Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endoluminal arterial injury in plasminogen-deficient mice.

BACKGROUND Vascular remodeling following arterial injury is characterized by an initial inflammatory reaction. Prior experiments using peritoneal inflammatory models have shown that the plasminogen system plays a role in the intensity of the inflammatory response. This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that an absence of plasminogen would lead to a decrease in vascular remodeling. METHODS A left carotid artery injury was created with a flexible guidewire in both wild-type [Plg(+/+)] and plasminogen deficient [Plg(-/-)] mice. The right carotid artery was uninjured and used as a control. Three weeks postinjury, the mice were sacrificed and perfusion fixed, and the bilateral carotid arteries were sectioned for histological examination and collection of morphometric data. RESULTS After arterial injury, electron microscopy of the acutely injured artery revealed that the endothelium was denuded, that there were breaks in the internal elastic membrane, and that there was disruption of the medial layer of smooth muscle cells. The intimal and medial areas were significantly increased between the uninjured and injured carotid arteries of both Plg(+/+) (+80% intimal, +41% medial, P < 0. 05) and Plg(-/-) [+48% intimal, +24% medial, P < 0.05) mice. However, although there was a significant increase in the adventitial area of Plg(+/+) mice (+18%, P < 0.05), there was no difference in Plg(-/-) mice (-6%). Interestingly, even after 3 weeks, four of six injured arteries in Plg(-/-) mice had persistent thrombus within the medial layer, whereas this was not found in any of the nine Plg(+/+) mouse arteries. DISCUSSION Plasminogen deficiency inhibited the increase in adventitial area seen after injury in Plg(+/+) mice, but not the increase in intimal or medial areas. Not surprisingly, plasminogen-deficient mice also demonstrated a severe alteration in intramural thrombus clearance. Thus, specific aspects of the vascular remodeling response are dependent on plasminogen.
Efficient online memory error assessment and circumvention for Linux with RAMpage

Memory errors are a major source of reliability problems in computer systems. Undetected errors may result in program termination or, even worse, silent data corruption. Recent studies have shown that the frequency of permanent memory errors is an order of magnitude higher than previously assumed and regularly affects everyday operation. To reduce the impact of memory errors, we designed RAMpage, a purely software-based infrastructure to assess and circumvent permanent memory errors in a running commodity x86-64 Linux-based system. We briefly describe the design and implementation of RAMpage and present new results from an extensive qualitative and quantitative evaluation. These results show the efficiency of our approach - RAMpage is able to provide a smooth graceful degradation in the presence of permanent memory errors while requiring only a small overhead in terms of CPU time, energy, and memory space.
Long-Term Treatment of Type 2 Diabetic Patients with the New Oral Antidiabetic Agent Glimepiride (Amaryl®): A Double-Blind Comparison with Glibenclamide

An international, prospective, double-blind trial compared the long-term therapeutic value of glimepiride with glibenclamide in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Patients stabilised on glibenclamide were randomised to 1 mg glimepiride (524 patients) or 2.5 mg glibenclamide (520 patients). The treatment groups were comparable at baseline with respect to age (60.2 years), body mass index (26.5 kg/m2), duration of diabetes (5.0 years) and fasting blood glucose levels (163 mg/dl [9.0 mmol/l]). Doses were increased stepwise, up to 8 mg for glimepiride (once-daily) and 20 mg for glibenclamide (> 10 mg as divided dose), until metabolic control (fasting blood glucose < or = 150 mg/dl [8.3 mmol/l]), or maximum dose was achieved. After one year of treatment, patients entered a long-term follow-up study. Primary endpoints for evaluation of metabolic control, mean glycated haemoglobin and mean fasting blood glucose, were 8.4% and 174 mg/dl (9.7 mmol/l) for glimepiride and 8.3% and 168 mg/dl (9.3 mmol/l) for glibenclamide. Differences between treatment groups were not considered clinically relevant (95% confidence intervals (-0.05, 0.19%) for glycated haemoglobin and (2, 11 mg/dl) [0.1, 0.6 mmol/l] for fasting blood glucose). Statistically significant lower fasting insulin and C-peptide values were observed in glimepiride patients compared with glibenclamide (differences: insulin, -0.92 microU/ml [p = 0.04]; C-peptide, -0.14 ng/ml [p = 0.03]). Both treatment groups showed an equivalent safety profile. Adverse events were consistent with the nature of the diabetic patient population studied. Fewer hypoglycaemic reactions occurred with glimepiride than with glibenclamide (105 versus 150 episodes). The long-term follow-up (457 patients) confirmed that glimepiride (1-8 mg) once daily provides equivalent metabolic control to a higher dosage (2.5-20.0 mg) of glibenclamide. Both treatments were well tolerated.
Aging and the time course of semantic activation.

Fifty-four young (M age = 20.2 years) and 54 elderly participants (M age = 68.4 years) completed a task in which a prime was followed by a target. People were to respond "yes" if the target was a word and "no" otherwise. On word-target trials, three kinds of prime were presented: associated (e.g., the prime-target pair DOG-CAT), unassociated (e.g., SEW-CAT), and neutral (e.g., BLANK-CAT). The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between onset of the prime and target was varied, with SOAs of 150, 450, and 1,000 ms. The most important finding was an age difference in the minimum SOA at which priming (i.e., faster response time on associated than on unassociated trials) was observed. It is argued that the age difference in onset of priming reflects a slowing with age in one or more aspects of semantic activation. Contrary to the Hasher and Zacks (1979) hypothesis, there is evidence of an age difference in the speed of automatic activation.
www.econstor.eu Optimal fiscal policy with utility-enhancing government spending, consumption taxation and a common income tax rate: the case of Bulgaria

This paper explores the effects of fiscal policy in an economy based on indirect taxes, and one that is constrained to taxing all (labor and capital) income at the same rate. The focus of the paper is on the relative importance of consumption vs. income taxation, as well as on the provision of utility-enhancing public services. To this end, a Real-Business-Cycle model, calibrated to Bulgarian data (1999-2014), was set up with a richer public finance side. Bulgarian economy was chosen as a case study due to its major dependence on consumption taxation as a source of tax revenue. To illustrate the effects of fiscal policy, two regimes were compared and contrasted to one another exogenous vs. optimal (Ramsey) policy case. The main findings from the computational experiments performed are: (i) The optimal steady-state (capital and labor income) tax rate is zero, as it is the most distortionary tax to use; (ii) The optimal steady-state consumption tax (the only source of revenue) has to almost double to finance the optimally-set level of government purchases.
Anti-carbamylated protein (anti-CarP) antibodies precede the onset of rheumatoid arthritis

Objective The presence of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) and IgM-rheumatoid factor (IgM-RF) years before the clinical diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) suggests they are possibly involved in the pathogenic process underlying RA. In this study, we analysed whether anti-carbamylated protein (anti-CarP) antibodies, a novel autoantibody system against carbamylated proteins, can also be detected in healthy individuals before they developed RA. Methods Multiple sera from asymptomatic blood donors prior to the onset of their RA symptoms and sera from age-matched and sex-matched controls were tested for the presence of antibodies directed against carbamylated-fetal calf serum (Ca-FCS), carbamylated-fibrinogen (Ca-Fib), cyclic citrullinated-peptide 2 and IgM-RF. Results Anti-Ca-FCS and anti-Ca-Fib antibodies were each present in 27% and 38% of the last serum samples of blood donors prior to the diagnosis of RA. Both anti-Ca-FCS and anti-Ca-Fib antibodies could be detected many years before the onset of RA. Anti-CarP antibodies as well as ACPA are, on average, detected earlier than IgM-RF. Conclusions In addition to ACPA and IgM-RF, also the newly identified anti-CarP antibodies appear many years before the diagnosis of RA.
Productivity growth of US states

This dissertation makes a contribution to regional studies by constructing Multi-Factor Productivity (MFP) growth measures at the state level for the US. The first essay of the dissertation exploits a dual growth accounting technique to calculate sector-specific MFP growth for all US states from 1980 onwards. In the process, the essay contributes by constructing a data set on the state level real user cost of capital paying particular attention to inter-state variations in the composition of output, relative prices of investment goods, effective corporate taxes, and inflation rates for the manufacturing and service sectors. Some of the key implications of our analysis are: a) The contribution of MFP growth in driving labor productivity is higher in the manufacturing sector compared to the service sector; b) The source of divergence between the primal and dual measures of MFP growth originates from inconsistencies between the constructed real user cost and the implied real user cost of Bureau of Economic Analysis; c) The real user cost for the service sector demonstrates negative growth rate resulting from a rapid decline in the relative price ratio of investment goods providing support for “Investment Specific Technological Change” and also implying high rates of capital accumulation; d) The average growth in the real user cost of capital is non-zero and shows wide variability across states for both the sectors. The primary focus of the second essay is to capture the positive impacts of schooling and Research and Development (R&D) expenditure on MFP growth for US states. While the evidence for positive externalities from schooling has been disappointing in the regional literature, the evidence of externalities from R&D is seldom found at the state level in US. The essay argues that a state with higher level of education not only creates better ideas, but also is more favorable to adopt, implement and execute the newly available ideas and hence, to absorb the knowledge spillovers. Further, it is argued that the states with favorable R&D
The Impact of Company, Subject, and System Characteristics on the Trust Factors Affecting the Adoption of Internet-based Interorganizational Systems

An empirical study was conducted in Hong Kong to investigate perceptions regarding the impact of company, subject, and system characteristics on trust factors affecting the adoption of internet-based interorganizational systems (IIOSs). Data were collected from 295 practitioners and analyzed using t-tests and one-way ANOVA. This study confirms that company size affects views regarding the importance of trust factors to the adoption of IIOSs. Thus, practitioners should focus on company size during the adoption of IIOSs.
Suppressive role of leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 in mouse anti-type II collagen antibody-induced arthritis.

OBJECTIVE We previously reported that the Val58Ile polymorphism of the leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 gene (LECT2) is associated with the severity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To define the role of LECT2 in inflammatory arthritides, we investigated the development of collagen antibody-induced arthritis (CAIA) in LECT2-deficient (LECT2(-/-)) mice. METHODS CAIA was induced in mice by administering anti-type II collagen antibodies followed by lipopolysaccharide. Daily assessment of hind paw swelling was used to monitor the development of arthritis. The histopathologic features and expression of inflammatory cytokines were also analyzed. We confirmed the role of LECT2 by introducing a LECT2 expression vector into LECT2(-/-) mice, using a hydrodynamic gene transfer method. RESULTS Arthritis in LECT2(-/-) mice was significantly exacerbated compared with that in wild-type (WT) controls. Histopathologic assessment of the tarsal joints showed that inflammation and erosion of cartilage and bone in LECT2(-/-) mice were more severe than that in controls. Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-6, and certain chemokines were present at significantly higher levels in the arthritic hind paws of LECT2(-/-) mice. In contrast, the amount of LECT2 in the serum and locally in the hind paws was higher in arthritic WT mice. Finally, hydrodynamic gene transfer experiments revealed that the severity of arthritis was reduced by the systemic expression of exogenous mouse LECT2 protein in LECT2(-/-) mice. CONCLUSION These results strongly suggest that LECT2 directly suppresses the development of CAIA. Manipulation of LECT2 might provide a rationale for novel therapeutic approaches to the treatment of inflammatory arthritides such as RA.
Potential impact of selected agricultural chemical contaminants on a northern prairie wetland: A microcosm evaluation.

An aquatic, multicomponent microcosm simulating a northern prairie wetland was used to assess the potential effects of six extensively used agricultural pesticides on this important wildlife habitat. Using a nested experimental design, 16 4-liter aquatic microcosms were treated with three concentrations of each of the pesticides carbofuran, fonofos, phorate, atrazine, treflan and trial-late. The microcosm units were incubated for 30 d in an environmental chamber, with a 16-h light:8-h dark cycle, maintained at 20°C. Specific limnological, biological and toxicological parameters were monitored over time by observing the interactions of water, animals, sediment and plants with the pesticides. The laboratory protocol was designed as an initial, rapid, economical screening test to determine the effect, but not the fate, of chemical contaminants in terms of toxicity, impaired productivity and community biochemical functions. Static acute toxicity tests with Daphnia magna and Chironomus riparius suggested that carbofuran, fonofos, phorate and triallate were very toxic to aquatic invertebrates. For D. magna the 48-h EC50 values were 48, 15, 19 and 57 μg/L, respectively. Invertebrate viability tests indicated rapid changes in the toxicological persistence of these pesticides after microcosm interaction. Populations of D. magna were established in the 10 μg/L test concentration of carbofuran, phorate, triallate and fonofos at 1, 1, 14 and 28 d, respectively. Preexposure of the wetland sediments to either triallate or fonofos did not appear to change the relative toxicological persistence of each compound in the water column. Changes in pH, alkalinity, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, total nitrogen and total phosphorus were also observed with different pesticide treatments. Atrazine significantly reduced gross primary productivity and inhibited algal and macrophytic growth. In general, there was no evidence of significant inhibition of microbial functions in the water or hydrosoil of the treated microcosms. The respiratory electron transfer system, phosphatase activity, oxygen consumption and mineralization of dissolved organic carbon were not significantly impacted by any of these pesticides in hydrosoils. However, the impact of atrazine, fonofos and triallate on invertebrates and plants in the microcosm-both key elements in wetland productivity-would suggest that caution be used in application of these pesticides in or near wetland habitats.
Red VCSELs for POF Data Transmission and Optical Sensing Applications

We have fabricated VCSELs in the visible red spectrum. The emission wavelength ranges from approximately 650 nm to 690 nm depending on application. The devices are grown on GaAs substrates by MOVPE and processed using standard VCSEL processing technology. The active layer consists of three InGaP quantum wells. The Bragg mirrors are AlGaAs/AlAs multilayer structures. The bottom mirror is n-doped, the top mirror is p-type doped. The threshold current of the devices is less than 2 mA. The maximum operating temperature is beyond 60degC. The optical output power is limited by eye-safety conditions to a maximum of 390 muW. The modulation bandwidth of the devices is in excess of 3 GHz even for low operating currents below 5 mA. This enables IEEE1394b S800 and Gigabit Ethernet transmission speed over POF as well as higher speed applications such as optical links for high definition TV. Any real application requires highly reliable devices and hence intensive life time testing of these red VCSELs has been undertaken. From aging test results applying various operating temperatures and currents we have inferred a conservative estimate for the activation energy of 0.6 eV. The 1%-time-to-failure (1%TTF) of the devices is over 100,000 hrs at use conditions. Continuous testing of more devices over thousands of operating hours is poised to improve reliability data further.
IT and productivity: A firm level analysis

Using a novel comprehensive data set of IT investment at the firm level, we find that a firm investing an additional euro in IT increases value added by 1 euro and 38 cents on average. This marginal product of IT investment increases with firm size and varies across sectors. IT explains about 10% of productivity dispersion across firms. While we find substantial returns of IT at the firm level, such returns are much lower at the aggregate level. This is due to underinvestment in IT (IT capital deepening is low) and misallocation of IT investments.
IVE (ifosfamide, epirubicin and etoposide) is a more effective stem cell mobilisation regimen than ICE (ifosphamide, carboplatin and etoposide) in the context of salvage therapy for lymphoma

Two commonly used chemotherapy regimens for lymphoma salvage therapy were compared: ICE (ifosphamide, carboplatin and etoposide) ± rituximab and IVE (ifosfamide, epirubicin and etoposide) ± rituximab, for their efficacy in mobilising peripheral blood stem cells for autologous transplantation. Significant differences were observed between the cohorts in terms of number of patients mobilising the stipulated minimum >2 × 106 CD34+/kg (99·2% in IVE group versus 83% in ICE group: P = 0·0002) and also in terms of the number of patients achieving the predetermined target of >5 × 106 CD34+/kg, both in total and during the first apheresis procedure (72% in IVE versus 51% in ICE group and 49% in IVE versus 7% in ICE group: P = 0·02 and P < 0·0001 respectively). This analysis of two similar groups of patients treated within a single‐centre appears to demonstrate that the IVE regimen is a more effective stem cell mobilisation regimen than ICE in the context of salvage therapy for Hodgkin and non‐Hodgkin lymphoma, allowing more patients to achieve the target CD34+ cell collection and proceed to high‐dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation.
The Impact of Innovation and Optimization on Public Sector Performance: Testing the Contribution of Connective, Ambidextrous, and Learning Capabilities

Abstract This article makes two contributions to the literature: it tests the impact of innovating and optimizing on perceived public performance. Secondly, it examines the contribution of connective, ambidextrous, and learning capacity to both innovation and optimization in public organizations. Building on previous research, the relevant attributes of connective, ambidextrous, and learning capacity are singled out at the individual, organizational, and network level. Based on the literature, we expect these capacities to relate stronger to either optimizing or innovating. We test this multidimensional framework in a survey among the 22 regional water authorities in the Netherlands using SEM. The results show that optimizing and innovation both contribute to performance. However, optimizing shows a stronger relationship. Furthermore, all three capacities are related to innovation and optimization, but in different degrees at different levels. In line with our hypotheses, we found connective capacity to relate more strongly to optimizing, whereas learning capacity relates stronger to innovating and ambidextrous capacity to both. These results indicate that public organizations will benefit from a deliberate evaluation whether public performance is best served with optimization or innovation, and from a focused approach in developing and employing these capacities that enables a balanced approach to innovating and optimizing.
Clinical implications of CYP2D6 genotypes predictive of tamoxifen pharmacokinetics in metastatic breast cancer.

PURPOSE The CYP3A and CYP2D6 enzymes play a major role in converting tamoxifen to its active metabolites. CYP3A is a highly inducible enzyme, regulated mainly by pregnane X receptor (PXR). This study assessed the association between genetic polymorphisms of CYP2D6 and PXR, and tamoxifen pharmacokinetics (PK) and clinical outcomes in patients with breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS Plasma concentrations of tamoxifen and its metabolites were measured. Common alleles of CYP2D6 and PXR were identified in 202 patients treated with tamoxifen 20 mg daily for more than 8 weeks. Twelve of the 202 patients and an additional nine patients with metastatic breast cancer receiving tamoxifen were assessed for clinical outcome in correlation with genotypes. RESULTS Patients carrying CYP2D6*10/*10 (n = 49) demonstrated significantly lower steady-state plasma concentrations of 4-hydroxy-N-desmethyltamoxifen and 4-hydroxytamoxifen than did those with other genotypes (n = 153; 4-hydroxy-N-desmethyltamoxifen: 7.9 v 18.9 ng/mL, P < .0001; 4-hydroxytamoxifen: 1.5 v 2.6 ng/mL, P < .0001), whereas no difference by PXR genotypes was found. CYP2D6*10/*10 was significantly more frequent among nonresponders with MBC (100% v 50%, P = .0186). In Cox proportional hazard analysis, CYP2D6 genotype and number of disease sites were significant factors affecting time to progression (TTP). The median TTP for patients receiving tamoxifen was shorter in those carrying CYP2D6*10/*10 than for others (5.0 v 21.8 months, P = .0032) CONCLUSION CYP2D6*10/*10 is associated with lower steady-state plasma concentrations of active tamoxifen metabolites, which could possibly influence the clinical outcome by tamoxifen in Asian breast cancer patients.
Modeling the productivity of commercial Lactarius mushrooms: A case study in the Kizilcasu planning unit, Turkey

Empirical models for mushroom productivity are essential tools for analyzing trade‐offs among multiple objectives when developing and implementing integrated forest management plans. In this study, data measured in 30 permanent plots from a 4‐year period of mushroom production were used to predict mushroom productivity. The fresh weights of Lactarius deliciosus and L. salmonicolor mushrooms were recorded in each sample plot. Owing to the hierarchical structure of the data obtained, equations were developed to produce mixed models using stand and topographic variables. The results showed that increasing slopes increased annual yield in northerly aspects, yet decreased the annual yield in southerly aspects. Besides, the productivity was negatively influenced by height, age and crown closure, and positively influenced by mean stand diameter, growing stock and elevation alone. However, the combined effects of age and diameter and the combined effects of growing stock and height separately showed a negative trend on mushroom yield.