Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potent Skin Cancer Chemopreventing Activity of Some Novel Semi-synthetic Cembranoids from Marine Sources

In the course of our continuing research in development and evaluation of novel skin cancer chemopreventive agents from marine sources, five semi-synthetic cembranoids derived from the marine natural product sarcophine, isolated from the soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum, were synthesized and shown to exhibit a remarkable chemopreventive activity in the in-vitro Epstein Barr Virus Early Antigen (EBV-EA) activation assay. These compounds were assayed in vivo using the two-stage carcinogenesis test of mouse skin tumors induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) as an initiator, and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) as a promoter by topical administration. They showed potent inhibition of both percentage incidence of skin tumor as well as the multiplicity of skin tumors per mouse compared to untreated controls.
Frequency Of Isolation Of Salmonella From Commercial Poultry Feeds And Their Anti-Microbial Resistance Profiles, Imo State, Nigeria

This study was conducted to determine the frequency of isolation of salmonella and their microbial resistance profiles across different commercial poultry feeds sold in Imo State, Nigeria. Thirty-six bulk feed samples were colleted from 154 bag across different feed types and brands which included Guinea (GF), Top (TF), Vital (VF), Extra (EF), Animal care (AF) and livestock (LF) feeds. The salmonella isolated were tested against 14 anti-microbial drugs using the disc diffusion method. Bacterial load enumeration of the samples indicated a range of <30 colony forming unit (CFU) to overgrowth at 104 serial dilutions. Eight feed samples (22.2%) which cuts across the entire feed brands expect EF were positive for salmonella. The highest prevalence of 28.8% and 25.0% were recorded for LF and TF respectively, while VF, GF and AF had 11.1 and 10.0% respectively. Salmonella isolates showed high rates of resistance (51-100%) against nitrofurantoin, ampicillin, tetracycline and ceftriazole, while moderate rates (31-50%) were recorded for chloramphenicol, oxfloxacin and cotrimoxazole. Low resistance rates (1-30%) were on the other hand recorded against ciprofloxacin and amoxycillin clavulanate (Augumentine), whereas zero resistance was demonstrated against pefloxacin, gentamycin, streptomycin and nalidixic. Commercial feeds form important channels for the dissemination of multi-drug resistant salmonella in Imo State, Nigeria.
The Equity-like Behaviour of Sovereign Bonds December 2014

Using a rich dataset of high frequency historical information we study the determinants of European sovereign bond returns over calm and crisis periods. We find that the importance of the equity risk factor varies greatly over time and crucially depends on country risk. In low risk countries, government bond returns are negatively related to equity returns, regardless of market conditions. Investors appear to migrate from low risk government bonds to stocks in calm periods and in the opposite direction when markets are under stress. On the other hand, government bonds of high risk countries lose their “safe-asset” status and exhibit more equitylike behaviour during the sovereign debt crisis, with positive and strongly significant comovements relative to the stock market. Interestingly, this segmentation of the government bond market results in higher diversification benefits for fixed income investors and pension funds in periods of sovereign stress.
The effect of marked hyperventilation upon tissue levels of NADH, lactate, pyruvate, phosphocreatine, and adenosine phosphates of rat brain.

In order to study the effect of pronounced hyperventilation upon the redox state of brain tissue rats were hyperventilated with air and measurements were made of the cortical level of NADH, using the microfluorometric method of Chance. Control measurements were made of the tissue concentrations of lactate, pyruvate, ATP, ADP, AMP, and phosphocreatine during and after the hyperventilation. It was found that when the rats were hyperventilated to arterial pCO2 levels below about 20 mm Hg, the NADH fluorescence invariably increased. Although part of this increase may represent a hemodynamic artefact due to a decrease in the tissue blood volume, a large part of it should represent a true reduction in the NADH/NAD+ system. With hyperventilations of this degree there was a proportionally larger increase in lactate than in pyruvate and thus an increased lactate/pyruvate ratio, but there were no changes in phosphocreatine, or in adenosine phosphates, except for a small but significant increase in the AMP concentration. The NADH increase during hyperventilation was slightly decreased when pure oxygen was administered and completely normalized when 3–5 % CO2 was given. The experiments thus strongly suggest an increased reduction in the NADH/NAD+ system of the brain during pronounced hyperventilation.
Influence of schematic network topology models over real physical networks

Network planning methods are evolving to a more automated procedure for designing high investment networks. This automated procedure focuses on the optimization of the economical investment and reliability of the network system. For these purposes, models of networks are used and integrated to be able to compare different potential solutions for a certain region in a fast but efficient way. In this work, the goal is to contribute to this model definition by analyzing the relation between schematic network models with real physical implementations. This study establishes some of the approximations to predict the length of the network when implemented as regular topologies before applying any of the planning procedures. These approximations will reduce the resources and time consuming of topology decision being able to focus on the digging planning optimization by discarding the potentially bad option for a given region.
Understanding the sex ratio in India: A simulation approach

The highly masculine sex ratio in India has increased substantially in the twentieth century, in contrast to most other countries in the world. Competing arguments alternatively posit underenumeration, highly masculine sex ratios at birth, or excess female mortality throughout the life course as the factors underlying the level of the overall sex ratio; these arguments have not been resolved. Based on population projections that simulate population dynamics, our findings show that small differences in mortality at young ages, persisting over a long period, as well as a sex ratio at birth of 106 males per 100 females, result in a highly masculine population sex ratio.
The effect of sucrose or starch‐based diet on short‐chain fatty acids and faecal microflora in rats

An investigation was carried out to determine whether variations of dietary carbohydrates could modify the colonic flora in rats. Sprague‐Dawley rats were fed with two equicaloric diets based on the AIN‐76 diet ( American Institute of Nutrition 1977 ) but differing from that diet in content of carbohydrates, i.e. high sucrose (64%) or high corn starch (64%). Feeding was continued for 9 months ad libitum and no variation in weight gain was recorded among the different diets. A prevalence of aerobes, and a significant reduction in the ratio anaerobes/aerobes in the faeces of rats on the high starch diet compared with the high sucrose diet, was observed. The anaerobe genera identified included Actinomyces, Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Clostridium, Eubacterium, Lactobacillus and Propionibacterium. Bacteroides was the most prevalent genus in both dietary groups (51·2 and 29·5% in the faeces of rats fed the sucrose and starch diets, respectively). In contrast, clostridia were prevalent in the starch‐fed group (23·8%) and less so in the sucrose diet (11·5%), as propionibacteria were prevalent in faeces of rats fed the starch diet (15·5%), and low in the sucrose diet (3·9%). The remaining genera were scarce in faeces from rats on either diet. Total short‐chain fatty acids (SCFA) were significantly higher in the faeces of animals fed the starch diet compared with those fed the sucrose diet. The relative concentrations of acetic, propionic and butyric acids were not significantly different between the two dietary groups. In conclusion, high starch diet can markedly modify the composition of faecal flora and alter considerably the faecal concentration of SCFAs, compounds which might have a health‐promoting effect.
Inhibitors of retrovirus infection are secreted by several hamster cell lines and are also present in hamster sera

We have previously shown that Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are resistant to infection by gibbon ape leukemia virus and amphotropic pseudotype retroviral vectors because of the secretion of factors that inhibit retrovirus infection. Such factors were not secreted by any mouse or human cell lines tested. Secretion of the inhibitors and resistance to infection are abrogated by treatment of CHO cells with the glycosylation inhibitor tunicamycin. Here we show that the inhibitory activities against gibbon ape leukemia virus and amphotropic viruses are partially separable and that glycosylation mutations in CHO cells mimic the effects of tunicamycin treatment. We find that several hamster cell lines derived from both Chinese and Syrian hamsters secrete inhibitors of retrovirus infection, showing that these inhibitors are not unique to the CHO cell line. Inhibitory factors are also present in the sera of Chinese and Syrian hamsters but were not detected in bovine serum. These results suggest the presence of specific factors that function to inhibit retrovirus infection in hamsters.
Improving packet predictability of scalable network-on-chip designs without priority pre-emptive arbitration

The quest for improving processing power and efficiency is spawning research into many-core systems with hundreds or thousands of cores. With communication being forecast as the foremost performance bottleneck, Network-on-Chips are the favoured communication infrastructure in the context mainly due to reasons like scalability and power efficiency. However, contention between non-preemptive NoC packets can result in variation in packet latencies thus potentially limiting the overall utilisation of the many-core system. Typical latency predictability enhancement techniques like Virtual Channels or Time Division Multiplexing are usually hardware expensive or non-scalable or both. This research explores the use of dynamic and scalable techniques in Network-on-Chip routers to improve packet predictability by countering Head-of-line blocking (blocked low priority packet blocking a high priority packet) and tailbacking (low priority packet utilising the link that is required by a high priority packet) of non-preemptive packets. The Priority forwarding and tunnelling technique introduced is designed to detect Head-of-line blocking situations so that its internal arbitration parameters can be altered (by forwarding packet parameters down the line) to resolve such issues. The Selective packet splitting technique presented allows resolution of tailbacking by emulating the effect of preemption of packets (by splitting packets) by using a low overhead alternative that manipulates packets. Finally, the thesis presents an architecture that allows the routers to have a notion of timeliness in data packets thus enabling packet arbitration based on application-supplied priority and timeliness thus improving the quality of service given to lower priority packets. Furthermore, the techniques presented in the thesis do not require additional hardware with the increase in size of the NoC. This enables the techniques to be scalable, as the size of the NoC or the number of packet priorities the NoC has to handle does not affect the functionality and operation of the techniques.
Ideologically Illogical?: Why Do the Lower-Educated Dutch Display so Little Value Coherence?

In studies of mass ideology, it is often found that political values are ordered two-dimensionally among the public at large. In a first economic dimension, equality is contested; in a second cultural one, individual freedom is contested. While this general rule of two-dimensionality applies to the public at large, there are large differences between educational categories. While two-dimensionality is found for the lower educated, the higher educated order their values along a single dimension and hence show more value coherence. Using a recent Dutch national survey, we show that these differences between the higher and the lower educated cannot be explained by differences in political competence. Instead, a combination of cultural and economic insecurity is responsible for the lower levels of value coherence among the lower educated.
Disclosure of University Websites. Evidence from Italian Data

Universities are required to gain a competitive advantage in recruiting students and obtaining funds. The Bologna Declaration has emphasised this process, highlighting both the need to improve quality as well as the importance of providing information to stakeholders. The paper focuses on the information requirements, with the aim of analysing the disclosure of information by Italian universities through their websites. We have calculated both a global disclosure index and different partial disclosure indices relating to the areas of interest of the main stakeholders: the study reveals that Italian universities achieve a satisfactory rate in disclosing information relating to research and teaching activities. We have also performed a disclosure determinant analysis in order to investigate the reasons why some universities disclose more or less information than others: complexity and social responsibility are the factors that affect the disclosure level the most. Our paper deals with public universities, focusing on information disclosed via websites while previous literature has mainly analysed private entities dealing with information disclosed through financial statements.
Radiographic demonstration of myocardial penetration by permanent endocardial pacemakers.

Abstract The epicardial fat defines the limit of the myocardium. It can be regularly visualized using image intensification and recorded on spot-films obtained by a special technique. The relationship between the electrode of the transvenous pacemaker and the epicardial fat indicates the relationship between the electrode and the myocardium. If the separation is less than 3 mm, penetration has occurred. Of 33 patients examined, 11 demonstrated some degree of penetration.
Bacteraemia during Direct Laryngoscopy and Endotracheal Intubation: A Study Using a Multiple Culture, Large Volume Technique

Bacteraemia secondary to orotracheal intubation has been reported to occur in 0-5.3% of patients. Bacteraemia detection is dependent upon several factors including the volume of blood per culture and the number of cultures. Prior studies used small volumes of blood and one or two cultures, and may therefore have underestimated the incidence of bacteraemia. Sixty-two adult patients who underwent direct laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation were studied. Baseline blood cultures were sterile in all patients. After intubation, four blood cultures were obtained in ten minutes, with 10 ml being evenly divided between aerobic and anaerobic media. Two patients (3.2%) became bacteraemic. This is a lower incidence than occurs in association with other procedures for which The American Heart Association does not recommend administration of prophylactic antibiotics. Therefore, prophylactic antibiotics are not recommended prior to direct laryngoscopy. However, when a prophylactic antibiotic is administered prior to surgery, it would be best to administer the antibiotic prior to direct laryngoscopy and intubation.
Chemoprevention of Adenocarcinoma Associated with Barrett’s Esophagus: Potential Options

Barrett’s esophagus (BE) is established as the primary precursor lesion of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). The risk of esophageal cancer is 30–125 times greater compared to an age-matched population and survival rates are low, with only 15% of patients being alive 5 years after initial diagnosis. Therefore, surveillance strategies in BE are recommended to detect intraepithelial neoplasia and early carcinoma which in turn can be resected using endoscopic methods. Nevertheless, surveillance strategies have not had a major benefit in decreasing the incidence of EAC. Thus, attention should also be given to potential targets for prevention strategies that might arrest or delay the progression of BE to EAC. This article focuses on known and postulated targets for prevention of distal esophageal cancer.
Possible relationship of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 with diabetic nephropathy.

BACKGROUND Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a specific chemokine to recruit and activate monocytes from the circulation to inflammatory site. In diabetic nephropathy, similar to other glomerulonephropathies, infiltration and activation of monocytes/macrophages in glomerulus have been implicated in the development of glomerular injury. The aim of the present study was to examine a possible relationship of MCP-1 with diabetic nephropathy and to investigate the role of glycated albumin (Gly-Alb) as well as high concentration of glucose (HG) on MCP-1 production by cultured human mesangial cells. METHODS MCP-1 in serum or urine and urinary albumin (Alb) as well as several clinical parameters such as plasma glucose, serum Gly-Alb, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were measured after overnight fasting in 16 control subjects and 54 diabetic patients. The relationships between the levels of urinary Alb and urinary or serum MCP-1 and also between the values of respective clinical parameter and urinary MCP-1 levels were analyzed. Next, using cultured human mesangial cells, we investigated the role of Gly-Alb and/or HG on the gene and protein expression of MCP-1. RESULTS Urinary levels (ng/g creatinine), but not serum levels, of MCP-1 increased in accordance with the extent of albuminuria. In all subjects, there were significant correlations between the urinary levels of Alb and MCP-1 (r = 0.746, P < 0.0001) and between the levels of serum Gly-Alb and urinary MCP-1 (r = 0.475, P < 0.0001). In cultured human mesangial cells, the gene and protein expression of MCP-1 was dose and time dependently up-regulated by Gly-Alb. HG slightly but significantly stimulated MCP-1 expression. The combination of Gly-Alb and HG showed the greatest stimulation in more than an additive manner on MCP-1 production. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that facilitated MCP-1 production by mesangial cells in diabetic milieu contributes to the initiation and progression of diabetic nephropathy.
Biomechanical Testing of Posterior Atlantoaxial Fixation Techniques

Study Design. An in vitro biomechanical study of C1–C2 posterior fusion techniques was conducted using a cadaveric model. Objective. To investigate and compare the acute stability afforded by a novel rod-based construct that uses direct polyaxial screw fixation to C1 and C2 with contemporary transarticular screw and wire techniques. Summary and Background Data. Acute stability of the atlantoaxial complex is required to achieve bony consolidation. Various forms of posterior wiring were the first standardized procedures advocated to achieve C1–C2 fixation, but because of insufficient construct stability, these techniques have been coupled with transarticular screw fixation. Significant technical difficulties, however, including the possibility of neurovascular compromise during implantation are associated with transarticular screw placement. A novel technique that uses direct polyaxial screw fixation to C1 and C2 and bilateral longitudinal rods was developed recently. However, there are no published reports detailing the biomechanical characteristics of this new construct. Methods. In this study, 10 fresh-frozen human cadaveric cervical spines with occiput (C0–C4) were used. Osteoligamentous specimens were tested in their intact condition after destabilization via odontoidectomy, and after two different Gallie wiring techniques. Each specimen was assigned to one of the two screw fixation groups. Five specimens were implanted with the polyaxial screw–rod construct and tested. The remaining five specimens were tested after application of bilateral C1–C2 transarticular screws with Gallie wiring (Magerl–Gallie technique). Pure-moment loading, up to 1.5 Nm in flexion and extension, right and left lateral bending and right and left axial rotation, was applied to the occiput, and relative intervertebral rotations were determined using stereophotogrammetry (motion analysis system). Range of motion data for all fixation scenarios were normalized to the destabilized case, and statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance with Fisher’s least significant difference PLSD post hoc test for multiple comparisons. Results. The data indicate that destabilization via odontoidectomy significantly increased C1–C2 motion. Both screw techniques significantly decreased motion, as compared with both Gallie wiring methods in lateral bending and axial rotation (P < 0.02 for all) and tended toward reduced motion in flexion–extension. There was no statistically significant difference between the two screw techniques. Conclusions. The results clearly indicate the screw–rod system’s equivalence in reducing relative atlantoaxial motion in a severely destabilized upper cervical spine, as compared with the transarticular screw–wiring construct. These findings mirror the previously reported clinical results attained using this new screw–rod construct. Thus, the decision to use either screw construct should be based on safety considerations rather than acute stability.
Could BEACOPP Be the New Standard for the Treatment of Advanced Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL)?

In 1992, the German Hodgkin Study Group (GHSG) developed the BEACOPP regimen for further improving the outcome of patients with advanced Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). Since then, BEACOPP has been introduced in 3 different prospective randomized clinical trials of the GHSG to find an equilibrium between maximal efficacy and least toxicity with the BEACOPP principle for the treatment of advanced stage HL. In the HD9 trial of the GHSG, with 1,186 patients, after a median observation time (mot) of 7 years, the rates for freedom from treatment failure (FFTF) are 85 percent, and for overall survival (OS) 90 percent for dose-escalated BEACOPP, and for COPP/ABVD (C/ABVD comparable to ABVD) the rate for FFTF is 67 percent, and for OS it is 79 percent. These superior BEACOPP results are obtained inspite of a higher rate of secondary AML/MDS in the esc. BEACOPP arm. The number of toxic deaths during treatment, however, was lower for esc. BEACOPP (1.6 percent) than for C/ABVD (1.8 percent). The majority of patients were treated in outpatient setting, in a multicenter study with more than 400 centers, including 120 private doctors, in Germany and 9 other European countries. The reduce acute and longterm toxicity, the GHSG started in the consecutive studies HD12 and HD15 for advanced stage HL to de-escalate BEACOPP by reducing the number of escalated BEACOPP cycles and by applying the baseline-dose BEACOPP, a time-dense regimen, called BEACOPP-14. The excellent results obtained with the BEACOPP principle challenge the seemingly global consensus that ABVD is the gold standard treatment strategy for advanced stage HL.