Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of the human nucleus pulposus cell phenotype and evaluation of novel marker gene expression to define adult stem cell differentiation.

OBJECTIVE Development of stem cell therapies for regenerating the nucleus pulposus (NP) are hindered by the lack of specific markers by which to distinguish NP cells from articular chondrocytes (ACs). The purpose of this study was to define the phenotype profile of human NP cells using gene expression profiling and to assess whether the identified markers could distinguish mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation to a correct NP cell phenotype. METHODS Affymetrix MicroArray analyses were conducted on human NP cells and ACs, and differential expression levels for several positive (NP) and negative (AC) marker genes were validated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Novel marker gene and protein expression was also assessed in human bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) and adipose tissue-derived MSCs (AD-MSCs) following differentiation in type I collagen gels. RESULTS Analysis identified 12 NP-positive and 36-negative (AC) marker genes that were differentially expressed ≥20-fold, and for a subset of them (NP-positive genes PAX1, FOXF1, HBB, CA12, and OVOS2; AC-positive genes GDF10, CYTL1, IBSP, and FBLN1), differential expression was confirmed by real-time quantitative PCR. Differentiated BM-MSCs and AD-MSCs demonstrated significant increases in the novel NP markers PAX1 and FOXF1. AD-MSCs lacked expression of the AC markers IBSP and FBLN1, whereas BM-MSCs lacked expression of the AC marker IBSP but expressed FBLN1. CONCLUSION This study is the first to use gene expression profiling to identify the human NP cell phenotype. Importantly, these markers can be used to determine the in vitro differentiation of MSCs to an NP-like, rather than an AC-like, phenotype. Interestingly, these results suggest that AD-MSCs may be a more appropriate cell type than BM-MSCs for use in engineering intervertebral disc tissue.
The effects of propolis extract on ovarian tissue and oxidative stress in rats with maternal separation stress

Background: Stress in infancy has dramatic effects on different systems, including the nervous system, endocrine, immune, reproductive and etc. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of extract of Iranian propolis (EIP) on ovarian tissue and oxidative stress in rats with maternal separation stress. Materials and Methods: 48 immature female rats were divided randomly into six groups. 1) Control group, 2) Control group+saline, 3) Stress group, includes infants that were separated from their mothers 6 hr/day, the 4th, 5th and 6th groups consisted of infants who in addition to daily stress received 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg of EIP, respectively. Then serum corticosterone, 17-beta-estradiol, malondialdehyde, total superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and ferric reducing antioxidant power levels were measured. The ovarian sections were stained by H&E, PAS, and TUNEL methods and were studied with optical microscopy. Results: Stress increased the blood serum corticosterone levels and 17-beta-estradiol reduced significantly (p<0.001) and EIP prevented from this changes (p<0.01). EIP significantly increased the number of ovarian follicles, oocytes and oocytes diameter in neonatal rat following stress (p<0.01). EIP also significantly decreased the number of atretic follicles, TUNEL+granulosa cells, malondialdehyde levels and increased ferric reducing antioxidant power, total superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase serum levels in neonatal rats following stress. The dose of 200 mg/kg EIP was more effective. Conclusion: This Study showed that the Iranian Propolis significantly could prevent oxidative stress and histopathological changes in the ovary of the neonatal rat the following stress.
Measuring Firm Size in Empirical Corporate Finance

In empirical corporate finance, firm size is commonly used as an important, fundamental firm characteristic. However, no research comprehensively assesses the sensitivity of empirical results in corporate finance to different measures of firm size. This paper fills this hole by providing empirical evidence for a “measurement effect” in the “size effect”. In particular, we examine the influences of employing different proxies (total assets, total sales, and market capitalization) of firm size in 20 prominent areas in empirical corporate finance research. We highlight several empirical implications. First, in most areas of corporate finance the coefficients of firm size measures are robust in sign and statistical significance. Second, the coefficients on regressors other than firm size often change sign and significance when different size measures are used. Unfortunately, this suggests that some previous studies are not robust to different firm size proxies. Third, the goodness of fit measured by R-squared also varies with different size measures, suggesting that some measures are more relevant than others in different situations. Fourth, different proxies capture different aspects of “firm size”, and thus have different implications. Therefore, the choice of size measures needs both theoretical and empirical justification. Finally, our empirical assessment provides guidance to empirical corporate finance researchers who must use firm size measures in their work.
Identification of the vaccinia hemagglutinin polypeptide from a cell system yielding large amounts of extracellular enveloped virus

HeLa, SIRC, and RK-13 cells were compared as to their production of intracellular naked vaccinia virus (INV) and extracellular enveloped vaccinia virus (EEV) after infection with vaccinia strains WR and IHD-J. IHD-J produced more EEV from all three cell lines than did WR, although both strains produced approximately the same quantity of INV. The most efficient EEV release was from RK-13 cells infected with IHD-J, which was 200 times more than from WR-infected SIRC cells. This permitted for the first time the purification of milligram quantities of EEV that contained much fewer cell protein contaminants than could be obtained from HeLa or SIRC cells. The INV surface proteins 200K, 95K, 65K, and 13K were present in both HeLa and RK-13 cell-derived INV but were absent in SIRC cell INV. These proteins were absent in EEV from all three cell lines. Four glycoproteins of molecular weights 210 x 10(3) (210K), 110K, 89K, and 42K and five glycoproteins in the 23K to 20K range plus a nonglycosylated protein of 37K were detected in EEV from the hemagglutinin-positive IHD-J vaccinia strain. The 89K glycoprotein was not present in EEV or membranes from cells infected with the hemagglutinin-negative vaccinia strain IHD-W. Antisera to IHD-W lacking hemagglutinin-inhibiting antibodies did not precipitate the 89K glycoprotein of IHD-J. The only glycoprotein that specifically attached to rooster erythrocytes was the 89K glycoprotein. This evidence indicates that the 89K glycoprotein is the vaccinia hemagglutinin.
Soluble c‐Met protein as a susceptible biomarker for gastric cancer risk: A nested case‐control study within the Korean Multicenter Cancer Cohort

This study was conducted to evaluate the relevance of the soluble form of c‐Met protein, a truncated form of the c‐Met membrane receptor involved in the CagA pathway, as a potential biomarker for gastric cancer. Among 290 gastric cancer case‐control sets selected from the Korean Multicenter Cancer Cohort, the plasma concentrations of soluble c‐Met protein were measured with enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays. Using analysis of variance and covariance models with age, sex, smoking, Helicobacter pylori infection, and CagA seropositivity, the mean concentrations of soluble c‐Met protein between cases and controls were compared. To evaluate the association between gastric cancer and a c‐Met protein level, odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using conditional logistic regression models. Interactions between CagA‐related genes and the soluble c‐Met protein concentration were also investigated. The overall median plasma concentration of soluble c‐Met among cases was significantly lower than those of controls (1.390 vs. 1.610 ng/mL, p < 0.0001). Closer to the onset of gastric cancer, the soluble c‐Met protein level decreased linearly in a time‐dependent manner (p for trend = 0.0002). The combined effects between the CagA‐related genes and the soluble c‐Met protein concentration significantly intensified risks for gastric cancer. Restricted analyses including cases that had been diagnosed within 1 year after entering the cohort had a fair degree of ability (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.73–0.77) to discriminate gastric cancer cases from normal controls. Our findings demonstrate the potential of the soluble form of c‐Met protein as a novel biomarker for gastric cancer. The beneficial effects of a high soluble c‐Met concentration in human plasma are strongly supported.
El modelo cuántico del átomo

En este articulo se muestran las dificultades de los estudiantes en el aprendizaje del modelo cuantico del atomo. Para superarlas se presenta una propuesta de ensenanza de las ideas cuanticas, en particular del modelo precuantico de Bohr, en la que se evita el concepto de orbita, y en la que los niveles permitidos de energia del modelo cuantico surgen como consecuencia del caracter ondulatorio del electron.
Computerized local anesthetic delivery vs. traditional syringe technique. Subjective pain response.

A study was designed to determine if there are changes in the perception of pain when the flow rate and pressure of an injected anesthetic are precisely controlled. Fifty dentists were given contralateral palatal injections. One side was injected with the Wand injector, a new delivery system that uses a microprocessor and an electric motor to precisely regulate flow rate during administration. The control side was injected using a standard manual syringe, in which flow rate and pressure are operator-dependent and cannot be controlled accurately. The subjects used two subjective scales to describe their perceived pain experience. When their responses were analyzed the Wand injector was found to be two- to three-times less painful than the manual injection. The results were statistically significant (p < .001). The authors conclude that there is an optimal flow rate of anesthetic solution at which the perception of pain during an injection is minimized.
Effects of recombinant insulin‐like growth factor‐I and growth hormone on bone turnover in elderly women

We evaluated the effects of recombinant insulin‐like growth factor‐I (IGF‐I) and growth hormone (GH) on calciotropic hormones and bone turnover markers in 16 healthy elderly women 71.9 ± 1.3 years of age (mean ± SEM). Subjects consumed a fixed diet providing 1000 mg of calcium and 0.9 g/kg of protein for 10 days before starting baseline 24‐h urine and blood collections. Specimens were collected for 6 consecutive days before initiating subcutaneous injections of GH (25 μg/kg/day, n = 5) and IGF‐I at 60 μg/kg b.i. d. (high‐dose, n = 5) or at 15 μg/kg b.i. d. (low‐dose, n = 6) for 28 days. Resorption markers included urine hydroxyproline (OHP), total pyridinolines (PYD), and N‐telopeptide; formation markers included osteocalcin, skeletal alkaline phosphatase (sALP), and type I procollagen carboxy‐terminal extension peptide (CICP). For each subject, baseline daily turnover markers varied substantially (CV = 16–22%). With GH and high‐dose IGF‐I, resorption and formation markers increased progressively to maximum levels at day 21. For GH, the increase in day 21 PYD, N‐telopeptide, osteocalcin, and CICP was 143, 111, 53, and 81%, respectively (p < 0.06–0.02). For high‐dose IGF‐I, these increases were 108, 81, 77, and 111% (p < 0.02–0.002). However, with low‐dose IGF‐I, no change was observed in resorption markers while osteocalcin and CICP increased progressively (day 21, % increases = 88 ± 51, 36 ± 14). Twenty‐four hour urine collections during the last days of baseline and of study drug were taken as six 4 h aliquots. When deoxyPYD was measured on these samples in the low‐dose IGF‐I group, a significant increase was observed only on the 0800–1200 h aliquot. Serum phosphorus concentrations increased with GH (21.2 ± 3.3%) and high‐dose IGF‐I (8.8 ± 3.6%) by day 21 but actually decreased by day 28 (−9.7 ± 2.7, p < 0.02) with low‐dose IGF‐I. Urinary phosphorus excretion decreased with high‐dose IGF‐I only. Twenty‐four hour calcium excretion increased with all treatments. These results indicate that both GH and high‐dose IGF‐I activate remodeling osteons. By contrast, low‐dose IGF‐I may directly increase osteoblastic function with only a minimal increase in bone resorption and may therefore provide a useful means to increase bone mass. The results also suggest some of the GH action on renal phosphorus handling represents a direct action of GH on the nephron which does not involve the intermediacy of IGF‐I. Finally, even under controlled conditions bone turnover markers exhibit substantial daily variation so that a very large treatment effect will be required for these markers to have clinical utility.
Disordered thinking.

To evaluate formulations that thought disorder at the posthospital phase identifies a subgroup of nuclear schizophrenics with poor outcomes, 77 patients from a longitudinal project were followed up on major dimensions of psychopathology linked to nuclear schizophrenia. The data indicate that (1) schizophrenics were more thought disordered than were nonschizophrenics at the posthospital phase; (2) thought-disordered schizophrenics had only slightly poorer scores on classic prognostic indicators associated with poor outcomes; (3) a subgroup of early chronic schizophrenics were not severely thought disordered; (4) almost all severely thought-disordered schizophrenics demonstrated clear evidence of delusional activity at follow-up; and (5) thought-disordered schizophrenics had poorer outcomes. The overall results fit in with formulations that a severe thought disorder is one of several major features of schizophrenia. The data suggest that posthospital thought disorder identifies a subgroup of poor-outcome schizophrenics, although some non-thought-disordered schizophrenics also show poor outcomes.
Industry Tournament Incentives

We empirically assess industry tournament incentives for CEOs, as measured by the compensation gap between a CEO at one firm and the highest-paid CEO among similar (industry, size) firms. We find that firm performance, firm risk, and the riskiness of firm investment and financial policies are positively associated with the external industry pay gap. The industry tournament effects are stronger when industry, firm, and executive characteristics indicate high CEO mobility and a higher probability of the aspirant executive winning. Received October 21, 2012; editorial decision March 26, 2017 by Editor Laura Starks.
Nonlinear Response of Deep Immersed Tunnel to Strong Seismic Shaking

Critical for the seismic safety of immersed tunnels is the magnitude of deformations developing in the segment joints, as a result of the combined longitudinal and lateral vibrations. Analysis and design against such vibrations is the main focus of this paper, with reference to a proposed 70 m-deep immersed tunnel in a highly seismic region, in Greece. The multisegment tunnel is modeled as a beam connected to the ground through properly calibrated interaction springs, dashpots, and sliders. Actual records of significant directivity-affected ground motions, downscaled to 0.24 g peak acceleration, form the basis of the basement excitation. Free-field acceleration time histories are computed from these records through one-dimensional wave propagation equivalent-linear and nonlinear analyses of parametrically different soil profiles along the tunnel; they are then applied as excitation at the support of the springs, with a suitable time lag to conservatively approximate wave passage effects. The joints between the tunnel segments are modeled realistically with special nonlinear hyperelastic elements, while their longitudinal prestressing due to the great (7 bar) water pressure is also considered. Nonlinear dynamic transient analysis of the tunnel is performed without ignoring the inertia of the thick-walled tunnel, and the influence of segment length and joint properties is investigated parametrically. It is shown that despite ground excitation with acceleration levels exceeding 0.50 g and velocity of about 80 cm/s at the base of the tunnel, net tension and excessive compression between the segments can be avoided with a suitable design of joint gaskets and a selection of relatively small segment lengths. Although this research was prompted by the needs of a specific project, the dynamic analysis methods, the proposed design concepts, and many of the conclusions of the study are sufficiently general and may apply in other immersed tunneling projects.
Antiretroviral uptake in Australia: medical, attitudinal and cultural correlates

The objective of this study was to describe the medical, attitudinal and cultural correlates of antiretroviral uptake amongst people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Australia. Stratified purposive sampling produced a sample of 925 PLWHA, which represents 8.3% of the current population of PLWHA in Australia. Respondents completed a self-administered questionnaire which revealed that 78% of respondents were using antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS. Logistic regression revealed that PLWHA were more likely to use antiretroviral drugs if they had more favourable attitudes toward antiretroviral drugs, if they had been diagnosed with an AIDS-defining illness, and if they had ever had a CD4/T-cell count below 400 copies/ml blood. Women were less likely than men to use antiretroviral drugs, and logistic regression revealed different predictors of antiretroviral drug use amongst men and women. Given the importance of attitudes toward antiretroviral drugs, it is likely that if the current confidence in antiretroviral drugs were to change, this would be reflected in an equally rapid cessation of treatment amongst many PLWHA.
Assessing Explosive Power Production Using the Backward Overhead Shot Throw and the Effects of Morning Resistance Exercise on Afternoon Performance

Abstract Ekstrand, LG, Battaglini, CL, McMurray, RG, and Shields, EW. Assessing explosive power production using the backward overhead shot throw and the effects of morning resistance exercise on afternoon performance. J Strength Cond Res 27(1): 101–106, 2013—The purpose of this study was to determine if performing a morning total-body resistance exercise workout affects explosive power in an afternoon session. The secondary goal was to assess the usefulness of the backward overhead shot throw (BOST) as a measure of explosive power in experienced thrower in the sport of athletics. Throwers (N = 14) performed 1 control and 1 experimental trial on separate days. The control consisted of BOST and a vertical jump (VJ) testing performed in the afternoon. For the experimental trial, the participants reported for a short resistance training session in the morning then repeating the BOST and VJ testing 4–6 hours later. The BOST distance (meters) and VJ peak power (watts) were correlated in both trials (r ∼ 0.64, p < 0.05). The BOST distance improved in experimental trial over control (p < 0.05), but VJ power failed to improve. The results indicate that a morning resistance exercise bout can improve competitive throwing performance later on the same day. The results also suggest that BOST may be a useful performance testing tool for throwers in the sports of athletics.
Perfusion of the spleen with blood containing prostaglandin E1: transmitter liberation and uptake

The cat’s spleen perfused with homologous blood containing prostaglandin E1 provides an admirable preparation for the study of the liberation and uptake of the sympathetic transmitter. Obstruction of the circulation with platelet thrombi is eliminated; blood flow is high, and overflow of transmitter when the nerves are stimulated is higher than in other preparations. The high overflow of transmitter is attributed to adequate perfusion of a large mass of splenic tissue. There is no evidence that the amount of transmitter liberated per unit mass of tissue is increased. Uptake of liberated transmitter and of infused L-noradrenaline is no different from that observed in other preparations of the spleen.
Detection of a Noble Gas Molecular Ion, 36ArH+, in the Crab Nebula

We Are Stardust Most of the universe's chemical elements were produced in stars, with the heaviest elements being produced when stars explode. Barlow et al. (p. 1343) used the Herschel Space Observatory to obtain submillimeter spectra of the Crab Nebula, the remains of a stellar explosion that was witnessed on Earth in 1054 AD, and detected the first evidence of a noble gas-containing molecular ion in space—36ArH+. Koo et al. (p. 1346) obtained near-infrared spectroscopic observations of the remains of another stellar explosion, Cassiopeia A, with the Palomar 5-m Hale telescope, and found evidence that a substantial amount of phosphorus was formed in the explosion. Among the six elements essential for life (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur), only the origin of phosphorus remained to be confirmed by observation. Spectroscopic observations of the remains of stellar explosions confirm that argon-36 and phosphorus are produced in such energetic events. Noble gas molecules have not hitherto been detected in space. From spectra obtained with the Herschel Space Observatory, we report the detection of emission in the 617.5- and 1234.6-gigahertz J = 1-0 and 2-1 rotational lines of 36ArH+ at several positions in the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant known to contain both molecular hydrogen and regions of enhanced ionized argon emission. Argon-36 is believed to have originated from explosive nucleosynthesis in massive stars during core-collapse supernova events. Its detection in the Crab Nebula, the product of such a supernova event, confirms this expectation. The likely excitation mechanism for the observed 36ArH+ emission lines is electron collisions in partially ionized regions with electron densities of a few hundred per centimeter cubed.
Power supply for a radio transmitter with modulated supply voltage

RF power amplifiers can save energy if the supply voltage is modulated dynamically. The power supply requires a low output capacitance to obtain a fast voltage modulation at very high efficiency and small size. These requirements become a challenge if a very good regulation under aggressive load current variations is also required. In this paper, a detailed analysis of the filter design and control of the buck converter leads to a very high efficiency, small size design that meets dynamic regulation requirements, even aggressive load current variations, with low output capacitance. Interleaving of buck converters proves to be the enabling solution. A prototype has been built and the measurements agree with the theoretical results.