Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuromyelitis optica unique area postrema lesions

Objective: To characterize the neuropathologic features of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) at the medullary floor of the fourth ventricle and area postrema. Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) autoimmunity targets this region, resulting in intractable nausea associated with vomiting or hiccups in NMO. Methods: This neuropathologic study was performed on archival brainstem tissue from 15 patients with NMO, 5 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and 8 neurologically normal subjects. Logistic regression was used to evaluate whether the presence of lesions at this level increased the odds of a patient with NMO having an episode of nausea/vomiting. Results: Six patients with NMO (40%), but no patients with MS or normal controls, exhibited unilateral or bilateral lesions involving the area postrema and the medullary floor of the fourth ventricle. These lesions were characterized by tissue rarefaction, blood vessel thickening, no obvious neuronal or axonal pathology, and preservation of myelin in the subependymal medullary tegmentum. AQP4 immunoreactivity was lost or markedly reduced in all 6 cases, with moderate to marked perivascular and parenchymal lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrates, prominent microglial activation, and in 3 cases, eosinophils. Complement deposition in astrocytes, macrophages, and/or perivascularly, and a prominent astroglial reaction were also present. The odds of nausea/vomiting being documented clinically was 16-fold greater in NMO cases with area postrema lesions (95% confidence interval 1.43–437, p = 0.02). Conclusions: These neuropathologic findings suggest the area postrema may be a selective target of the disease process in NMO, and are compatible with clinical reports of nausea and vomiting preceding episodes of optic neuritis and transverse myelitis or being the heralding symptom of NMO.
The Efficacy of Casual Videogame Play in Reducing Clinical Depression: A Randomized Controlled Study.

BACKGROUND Depression is a debilitating illness that is estimated to affect more than 300 million people worldwide. Although there has been some success in treatment of this illness with pharmaceuticals and behavioral techniques like cognitive behavioral therapy, these are often costly and have stigma associated with them. The purpose of this study was to test whether a prescribed regimen of casual videogame (CVG) play could reduce symptoms associated with depression. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Participants were screened for depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). They were then randomized into the control (n=29) or experimental (n=30) group. Experimental participants were prescribed to play CVGs three times per week (with 24 hours between each session), for 30 minutes, over a 1-month period. Control participants surfed the National Institute of Mental Health's Web page on depression. The instrument used to test the hypothesis was the PHQ-9. RESULTS Repeated-measures statistical analyses revealed there was a significant interaction of group and time, supporting the hypothesis that the groups would be different after the intervention. Moreover, when data were compared using tests of within-subjects contrasts between baseline (Time 1) and the end of the 1-month study (Time 3), we found significant decreases in depression symptoms in the experimental group. When this was compared with the control group changes, the results were still significant. CONCLUSIONS We found that a prescribed regimen of playing CVGs significantly reduced symptoms of clinical depression as measured by the PHQ-9. Clinicians should consider these low-cost CVGs as a possible intervention to address psychological and somatic symptoms associated with depression.
A mycoplasma high‐affinity transport system and the in vitro invasiveness of mouse sarcoma cells.

FS9 mouse sarcoma cells were previously shown to be highly invasive when confronted with chicken heart fibroblasts using Abercrombie's confronted explant technique. This invasion could be inhibited by addition to the assay of Fab fragments of a monoclonal antibody directed against p37, a protein associated with the surface of FS9 cells. We have cloned and sequenced the gene for p37. We show that it originates from Mycoplasma hyorhinis and that UGA is a tryptophan codon in this organism. We present evidence that the p37 gene is part of an operon encoding two additional proteins which are highly similar to components of the periplasmic binding‐protein‐dependent transport systems of Gram‐negative bacteria, and we suggest that p37 is part of a homologous, high‐affinity transport system in M. hyorhinis, a Gram‐positive bacterium. We discuss the influence of p37 and M. hyorhinis on contact inhibition of locomotion of mammalian cells.
Evidence of an increasing prevalence of diagnosed diabetes mellitus in the Poole area from 1983 to 1996

This study examined the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes mellitus in a defined population over 13 years by undertaking cross‐sectional surveys on 3 occasions between 1983 and 1996. The study population consisted of all the people registered with 10 general (primary care) practices at the time of each survey; 90 660 in 1983/4; 97 122 in 1988/9; and 86 287 in 1996. Ascertainment of cases was by a surveillance programme in general practice and the hospital diabetes department. The number of diabetic patients increased significantly over the study period: in 1983/4, there were 917 patients, crude prevalence 1.01 % (95 % CI 0.95–1.08 %); in 1988/9, 1150 patients, crude prevalence 1.17 % (1.12–1.25 %); and in 1996, 1604 patients, crude prevalence 1.86 % (1.77–1.95 %). The prevalence adjusted to the age and sex distribution of the UK was 0.97 % (95 % CI 0.90–1.03 %) in 1983/4, 1.05 % (0.99–1.11 %) in 1988/9 and 1.55 % (1.48–1.63 %) in 1996. The main increase in prevalence was due to Type 2 diabetes mellitus, crude prevalence 0.75 % (95 % CI 0.69–0.81 %) in 1983/4, 0.92 % (0.86–0.98 %) in 1988/9 and 1.52 % (1.44–1.60 %) in 1996 rather than Type 1 diabetes mellitus, crude prevalence 0.25 % (0.21–0.28 %) in 1983/4, 0.25 % (0.22–0.28 %) in 1988/9 and 0.34 % (0.30–0.38 %) in 1996. During the study period, the crude prevalence of diagnosed diabetes was significantly greater in men than women; in 1983/4 men 1.1 % (95 % CI 1.00–1.20 %) versus women 0.93 % (0.84–1.02 %); in 1988/9, men 1.31 % (1.21–1.41 %) versus women 1.07 % (0.98–1.16 %); and in 1996, men 2.13 % (2.00–2.27 %) versus women 1.60 % (1.49–1.72 %). This difference was statistically significant in the 1988/9 and 1996 surveys. In conclusion, over 13 years there was a significant increase of 83.6 % in the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes mellitus in the Poole area, with the UK age and sex adjusted prevalence increasing by 60.7 %. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Shift in the localization of sites of hydrogen peroxide production in brain mitochondria by mitochondrial stress

We have determined the underlying sites of H2O2 generation by isolated rat brain mitochondria and how these can shift depending on the presence of respiratory substrates, electron transport chain modulators and exposure to stressors. H2O2 production was determined using the fluorogenic Amplex red and peroxidase system. H2O2 production was higher when succinate was used as a respiratory substrate than with another FAD‐dependent substrate, α‐glycerophosphate, or with the NAD‐dependent substrates, glutamate/malate. Depolarization by the uncoupler p‐trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone decreased H2O2 production stimulated by all respiratory substrates. H2O2 production supported by succinate during reverse transfer of electrons was decreased by inhibitors of complex I (rotenone and diphenyleneiodonium) whereas in glutamate/malate‐oxidizing mitochondria diphenyleneiodonium decreased while rotenone increased H2O2 generation. The complex III inhibitors antimycin and myxothiazol decreased succinate‐induced H2O2 production but stimulated H2O2 production in glutamate/malate‐oxidizing mitochondria. Antimycin and myxothiazol also increased H2O2 production in mitochondria using α‐glycerophosphate as a respiratory substrate. In substrate/inhibitor experiments maximal stimulation of H2O2 production by complex I was observed with the α‐glycerophosphate/antimycin combination. In addition, three forms of in vitro mitochondrial stress were studied: Ca2+ overload, cold storage for more than 24 h and cytochrome c depletion. In each case we observed (i) a decrease in succinate‐supported H2O2 production by complex I and an increase in succinate‐supported H2O2 production by complex III, (ii) increased glutamate/malate‐induced H2O2 generation by complex I and (iii) increased α‐glycerophosphate‐supported H2O2 generation by complex III. Our results suggest that all three forms of mitochondrial stress resulted in similar shifts in the localization of sites of H2O2 generation and that, in both normal and stressed states, the level and location of H2O2 production depend on the predominant energetic substrate.
Adopting and Measuring Customer Service Quality (SQ) in Islamic Banks : A Case Study in Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB)

The operation of Islamic banks is derived from the Islamic Law and thus differs in spirit, cultural background and practice relative to conventional bank operations. Because of the strong competition, customer expectation to receive high quality services and quick changes of technology, Islamic banks must therefore strategically think of ways to provide high quality products and services to satisfy their customers. This study indicates that it is important for Islamic banks to put cultural differences at the front when adopting SQ, and using a new model to measure SQ called CARTER, which is based on 35 items. The study shows significant validity for all CARTER items that have appeared in both important items’ weights and percentages.
Nonlinear Links between Stock Returns and Exchange Rate Movements

Empirical evidence suggests that the link between exchange rate movements and stock returns may be nonlinear. This evidence could reflect fundamental economic effects like, for example, transaction costs in international goods market arbitrage. It could also reflect market inefficiencies if investors could exploit the nonlinearity to systematically improve the performance of simple trading rules. Using monthly data for major North-American and European industrial countries for the period 1973-2006, we found that it would have been difficult for an investor to use information on nonlinearities to improve the performance of a simple trading rule based on out-of-sample forecasts of stock returns.
Childhood predictors of self reported chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis in adults: national birth cohort study

Abstract Objective To study childhood risk factors for chronic fatigue syndrome in adult life. Design Examination of data from the 1970 British birth cohort. Participants 16 567 babies born 5-11 April 1970, followed up at 5, 10, 16, and 29-30 years. Main outcome measures Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) identified by self report at age 30 years. Data from childhood from questionnaires given to parents and teachers. Maternal mental health assessed with the malaise inventory. Results 93 (0.8%, 95% confidence interval 0.7 to 1.0) of 11 261 participants reported ever having CFS/ME, and 48 (0.4%, 0.3 to 0.6) had the condition currently. Higher risk of CFS/ME was associated with having a limiting longstanding condition in childhood (odds ratio 2.3, 1.4 to 3.9), female sex (2.3, 1.4 to 2.6), and high social class in childhood (2.2, 1.4 to 3.5). Higher levels of exercise in childhood were associated with lower risk (0.5, 0.2 to 0.9). Maternal psychological disorder, psychological problems in childhood, birth weight, birth order, atopy, obesity, school absence, academic ability, and parental illness were not associated with risk of CFS/ME. Conclusions We identified no association between maternal or child psychological distress, academic ability, parental illness, atopy, or birth order and increasing risk of lifetime CFS/ME. Sedentary behaviour increased the risk.
A Portable Anaerobic Microbioreactor Reveals Optimum Growth Conditions for the Methanogen Methanosaeta concilii

ABSTRACT Conventional studies of the optimum growth conditions for methanogens (methane-producing, obligate anaerobic archaea) are typically conducted with serum bottles or bioreactors. The use of microfluidics to culture methanogens allows direct microscopic observations of the time-integrated response of growth. Here, we developed a microbioreactor (μBR) with ∼1-μl microchannels to study some optimum growth conditions for the methanogen Methanosaeta concilii. The μBR is contained in an anaerobic chamber specifically designed to place it directly onto an inverted light microscope stage while maintaining a N2-CO2 environment. The methanogen was cultured for months inside microchannels of different widths. Channel width was manipulated to create various fluid velocities, allowing the direct study of the behavior and responses of M. concilii to various shear stresses and revealing an optimum shear level of ∼20 to 35 μPa. Gradients in a single microchannel were then used to find an optimum pH level of 7.6 and an optimum total NH4-N concentration of less than 1,100 mg/liter (<47 mg/liter as free NH3-N) for M. concilii under conditions of the previously determined ideal shear stress and pH and at a temperature of 35°C.
Defective hematopoietic stem cell and lymphoid progenitor development in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome: potential role of oxidative stress.

AIMS Down Syndrome (DS), a genetic disease caused by a triplication of chromosome 21, is characterized by increased markers of oxidative stress. In addition to cognitive defects, patients with DS also display hematologic disorders and increased incidence of infections and leukemia. Using the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS, the goal of this study was to examine hematopoietic stem and lymphoid progenitor cell function in DS. RESULTS Analysis of hematopoietic progenitor populations showed that Ts65Dn mice possessed fewer functional hematopoietic stem cells and a significantly decreased percentage of bone marrow lymphoid progenitors. Increased reactive oxygen species and markers of oxidative stress were detected in hematopoietic stem cell populations and were associated with a loss of quiescence. Bone marrow progenitor populations expressed diminished levels of the IL-7Rα chain, which was associated with decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis. Modulating oxidative stress in vitro suggested that oxidative stress selectively leads to decreased IL-7Rα expression, and inhibits the survival of IL-7Rα-expressing hematopoietic progenitors, potentially linking increased reactive oxygen species and immunopathology. INNOVATION The study results identify a link between oxidative stress and diminished IL-7Rα expression and function. Further, the data suggest that this decrease in IL-7Rα is associated with defective hematopoietic development in Down Syndrome. CONCLUSION The data suggest that hematopoietic stem and lymphoid progenitor cell defects underlie immune dysfunction in DS and that increased oxidative stress and reduced cytokine signaling may alter hematologic development in Ts65Dn mice.
The innovation landscape for public service organizations

[About the book] How are public service organizations governed? How can their performance be measured, managed and improved? Public services play a central role in the well-being, sustainability and growth of communities, cities and nations. Managing to Improve Public Services shows how management can be harnessed to improve a range of public services (e.g. policing, health, local government) by examining them through different theoretical lenses (e.g. governance, innovation and change, performance metrics and management). It advances both theory and practice, beyond traditional public administration and 'new public management', by considering the interrelationships between governance and public management.
Intelligence and the developing human brain

Determining the brain properties that make people ‘brainier’ has moved well beyond early demonstrations that increasing intelligence correlates with increasing grey and white matter volumes. Both structural and functional in vivo neuroimaging techniques delineate a distributed network of brain regions, perhaps with a focus in the lateral prefrontal cortex, which varies in extent and connectivity with individual differences in intelligence. Longitudinal studies further show that the neuroanatomic correlates of intelligence are dynamic, changing most rapidly in early childhood. Several promising candidate genes affecting neuronal development and neurotransmission have been proposed that might begin to explain the marked genetic overlap between cortical morphology and intelligence. A major future challenge is to determine the cellular events that underpin the neuroanatomic differences correlated with intelligence. BioEssays 29:962–973, 2007. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Obesity and Mortality in Persons with Obstructive Lung Disease Using Data from the NHANES III

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between obesity and all-cause mortality among participants with obstructive lung disease in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). Methods: Public data from a retrospective cohort of the 33,994 participants in NHANES III was analyzed to determine the relationship between obesity and all-cause mortality among participants with obstructive lung disease. Results were analyzed using proportional hazard models and controlled for age, sex, race, smoking status, current oral corticosteroid use, and severity of airway obstruction. Secondary analysis considered time until death from respiratory disease or time until death from chronic lower respiratory disease (excluding asthma). Results: The subset used in the analysis consisted of 2439 persons with 844 documented deaths. Extreme obesity (body mass index [BMI] >40) was significantly associated with increased respiratory disease mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 5.78; 95% confidence interval {CI} [1.09 to 30.61]) and chronic lower respiratory disease mortality (HR 13.69; 95% CI [1.45 to 129.29]). In addition, underweight status (BMI <18.5) was significantly associated with increased all-cause mortality (HR 2.42; 95% CI [1.31 to 4.46]), respiratory disease mortality (HR 7.10; 95% CI [1.94 to 26.00]) and chronic lower respiratory disease mortality (HR 14.80; 95% CI [2.24 to 97.99]). Conclusion: Underweight adults had increased risk of death from all causes and respiratory conditions, compared to class I obese adults. Extreme obesity was associated with increased risk of death from respiratory conditions, but not all-cause mortality. Additional research is needed to explain the complex relationship between BMI and specific causes of mortality in the context of pulmonary disease.
Bias and Conflict

Human reasoning has been characterized as often biased, heuristic, and illogical. In this article, I consider recent findings establishing that, despite the widespread bias and logical errors, people at least implicitly detect that their heuristic response conflicts with traditional normative considerations. I propose that this conflict sensitivity calls for the postulation of logical and probabilistic knowledge that is intuitive and that is activated automatically when people engage in a reasoning task. I sketch the basic characteristics of these intuitions and point to implications for ongoing debates in the field.
The Effect of Regulation and Goal Orientation on Performance Measurement Utilisation: Evidence from Indonesian Local Governments

This study examines how regulation of performance measurement and goal orientation affects the utilisation of performance measurement in the context of a developing country’s local governments. This study is based on a cross-sectional survey participated by 163 managers of local government agencies in East Java, Indonesia, using a structural approach in data analysis. The results show that the imposition of regulation on performance measurement directly affects performance measurement adoption. The adoption of performance measurement and goal orientation mediate the relation between the regulation and the actual implementation of performance measurement. The likelihood of the actual implementation of performance measurement becomes stronger when there is strong goal orientation. The unique contribution of this study is that it offers a model of regulatory-based performance measurement utilisation under result-based management from a developing country’s perspective, depicting that imposed regulation on performance measurement will likely lead to its actual implementation when there is strong goal orientation.Keywords: Goal Orientation, Performance Measurement, Regulation, Results–Based ManagementJEL Classification: M48
Management Sales Forecasts and Firm Market Power

We investigate whether a firm’s market power within its product market affects management sales forecast behavior. Our examination of the relation between market power and management sales forecasts is motivated by the notion that sales forecasts differ from other types of forecasts because sales forecasts provide investors and competitors with a more transparent signal of a firm’s short-term demand expectations and its immediate actions in the product market than other forecasts. Thus, we first provide evidence consistent with sales forecasts containing unique information about future sales and evidence consistent with this information being related to competitor pricing and output decisions. We then find evidence that higher market power, proxied by excess margin, is associated with a higher likelihood of issuing sales forecasts after controlling for industry-level competition effects and earnings forecast behavior. Overall, our findings are consistent with higher-market-power firms being more willing to publicly disclose sales forecast information.
Psychologica l Bul le t in MOVEMENT CONTROL IN SKILLED MOTOR PERFORMANCE

The speed and accuracy of single movements depend on several factors, such as direction of movement, distance to the target, and accompaniment by simultaneous movements. The relation between speed, accuracy, and distance appears to be determined by the time required to process feedback and to make corrective alterations in the movement. For a repetitive series of movements, there is some evidence suggesting that control is shifted from feedback to a motor program. This view receives further support from demonstrations that the reproduction of single movements may be under programmed control. How the study of movements may be relevant to understanding perceptual and memory skills, as well as motor skills, is briefly mentioned.
Production, Purification and Characterization of a novel L-asparaginase from Acinetobacter baumannii with anticancerous activity

L-asparaginase is an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of L-asparagine to L-aspartate and ammonia. The important application of the L-asparaginase enzyme in using it as chemotherapeutic for its anticarcinogenic potential . In the present study a novel strain, AcinetobacterbaumanniiR7 was explored for the production of extra- cellular L- asparaginase . This enzyme was purified by single chromatography step to homogenicity with a recovery yield of 77% and 92.9 fold of purification by using isopropanol (1:2) and CM-Sephadex C-50 chromatography. The enzyme appeared as a single protein band on SDS-PAGE gel with a molecular mass corresponding to 160 kDa. The Purified enzyme does not possess any glutaminase activity. The Kmwas calculated as 22 mg/ml and Vmaxas 625 U/mg of protein using L- asparagine as substrate. L-asparaginase purified from AcinetobacterbaumanniiR7 at a concentration of 0.2 mg/ml showed better toxicity on OAW-42 cell line (59 and 51 % survival) for 24 and 48 h, respectively, in comparison with controls, and this result led to increase the benefit by using the enzyme for the treatment of human ovarian cancer.