Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oral Contraceptives Do Not Affect Muscle Strength and Hop Performance in Active Women

Objective:The primary aim of this study was to compare muscle strength in the upper and lower limb, as well as hop performance during oral contraceptive (OC) use with non-OC use in the same woman. A secondary aim was to compare muscle strength and hop performance within 3 specific phases of an OC cycle, as well as during a menstrual cycle of the corresponding cycle days (non-OC cycle). Design:Crossover. Setting:Research laboratory. Participants:Seventeen moderate to highly recreationally active women participated in the study. Intervention:Observational study with no intervention. Main Outcome Measures:Maximal isokinetic muscle strength of knee extensors, isometric handgrip strength, and 1-leg hop test for distance were measured during 1 OC cycle and 1 non-OC cycle at 3 specific phases, respectively, using a crossover design. Results:No significant differences were found in terms of muscle strength and hop performance between the OC cycle and the non-OC cycle. Furthermore, no significant difference in muscle strength and hop performance could be demonstrated within the OC cycle or within the phases of the menstrual cycle except from maximal isokinetic muscle strength in the knee extensors detected between the early follicular phase and the luteal phase. Conclusions:We found no support for any significant influence of OC use on muscle strength and hop performance in healthy moderately active women.
Time course of flow-induced smooth muscle cell proliferation and intimal thickening in endothelialized baboon vascular grafts.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) grafts placed into the arterial circulation of baboons for 8 weeks under high blood flow (HF) conditions develop a thin intima composed of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and extracellular matrix beneath an endothelial monolayer. When these grafts are returned abruptly to normal flow (NF), they develop marked intimal thickening within 1 month. The mechanisms underlying this thickening are unclear. We studied the SMC response to altered flow by placing bilateral aortoiliac PTFE grafts into baboons with bilateral femoral arteriovenous fistulas. After 8 weeks, one fistula was closed, returning the graft flow on that side to NF. The opposite graft remained under HF conditions. Flow differences were monitored with duplex ultrasound (for all grafts: NF, 135 +/- 21 [mean +/- SEM] mL/min; HF, 507 +/- 35 mL/min; P < .001). Grafts were removed 2, 4, 7, 14, or 28 days later (five animals per group). Endothelial coverage, as assessed by scanning electron microscopy, was intact in each graft. Intimal area and SMC number increased progressively in NF grafts through 28 days (for area: NF, 3.0 +/- 0.3 mm2; HF, 0.6 +/- 0.2 mm2; P < .001; and for SMCs per cross section: NF, 11.8 +/- 1.1 x 10(3); HF, 2.6 +/- 1.0 x 10(3); P < . 002). Intimal SMC proliferation (thymidine labeling) was increased significantly in NF grafts at 4 and 7 days (at 4 days: NF, 5.9 +/- 1.5%; HF, 1.4 +/- 0.6%; P < .05). Extracellular matrix accounted for an equal proportion of intimal mass in NF and HF grafts (percent matrix at 28 days: NF, 62.9 +/- 1.6%; HF, 63.7 +/- 4.7%; P = NS). We conclude that intimal thickening in this model of flow-induced vascular remodeling is due to increased SMC proliferation and accumulation of SMCs with a proportionate amount of extracellular matrix.
Supplementation of ascorbic acid and α-tocopherol prevents arsenic-induced protein oxidation and DNA damage induced by arsenic in rats

Contamination of arsenic in drinking water is associated with several human diseases including cancer. It has been reported that oxidative stress plays a vital role in arsenic-induced biochemical and molecular alterations. The aim of the present study was to improve the understanding of arsenic-induced oxidative damage to proteins and to DNA and the role of antioxidants such as ascorbic acid and α-tocopherol in alleviating arsenic-induced damages in experimental rats. A significant increase in the levels of protein oxidation, DNA strand breaks, and DNA–protein cross-links was observed in blood, liver, and kidney of rats exposed to arsenic (100 ppm in drinking water) for 30 days. Co-administration of ascorbic acid and α-tocopherol to arsenic-exposed rats showed a substantial reduction in the levels of arsenic-induced oxidative products of protein and DNA. The results of this study support that free radical–mediated toxic manifestations of arsenic and also suggest that ascorbic acid and α-tocopherol supplementation can improve the arsenic-induced molecular alterations.
Estimating Income Poverty in the Presence of Missing Data and Measurement Error 252 SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel

Reliable measures of poverty are an essential statistical tool for public policies aimed at reducing poverty. In this paper we consider the reliability of income poverty measures based on survey data which are typically plagued by missing data and measurement error. Neglecting these problems can bias the estimated poverty rates. We show how to derive upper and lower bounds for the population poverty rate using the sample evidence, an upper bound on the probability of misclassifying people into poor and non-poor, and instrumental or monotone instrumental variable assumptions. By using the European Community Household Panel, we compute bounds for the poverty rate in ten European countries and study the sensitivity of poverty comparisons across countries to missing data and measurement error problems. Supplemental materials for this article may be downloaded from the JBES website.
A comparison of fitness-case sampling methods for genetic programming

Abstract Genetic programming (GP) is an evolutionary computation paradigm for automatic program induction. GP has produced impressive results but it still needs to overcome some practical limitations, particularly its high computational cost, overfitting and excessive code growth. Recently, many researchers have proposed fitness-case sampling methods to overcome some of these problems, with mixed results in several limited tests. This paper presents an extensive comparative study of four fitness-case sampling methods, namely: Interleaved Sampling, Random Interleaved Sampling, Lexicase Selection and Keep-Worst Interleaved Sampling. The algorithms are compared on 11 symbolic regression problems and 11 supervised classification problems, using 10 synthetic benchmarks and 12 real-world data-sets. They are evaluated based on test performance, overfitting and average program size, comparing them with a standard GP search. Comparisons are carried out using non-parametric multigroup tests and post hoc pairwise statistical tests. The experimental results suggest that fitness-case sampling methods are particularly useful for difficult real-world symbolic regression problems, improving performance, reducing overfitting and limiting code growth. On the other hand, it seems that fitness-case sampling cannot improve upon GP performance when considering supervised binary classification.
Effects of regular physical training in a supervised class and additional intravenous prostaglandin E1 and naftidrofuryl infusion therapy in patients with intermittent claudication--a controlled study.

UNLABELLED The aim of this study was to investigate if PGE1 i.v. -therapy after active physical training further increases the walking distance in PAOD stage IIb according to Fontaine. 48 outpatients with intermittent claudication underwent a standardized active walking training of about 6 months twice weekly. Afterwards patients were randomly given once daily an i.v. infusion of 60 micrograms PGE1 (3 ampoules prostavasin) or 600 mg naftidrofuryl. The therapy lasted for 3 weeks with the exception of Saturdays and Sundays. Besides laboratory and doppler parameters, painfree and maximum walking distance (treadmill, 10% incline, 3.5 km/h) were determined. RESULTS Under active physical training the patients' walking distance increased significantly to more than double the baseline levels. Further significant increase of the painfree walking distance was seen after a 3 week treatment with PGE1 from 136 to 270 m (99%) as well as with naftidrofuryl from 117 to 230 m (97%). While this difference was not significant there was a significant difference in favour to PGE1 after the follow-up period (p less than 0.01). In the PGE1-group the painfree walking distance showed a further increase (from 270m to 306m) whereas it decreased in the naftidrofuryl-group (from 230m to 210m). At the same time under PGE1 the ankle/arm index increased significantly in comparison to naftidrofuryl (p less than 0.01). Side effects differed significantly in respect of the frequency and severity. In the PGE1-group in 20.8% of the patients side effects occurred, whereas in 91.6% of the patients in the naftidrofuryl-group side effects were observed. In no case therapy had to be discontinued because of side effects.
Binding and Inactivation of the Germ Cell-Specific Protein Phosphatase PP1γ2 by sds22 During Epididymal Sperm Maturation1

Abstract Testis- and sperm-specific protein phosphatase, PP1γ2, is a key enzyme regulating sperm function. Its activity decreases during sperm maturation in the epididymis. Inhibition of PP1γ2 leads to motility initiation and stimulation. Our laboratory is focused on identifying mechanisms responsible for the decline in PP1γ2 activity during sperm motility initiation in the epididymis. Previously, using immuno-affinity chromatography, we showed that a mammalian homologue of yeast sds22 is bound to PP1γ2 in motile caudal spermatozoa (Huang Z, et al. Biol Reprod 2002; 67:1936–1942). The objectives of this study were to determine: 1) stoichiometry of PP1γ2-sds22 binding and 2) whether PP1γ2 in immotile caput epididymal spermatozoa is bound to sds22. The enzyme from caudal and caput sperm extracts was purified by column chromatography. Immunoreactive PP1γ2 and sds22 from both caudal and caput spermatozoa were found in the flow-through fraction of a DEAE-cellulose column. However, PP1γ2 from caudal spermatozoa was inactive, whereas in caput spermatozoa it was active. The DEAE-cellulose flow-through fractions were next passed through a SP-sepharose column. Caudal sperm sds22 and PP1γ2 coeluted in the gradient fraction. In contrast, caput sperm sds22 and PP1γ2 were separated in the flow-through and gradient fractions, respectively. Further purification through a Superose 6 column showed that PP1γ2-sds22 complex from caudal sperm was 88 kDa in size. Caput sperm sds22 and PP1γ2 eluted at 60 kDa and 39 kDa, respectively. SDS-PAGE of these purified fractions revealed that in caudal sperm, the 88-kDa species is composed of sds22 (43 kDa) and PP1γ2 (39 kDa), suggesting a 1:1 complex between these two proteins. PP1γ2 bound to sds22 in this complex was inactive. Caput sperm sds22 eluting as a 60-kDa species was found to be associated with a 17-kDa protein (p17). This suggests that dissociation of sds22 from p17 or some other posttranslational modification of sds22 is required for its binding and inactivation of PP1γ2. Studies are currently underway to determine the mechanisms responsible for development of sds22 binding to PP1γ2 during epididymal sperm maturation.
Growth Performance, Carcass Quality, Visceral Organs and Intestinal Histology in Broilers Fed Dietary Dried Fermented Ginger and/or Fermented Corncob Powder

To determine whether dried fermented ginger (DFG), fermented with Japanese mugwort silage juice, could be replaced by fermented corncob powder (FCP) as a of feed ingredient source without significant body weight decrease or damage to visceral organs (using gross anatomical observation), to intestinal villi (using light microscopy), or to the epithelial cells on the villus apical surface (using scanning electron microscopy) the following investigation was performed. Sixty-four male broilers were allotted to 4 groups: a basal diet group (control group), and basal diet groups with DFG at a level of 50 ppm; with DFG at 50 ppm and FCP at 250 ppm (50 ppm DFG + 250 ppm FCP group); and with FCP at a level of 500 ppm (500 ppm FCP group). Feed intake, body weight gain, feed efficiency, carcass quality, small intestinal length and weight, and visceral organ weight were not different among groups. Furthermore, regarding intestinal villus height, villus area and crypt depth, a significant difference was not found among the groups. When these values of the control were expressed as an index of 100, the duodenal villus height of the 50 ppm DFG + 250 ppm FCP group and the 500 ppm FCP group were 114 and 119, respectively. The duodenal villus area of the 50 ppm DFG + 250 ppm FCP group and the 500 ppm FCP group were 125 and 158, respectively. These villus heights and areas are thought to be activated. On the epithelial cells on the villus apical surface in the duodenum and jejunum, the 50 ppm DFG + 250 ppm FCP group had protuberated cells into the intestinal lumen and deeper cells at the sites of recently exfoliated cells, suggesting that these cells are activated. The present results indicate that small amounts of fermented corncob powder can be used as a feed supplement when mixed with fermented ginger powder, due to the synergy between the two ingredients, resulting in a 6% increase in body weight gain。
The effect of mydriasis on the pupillary centration of the human eye

The change in pupil centration occurring as the human eye pupil dilates, both naturally in darkness and following the use of a mydriatic drug (cyclopentolate HCl, 1 %), has been measured photographically. In both cases, changes in centration of up to 0.4 mm have been found. Using available ocular wavefront aberration data, modulation transfer curves have been derived for two eyes for centration changes of 0.2 mm. The importance of these changes in the formation of the retinal image, and hence on visual performance, is discussed.
Multichannel Continuously Tunable Microwave Phase Shifter With Capability of Frequency Doubling

A photonic generation of tunable microwave phase shifter with capability of frequency doubling is proposed and experimentally demonstrated using optical spectral shaping technique. Our proposed configuration only consists of a phase modulator (PM), a programmable optical filter, and one photodetector (PD). The phase modulated optical signal is fed into the programmable optical filter, where two specific harmonic sidebands of the modulated signal are chosen in order to apply a tunable phase shift to one of the selected sidebands. After optical amplification and beating at the PD, a frequency doubling microwave signal with continuously tunable phase shifter from 0° to 360° is obtained with less than 2.5 dB power fluctuation over a frequency range from 20 GHz to 33 GHz. Moreover, simultaneous four-channel microwave signals with independent phase shift setting are achieved, due to that the proposed configuration is compatible with wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) operation.
Coping With Depression and Anxiety: Preliminary Results of a Standardized Course for Elderly Depressed Women

The experiences of 51 elderly depressed female patients with a standardized course “Coping with Depression and Anxiety” were investigated. Preliminary findings concerning the effectiveness of this course in 34 patients who completed the course will also be presented. This course consisted of psychoeducation and skills training. Depressive symptoms were scored by using the SCL-90 depression scale and the Geriatric Depression Scale. Results indicate that patients were very enthusiastic about the course and that there was no need to make major changes in its structure and content. Also, depressive symptoms were significantly reduced after completion of the course, which emphasizes the importance of this psychoeducational program in the treatment of depression in elderly female patients.
MicroRNA-29 a and microRNA-1423 p are regulators of myeloid differentiation and acute myeloid leukemia

MicroRNA-29a and microRNA-142-3p are regulators of myeloid differentiation and acute myeloid leukemia Xiao-Shuang Wang, Jia-Nan Gong, Jia Yu, Fang Wang, Xin-Hua Zhang, Xiao-Lin Yin, Zhen-Qing Tan, Zi-Mian Luo, Gui-Hua Yang, Chao Shen, Jun-Wu Zhang National Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China; Haematology Department, the 303 Hospital, Nanning, China; Haematology Department, Central Hospital of Xiangtan, China
Feedback and maximum voluntary contraction.

The results of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) studies have been criticized on grounds of reliability and validity. The amount and form of feedback given to the subject is a factor that is likely to affect the results. An experiment was performed using the CYBEX dynamometer to measure the MVC of isometric quadriceps activity with different forms of feedback. The effect of auditory encouragement coupled with direction of the subjects' attention to concurrent visual information about their achievement resulted in a significant increase of approximately 10% over the no-feedback condition. These findings have clear implications for the conduct of MVC studies for job design and selection purposes and for the way in which physiotherapists and athletic trainers provide feedback to their clients.
Creation of a Six-fingered Artificial Transcription Factor That Represses the Hepatitis B Virus HBx Gene Integrated into a Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Line

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is an independent risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The HBV HBx gene is frequently identified as an integrant in the chromosomal DNA of patients with HCC. HBx encodes the X protein (HBx), a putative viral oncoprotein that affects transcriptional regulation of several cellular genes. Therefore, HBx may be an ideal target to impede the progression of HBV infection–related HCC. In this study, integrated HBx was transcriptionally downregulated using an artificial transcription factor (ATF). Two three-fingered Cys2-His2 zinc finger (ZF) motifs that specifically recognized two 9-bp DNA sequences regulating HBx expression were identified from a phage-display library. The ZF domains were linked into a six-fingered protein that specified an 18-bp DNA target in the Enhancer I region upstream of HBx. This DNA-binding domain was fused with a Krüppel-associated box (KRAB) transcriptional repression domain to produce an ATF designed to downregulate HBx integrated into the Hep3B HCC cell line. The ATF significantly repressed HBx in a luciferase reporter assay. Stably expressing the ATF in Hep3B cells resulted in significant growth arrest, whereas stably expressing the ATF in an HCC cell line lacking integrated HBx (HepG2) had virtually no effect. The targeted downregulation of integrated HBx is a promising novel approach to inhibiting the progression of HBV infection–related HCC.
Impediments to Financial Trade: Theory and Applications

We propose a tractable model of an informationally inefficient market featuring nonrevealing prices, general preferences and payoff distributions, but not noise traders. We show the equivalence between our model and a substantially simpler one in which investors face distortionary investment taxes depending on both their identity and the asset class. This equivalence allows us to account for such phenomena as underdiversification. We further employ the model to assess approaches to performance evaluation and find that it provides a theoretical basis for some intuitive practices, such as style analysis, that have been adopted by finance professionals. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.
Breast cancer risk factors in Turkey: a hospital-based case-control study.

BACKGROUND Regional disparities in breast cancer (BC) outcomes have been reported in Turkey. METHODS In a hospital-based case-control study in Sivas, Turkey, 172 patients with histologically confirmed BC were compared with 383 controls, recruited from visitors in various departments of the same hospital, who had not been previously diagnosed with BC. Information was collected from both groups using a questionnaire and logistic regression analysis was applied to assess associations between each risk factor and BC risk with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS In multivariable models, family history of BC (OR=4.67, 95% CI: 2.23-9.76), history of smoking (OR=1.75, 95% CI: 1.08-2.84), and higher education level (OR=2.88, 95% CI: 1.64-5.07) were the strongest predictors of BC in the study population. A separate analysis studying only postmenopausal women using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) (comparing duration of use, >36 months versus ≤36 months, P<0.05) found that use of HRT was also a risk factor for BC. Duration of HRT use (P<0.05) was significantly associated with the elevated risk. On the other hand, certain factors such as first full-term pregnancy before age 30 (χ2=5.755 P<0.05) and higher parity (χ2=20.731, P<0.05) were found to be protective factors for BC. CONCLUSION The findings of the present study indicate that family history of BC, history of smoking, education, and HRT are factors significantly associated with increased BC risk among Turkish women within the area of Central Anatolia, Turkey.
Structural Consequences of Kcna1 Gene Deletion and Transfer in the Mouse Hippocampus

Purpose: Mice lacking the Kv1.1 potassium channel α subunit encoded by the Kcna1 gene develop recurrent behavioral seizures early in life. We examined the neuropathological consequences of seizure activity in the Kv1.1−/− (knock‐out) mouse, and explored the effects of injecting a viral vector carrying the deleted Kcna1 gene into hippocampal neurons.
Effects of hypoxia and subsequent recovery on turbot Scophthalmus maximus: hormonal changes and anaerobic metabolism

ABSTRACT: Hormonal changes, substrate mobilization and energy metabolism were studied inturbot Scophthalmus maximus exposed to 3 hypoxic conditions (oxygen partial pressure in water,PwO 2 = 90, 60 and 30 mm Hg) followed by recovery under normoxia. Measurements of the blood pH,total CO 2 concentration, arterial oxygen partial pressure, hematocrit, glucose, lactate, and ‘stress’hormones (cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline) plasmatic concentrations were performed. High-energy phosphorylated compounds, glycogen, glucose and lactate concentrations were also deter-mined in liver and white muscle tissues. Exposure to 90 or 60 mm Hg did not induce any majorphysiological change, as hyperventilation by itself could compensate for the decrease in wateroxygen tension. At 30 mm Hg, marked increases in cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline concen-trations, associated with a decrease in blood arterial oxygen partial pressure, were observed. Duringexposure to 30 mm Hg, turbot resorted to anaerobic metabolism, resulting in liver glycogen depletionand lactate production. This mechanism appeared to be efficient enough to produce energy, as nosignificant change in phosphorylated compounds and adenylate energy charges in muscle and livercould be observed. These results indicate an absence of metabolic depression in turbot downto 30 mm Hg and confirm the high capacity of this species to cope with low water oxygen tension.KEY WORDS: Hypoxia · Anaerobiosis · Catecholamines · Cortisol · Lactate · Turbot