Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protective effect of some vitamins against the toxic action of ethanol on liver regeneration induced by partial hepatectomy in rats.

AIM To investigate the effects of vitamins (A, C and E) on liver injury induced by ethanol administration during liver regeneration in rats. METHODS Male Wistar rats subjected to 70% partial hepatectomy were divided into five groups (groups 1-5). During the experiment, animals of Group 1 drank only water. The other four groups (2-5) drank 30 mL of ethanol/L of water. Group 3 additionally received vitamin A, those of group 4 vitamin C and those of group 5 received vitamin E. Subsequently serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), albumin and bilirubin were measured colorimetrically. Lipid peroxidation (thiobarbituric-acid reactive substances, TBARS) both in plasma and liver was measured, as well as liver mass gain assessment and total DNA. RESULTS Compared with sham group, serum AST and ALT increased significantly under ethanol treatment (43% and 93%, respectively, with P < 0.05). Vitamin C and vitamin E treatment attenuated the ethanol-induced increases in ALT and AST activity. Ethanol treatment also decreased serum albumin concentration compared to sham group (3.1 +/- 0.4 g/dL vs 4.5 +/- 0.2 g/dL; P < 0.05). During liver regeneration vitamins C and E significantly ameliorated liver injury for ethanol administration in hepatic lipid peroxidation (4.92 nmol/mg and 4.25 nmol/mg vs 14.78 nmol/mg, respectively, with P < 0.05). In association with hepatic injury, ethanol administration caused a significant increase in both hepatic and plasma lipid peroxidation. Vitamins (C and E) treatment attenuated hepatic and plasma lipid peroxidation. CONCLUSION Vitamins C and E protect against liver injury and dysfunction, attenuate lipid peroxidation, and thus appear to be significantly more effective than vitamin A against ethanol-mediated toxic effects during liver regeneration.
The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR): a comprehensive database and web-based information retrieval, analysis, and visualization system for a model plant

Arabidopsis thaliana, a small annual plant belonging to the mustard family, is the subject of study by an estimated 7000 researchers around the world. In addition to the large body of genetic, physiological and biochemical data gathered for this plant, it will be the first higher plant genome to be completely sequenced, with completion expected at the end of the year 2000. The sequencing effort has been coordinated by an international collaboration, the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative (AGI). The rationale for intensive investigation of Arabidopsis is that it is an excellent model for higher plants. In order to maximize use of the knowledge gained about this plant, there is a need for a comprehensive database and information retrieval and analysis system that will provide user-friendly access to Arabidopsis information. This paper describes the initial steps we have taken toward realizing these goals in a project called The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR) (www.arabidopsis.org).
Global thermal pollution of rivers from thermoelectric power plants

Worldwide riverine thermal pollution patterns were investigated by combining mean annual heat rejection rates from power plants with once-through cooling systems with the global hydrological-water temperature model variable infiltration capacity (VIC)-RBM. The model simulates both streamflow and water temperature on 0.5° × 0.5° spatial resolution worldwide and by capturing their effect, identifies multiple thermal pollution hotspots. The Mississippi receives the highest total amount of heat emissions (62% and 28% of which come from coal-fuelled and nuclear power plants, respectively) and presents the highest number of instances where the commonly set 3 °C temperature increase limit is equalled or exceeded. The Rhine receives 20% of the thermal emissions compared to the Mississippi (predominantly due to nuclear power plants), but is the thermally most polluted basin in relation to the total flow per watershed, with one third of its total flow experiencing a temperature increase ≥5 °C on average over the year. In other smaller basins in Europe, such as the Weser and the Po, the share of the total streamflow with a temperature increase ≥3 °C goes up to 49% and 81%, respectively, during July–September. As the first global analysis of its kind, this work points towards areas of high riverine thermal pollution, where temporally finer thermal emission data could be coupled with a spatially finer model to better investigate water temperature increase and its effect on aquatic ecosystems.
Foreign debt and economic growth in the World system

Past research has defined dependency along dimensions of trade dependency and foreign investment. The AA. argue that the present phase of world-system is shaped by finance capital and debt dependency. In their analyses they find that trade and investment variables still had significant negative effects on economic growth between 1973 and 1985. At the same time, stocks of nonconcessional debt and debt service ratios were beginning to have negative effects of economic growth. They suggest additional case studies in future research to explore these relationships
Free abdominal fluid on ultrasound in unstable pelvic ring fracture: is laparotomy always necessary?

BACKGROUND In unstable pelvic ring fractures free abdominal fluid on ultrasound (US) may be caused by retroperitoneal hematoma that passes into the abdominal cavity or by an additional intraabdominal lesion. In this study a clinical pathway for the therapy of potentially combined lesions was analyzed. PATIENTS AND METHODS All patients treated in the ED for severe trauma underwent basic sonographical and radiologic diagnostics within 15 minutes. of admission. Data were prospectively documented. According to the treatment protocol unstable pelvic ring fractures with initial free fluid on US received laparotomy. Patients with stable vital conditions had abdominal CT-Scan before surgery. RESULTS 1472 consecutive severely injured patients (ISS 20, age: 39 years) were included. Eighty subjects had sustained type B (47) or C (33) pelvic ring fracture. Early free abdominal fluid on US was absent in 49 cases. Three patients in this group required celiotomy later on, during ICU treatment. In 31 patients free fluid was present. All of them had laparotomy. Only one patient showed retroperitoneal hematoma alone, while all others had one or more significant lesions (rupture) that required surgical repair. Simultaneously with laparotomy pelvic stabilization was performed by external (19) or internal (6) fixation. In all cases with massive pelvic hemorrhage and free fluid in US bleeding was controlled by internal tamponade and external fixation. CONCLUSION The finding of intraperitoneal fluid on US in the emergency department strongly correlates with significant intraabdominal lesions requiring surgical intervention. Early laparotomy appears indicated in these cases. Shock control in pelvic bleeding can be sufficiently achieved by internal tamponade and external fixation.
Investigating the relationship between observed mood and emotions in people with severe and profound intellectual disabilities.

BACKGROUND The measurement of subjective well-being in people with severe and profound intellectual disabilities (ID) is a difficult challenge. As they cannot self-report about their life satisfaction, because of severe communicative and cognitive limitations, behavioural observations of their emotions and moods are important in the measurement of their subjective well-being. It is, however, not known if observations of mood and emotion can be differentiated in people with severe and profound ID and if mood and emotions can give unique information about their affect. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the relationship between mood and emotions in people with severe and profound ID, using behavioural observations. As recommended in the literature, we investigated the frequency and intensity of the emotion separately. METHOD In a period of 3 weeks 27 participants with severe and profound ID were presented with four staff-selected negative and four staff-selected positive stimuli. During the presentation participants were videotaped using the observational method of Petry & Maes where each behaviour is coded on a 5-point scale, ranging from indicating a very negative emotion to indicating a very positive emotion. As a measure of mood, the staff completed the MIPQ in the beginning of the 3 weeks. RESULTS We found a positive relationship between mood and respectively the total emotion score and the frequency of the emotion when the stimuli were positive but not when the stimuli were negative. There was no relationship between mood and the intensity of the emotion. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that mood and emotions can be distinguished from each other using behavioural observations. Both can give specific information about the affective life of people with severe or profound ID. Moreover, if further research could replicate the results of this study, an implication is that the direct support workers should be aware of a decline in the frequency of their clients reactions to positive stimuli as this could indicate a decline in their mood.
Does Participation Lead to Ongoing Infrastructure Maintenance? Evidence from Caribbean Landslide Mitigation Projects

Abstract Donor-funded infrastructure projects may focus on construction and neglect longer-term sustainability. Engaging local communities has been proposed as way of inducing ongoing maintenance by facilitating coordination and a sense of ownership, but there is little evidence on its effectiveness in practice. We analyse data from inspections of 103 landslide hazard mitigation drains in Saint Lucia several years after construction. We conclude that community participation at the beginning of the project, by accessing local knowledge, is associated with improved construction quality, but appears to have no impact on subsequent maintenance, suggesting that contractual provision for maintenance may be required.
Success and failure in the measurement of restraint: notes and data.

OBJECTIVE The clarification of the present confusion about the confounding of success and failure in the measurement of restrained eating. METHOD Close inspection of results regarding the Restraint Scale (RS) and the restraint scales of homogeneous measures of restrained eating, for example, the restraint scales of the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) and the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ). RESULTS Various studies have led to the distinction of two different types of confounding of success and failure in the measurement of restrained eating. The first confounding is associated with the RS and the inability of its scores to differentiate between inhibition and disinhibition of restraint in one person, as a result of variance across time within one person in food intake and binging. The second type of confounding applies to the homogeneous measures of restrained eating, for example, the restraint scales of the TFEQ and DEBQ. Here the confounding is associated with the inability of their restraint scores to differentiate between dieters with low versus high susceptibility toward failure of restraint, as a result of variance across persons in food intake and binging. DISCUSSION In contrast to the first confounding, the confounding of successful and unsuccessful dieters in subjects with high restraint scores can be easily unconfounded, by using a two-factorial classification including both scores on "pure" measures of restraint and scales for tendency toward overeating. For future research, the distinction between successful and unsuccessful dieters is an important first step in clarifying why some dieters do overeat under certain conditions.
Gaussian Framework for Interference Reduction in Live Recordings

In live multitrack recordings, each voice is usually captured by dedicated close microphones. Unfortunately, it is also captured in practice by other microphones intended for other sources, leading to so-called " interferences ". Reducing this interference is desirable because it opens new perspectives for the engineering of live recordings. Hence, it has been the topic of recent research in audio processing. In this paper, we show how a Gaussian probabilistic framework may be set up for obtaining good isolation of the target sources. Doing so, we extend several state-of-the art methods by fixing some heuristic parts of their algorithms. As we show in a perceptual evaluation on real-world multitrack live recordings, the resulting principled techniques yield improved quality.
2,2'-(ethane-1,2-diyl)bis[2-(5-bromothiophen-2-yl)-1,3-dioxolane] at 100 K refined using a multipolar atom model.

The title compound, C(16)H(16)Br(2)O(4)S(2), which is a precursor for the synthesis of oligothiophenes and their substituted homologues, was synthesized and its X-ray crystal structure determined at 100 K. The experimental electron-density parameters for the available atom types were transferred from the ELMAM2 database. The compound lies about an inversion centre, which coincides with the mid-point of a C-C bond. The molecules in the crystal are linked by several types of weak interactions; the largest contact surfaces are for H.H and H.Br.
Profit strategy of Greek banks: cross-subsidization and diversification versus complementarity

ABSTRACT This study analyses the profit strategy employed by banks in Greece using dynamic panel data techniques and a data set which includes proprietary supervisory data covering the whole Greek commercial banking system from 2004 to 2011. We provide evidence that banks use interest- and non-interest income (non-II) as substitutes rather than complements, with non-II representing an indirect competition instrument by the more efficient banks used in place of direct competition with their peers through prices on loans and deposits. This behaviour is explained by further decomposing the non-II into the relatively stable fees component and the volatile trading income. Moreover, we provide evidence that the net-interest income is primarily affected by the banks’ market power and their operating costs, while more efficient banks exploit their core deposit base to lever their non-II. Finally, macroeconomic developments affect both income components, which are found to be procyclical with respect to economic activity. In particular, the two income components are affected differently from inflation implying that non-II provides a natural hedge against adverse effects from deflation on interest income.
Landscape structure affects the provision of multiple ecosystem services

Understanding how landscape structure, the composition and configuration of land use/land cover (LULC) types, affects the relative supply of ecosystem services (ES), is critical to improving landscape management. While there is a long history of studies on landscape composition, the importance of landscape configuration has only recently become apparent. To understand the role of landscape structure in the provision of multiple ES, we must understand how ES respond to different measures of both composition and configuration of LULC. We used a multivariate framework to quantify the role of landscape configuration and composition in the provision of ten ES in 130 municipalities in an agricultural region in Southern Québec. We identified the relative influence of composition and configuration in the provision of these ES using multiple regression, and on bundles of ES using canonical redundancy analysis. We found that both configuration and composition play a role in explaining variation in the supply of ES, but the relative contribution of composition and configuration varies significantly among ES. We also identified three distinct ES bundles (sets of ES that regularly appear together on the landscape) and found that each bundle was associated with a unique area in the landscape, that mapped to a gradient in the composition and configuration of forest and agricultural LULC. These results show that the distribution of ES on the landscape depends upon both the overall composition of LULC types and their configuration on the landscape. As ES become more widely used to steer land use decision-making, quantifying the roles of configuration and composition in the provision of ES bundles can improve landscape management by helping us understand when and where the spatial pattern of land cover is important for multiple services.
Essays on Interest Rates and the Housing Market

In the first essay of this dissertation, ”Monetary Policy and the Housing Cycle,” I investigate the role of monetary policy in a housing boom that precipitated the U.S. financial crisis of 2007. I find expansionary policy between 2002 and 2005 accounts for about 50% of the peak deviation of real residential investment from its long-run trend, which occurred in the second quarter of 2005. To determine if monetary policy was a contributor to the housing boom I estimate a large dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model (DSGE) to fit the economy in several different time periods. I mathematically isolate a series of changes in the Fed Funds rate that are statistically unrelated to changes in the macroeconomy and classify these deviations as a measure of monetary policy. The magnitude of the monetary policy series is relatively small during the housing boom but explains half of the of the 2005 peak in residential investment because of inertia in the Fed Funds rate. My second essay follows up on a paper I wrote with Donald Haurin that was published in the Journal of Housing Economics in December 2009. The 2009 paper look at the usefulness of a housing-specific consumer sentiment index as a proxy for housing demand. The index is derived from the Survey of Consumers question: ”do you think it is a good time or a bad time to buy a house? ” We showed the consumer sentiment series is more predictive of turning points in the housing market than the
Annual Variations in the Diversity, Viability, and Origin of Airborne Bacteria

ABSTRACT The presence of bacteria in aerosols has been known for centuries, but information on their identity and role in dispersing microbial traits is still limited. This study monitored the airborne bacterial community during an annual survey using samples collected from a 25-m tower near the Baltic Sea coast. The number of CFU was estimated using agar plates while the most probable number (MPN) of viable bacteria was estimated using dilution-to-extinction culturing assays (DCAs). The MPN and CFU values produced quantitatively similar results, displaying a pronounced seasonal pattern, with the highest numbers in winter. The most dominant bacteria growing in the DCAs all formed colonies on agar plates, were mostly pigmented (80%), and closely resembled (>97%) previously cultured bacteria based on their 16S rRNA gene sequences. 16S rRNA gene clone libraries were constructed on eight occasions during the survey; these revealed a highly diverse community with a few abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and a long tail of rare OTUs. A majority of the cloned sequences (60%) were also most closely related to previously “cultured” bacteria. Thus, both culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques indicated that bacteria able to form colonies on agar plates predominate in the atmosphere. Both the DCAs and clone libraries indicated the dominance of bacteria belonging to the genera Sphingomonas sp. and Pseudomonas sp. on several sampling occasions. Potentially pathogenic strains as well as sequences closely resembling bacteria known to act as ice nuclei were found using both approaches. The origin of the sampled air mass was estimated using backward trajectories, indicating a predominant marine source.
Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Rodents and Primates: Endogenous, Enhanced, and Engrafted

Since the studies of Ramon y Cajal, a central postulate in neuroscience has been the view that the adult brain lacks the ability to regenerate its neurons. This dogma has been challenged in the last few decades, and mounting evidence has accumulated showing the existence of a phenomenon designated 'adult neurogenesis'. De novo generation of neurons by neural progenitor cells in the adult brain is thought to be preserved only in restricted brain areas, such as the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) and the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricle. Data in the last decade coming mostly from rodent models have clearly documented that precursor cells residing in the anterior portion of SVZ and the subgranular zone of DG are responsible for adding new neurons in the olfactory bulb and DG, respectively. This raised significant interest in the clinical potential of neural progenitor cells, and recent studies have documented that brain injury is capable of activating an endogenous program of neurogenesis resulting in neuronal replacement in various cerebral regions of rodents and primates. If the newly generated neurons in the adult brain prove to be functional, it could have a tremendous impact for cell replacement therapies. Here, we summarize current knowledge of the mechanisms affecting adult hippocampal neurogenesis in both rodents and primates, and discuss its implications in developing novel strategies for the treatment of human neurological diseases.
Carotid Artery Intima Media Thickness as a Surrogate Marker of Atherosclerosis in Patient with Chronic Renal Failure on Hemodialysis

Background: In patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), carotid artery intima media thickness (CAIMT) is increased when the patients are on hemodialysis. Vascular events caused by atherosclerosis are the major cause of death in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Aims: This study was done to find out the relationship between carotid artery intima media thickness and hemodialysis in chronic renal failure patients independent of classical risk factors and also the relationship between CAIMT of hemodialyzed patients and nonhemodialyzed CRF patients. Materials and Methods: In this observational study, CAIMT of 78 CRF patients was examined by B-mode ultrasonography. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated by using the “Modification of Diet in Renal Disease” formula. CRF patients, who had been on regular hemodialysis treatment (treated thrice weekly) for at least 6 months, were identified as hemodialyzed patients. Data were analyzed by software Statistical package for the social Sciences (SPSS) (17th version). Results: There was significant positive correlation between CAIMT and hemodialysis (P=0.045) independent of traditional risk factors. Hemodialyzed patients had higher mean CAIMT (1136.30±21.21 μm, P<0.001) than mean CAIMT of age and sex matched nondialyzed patients (959.30±23.01 μm). Conclusion: Hemodialysis is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis in CRF patents. Hemodialyzed patients have significantly higher CAIMT than nondialyzed CRF patients.
Index Insurance for Developing Country Agriculture: A Reassessment

With uninsured risk representing a major hurdle to investment, productivity growth, and poverty reduction in developing country smallholder agriculture, index-based agricultural insurance has offered the promise of overcoming the hurdles of traditional indemnity-based insurance for this context. In spite of extensive experimentation, take-up has been disappointingly low without large and sustained subsidies. We show that existing constraints on take-up can partially be overcome using revised contract designs, advanced technology for better measurement, improved marketing, and better policy support. However, because index insurance is likely to remain expensive in that context, we suggest that improved index insurance be combined with stress tolerant seed varieties and new risk-oriented savings and credit products that build on the complementarities between what can be offered by index insurance and these other instruments to cope with shocks and manage risk.