Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of the instructor's pointing gestures on learning performance in video lectures

Recent research on video lectures has indicated that the instructor's pointing gestures facilitate learning performance. This study examined whether the instructor's pointing gestures were superior to nonhuman cues in enhancing video lectures learning, and second, if there was a positive effect, what the underlying mechanisms of the effect might be. There were three kinds of video lectures in the study: one with the instructor's pointing gestures, one with nonhuman cues, and one without any cues. Eighty-four Chinese undergraduates were randomly assigned to view one of the three video lectures in a laboratory. As hypothesized, the results of analyses of variance showed that the instructor's pointing gestures improved learning performance more than the nonhuman cues and no-cues conditions. The pointing gestures directed the learners' visual attention to the relevant learning content of PowerPoint (PPT) slides in the video lecture. This suggests that the instructor's pointing gestures can be a valuable means to improve learning performance in video lectures, in particular PPT slides with much learning information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Active suspension controller using MPC based on a full-car model with preview information

Active suspension systems in vehicles provide the possibility to overcome the trade-off between ride comfort and handling characteristics of passive systems. Active suspensions have even greater potential if preview information of the oncoming road height profile is available. This paper presents a control strategy for vehicles with active suspensions and available preview information, which has to be obtained by a sensor mounted in front of the car. The controller is based on a full-car model. To incorporate all hard constraints on control variables, a Model Predictive Control (MPC) design scheme is applied. Since wheel dynamics are not within the bandwidth of energy-saving, low bandwidth active suspension systems, the controller is based on the idea, that only vehicle body dynamics and not wheel dynamics should explicitly considered in controller design. Accordingly the cost function of the controller considers only the minimization of vehicle body accelerations and hence the improvement of ride comfort. It is shown, that all the same, handling characteristics are also improved.
Thyroid Metastases from Renal Cell Carcinoma: Review of the Literature

The thyroid gland is a rare site of clinically detectable tumor metastasis and kidneys are frequently the site of the parent malignancy. In the present review on thyroid metastases from renal cell carcinoma, cases were searched on PubMed by entering the strings: “renal carcinoma [or“hypernephroma”] AND thyroid metastasis/metastases”. Thus, we retrieved a total of 111 cases that were published between 1964 and 2007, a total that became 113 by adding two patients observed by us. The female to male ratio was 1.35:1. The primary renal cancer was almost always unilateral (90%) (with no significant side preference) and only rarely bilateral (9% in men, 4% in women), whereas bilaterality of thyroid metastases was relatively more frequent (28%). Thyroid metastasis from renal cancer was commonly single with a unique node that appears solid and hypoechoic at ultrasonography, approximately 9 years after nephrectomy. Concordance of lateralization was insignificantly greater for the right kidney/right thyroid lobe pattern (54%) than for the left kidney/left thyroid lobe pattern (40%), regardless of gender. Finally, survival was longer for women. Thyroid metastases, even if rare in the clinical practice, must be considered in the differential diagnosis of a thyroid nodule, particularly in patients who have a history of malignancies.
Implied Cost of Capital: A Stochastic Perspective

Implied cost of capital has been a research method to measure ex-ante market risk premia using analysts' forecasts and observable share prices. Despite its theoretical appeal, commonly used firm level as well as portfolio level implied cost of capital methods reveal differing empirical results. Criticism is provided by Hughes et al. (2009) who show in their theoretical model that implied cost of capital may be misspecified up to three percent (in both directions) from the true cost of capital when considering stochastic components in the underlying valuation formulas. In this paper we develop an econometrically motivated approach for calculating company values with common discounted cash flow and residual income techniques by considering stochastic components in the cost of capital and cash flows. Therefore, we use a statistically consistent distribution for the discount factor and derive company values by integrating over their resulting skewed distributions. With this approach we are able to provide stylized facts which show a one-directional impact on company values with the capability to interpret inconsistent results from firm level as well as portfolio level implied cost of capital estimates reported by former research. In addition, our approach reveals new insights for company valuation highlighting parameters that need to be considered in future research.
Dihydromyricetin alleviates carbon tetrachloride-induced acute liver injury via JNK-dependent mechanism in mice.

AIM To assess the effects of dihydromyricetin (DHM) as a hepatoprotective candidate in reducing hepatic injury and accelerating hepatocyte proliferation after carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) treatment. METHODS C57 BL/6 mice were used in this study. Mice were orally administered with DHM (150 mg/kg) for 4 d after CCl4 treatment. Serum and liver tissue samples were collected on days 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 after CCl4 treatment. The anti-inflammatory effect of DHM was assessed directly by hepatic histology detection and indirectly by serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), albumin, and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), were detected using ELISA kits. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) staining was used to evaluate the role of DHM in promoting hepatocyte proliferation. Hepatocyte apoptosis was measured by TUNEL assay. Furthermore, apoptosis proteins Caspases-3, 6, 8, and 9 were detected by Western blot. SP600125 were used to confirm whether DHM regulated liver regeneration through JNK/TNF-α pathways. RESULTS DHM showed a strong anti-inflammatory effect on CCl4-induced liver injury in mice. DHM could significantly decrease serum ALT, AST, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α and increase serum albumin, SOD and liver SOD compared to the control group after CCl4 treatment (P < 0.05). PCNA results indicated that DHM could significantly increase the number of PCNA positive cells compared to the control (348.9 ± 56.0 vs 107.1 ± 31.4, P < 0.01). TUNEL assay showed that DHM dramatically reduced the number of apoptotic cells after CCl4 treatment compared to the control (365.4 ± 99.4 vs 90.5 ± 13.8, P < 0.01). Caspase activity detection showed that DHM could reduce the activities of Caspases- 8, 3, 6 and 9 compared to the control (P < 0.05). The results of Western blot showed that DHM increased the expression of JNK and decreased TNF-α expression. However, DHM could not affect TNF-α expression after SP600125 treatment. Furthermore, DHM could significantly improve the survival rate of acute liver failure (ALF) mice (73.3% vs 20.0%, P < 0.0001), and SP600125 could inhibit the effect of DHM. CONCLUSION These findings demonstrate that DHM alleviates CCl4-induced liver injury, suggesting that DHM is a promising candidate for reversing liver injury and ALF.
Next‐day residual effects of gabapentin, diphenhydramine, and triazolam on simulated driving performance in healthy volunteers: a phase 3, randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, crossover trial

Next‐day residual effects of a nighttime dose of gabapentin 250 mg were evaluated on simulated driving performance in healthy participants in a randomized, placebo‐controlled, double‐blind, multicenter, four‐period crossover study that included diphenhydramine citrate 76 mg and triazolam 0.5 mg.
The evolution of ribosomal DNA: divergent paralogues and phylogenetic implications.

Although nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) repeats evolve together through concerted evolution, some genomes contain a considerable diversity of paralogous rDNA. This diversity includes not only multiple functional loci but also putative pseudogenes and recombinants. We examined the occurrence of divergent paralogues and recombinants in Gossypium, Nicotiana, Tripsacum, Winteraceae, and Zea ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences. Some of the divergent paralogues are probably rDNA pseudogenes, since they have low predicted secondary structure stability, high substitution rates, and many deamination-driven substitutions at methylation sites. Under standard PCR conditions, the low stability paralogues amplified well, while many high-stability paralogues amplified poorly. Under highly denaturing PCR conditions (i.e., with dimethylsulfoxide), both low- and high-stability paralogues amplified well. We also found recombination between divergent paralogues. For phylogenetics, divergent ribosomal paralogues can aid in reconstructing ancestral states and thus serve as good outgroups. Divergent paralogues can also provide companion rDNA phylogenies. However, phylogeneticists must discriminate among families of divergent paralogues and recombinants or suffer from muddled and inaccurate organismal phylogenies.
Clinical inquiries. How reliable are self-measured blood pressures taken at home?

■ EVIDENCE-BASED ANSWER Self-measured blood pressures (SMBP) can be precise and accurate and, thus, reliably be used as an adjunct to office blood pressure measurements in selected clinical situations (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, extrapolation and limited trials). Clinicians using SMBP need to be aware of the difference in normal reference ranges, with pressures greater than 135/85 mm Hg considered hypertensive. Whether hypertensive treatment should be based primarily on SMBP is unclear, and currently undergoing study. Clinicians should recommend multiple daily measurements with a validated and standardized device, preferably equipped with memory or transmission capabilities, in order to avoid patient error in transcribing and reporting values. Wrist or finger devices cannot reliably be used (SOR: B, limited comparison studies).
Linkage on chromosome 3 of autoimmune diabetes and defective Fc receptor for IgG in NOD mice.

A congenic, non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse strain that contains a segment of chromosome 3 from the diabetes-resistant mouse strain B6.PL-Thy-1a was less susceptible to diabetes than NOD mice. A fully penetrant immunological defect also mapped to this segment, which encodes the high-affinity Fc receptor for immunoglobulin G (IgG), Fc gamma RI. The NOD Fcgr1 allele, which results in a deletion of the cytoplasmic tail, caused a 73 percent reduction in the turnover of cell surface receptor-antibody complexes. The development of congenic strains and the characterization of Mendelian traits that are specific to the disease phenotype demonstrate the feasibility of dissecting the pathophysiology of complex, non-Mendelian diseases.
Distribution of hepatitis G viremia and antibody response to recombinant proteins with special regard to risk factors in 709 patients

A new virus named hepatitis G virus (HGV) has been detected recently. Until now, no assays for the detection of antibodies against different HGV proteins have been commercially available. Therefore, a strip immunoblot assay has been established to investigate seroreactivity against recombinant structural (core) and nonstructural proteins (NS3 and NS4) of HGV produced in Escherichia coli. Seropositivity for HGV was evaluated and concordanced with HGV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results in 709 subjects. These individuals were classified into a nonrisk or a risk group, on the basis of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) or frequent parenteral exposure, including hemophilia, intravenous drug addiction, receipt of blood transfusion, or hemodialysis. The nonrisk group consisted of 257 healthy blood donors with normal alanine transaminase (ALT) levels (ALT < 30 U/L) and 154 patients with suspected non‐A‐E hepatitis (ALT > 45 U/L). In the group of healthy blood donors, 1.9% (5 of 257) had detectable HGV viremia and 15.9% (41 of 257) showed antibody response to HGV. In the collective of patients with suspected non‐A‐E hepatitis, results from 1.9% of patients (3 of 154) were positive by HGV PCR, and 15.6% of patients (24 of 154) showed seropositivity against the recombinant HGV proteins. In six groups of patients (n = 298) with different risk factors, the prevalence of both HGV viremia (V) and serological reactivity (SR) was higher compared with that of the nonrisk group: V, 6.80%‐35.2%; serological reactivity (SR), 25.4%‐52.9%. The following conclusions can be derived from our data. HGV infection is widespread in the general population. The prevalence of antibodies against HGV or detectable HGV viremia is higher in patients with risk factors for parenteral viral transmission than in those without risk factors. The majority of HGV infections (70.2%) is self‐limiting and not persistent in our collective of patients. We found no correlation between HGV viremia and clinical or biochemical signs of hepatitis in individuals without risk factors for acquiring parenterally transmitted agents.
"Cultural Racism" and Colonial Caribbean Migrants in Core Zones of the Capitalist World-Economy

This article deals with the role of what has been called the "new racism" (Barker. 1981) in the reproduction of "imagined historical borders" that excludes colonial people from access to equal rights within the core of the capitalist world-economy. Postwar Caribbean colonial migration to the metropoles provide an important experience for the examination of racial discrimination in core zones. First, they were part of a colonial labor migration to supply cheap labor in core zones during the postwar expansion of the capitalist world-economy. Secondly, they migrated as citizens of the metropole. Thirdly, they had a long colonial/racist history with the core. Fourthly, with the contraction of the capitalist world-economy after 1973, first and second generation Caribbean colonial migrants began to be excluded from the labor market. Fifthly, they have been the target of the "new racist" discourses that attempt to keep them in a subordinated position within the core zones by using "cultural racist" discourses. Given those similarities, this article attempts to answer the following questions: Why do Puerto Ricans, Surinamese, Dutch Antilleans, French Antilleans, and West Indians experience discrimination, and in many instances, marginalization despite the fact that they share metropolitan citizenship? What are the respective differences for each metropole in the discrimination and racism experienced? How does this illustrate differences among the four core states? What is the relationship between the history of empire, the narratives of the nation, and cultural racist discourses with the socio-political incorporation of Caribbean colonial subjects in the metropoles?
Induction, histogenesis, and isotransplanta bility of renal tumors induced by formic acid 2-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-triazolyl]-hydrazide in rats.

Formic acid 2-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl]hydrazide induced a high incidence of renal tumors arising in the epithelium of the proximal convoluted tubules in Sprague-Dawley male and female and Buffalo female rats. To ascertain the malignant potential of these renal tubular tumors, formic acid 2-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl] hydrazide-induced neoplasms, including cortical (tubular) adenomas, low-grade renal tubular carcinomas, and highly malignant renal tubular carcinomas (adenocarcinomas), were transplanted s.c. to weanling female Sprague-Dawley rats. Chemically induced, small, histologically benign, cortical adenomas demonstrated the same characteristics of cancer as renal tubular carcinomas after 3 serial transplantations. All histologically different tumor lines had the same latent periods, rapid growth rates, and identical histological features with high mitotic activity and extreme cellular pleomorphism when compared with the solid cellular tubular carcinomas. Thus, benign-appearing renal tubular adenomas induced by formic acid 2-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl]hydrazide possess many attributes of cancer and may indeed be regarded as carcinomas.
Dynamics of female labour force participation in France

ABSTRACT This article formulates and estimates a structural intertemporal model of labour force participation. Relying on theoretical characterizations derived from an economic model of lifetime behaviour, we estimate a dynamic probit model with correlated random effects using longitudinal data to allow for a dynamic structure. The model is applied to a panel of married women drawn from the 1997–2002 French Labour Force surveys in order to represent their participation behaviour. It is estimated by maximum simulated likelihood. Our results show that women’s decisions to go out to work are characterized by significant state dependence, unobserved heterogeneity and negative serial correlation in the transitory error component. In addition, we find that the presence of young children in a woman’s household reduces her labour participation, but unequally according to their age and number. As expected, educational level has a positive impact on women’s participation. Last, a rise in the husband’s wage is found to raise female participation initially and to lower it subsequently. This empirical finding suggests that leisure may not systematically be a normal good, contrary to what is frequently assumed in the literature.
The Myth of Unbundling the Railways in the Czech Republic

Does unbundling ensure efficient railway transportation? The separation of railway operators and infrastructure is supposed to ensure efficient railway transportation. However, the experience with the unbundling of the railway operation in the Czech Republic suggests that unbundling does not work. In this paper, we investigate the hypothesis that the Czech railways represent an example of a network industry which is more efficient when it is concentrated. Therefore, the unbundling of railways in the Czech Republic favors particular political interests instead of efficient operation. Our hypothesis is supported by the growth of per unit costs that indicates the inefficient operation of unbundled Czech railways. We also looked at the volume of subsidies and the productivity of labor which indicate the particular interests of politicians and the management of the Czech railways.
Human myogenic endothelial cells exhibit chondrogenic and osteogenic potentials at the clonal level

We have previously reported the high regenerative potential of murine muscle‐derived stem cells (mMDSCs) that are capable of differentiating into multiple mesodermal cell lineages, including myogenic, endothelial, chondrocytic, and osteoblastic cells. Recently, we described a putative human counterpart of mMDSCs, the myogenic endothelial cells (MECs), in adult human skeletal muscle, which efficiently repair/regenerate the injured and dystrophic skeletal muscle as well as the ischemic heart in animal disease models. Nevertheless it remained unclear whether human MECs, at the clonal level, preserve mMDSC‐like chondrogenic and osteogenic potentials and classic stem cell characteristics including high proliferation and resistance to stress. Herein, we demonstrated that MECs, sorted from fresh postnatal human skeletal muscle biopsies, can be grown clonally and exhibit robust resistance to oxidative stress with no tumorigeneity. MEC clones were capable of differentiating into chondrocytes and osteoblasts under inductive conditions in vitro and participated in cartilage and bone formation in vivo. Additionally, adipogenic and angiogenic potentials of clonal MECs (cMECs) were observed. Overall, our study showed that cMECs not only display typical properties of adult stem cells but also exhibit chondrogenic and osteogenic capacities in vitro and in vivo, suggesting their potential applications in articular cartilage and bone repair/regeneration. © 2013 Orthopaedic Research Society Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 31:1089–1095, 2013
Epigenetic silencing of the CIITA gene and posttranscriptional regulation of class II MHC genes in ocular melanoma cells.

PURPOSE Primary uveal melanocytes and many ocular melanoma cells are resistant to interferon (IFN)-gamma-mediated induction of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecule expression. This suppression of class II MHC induction is considered to be one of the ways in which the eye is able to inhibit inflammatory responses. However, the mechanism(s) of this suppression is unknown. In this study, we have probed the molecular basis of this phenotype and report two distinct mechanisms underlying this phenotype. METHODS Primary ocular melanocytes and ocular melanoma cell lines (retaining this IFN-gamma-resistant class II MHC phenotype) were examined for the expression of class II MHC molecules on the cell surface by flow cytometry. Class II MHC gene expression was further examined using Western blot and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses. RESULTS The IFN-gamma signal-transduction pathway was found to be intact by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and transfection of reporter constructs. The lack of class II MHC gene expression appears to result from at least two mechanisms: (1) a specific inhibition of CIITA (class II transactivator) gene expression (reminiscent of trophoblasts), and (2) posttranscriptional regulation of class II MHC genes. CONCLUSIONS The inability of primary uveal melanocytes and ocular melanoma cells to express class II MHC molecules after treatment with IFN-gamma has been found to map to two distinct points in the class II MHC biosynthetic pathway. The predominant mechanism appears to involve the silencing of the endogenous gene encoding the class II transactivator (CIITA). Here, the blockade does not involve signal transduction from the IFN-gamma receptor, but rather involves a specific silencing of the CIITA gene. A second mechanism involves the posttranscriptional regulation of class II MHC genes.
The effect of alcohol on the renal excretion of water and electrolyte.

That the ingestion of alcohol-containing beverages provokes an increased flow of urine was no doubt a matter of common observation even before Shakespeare commented upon it (1). However, the diuretic effect of alcohol is dismissed in recent textbooks (2, 3) with the statement that the increase in urinary output is largely due to the quantity of fluid imbibed with the alcohol. Although Simanowsky (4) in 1886 reported that a liter of beer provoked a greater diuretic response than a similar quantity of water, Raphael failed to confirm this a decade later (5). The matter then rested until 1910 when Mendel and Hilditch (6) administered a standardized daily diet to two volunteers and following several days of observation gave 16 ml. of 95 per cent alcohol with each meal and also at 10:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. , in each instance the alcohol being mixed with milk or water. There was no greater urine output on the alcohol than the control days. However, Miles (7) clearly demonstrated in 1922 that a single dose of 27.5 gm. of alcohol in 100 ml. of fluid definitely increased the flow of urine and similar observations are recorded in a number of studies reviewed in 1940 by Bruger (8). The diuresis has in general been ascribed to a direct action of alcohol on the kidney or its circulation. In 1938 Nicholson and Taylor (9) performed the first experiments in which excretion of electrolyte was studied in detail. They employed 136 to 161 gm. of alcohol ingested during a period of eight hours. The authors state that during the