Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Postmenopausal estrogen replacement therapy and risk of AD

Objective: To study the association between estrogen replacement therapy in postmenopausal women and AD using a case-control design. Background: Studies of the effect of estrogen therapy on the risk of AD have been limited and have yielded conflicting results. Methods: Case patients were all postmenopausal women who developed AD in the quinquennium 1980 through 1984 in Rochester, MN (n = 222). One control subject from the same population and free of dementia was matched to each case patient by age (±3 years) and length of enrollment in the records-linkage system (n = 222). Estrogen exposure was defined as any form of estrogen (oral, parenteral, topical, suppository) used for at least 6 months after the onset of menopause and before the onset of AD (or corresponding year in the matched control subject). Information on dose and duration of use was abstracted. Consistent with the matched design, analyses entailed conditional logistic regression. Results: AD patients and control subjects had identical age at menarche (median: 13.0 versus 13.0 years) and age at menopause (median: 50.0 versus 50.0 years). The frequency of estrogen use was higher among control subjects than AD patients (10% versus 5%; odds ratio = 0.42; 95% confidence interval 0.18 to 0.96; p = 0.04). There was a significant trend of decreasing odds ratios with increasing duration of use. The inverse association between estrogen therapy and AD remained significant after adjustment for education and age at menopause. Conclusion: These results from a population-based study suggest that estrogen replacement therapy is associated with a reduced risk of AD in postmenopausal women.
Cutaneous Mycobacterium abscessus infection after kidney transplantation.

Fig. 1. (A) Reddish-brown, circumscribed papule on the extremity. (B) Development of an abscess on the posterior thigh. (C) Skin biopsy showing acute panniculitis with abscess formation (asterisk) in the mid-dermis (haematoxylin and eosin stain; magnification: 2) and (inset) Langhans-type giant cells (haematoxylin and eosin stain; magnification: 400). (D) Skin biopsy showing rapid-growing acidfast bacilli (Ziehl–Neelsen stain; magnification: 600). B
Continuous interscalene brachial plexus block: clinical efficacy, technical problems and bupivacaine plasma concentrations

Continuous interscalene brachial plexus block with a single dose of 0.5% bupivacaine 1.25 mg/kg, continued with an infusion of 0.25% bupivacaine 0.25 mg/kg/h, was performed on 24 patients to provide analgesia during shoulder surgery and in the postoperative period. The drugs for general anaesthesia included glycopyrrolate, thiopentone, vecuronium, enflurane and N2O/O2. All patients had signs of regional analgesia 30 min after the block without haemodynamic problems. The infusion of local anaesthetic was interrupted in six patients because of a failure in catheter function. Of the remaining 18 patients, nine needed no complementary analgesics and nine patients received, on average, 1.6 doses of oxycodone (0.15 mg/kg/dose) during a 24–h period. Displacement of the interscalene catheters could be prevented by a fixation suture to the skin. Two patients noted a metallic taste during the bupivacaine infusion. The most common complaints were numbness of the hand (n = 15) and hoarseness (n= 5). The mean (s. e. mean) plasma concentrations of bupivacaine at 30, 60, 180 min and 24 h were 0.68 0.06, 0.62 0.05, 0.52 0.04 and 0.76 0.01 μg/ml, respectively. During the 24–h period, the α1–acid glycoprotein (AAG) concentration (mean s. e. mean) in plasma rose from 0.41 0.04 g/1 to 0.54 0.04 g/1 (P < 0.001). The concentration of free bupivacaine was below detectable levels (<0.01 μg/ml) after the 24–h infusion. The rise in AAG probably increases binding of bupivacaine to plasma proteins, diminishing the risk of systemic toxicity.
Asset Collateralizability and the Cross-Section of Expected Returns

This paper studies the implications of credit market imperfections for the cross-section of stock returns. Theory implies that the tightness of financing con- straints is countercyclical. As a result, collateralizable capital provides insurance against aggregate shocks, because it can be used to relax financing constraints. We present a production-based general equilibrium model model to quantify the effect of the above channel on the cross-section of expected returns. Consistent with the predictions of our model, we find in the data that stock returns for firms with a larger share of non-collateralizable capital are on average 4.8% higher an- nually than those for firms with a lower share. Our model can quantitatively reproduce the magnitude of the return spread as observed in the data.
Establishment and characterization of chondrocyte cell lines from the costal cartilage of SV40 large T antigen transgenic mice

Complete understanding of the physiology and pathology of the cartilage is essential to establish treatments for a variety of cartilage disorders and defects such as rheumatoid arthritis, congenital malformations, and tumors of cartilage. Although synthetic materials have been used in many cases, they possess inherent problems including wear of the materials and low mechanical strength. Autograft has been considered very effective to overcome these problems. However, the limitation of the transplant volume is a major problem in autograft to be overcome. The costal cartilage is the most serious candidate for donor site transplantation, since it is the largest permanent hyaline cartilage in the body. To investigate the possibility using the costal cartilage as a transplant source, we have established and characterized three mouse chondrocyte cell lines (MCC‐2, MCC‐5, and MCC‐35) derived from the costal cartilage of 8‐week‐old male SV40 large T‐antigen transgenic mice. At confluence, all the cell lines formed nodules that could be positively stained with alcian blue (pH 2.5). The size of nodules gradually increased during culturing time. After 2 and 6 weeks of culture, RT‐PCR analysis demonstrated that all three cell lines expressed mRNA from the cartilage‐specific genes for type II collagen, type XI collagen, aggrecan, and link protein. Furthermore, type X collagen expression was detected in MCC‐5 and MCC‐35 but not in MCC‐2. Any phenotypic changes were not observed over 31 cell divisions. Immunocytochemistry showed further that MCC‐2, MCC‐5, and MCC‐35 produced cartilage‐specific proteins type II collagen and type XI collagen, while in addition MCC‐5 and MCC‐35 produced type X collagen. Treatment with 1α, 25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 inhibited cell proliferation and differentiation of the three cell lines in a dose‐dependent manner. These phenotypic characteristics have been found consistent with chondrocyte cell lines established from cartilage tissues other than costal cartilage. In conclusion, costal cartilage shows phenotypic similarities to other cartilages, i.e., articular cartilage and embryonic limbs, suggesting that costal cartilage may be very useful as the donor transplantation site for the treatment of cartilage disorders. Furthermore, the cell lines established in this study are also beneficial in basic research of cartilage physiology and pathology. J. Cell. Biochem. 81: 571–582, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Institutional Quality, Resource Endowment, and Economic Growth: Evidence from Cross-Country Data

ABSTRACT We empirically examine the moderating role of institutional quality on resource curse effects. The estimated results provide significant evidence for the presence of spatial autocorrelation in economic growth. We also find that institutional quality affects both local and neighboring economies, with the relationship following a U-shaped pattern, and these nonlinear influences can be attributed to resource allocation effects for the former and demonstration effects for the latter. Additionally, resource endowment moderates the relationship between institutional quality and economic performance, with the modified relationship following an inverted U-shaped pattern; this influence stems from investment expansion effects and passivation effects.
Pharmacokinetics aspects and tissue residues of Marbofloxacin in healthy and Mycoplasma gallisepticum–infected chickens

The pharmacokinetics of marbofloxacin in healthy and Mycoplasma gallisepticum experimentally infected broiler chickens was investigated after single intravenous (I.V.) and oral administrations at a dose of 5 mg/kg body weight. Tissue residues of marbofloxacin in healthy chickens after three successive daily oral doses were also determined. Marbofloxacin concentrations were determined in Plasma and tissue by using high-performance liquid chromatography. Plasma concentrations of marbofloxacin were significantly higher in healthy than in infected chickens. In healthy chickens, marbofloxacin was eliminated slower (t1/2β, 6.8 ± 0.34h) than in infected chickens (5.66±0.33 h). The mean residence time was 9.67±0.5 h in healthy vs Vol 24, No. 10;Oct 2017 81 office@multidisciplinarywulfenia.org 8.03±0.45 h in infected chickens. After oral administration the drug achieved its maximum plasma concentrations (Cmax) of 1.37±0.08 μg/ml at maximum time (tmax) of 1.95±0.04 h in healthy and Cmax 0.95±0.02 μg/ml at tmax of 2.08±0.05 in diseased chickens. In conclusion marbofloxacin at dose of 5 mg/kg administered intravenously or orally at 24 h intervals may provide successful treatment of chicken infected with Mycoplasma gallisepticum. Based on the tissue concentration in edible organs a 5 days withdrawal time is suggested.
Reactivation of thymidine kinase-defective herpes simplex virus is enhanced by nucleoside

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) mutants defective for thymidine kinase expression (TK-) have been reported to establish latent infection of sensory ganglia of mice, in that HSV latency-associated transcript is expressed, but to be defective for reactivation. In the present study, the mechanism of defective reactivation by TK- HSV was investigated. Latent infection established by each of three reactivation-defective HSV type 1 mutants was studied. Reactivation in explant culture was markedly enhanced by the addition of thymidine (dTdR) to the explant culture medium. Without added dTdR, reactivation occurred in 0 of 32 ganglia, while when dTdR (200 microM) was present, reactivation occurred in 32 of 37 ganglia (86%). Reactivation was minimal or did not occur after treatment with other nucleosides; specificity for dTdR would suggest the importance of dTdR nucleotide levels rather than more general nucleotide pool imbalance. Enhanced reactivation by dTdR was dose dependent and was blocked by acyclovir. While some degree of inhibition of TK- HSV by acyclovir may be expected, the complete block of dTdR-enhanced reactivation was unexpected. This result may suggest that HSV is particularly vulnerable during initial reactivation events. The mechanism of dTdR-enhanced reactivation of TK- HSV was further evaluated during in vivo infection by TK- HSV. For mice infected with TK- HSV, virus was undetectable in ganglia 3 days later. However, for mice infected with TK- HSV and treated with dTdR, virus was readily detected (2.8 x 10(3) PFU per ganglion). This result suggested that in vivo treatment with dTdR enhanced replication of TK- HSV in ganglion neurons. In turn, this suggests that in latently infected ganglia, dTdR-enhanced reactivation of TK- HSV occurred as a result of viral replication in neurons following initial reactivation events.
Anonymity Trilemma: Strong Anonymity, Low Bandwidth Overhead, Low Latency—Choose Two

—This work investigates the fundamental constraints of anonymous communication (AC) protocols. We analyze the relationship between bandwidth overhead, latency overhead, and sender anonymity or recipient anonymity against the global passive (network-level) adversary. We conﬁrm the trilemma that an AC protocol can only achieve two out of the following three properties: strong anonymity (i.e., anonymity up to a negligible chance), low bandwidth overhead, and low latency overhead. We further study anonymity against a stronger global passive adversary that can additionally passively compromise some of the AC protocol nodes. For a given number of compromised nodes, we derive necessary constraints between bandwidth and latency overhead whose violation make it impossible for an AC protocol to achieve strong anonymity. We analyze prominent AC protocols from the literature and depict to which extent those satisfy our necessary constraints. Our fundamental necessary constraints offer a guideline not only for improving existing AC systems but also for designing novel AC protocols with non-traditional bandwidth and latency overhead choices.
MR Imaging of the Superior Cervical Ganglion and Inferior Ganglion of the Vagus Nerve: Structures That Can Mimic Pathologic Retropharyngeal Lymph Nodes

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The superior cervical ganglion and inferior ganglion of the vagus nerve can mimic pathologic retropharyngeal lymph nodes. We studied the cross-sectional anatomy of the superior cervical ganglion and inferior ganglion of the vagus nerve to evaluate how they can be differentiated from the retropharyngeal lymph nodes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study consists of 2 parts. Cohort 1 concerned the signal intensity of routine neck MR imaging with 2D sequences, apparent diffusion coefficient, and contrast enhancement of the superior cervical ganglion compared with lymph nodes with or without metastasis in 30 patients. Cohort 2 used 3D neurography to assess the morphology and spatial relationships of the superior cervical ganglion, inferior ganglion of the vagus nerve, and the retropharyngeal lymph nodes in 50 other patients. RESULTS: All superior cervical ganglions had homogeneously greater enhancement and lower signal on diffusion-weighted imaging than lymph nodes. Apparent diffusion coefficient values of the superior cervical ganglion (1.80 ± 0.28 × 10−3mm2/s) were significantly higher than normal and metastatic lymph nodes (0.86 ± 0.10 × 10−3mm2/s, P < .001, and 0.73 ± 0.10 × 10−3mm2/s, P < .001). Ten and 13 of 60 superior cervical ganglions were hypointense on T2-weighted images and had hyperintense spots on both T1- and T2-weighted images, respectively. The latter was considered fat tissue. The largest was the superior cervical ganglion, followed in order by the retropharyngeal lymph node and the inferior ganglion of the vagus nerve (P < .001 to P = .004). The highest at vertebral level was the retropharyngeal lymph nodes, followed, in order, by the inferior ganglion of the vagus nerve and the superior cervical ganglion (P < .001 to P = .001). The retropharyngeal lymph node, superior cervical ganglion, and inferior ganglion of the vagus nerve formed a line from anteromedial to posterolateral. CONCLUSIONS: The superior cervical ganglion and the inferior ganglion of the vagus nerve can be almost always differentiated from retropharyngeal lymph nodes on MR imaging by evaluating the signal, size, and position.
Pre-service Elementary Teachers Understanding on Force and Motion

The research is done to investigate the understanding on the subtopic of Force and Motion that exists among the pre-services elementary teachers. The participants were 71 Elementary Teachers Study Program students in 6th and 77 one in 2nd semester at private university. Research instrument consisted of background information of respondents, belief of preconception and 8 questions that relates to Force and Motion with four alternative answers and their explained. Descriptive statistics such as percentage and bar chart were used for analyzing the data collected. Research findings have shown many participants have some misunderstand or misconception conception especially in free fall object, rest object, buoyant force and gravitation. This research recommends learning progression pre-services teachers to be exposed with conflict cognitive strategy for science conceptual change.
Persistence patterns with oral antidiabetes drug treatment in newly treated patients--a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE We assessed persistence patterns with oral antidiabetes drug (OAD) in patients newly dispensed with different OAD classes. METHODS We conducted a population-based cohort study using Quebec Health Insurance Board data. Patients aged 18 years or more newly dispensed an OAD between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 2003 were included in the study (n=98,940). Persistence was defined as consistently refilling a prescription for the initial OAD within three times the days' supply of the preceding claim. For nonpersistent patients, a second course of therapy was defined as treatment initiation with any OAD after a first discontinuation. Patients were followed from treatment initiation up to December 31, 2004, ineligibility for the drug plan or death, whichever came first, and treatment discontinuation or second course of treatment. Cox regression models were used to compute adjusted hazards ratios (AHR) of persistence and initiation of second courses of therapy. RESULTS The probability of persisting with the initial OAD over a 12-month period was 65% and 56% for patients initiated on metformin and sylfonylurea, respectively. Compared to metformin, the likelihood of discontinuing the initial OAD over the study period was significantly higher for patients on sulphonylureas (AHR: 1.32; 95% CI 1.29-1.34). Patients started on sulphonylureas were also less likely to start a second course of therapy after a first treatment discontinuation (AHR: 0.91; 95% CI 0.89-0.93). CONCLUSIONS Compared to diabetic patients initiated on metformin, those initiated on sulphonylureas displayed poorer persistence patterns.
A Touch Prediction and Window Sensing Strategy for Low-Power and Low-Cost Capacitive Multitouch Screen Systems

A new multitouch sensing strategy, named the Touch Prediction and Window Sensing (TPWS), is proposed and realized in this paper for projected capacitive touch screens. The detection procedures of TPWS are divided into two stages: a pre-sensing stage for predicting the possible touched regions, and a window sensing stage for obtaining the accurate touched positions. Since the measurements of the untouched sensing cells are reduced significantly, the TPWS strategy needs lower efforts on signal readout and data processing than the traditional strategies. A prototype system was designed and realized, which consists of three identical 48-channel readout chips, a 15-in capacitive touch screen, and a commercial host processor. The readout chip is specially designed for the TPWS strategy using 0.13 μm 1.8 V/5 V CMOS process. The measurement results show that, the total power consumption of the system is only about 65 mW with a power supply of 5 V, and the reporting rate of the system achieves 500 Hz for no touches and 83 Hz for ten touches. The area of the readout chip is only 0.087 mm2 per sensing channel. The proposed TPWS strategy can be used to realize low-power and low-cost multitouch screen system, and it is especially efficient for large-sized screen.
Evaluation of probiotics in diets with different nutrient densities on growth performance, blood characteristics, relative organ weight and breast meat characteristics in broilers

1. A total of 720 1-d-old broilers were used in a 28 d experiment to determine the effects of probiotic supplementation in diets with different dietary nutrient densities. 2. Birds were randomly allotted to one of the 4 treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement (12 replicateswith 15 broilers per replicate) with two levels of nutrient density [high nutrient density (metabolisable energy (ME) 12.7 MJ/kg and crude protein (CP) 230.3 g/kg for 1–7 d; ME 13.2 MJ/kg and CP 220.3 g/kg for 8–28 d) or low nutrient density (ME 12.1 MJ/kg and CP 220.2 g/kg for 0–7 d; ME 12.6 MJ/kg and CP 209.8 g/kg for 8–28 d)] and 0 or 2 g/kg probiotics (1.0 × 1010 viable spores/g of Bacillus subtilis endospores and 1.0 × 109 viable spores/g of Clostridium butyricum). 3. The high-nutrient-density diet increased body weight gain (BWG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentration relative to the low-nutrient-density diet. High-nutrient-density diet reduced water loss ratio of breast muscle, liver and fat relative to body weight compared to low-nutrient density-diet. The inclusion of probiotics increased BWG and feed intake throughout the experiment. Dietary probiotics increased the percentage of blood lymphocytes and relative weight of spleen and bursa of Fabricius when compared to the non-probiotic treatment. The inclusion of probiotics decreased serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations and lightness (L*) value of breast meat compared to the non-probiotic-supplemented diet. 4. In conclusion, high dietary nutrient density increased growth performance and serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in broiler chickens. The inclusion of probiotics increased growth performance but reduced serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. The positive effect of probiotic supplementation on growth performance was reduced by the high-nutrient-density diet during the first week of life.
The Benefits of Overvaluation: Evidence from Mergers and Acquisitions

Theoretical and empirical evidence debates whether acquirers can exploit their overvalued equity and create value by purchasing less overvalued or undervalued target firms. Shleifer and Vishny (2003) and Savor and Lu (2009) argue in favor of this, while Fu, Lin, and Officer (2013) and Akbulut (2013) provide evidence against. I revisit this issue and develop a quasi‐experimental design. The misvaluation effect for stock acquirers that are more overvalued than their targets is isolated and measured. My findings offer direct evidence in favor of the Shleifer and Vishny (2003) market‐timing hypothesis.
Acute flavanol consumption improves the cerebral vasodilatory capacity in college‐aged African Americans

What is the central question of this study? The purpose was to determine whether acute flavanol consumption improves cerebral vasodilatory capacity during rebreathing‐induced hypercapnia in African Americans. What is the main finding and its importance? The reduced cerebral vasodilatory response to hypercapnia in young healthy African Americans was improved acutely following consumption of a flavanol‐rich beverage. This may have important clinical implications regarding racial differences in cerebrovascular disease risk and possible interventional approaches to offset this risk.
An Analysis of IFRS and SME-IFRS Adoption Determinants: A Worldwide Study

ABSTRACT This study analyses the determinants of IFRS adoption decision from three dimensions. Logistic regression (Binary and Ordinal) models were applied to a dataset of 145 countries for the period 1995 to 2015. The main findings are that countries with higher regulatory efficiency and lower market openness are more likely to adopt IFRS earlier, and vice versa. However, regulatory efficiency and market openness have no significant impact on the extent of IFRS adoption. While, countries with lower regulatory efficiency, market openness and economic growth are more likely to adopt SME-IFRS. SME-IFRS adoption is higher in common law origin countries compared to code law countries.