economic rationales behind each of the two accrual anomalies.
Angiotensin II Antagonism and the Heart: Valsartan in Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) represents an independent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and normalization of left ventricular mass has become a desirable goal of antihypertensive treatment. In a randomized, double-blind study the angiotensin II (AT1 receptor) antagonist valsartan (Diovan®; 80 mg/160 mg q.d.) was compared with the beta-blocker atenolol (50 mg/100 mg q.d.) over 8 months in predominantly previously untreated patients with essential hypertension and LVH. Sixty-nine patients were randomized, of whom 58 were evaluated with echocardiographic data. After 8 months of treatment in the atenolol group [n = 8 with additional hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ)], initial blood pressure was reduced from 160/103 to 147/92 mm Hg (p < 0.0001), and in the valsartan group (n = 9 with additional HCTZ) blood pressure decreased from 163/101 to 146/90 mm Hg (p < 0.0001). Left ventricular mass index decreased from 127 to 117 g/m2 in the atenolol group and from 127 to 106 g/m2 in the valsartan group. Long-term treatment with valsartan resulted in a significant reduction of LVH in patients with essential hypertension.
Customer Relationship Management: In B2C Markets, Often Less is More

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is premised on the belief that developing a relationship with customers is the best way to gain their loyalty. It is argued that loyal customers are more profitable than non-loyal customers. Recently, academic researchers have questioned some of the key premises that are used to support CRM in general, and relationship marketing and customer loyalty programs in particular. This article critically examines the assumptions that underpin CRM and presents the results of research that is skeptical of its value. CRM should only be adopted after a careful appraisal of its cost-effectiveness.
Quantifying the Early Stages of Remyelination Following Cuprizone‐induced Demyelination

The demyelinating toxin cuprizone is used increasingly in mouse studies of central nervous system remyelination. The value of this model for such studies depends on an accurate description of its quantifiable features. We therefore investigated histology and ultrastructure during the early oligodendrocyte differentiation phase of remyelination in mice given cuprizone and allowed to recover for 2 weeks. Limiting the dose of cuprizone to 0.2% overcame significant mouse morbidity and weight loss seen with a 0.4% dose, but the distribution of cuprizone‐induced demyelination was anatomically variable. The caudal corpus callosum and dorsal hippocampal commissure mostly demyelinated at this dose, but the rostral corpus callosum and rostral cerebellar peduncles did not. This variable response, together with small axon diameters and hence thin myelin sheaths, hindered analysis of the progress of early remyelination. The proportion of myelinated and unmyelinated axons in defined regions followed expected trends, but there was pronounced variation between animals. Furthermore, group mean G ratios did not change as expected during the early stages of remyelination, and regression analysis revealed a complex relationship between axon diameter and myelin sheath thickness during this period. We also noted axonal pathology that persisted for at least 2 weeks after cuprizone withdrawal.
New concept of the anatomy of the anal sphincter mechanism and the physiology of defecation. II. Anatomy of the levator ani muscle with special reference to puborectalis.

A study of the surgical anatomy of the levator ani muscles, with special stress on the puborectalis, was performed on 22 cadaveric specimens. The study comprised dissection and microscopic examination. The levator ani was found to consist of two portions only: pubococcygeus and iliococcygeus, the puborectalis being a part of the external anal sphincter. Both levatores decussate at the anococcygeal raphe, which represents a "decussation line" and not a site of insertion for the muscle fibers. A "digastric" pattern of the levator is demonstrated, which is responsible for the harmonic nature of the function of the muscle bundles on each side of the pelvis. The levator hiatus was found to be formed of the medial borders of the pubococcygeus, , and not the puborectalis. A "hiatal ligament" was identified, stretched between the edges of the levator hiatus and the intrahiatal viscera. The role of the pubococcygeus in anal fixation is discussed, and a new concept that the puborectalis does not belong to the levator ani but constitutes na integral portion of the external and sphincter. The puborectalis and the deep external anal sphincter were found to be fused together and identical from the morphologic, histologic, and functional points of view as well as with respect to innervation. Both form a single U-shaped loop which is given the name "top loop. "