Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms after a Terrorist Attack: A Network Approach

Background: Posttraumatic stress symptoms are more prevalent in women than in men. To improve our understanding of gender differences in PTSD, detailed knowledge about the underlying symptom networks and gender specific symptom profiles is needed. Objective: We aimed to describe the gender differences in levels of individual posttraumatic stress symptoms after a terrorist attack, as well as identify possible gender differences in associations between posttraumatic stress symptoms. Method: This study used survey data from ministerial employees directly (n = 190) and indirectly (n = 1,615) exposed to the 2011 Oslo bombing. Data was collected approximately 10 months after the event. In order to investigate gender differences in levels of symptoms, we used bootstrapped means and standard deviations. Network analyses were conducted to identify gender differences in the associations between posttraumatic stress symptoms. Results: Women reported higher levels of all symptoms, and the strongest effect sizes were found for symptoms of re-experiencing, and anxious and dysphoric arousal. Among individuals with considerable levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms, women reported higher levels of physiological cue activity and exaggerated startle response. No significant gender differences in the networks of posttraumatic stress were found. Conclusions: The present results find no indication that the gender difference in prevalence of PTSD can be explained by differences in associations between symptoms. In order to determine if this finding can be applied to other participants and circumstances, future studies should seek to replicate this study in both community and clinical samples.
Distribution of Oxytocin‐ and Vasopressin‐Immunoreactive Neurons in the Brain of the Eusocial Mole Rat (Fukomys anselli)

Fukomys anselli, also known as Ansell's mole rat, is a subterranean, highly social (so‐called eusocial) rodent that lives in Africa. These mole rats typically form multigenerational families consisting of a single monogamous breeding pair and their nonreproductive offspring. Research on other mammals suggests that oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (VP) as well as the distribution of OT‐ and VP‐receptors may influence social behavior and pair bonding. Recent studies on eusocial naked mole rats have shown a possible relation between sociality and OT‐immunoreactive (OT‐ir) processes. In this study, we examined expression patterns of OT and VP in the brains of F. anselli and the common Sprague‐Dawley (SD) laboratory rat. As in other species, the majority of OT‐ir and VP‐ir neurons was found in the paraventricular (Pa) and supraoptic (SO) nuclei, and scattered labeling throughout the preoptic and anterior hypothalamic areas. We found no difference in either quality or quantity of OT‐ and VP‐ir neurons between individuals of different social and reproductive ranks. Equally unexpected was the finding of specific OT‐immunoreactivity in neurons of the mammillary complex of F. anselli that was not found in SD rats. Further studies are needed to determine whether these mammillary OT‐ir neurons are causally related to monogamy in F. anselli and whether these correlates of monogamy are found in other species. Anat Rec, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
DETERMINATION OF SIFIs (SYSTEMATICALLY IMPORTANT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS) AMONG INDONESIAN BANKS USING NETWORK ANALYSIS APPROACH

This study aims to measuring systemic risks using network analysis method to obtain the SIFI rating of Indonesian banks. We analyze the systemic risk implied in the Indonesian interbank network during the period from 2011 through 2015 based on various network measures such degree centrality and betweenness centrality. The main findings are as follows: First, interconnectedness in the interbank market increased. However, a significantly different condition was found in 2013, in which the interconnectedness in the interbank market went downwards compared to the previous year. Second, the degree centrality score showed that government-owned and national private banks tend to be in-degree while foreign private banks tend to be out-degree. Third, there was no bank that consistently continued to have a high betweeness centrality score during the study period.
Positive Thinking and Social Perceptions of a Male vs. Female Peer’s Cancer Experience

ABSTRACT Positive thinking (PT; i.e., sustaining positive thoughts and suppressing negative thoughts to “fight” cancer) is often equated with direct control over one’s cancer trajectory. It was determined whether PT exposure enhanced the effort, control, and responsibility attributions ascribed to a peer for his/her cancer trajectory, and whether those ascriptions varied as a function of the peer’s or participant’s gender. Within a hypothetical online blog, a peer described a personal experience with bone cancer. Undergraduate participants (N = 630) were randomly administered one of 12 experimental conditions that varied in terms of the peer’s gender, PT exposure, and cancer outcome. MANCOVA results indicated that PT exposure enhanced the effort, control, and responsibility attributions assigned to the peer for an unsuccessful cancer outcome, regardless of the peer’s or participant’s gender. Moreover, the male peer was perceived as more accountable for still having cancer but the female peer received more “credit” for being cancer-free. The notion of PT may contribute to overestimating cancer patients’ personal influence over their disease trajectory and social perceptions of successful or unsuccessful cancer outcomes vary as a function of the patient’s gender.
Fetuin-A serum concentrations in healthy children

Background Serum fetuin-A has been shown to be a strong risk marker for myocardial infarction/stroke in the general population, and has been associated with vascular calcifications in patients with chronic kidney disease. Although these issues are worthy of being addressed in children and adolescents as well, adequate age- and gender-related reference values are missing. Method Within a healthy paediatric population (n = 246), fetuin-A serum concentrations were determined (ELISA kit; Epitope Diagnostics, San Diego, CA, USA) essentially as described by the manufacturer. At the same time, serum protein and serum albumin were measured with established procedures (Beckman Coulter Inc., Krefeld, Germany). Subjects were stratified according to age (<1 yr [n = 25], ≥1 and <6 yr [n = 65], ≥6 and <12 yr [n = 66], ≥12 yr and <16 [n = 45] and ≥16 yr [n = 45]), and both genders were equally distributed within each age cohort. Results Within each age cohort, fetuin-A serum concentrations were normally distributed, independent of age and gender and the respective reference range (mean ± 1.96 SD) is 0.22–0.70 g/L (0.46 ± 0.24 g/L). Conclusion Fetuin-A serum concentrations are independent of age and gender in a healthy paediatric population and are well comparable with those determined in adults with the same assay.
A Comparison of Approaches to Deflating Telecoms Services Output

The telecommunications services industry has experienced very large technological progress in the past decades, as measured by technological output metrics. However, the industry’s economic output statistics do not appear to reflect this. Between 2010 and 2015, for example, data usage in the UK expanded by around 900% but real Gross Value Added (GVA) for the industry fell by 4%. While the direction of growth in Telecoms GVA is not the same for all countries, there nonetheless appears to be a wider disconnect between the technological performance and economic measurement of the industry in the UK. This paper argues this can be primarily resolved through strengthening the deflators that are applied to nominal output to produce real GVA. This paper contrasts two methodologically distinct options to estimate the potential bias in the current deflator, informed by both an economic and engineering perspective. Our findings indicate that the current deflator is upward biased and that telecommunications services prices could have fallen between 35% and 90% between 2010 and 2015, considerably more than the current deflator, suggesting the need for continued research in this area.
First-line use of contact aspiration for thrombectomy versus a stent retriever for recanalization in acute cerebral infarction: The randomized ASTER study protocol

Rationale Mechanical thrombectomy with a stent retriever is now the standard of care in anterior circulation ischemic stroke caused by large vessel occlusion. New techniques for mechanical thrombectomy, such as contact aspiration, appear promising to increase reperfusion status and improve clinical outcome. Aim We aim at ascertaining whether contact aspiration is more efficient than the stent retriever as a first-line endovascular procedure. Sample size estimates With a two-sided test (alpha = 5%, power = 90%) and an anticipated rate of spontaneous recanalization and catheterization failures of 15%, we estimate that a sample size of 380 patients will be necessary to detect an absolute difference of 15% in primary outcome (superiority design). Methods and design The ASTER trial is a prospective, randomized, multicenter, controlled, open-label, blinded end-point clinical trial. Patients admitted with suspected ischemic anterior circulation stroke secondary to large vessel occlusion, with onset of symptoms <6 h, will be randomly assigned to contact aspiration or stent retriever in a 1:1 ratio; stratified by center and prior IV thrombolysis. If the assigned treatment technique is not successful after three attempts, another technique will be applied, at the operator’s discretion. Study outcomes The primary outcome will be successful recanalization (modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score 2b–3) at the end of the endovascular procedures. Secondary outcome will include successful recanalization after the assigned first-line treatment technique alone, procedural times, the need for a rescue technique, complications and modified Rankin Scale at three months. Discussion No previous head to head randomized trials have directly compared contact aspiration versus stent retriever reperfusion techniques. This prospective trial aims to provide further evidence of benefit of contact aspiration versus stent retriever techniques among patients with ischemic stroke.
Differential Restoration of Myeloid and Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells in HIV-1-Infected Children after Treatment with Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy1

Numerical and functional deficits in myeloid (mDC) and plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) subsets have been found in both adult and pediatric HIV-1 carriers. Whether these impaired DC subsets can be restored after treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is currently unknown, especially in HIV-1-infected children. In this report, we characterized mDC and pDC subsets in 18 HIV-1-infected children who received HAART treatment and compared them with those in 6 untreated HIV-1-infected children and 27 HIV-1-uninfected healthy children. Among children treated with HAART, 11 were found to suppress HIV-1 replication successfully below the detection limit (HAART-suppressed group) while the remaining 7 failed (HAART-failure group). In HAART-suppressed children, a gradual and complete restoration of the frequency and function of mDCs was observed while the recovery of pDCs was only partial. However, mDC and pDC subsets in HARRT failure children were indistinguishable from the HAART-naive infected children. We also found that mDC frequency and IFN-α-releasing capacity of pDC positively correlated with CD4 T cell percentages in all HIV-1-infected children. In HAART-naive children, the mDC frequency correlated the HIV-1-specific CTL frequency. Our findings suggest that HAART has a differential impact on the restoration of mDC and pDC subsets. These findings may help guide the development of HIV-1-specific immune therapy aimed at fully restoring host immune function in chronically HIV-1-infected children.
[Thyroid disorders in diabetic patients].

OBJECTIVE To evaluate thyroid function and morphology in all diabetic outpatients from our institution. METHODS From 1996 to 1998, all diabetic patients were submitted to thyroid ultrasonography (US) and serum measurement of free T4, TSH, TPOAB, and TRAb. The control group, encompassing outpatients of the same hospital without diabetes and thyroid diseases, was submitted to the same evaluation. A patient was shown to have thyroid disorder when two or more measurements were altered, or when the US was abnormal. RESULTS The diabetic patients (n= 256) differed from controls (n= 75) by presenting a greater frequency of thyroid disorders (51.6% vs. 38.7%; P<0.05). In patients with thyroid disorders, both groups did not differ regarding thyroid function. In diabetic patients with thyroid disorders there was a higher frequency of women, type 2 diabetes, and family history of thyroid disorders. CONCLUSIONS The high prevalence of thyroid disorders in the diabetic population leads us to recommend thyroid evaluations in all diabetic patients.
CARMEN - Comparative Analysis and in silico Reconstruction of organism-specific MEtabolic Networks.

New sequencing technologies provide ultra-fast access to novel microbial genome data. For their interpretation, an efficient bioinformatics pipeline that facilitates in silico reconstruction of metabolic networks is highly desirable. The software tool CARMEN performs in silico reconstruction of metabolic networks to interpret genome data in a functional context. CARMEN supports the visualization of automatically derived metabolic networks based on pathway information from the KEGG database or from user-defined SBML templates; this software also enables comparative genomics. The reconstructed networks are stored in standardized SBML format. We demonstrated the functionality of CARMEN with a major application example focusing on the reconstruction of glycolysis and related metabolic reactions of Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris B100. The curation of such pathways facilitates enhanced visualization of experimental results, simulations and comparative genomics. A second application of this software was performed on a set of corynebacteria to compare and to visualize their carbohydrate metabolism. In conclusion, using CARMEN, we developed highly automated data analysis software that rapidly converts sequence data into new knowledge, replacing the time-consuming manual reconstruction of metabolic networks. This tool is particularly useful for obtaining an overview of newly sequenced genomes and their metabolic blueprints and for comparative genome analysis. The generated pathways provide automated access to modeling and simulation tools that are compliant with the SBML standard. A user-friendly web interface of CARMEN is available at http://carmen.cebitec. uni-bielefeld.de.
Acidic pH enhancement of the fusion of Newcastle disease virus with cultured cells.

Fusion of the lentogenic strain "Clone 30" of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) with the cell line COS-7 has been studied. Fusion was monitored using the octadecylrhodamine B chloride dequenching assay [Hoekstra, D. , de Boer, T. , Klappe, K. and Wilschut, J. (1984). Biochemistry 23, 5675-5681]. In the present work, fusion of NDV with COS-7 cells was found to occur in a time- and temperature-dependent fashion. Significant dequenching of the probe occurred at temperatures higher than 28 degrees C. A 20-fold excess of unlabeled virus inhibited fusion by about 53% compared with the control, whereas 62% inhibition of fusion was obtained after digestion of viral glycoproteins with trypsin. The data are discussed in terms of the nonfusion transfer of the probe. In addition, preincubation of cells with 50 mM ammonium chloride or 0.1% sodium azide prevented NDV from fusing with COS-7 cells by about 30% in comparison with the control. The cytopathic effect of NDV infection in cell culture in the presence of ammonium chloride was reduced compared with control. Moreover, viral preincubation at pH 5 yielded a mild inhibition of fusogenic activity. Our results suggest that NDV may use the endocytic pathway as a complementary way of entering cells by direct fusion with the plasma membrane.
Molecular evidence for a link between the N363S glucocorticoid receptor polymorphism and altered gene expression.

CONTEXT A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the human glucocorticoid receptor (hGR) N363S (rs6195) has been the focus of several clinical studies, and some epidemiological data link this SNP to increased glucocorticoid sensitivity, coronary artery disease, and increased body mass index. However, molecular studies in vitro using reporter gene expression systems have failed, for the most part, to define a link between this polymorphism and altered glucocorticoid receptor function. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to address the biological relevancy of N363S SNP in GR function by establishing stable U-2 OS (human osteosarcoma) cell lines expressing wild-type hGR or N363S and examining these receptors under a variety of conditions that probe for GR activity including human gene microarray analysis. DESIGN Functional assays with reporter gene systems, Western blotting, and human microarray analysis were used to evaluate the activity of wild-type and N363S GR in both transiently and stably expressing cells. In addition, quantitative RT-PCR was used to confirm the microarray analysis. RESULTS Functional assays with reporter gene systems and homologous down-regulation revealed only minor differences between the wild-type hGR and N363S receptors in both transiently and stably expressing cell lines. However, examination of the two receptors by human gene microarray analysis revealed a unique gene expression profile for N363S. CONCLUSIONS These studies demonstrate that the N363S SNP regulates a novel set of genes with several of the regulated genes supporting a potential role for this GR polymorphism in human diseases.
Characterization of the pharmacology of intrathecally administered alpha-2 agonists and antagonists in rats.

To examine the pharmacology of the spinal alpha receptor which modulates nociceptive transmission, the antinociceptive effects (52.5 degrees C hot plate; HP) of three i.t. administered alpha-2-preferring agonists [dexmedetomidine (DMET); clonidine (CLON) and ST-91] were determined. The antagonist potency of atipamezole (ATI), idazoxan (IDAZ), yohimbine (YOH) and prazosin (PRA), adrenergic antagonists with differing alpha-2-preferring profiles, were then examined for each of the three agonists. The three agonists produced a dose-dependent block of the HP response with the ED50 and the dose which was just maximally effective being DMET (3.2 and 10 micrograms); CLON (27 and 100 micrograms) and ST-91 (6.1 and 20 micrograms). After determining the time of peak antagonist effect, studies were run in which the just maximally effective dose of each agonist was given in conjunction with one of several doses of the several antagonists. The rank order of potency (and ID50 in microgram) for the several antagonists against each of the three agonists was: DMET = [IDAZ (1.9); ATI (4.1); YOH (70); PRA (greater than 100)]; CLON = [ATI (2.7); IDAZ (23); YOH (52); PRA (greater than 100)]; ST-91 = [PRA (38); YOH (69); ATI (greater than 100); IDAZ (greater than 100)]; where antagonists joined by a common line display overlapping 95% confidence intervals and greater than (greater than) indicates failure to achieve a 50% reversal at the highest antagonist dose. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Efficiency of insurance companies in the Czech Republic and Poland

Research background: The insurance market is an important part of the financial system. The international concept of insurance operations brings certainty and helps to balance the economic results. Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper is to compare the efficiency of life insurance of commercial insurance companies in the Czech Republic and Poland using the Data Envelopment Analysis model (DEA). Methods: The methods used in the paper are descriptive statistics, DEA model and Tobit regression model. DEA models are nonparametric quantitative models for efficiency assessment. They use linear programming to transform multiple inputs into multiple outputs. The efficiency of the subjects analyzed is assessed based on the efficiency scores. Findings & Value added: The subject of our analysis was 17 commercial insurance companies in the Czech Republic and 26 commercial insurance companies in Poland. Ten insurance companies were efficient on the common Czech-Polish insurance market. The share of efficient insurance companies was approximately equal. The arithmetic mean of the efficiency scores was higher in Poland than in the Czech Republic. The variability of the efficiency scores of Czech insurance companies was greater than the variability of the efficiency scores of Polish insurance companies. The correlations with efficiency score as the dependent variable and with market share as the independent variable of Tobit regression were very low.
The impact of ractopamine, energy intake, and dietary fat on finisher pig growth performance and carcass merit.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of ractopamine, energy intake, dietary fat level, and sex on performance and carcass composition in finishing pigs. Three hundred six barrows and gilts were used in a factorial arrangement of treatments replicated over three seasons. Treatments consisted of two ractopamine levels (0 vs 44.7 mg/d), two sexes (barrows and gilts), two levels of fat addition (0 vs 5% added fat), and four energy intake levels (8.3, 8.9, 9.5, and 10.1 Mcal of ME/d for barrows and 7.7, 8.3, 8.9, and 9.5 Mcal of ME/d for gilts). Diets were formulated to maintain an equal lysine (28.5 g/d) intake at each feeding level through cornstarch dilution of the basal (7.7 Mcal of ME/d) diets. Pigs were fed daily based on a standard feed intake curve and prior weekly body weights. At slaughter (104 kg), carcass measurements and TOBEC HA-1 scanner measurements were recorded. Dietary fat addition improved live weight and lean efficiency (grams of carcass lean gain/kilogram of feed, P < .05). Dietary fat addition did not affect growth rate or carcass composition. Increasing energy intake resulted in a linear increase in average daily gain for both barrows and gilts (P < .01). Dietary ractopamine influenced the response of lean tissue accretion, lean tissue accretion efficiency, and fat tissue accretion to energy intake. Pigs with no added ractopamine demonstrated increased lean tissue accretion and improved efficiency and decreased fat tissue accretion with increasing energy intake (up to 9.5 Mcal of ME intake for barrows and 8.9 Mcal of ME intake for gilts). In contrast, pigs with added ractopamine did not respond to increasing energy intake and demonstrated increased fat tissue accretion with increasing energy intake. The response to ractopamine for growth was greatest from d 6 to 22 on test or during the test gain period of 7 to 18 kg. After d 22, the response of ractopamine declined linearly. These results indicate that ractopamine increases growth rapidly at the onset of feeding until a plateau is reached, after which there is a linear decline in growth response.