Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Metabolism of Neuronal Iron and Its Pathogenic Role in Neurological Disease: Review

Abstract: Neurons need iron, which is reflected in their expression of the transferrin receptor. The concurrent expression of the ferrous iron transporter, divalent metal transporter I (DMT1), in neurons suggests that the internalization of transferrin is followed by detachment of iron within recycling endosomes and transport into the cytosol via DMT1. To enable DMT1‐mediated export of iron from the endosome to the cytosol, ferric iron must be reduced to its ferrous form, which could be mediated by a ferric reductase. The presence of nontransferrin‐bound iron in brain extracellular fluids suggests that neurons can also take up iron in a transferrin‐free form. Neurons are thought to be devoid of ferritin in many brain regions in which there is an association between iron accumulation and cellular damage, for example, neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta. The general lack of ferritin together with the prevailing expression of the transferrin receptor indicates that iron acquired by activity of transferrin receptors is directed toward immediate use in relevant metabolic processes, is exported, or is incorporated into complexes other than ferritin. Iron has long been considered to play a significant role in exacerbating degradation processes in brain tissue subjected to acute damage and neurodegenerative disorders. In brain ischemia, the damaging role of iron may depend on the inhibition of detoxifying enzymes responsible for catalyzing the oxidation of ferrous iron. Brain ischemia may also lead to an increase in iron supply to neurons as transferrin receptor expression by brain capillary endothelial cells is increased. Pharmacological blockage of the transferrin receptor/DMT1‐mediated uptake could be a target to prevent further iron uptake. In chronic neurodegenerative settings, a deleterious role of iron is suggested since cases of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease have a significantly higher accumulation of iron in affected regions. Dopaminergic neurons are rich in neuromelanin, shown to be more redox‐active in Parkinson's disease cases. Iron‐containing inflammatory cells may, however, account for the main portion of iron present in neurodegenerative disorders. More knowledge about iron metabolism in normal and diseased neurons is warranted as this may identify pharmaceutical targets to improve neuronal iron management.
Experiment design-based regularization technique for radar imagery

One of the critical elements in the radar imagery in scattering natural media (turbulent atmosphere) is the problem of developing the system-oriented statistical signal processing techniques exploiting in some optimal way all the available "degrees of freedom" of the image formation method. Control of these degrees of freedom is the hope for solving many existing algorithm design and system-level problems that cause the ill-posed nature of the radar image formation and restoration tasks. We address a new approach to radar imaging (RI) problems stated and treated as ill-posed problems of restoring the extended object power scattering function by processing the data signals distorted in a stochastic measurement channel. We exploit the idea of combining/fusing the experiment design and descriptive regularization theory methods for inverse problems solution. The developed RI algorithms are illustrated with the simulation results.
Policies, Customer-Supplier Relationships and Information Systems and Technologies in the Purchasing Function and Their Impacts on Purchasing and Supply Chain Management Performance

This research focused on the impacts of purchasing policies, customer-supplier relationships and purchasing-related information systems and technologies on the performance of purchasing and supply chain management in Chinese manufacturing. This research surveyed 384 purchasing staff in Chinese manufacturing enterprises and of these, 124 have offered usable responses. As the results shown, there are positive, significant impacts of purchasing policies, customer-supplier relationships, purchasing-related information systems and technologies on the purchasing and supply chain management performance. "customer-supplier relationships" has the greatest impact on purchasing and supply chain management performance followed by "purchasing-related information systems and technologies" and "purchasing policies".
Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) cell penetrating peptide (CPP) conjugates as carriers for cellular delivery of antisense oligomers

We have explored the merits of a novel delivery strategy for the antisense oligomers based on cell penetrating peptide (CPP) conjugated to a carrier PNA with sequence complementary to part of the antisense oligomer. The effect of these carrier CPP-PNAs was evaluated by using antisense PNA targeting splicing correction of the mutated luciferase gene in the HeLa pLuc705 cell line, reporting cellular (nuclear) uptake of the antisense PNA via luciferase activity measurement. Carrier CPP-PNA constructs were studied in terms of construct modification (with octaarginine and/or decanoic acid) and carrier PNA length (to adjust binding affinity). In general, the carrier CPP-PNA constructs including the ones with decanoyl modification provided significant increase of the activity of unmodified antisense PNA as well as of antisense octaarginine-PNA conjugates. Antisense activity, and by inference cellular delivery, of unmodified antisense PNA was enhanced at least 20-fold at 6 μM upon the complexation with an equimolar amount of nonamer carrier decanoyl-CPP-PNA (Deca-cPNA1(9)-(D-Arg)8). The antisense activity of a CPP-PNA ((D-Arg)8-asPNA) (at 2 μM) was improved 6-fold and 8-fold by a heptamer carrier CPP-PNA (cPNA1(7)-(D-Arg)8) and hexamer carrier decanoyl-CPP-PNA (Deca-cPNA1(6)-(D-Arg)8), respectively, without showing significant additional cellular toxicity. Most interestingly, the activity reached the same level obtained by enhancement with endosomolytic chloroquine (CQ) treatment, suggesting that the carrier might facilitate endosomal escape. Furthermore, 50% downregulation of luciferase expression at 60 nM siRNA was obtained using this carrier CPP-PNA delivery strategy (with CQ co-treatment) for a single stranded antisense RNA targeting normal luciferase mRNA. These results indicated that CPP-PNA carriers may be used as effective cellular delivery vectors for different types of antisense oligomers and also allows use of combinations of (at least two) different CPP ligands.
Association of participation in the supplemental nutrition assistance program and psychological distress.

OBJECTIVES We assessed whether households' participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was associated with improvements in well-being, as indicated by lower rates of psychological distress. METHODS We used longitudinal data for 3146 households in 30 states, collected between October 2011 and September 2012 for the SNAP Food Security survey, the largest longitudinal national survey of SNAP participants to date. Analyses compared households within days of program entry to the same households approximately 6 months later. We measured psychological distress in the past 30 days on a 6-item Kessler screening scale and used multivariable regression to estimate associations between SNAP participation and psychological distress. RESULTS A smaller percentage of household heads exhibited psychological distress after 6 months of participation in SNAP than at baseline (15.3% vs 23.2%; difference = -7.9%). In adjusted models, SNAP participation was associated with a decrease in psychological distress (adjusted relative risk = 0.72; 95% confidence interval = 0.66, 0.78). CONCLUSIONS Continuing support for federal nutrition programs, such as SNAP, may reduce the public health burden of mental illness, thus improving well-being among vulnerable populations.
Industry diversity, competition and firm relatedness: the impact on employment before and after the 2008 global financial crisis

ABSTRACT Industry diversity, competition and firm relatedness: the impact on employment before and after the 2008 global financial crisis. Regional Studies. This study investigates the extent to which indicators of external-scale economies impacted employment growth in Canada over the period 2004–11. It focuses on knowledge spillovers between firms while accounting for Marshallian specialization, Jacobs’ diversity and competition by industry, as well as related and unrelated firm varieties in terms of employment and sales. It is found that the employment growth effects of local competition and diversity are positive, while the effect of Marshallian specialization is negative. Diversification is found to be particularly important for employment growth during the global financial crisis and immediately thereafter.
Know Your Industry: The Implications of Using Static Gics Classifications in Financial Research

Researchers commonly use industry classifications as a means of identifying peer companies to use as a performance benchmark. We describe the structure of commonly used sources of industry classification data available for Australian listed companies, both static and in time series. Next, we run a series of experiments matching firms according to GICS classification data presented in time series versus static data sources. Our results indicate that performance measures are better specified when matching on GICS data from a dynamic relative to a static source. The results of our power tests also underscore the importance of using dynamic industry data.
Acute intoxication of four individuals following use of the synthetic cannabinoid MAB-CHMINACA

Abstract Context: The largest group of new psychoactive substances (NPS) are synthetic cannabinoids (SC). Those that become controlled are immediately replaced by new uncontrolled substances. The recent resurgence of the NPS market in Poland resulted in a further amendment to the Drug Addiction Counteraction Act. This resulted in significant changes in the composition of “legal high” preparations, and consequently a large outbreak of intoxications with SC was reported in Poland at the beginning of July 2015. Case details: This paper describes the circumstances of intoxication and toxicological findings in an acute intoxication of four individuals with MAB-CHMINACA. They each smoked tobacco mixed with powder from the package with the description “AM-2201”. The adverse effects observed in the individuals included vomiting, seizures, limb twisting, muscle tremors, aggression, agitation, slurred speech, blood pressure spikes, wheezing, respiratory failure and losses of consciousness. Blood samples were analysed using liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. Results from analysis performed on the blood samples showed the presence of MAB-CHMINACA, while AM-2201 was not found (LOD 0.09 ng/mL). The determined concentrations were 5.2, 1.3, 1.7 and 14.6 ng/mL, respectively. The analyses of the blood did not reveal any other substances (excluding medicines given in hospital). Conclusion: The presented cases show the health risks associated with MAB-CHMINACA use and confirm that “legal high” preparations do not always contain a substance represented on the package.
Between media and politics : can government press officers hold the line in the age of 'political spin'? : the case of the UK after 1997

The aim of this study is to use the concept of ‘mediatization’ to inform a critical, grounded and fine-grained empirical analysis of the institutional dynamics that operate at the interface between government and the media in a liberal democracy. This thesis applies a novel theoretical and empirical approach to the familiar narrative of ‘political spin’, challenging the common assumption that government communications is either a neutral professional function, or an inherently unethical form of distorted communication. In May 1997, Labour came into power on a landslide, bringing into government its 24/7 strategic communications operation, determined to neutralise what it saw as the default right-wing bias of the national media. In the process, the rules of engagement between government and the media were transformed, undermining the resilience of government communications and unleashing a wave of resistance and response. Much academic attention to date has focused on party political news management, while the larger but less visible civil service media operation remains relatively un-examined and undertheorised, although some northern European scholars are exploring mediatization from within public bureaucracies. This study takes a qualitative approach to analyzing change between 1997 and 2014, through 16 in-depth interviews with former, largely middle-ranking, departmental government communicators, most of whom had performed media relations roles. This was a group of civil servants that had spent their working lives in close proximity to ministers during a time of rapidly increasing media scrutiny. These witness accounts were augmented by interviews with six journalists and three politically-appointed special advisers, together with a systematic analysis of key contemporary and archival documents. The aim was to provide insights into change over time within a shared policy and representational space that is theorised here as the ‘cross-field’, where media act as a catalyst for the concentration of political power. What can and does government communication in its current form contribute to the democratic ideal of the informed citizen?
Cystic hygroma‐lymphangioma: A rare and still unclear entity

Hygroma cysticum coli or cystic hygroma remains a complex entity in terms of its development and management. Most recently, cystic hygroma has been categorized as part of a larger spectrum that includes lymphangiomas. The majority of lymph‐angiomas occur in the head and neck as cystic hygromas with the posterior cervical region as the most common site. Since its original description, there have been many attempts at treatment modalities: Surgical excision remains the treatment of choice.
Effects of sex and inclusion of dried distillers grains with solubles on slaughter yield and meat characteristics of Pekin ducks

1. The effects of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) dietary inclusion concentration, and sex, on body weight, slaughter efficiency and meat characteristics of Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos f. domestica, strain P55) were studied. 2. Sexed ducklings (n = 160) were divided randomly into 4 groups (each with 4 replicates). From d 1 to d 21, all the birds received the same commercial feed, then from 22 to 49 d of age the ducks were fed in the following groups: control (commercial feed) and three experimental groups (15%, 25% and 30% inclusion of DDGS). All ducks were weighed individually at d 1, 21 and 49. On the day of slaughter, 5 males and 5 females, of body weight close to the average weight for group and sex, were selected from each group, slaughtered and the following parameters were evaluated: slaughter yield, weight, and percentage of particular elements of carcase, physical and chemical characteristics of meat. 3. The results obtained showed that DDGS included from 22 to 49 d of rearing, at concentrations up to 30%, in a commercial Pekin duck diet did not affect the live body weight, slaughter yield, weight, and percentage of breast and leg muscle, skin with subcutaneous fat, and abdominal fat. There were no differences in physical characteristics (pH15, pH24, meat colour values L*, a*and b*, and hygroscopicity) of breast muscle, as well as in cholesterol content. DDGS addition at 30% significantly increased fat content in male, and crude protein in female, breast meat. Sex effect was observed only in a few traits and was diet dependent. Final body weight of females fed 30% DDGS was significantly lower than males; in the control and 15% DDGS group females had higher percentage of skin with subcutaneous fat. 4. The results obtained, and relative costs of feeds produced, allows the recommendation of DDGS addition at up to 30% to commercial Pekin duck diets from 22 d of age.
Comparison of Various Business Cycle Models for Pakistan

In this paper, we compare the performance of different models, on two data frequencies, in terms of matching the business cycle moments of Pakistani economy. Out of the four models, two are simple real business cycle models for Pakistan introduced in Choudhary and Pasha (2013), and the other two are benchmark models [Aguiar and Gopinath (2007) and Garcia-Cicco et al. (2010)] from the literature for explaining the business cycles in emerging and developing economies. This paper calibrate these models for Pakistan and evaluate their performance in terms of matching second order moments from the actual data at both annual and quarterly frequency. We find that even though no single model is able to match all the relevant moments for all the important macroeconomic variables at both frequencies, the augmented RBC model with FDI shock (Choudhary and Pasha, 2013) performs relatively better. [SBP Working Paper Series No.89].
The effect of imiquimod on taste bud calcium transients and transmitter secretion

Imiquimod is an immunomodulator approved for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma and has adverse side effects, including taste disturbances. Paracrine transmission, representing cell–cell communication within taste buds, has the potential to shape the final signals that taste buds transmit to the brain. Here, we tested the underlying assumption that imiquimod modifies taste transmitter secretion in taste buds of mice.
A Mimic of p21WAF1/CIP1 Ameliorates Murine Lupus1

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a progressive autoimmune disease characterized by the production of high levels of affinity-matured IgG autoantibodies to dsDNA and, possibly, visceral involvement. Pathogenic autoantibodies result from the activation and proliferation of autoreactive T and B lymphocytes stimulated by epitopes borne by nucleosomal histones. To inhibit the proliferation of autoreactive cells and abrogate the development of SLE, a novel tool, cell cycle inhibiting peptide therapy, was used. Thus, a peptidyl mimic of p21WAF1/CIP1 that inhibits the interaction between cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and type D cyclins abrogated the in vitro proliferative response of T cells to histones and T-independent and T-dependent proliferative responses of B cells. The WAF1/CIP1 mimic also abrogated the in vitro production of total and anti-dsDNA IgG Abs by B cells. Similarly, the p21WAF1/CIP1 construct inhibited the ex vivo T and B cell proliferative responses to histones and decreased the numbers of activated/memory B and T spleen cells. The alterations in the balance of spleen cell subsets resulted from proapoptotic effects of the p21WAF1/CIP1 construct on activated splenocytes. Finally, in vivo, four i.v. injections of the p21WAF1/CIP1 mimic were sufficient to inhibit the progression of the lupus-like syndrome in (NZB × NZW)F1 mice. The levels of anti-dsDNA IgG autoantibodies and the incidence and severity of renal involvement were lower in treated mice than in nontreated mice. Those observations open new avenues for the treatment of SLE and prompt us to evaluate the potential interest of peptidic therapy in human SLE.
USE OF SEROLOGY AND BACTERIAL CULTURE TO DETERMINE PREVALENCE OF BRUCELLA SPP. IN FERAL SWINE (SUS SCROFA) IN PROXIMITY TO A BEEF CATTLE HERD POSITIVE FOR BRUCELLA SUIS AND BRUCELLA ABORTUS

Using serology and bacterial culture, we determined the prevalence of Brucella spp. and the antibody to Brucella spp. in a feral swine (Sus scrofa) population in proximity to a cattle herd that was culture positive for Brucella abortus and Brucella suis in north-central Texas, USA. During a prospective cross-sectional quantitative study in April 2005, we collected blood and tissue samples from 40 feral swine within a 30-km radius of the infected herd. Serum samples were tested by the Rose Bengal test, particle concentration fluorescence immunoassay, and fluorescence polarization assay. In addition, tissue samples were cultured, and the Brucella species and biovar determined. Four feral swine were Brucella positive by serology, and two were culture positive for B. suis biovar 1. Of the culture-positive swine, one was concurrently antibody and culture positive, and one was culture positive only. The presumptive source of the B. suis infection in the index cattle herd was likely the surrounding feral swine population. Because B. abortus was not cultured from the feral swine, it is unlikely that the source of the B. abortus infection in the index herd originated from the feral swine. Endemic diseases in feral swine populations can pose a disease threat to livestock and a zoonotic risk to humans.
The XVth World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics, October 7–11, 2007: Rapporteur summaries of oral presentations

The World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG) has become an annual event since the early 1990's sponsored by the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics (ISPG). Each year the latest published and unpublished findings are aired for discussion by representatives of the majority of research programs on this topic world‐wide. The 2007 congress was held in New York City and attracted over 1000 researchers. The topics emphasized included results from whole genome association studies, the significance of copy number variation and the important contributions of epigenetic events to psychiatric disorders. There were over 20 oral sessions devoted to these and other topics of interest. Young investigator recipients of travel awards served as rapporteurs to summarize sessions and these summaries follow.
Interdependence of movement and anatomy persists when amputees learn a physiologically impossible movement of their phantom limb

The feeling we have of our own body, sometimes called “body image,” is fundamental to self-awareness. However, by altering sensory input, the body image can be modified into impossible configurations. Can impossible movements of the body image be conjured solely via internally generated mechanisms, and, if so, do the structural characteristics of the body image modify to accommodate the new movements? We encouraged seven amputees with a vivid phantom arm to learn to perform a phantom wrist movement that defied normal anatomical constraints. Four reported success. Learning the impossible movement coincided in time with a profound change in the body image of the arm, including a sense of ownership and agency over a modified wrist joint. Remarkably, some previous movements and functional tasks involving the phantom arm became more difficult once the shift in body image had occurred. Crucially, these introspective reports were corroborated by robust empirical data from motor imagery tasks, about which amputees were naïve and to which assessors were blind. These results provide evidence that: a completely novel body image can be constructed solely by internally generated mechanisms; that the interdependence between movement repertoire and structural constraints of the body persists even when the structural constraints imparted by the body do not—the body image we construct still constrains imagined movements; and that motor learning does not necessarily need sensory feedback from the body or external feedback about task performance.