Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatial Flows and the Regulation of Ecosystems

Spatial flows of materials and organisms across ecosystem boundaries are ubiquitous. Understanding the consequences of these flows should be a basic goal of ecosystem science, and yet it has received scant theoretical treatment to date. Here, using a simple, open, nutrient‐limited ecosystem model with trophic interactions, we explore theoretically how spatial flows affect the functioning of local ecosystems, how physical mass‐balance constraints interact with biological demographic constraints in the regulation of this functioning, and how failure to consider these constraints explicitly can lead to models that are ecologically inconsistent. In particular, we show that standard prey‐dependent models for trophic interactions may lead to implausible outcomes when embedded in an ecosystem context with appropriate mass flows and mass‐balance constraints. Our analysis emphasizes the need for integration of population, community, and ecosystem perspectives in ecology and the critical consequences of assuming closed versus open systems.
Clinical Evaluation of Reduced Field-of-View Diffusion-Weighted Imaging of the Cervical and Thoracic Spine and Spinal Cord

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: DWI has the potential to improve the detection and evaluation of spine and spinal cord pathologies. This study assessed whether a recently described method (rFOV DWI) adds diagnostic value in clinical patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive patients undergoing clinically indicated cervical and/or thoracic spine imaging received standard anatomic sequences supplemented with sagittal rFOV DWI by using a b-value of 500 s/mm2. Two neuroradiologists blinded to clinical history evaluated the standard anatomic sequences only for pathology and provided their level of confidence in their diagnosis. These readers then rescored the examinations after reviewing the rFOV DWI study and indicated whether this sequence altered findings or confidence levels. RESULTS: Two hundred twenty-three patients were included in this study. One hundred eighty patient scans (80.7%) demonstrated at least 1 pathologic finding. Interobserver agreement for identifying pathology (κ = 0.77) and in assessing the added value of the rFOV DWI sequence (κ = 0.77) was high. In pathologic cases, the rFOV DWI sequence added clinical utility in 33% of cases (P < .00001, Fisher exact test). The rFOV DWI sequence was found to be helpful in the evaluation of acute infarction, demyelination, infection, neoplasm, and intradural and epidural collections (P < .001, χ2 test) and provided a significant increase in clinical confidence in the evaluation of 11 of the 15 pathologic subtypes assessed (P < .05, 1-sided paired Wilcoxon test). CONCLUSIONS: rFOV diffusion-weighted imaging of the cervical and thoracic spine is feasible in a clinical population and increases clinical confidence in the diagnosis of numerous common spinal pathologies.
A Sensitive and Robust Assay for Urokinase and Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activators (Upa and Tpa) and Their Inhibitor Type I (Pai-1) in Breast Tumor Cytosols

uPA and PAI-1 are becoming established as amongst the most effective markers of poor prognosis for patients with node-negative breast cancer; tPA is an index of longer survival. This paper describes a sensitive ELISA for the measurement of uPA, tPA and PAI-1 in breast cancer cytosols. The structure of the assay involves coating Ab (sheep α-Chicken IgY), catching Ab (chicken α-analyte), tagging Ab (rabbit α-analyte) and detecting Ab (goat α-rabbit IgG) labelled with HRP. The assay has a high degree of accuracy and specificity. Comparison with the American Diagnostica kits shows the results’ equivalence for PAI-1 and tPA. For uPA the results of the assay were twice as high. The assay is sensitive and relatively inexpensive. It is the first published assay to yield strictly comparative values for uPA, tPA and PAI-1 in tissue extracts and is readily subject to external quality control.
Body mass index and outcomes following gastrointestinal cancer surgery in Japan

Recent studies in the USA have shown a lower postoperative mortality rate in mildly obese patients, described as the ‘obesity paradox’. The results from the relatively obese population in Western countries may not be generalizable to Asian countries, prompting the present study to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and outcomes after gastrointestinal surgery.
Glycosylation Status of CD43 Protein Is Associated with Resistance of Leukemia Cells to CTL-Mediated Cytolysis

To improve cancer immunotherapy, it is important to understand how tumor cells counteract immune-surveillance. In this study, we sought to identify cell-surface molecules associated with resistance of leukemia cells to cytotoxic T cell (CTL)-mediated cytolysis. To this end, we first established thousands of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that react with MLL/AF9 mouse leukemia cells. Only two of these mAbs, designated R54 and B2, bound preferentially to leukemia cells resistant to cytolysis by a tumor cell antigen–specific CTLs. The antigens recognized by these mAbs were identified by expression cloning as the same protein, CD43, although their binding patterns to subsets of hematopoietic cells differed significantly from each other and from a pre-existing pan-CD43 mAb, S11. The epitopes of R54 and B2, but not S11, were sialidase-sensitive and expressed at various levels on leukemia cells, suggesting that binding of R54 or B2 is associated with the glycosylation status of CD43. R54high leukemia cells, which are likely to express sialic acid-rich CD43, were highly resistant to CTL-mediated cytolysis. In addition, loss of CD43 in leukemia cells or neuraminidase treatment of leukemia cells sensitized leukemia cells to CTL-mediated cell lysis. These results suggest that sialic acid-rich CD43, which harbors multiple sialic acid residues that impart a net negative surface charge, protects leukemia cells from CTL-mediated cell lysis. Furthermore, R54high or B2high leukemia cells preferentially survived in vivo in the presence of adaptive immunity. Taken together, these results suggest that the glycosylation status of CD43 on leukemia is associated with sensitivity to CTL-mediated cytolysis in vitro and in vivo. Thus, regulation of CD43 glycosylation is a potential strategy for enhancing CTL-mediated immunotherapy.
Beneficiaries With Cardiovascular Disease and the Part D Coverage Gap

Background— Medicare Part D improved access to cardiovascular medications. Increased cardiovascular drug use and resulting health improvements could be derailed when beneficiaries enter the coverage gap and must pay 100% of drug costs. The coverage gap remains the subject of Congressional debate; evidence regarding its impact on cardiovascular drug use and health outcomes is needed. Methods and Results— We followed 122 255 Medicare beneficiaries with cardiovascular conditions with linked prescription and medical claims who reached the coverage gap spending threshold in 2006 or 2007. Beneficiaries entered the study on reaching the threshold and were followed until an event, the catastrophic coverage spending threshold, or year's end. We matched 3980 beneficiaries who reached the threshold and received no financial assistance (exposed) to 3980 with financial assistance during the gap period (unexposed), using propensity score and high-dimensional propensity score approaches. We compared rates of cardiovascular drug discontinuation, drug switching, and death or hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) plus revascularization, congestive heart failure, or atrial fibrillation. In propensity score-matched analyses, exposed beneficiaries were more likely to discontinue (hazard ratio, 1.57; 95% confidence interval, 1.39 to 1.79; risk difference,13.76; 95% confidence interval, 10.99 to 16.54 drugs/100 person-years) but no more or less likely to switch cardiovascular drugs. There were no significant differences in rates of death (propensity score-matched hazard ratio,1.23; 95% confidence interval, 0.89 to 1.71) or other outcomes. Conclusions— Part D beneficiaries with cardiovascular conditions with no financial assistance during the coverage gap were at increased risk for cardiovascular drug discontinuation; however, the impact of this difference on health outcomes is not clear.
Portrait of Human Tapeworms

The tapeworms of the genus Taenia that infect human beings are T. solium, T. saginata and T. saginata asiatica. Taenia solium and T. saginata exhibit unequivocal features that characterize them; in contrast, only recent DNA studies, morphological characteristics, and epidemiological and sanitary aspects indicate that T. saginata asiatica is a subspecies of T. saginata. These 3 tapeworms occur in humans in their adult stage, and the intermediate hosts are pigs for T. solium and T. saginata asiatica and cows for T. saginata. Their identification is crucial considering the migratory increase from Asia to the Western Hemisphere and the fact that these tapeworms coexist in the same environment in Asia; furthermore, it is estimated that movement in both directions across the United States–Mexico border exceeds 200 million persons per yr, and thus, opportunities for acquiring and transporting T. solium infections are multiplied. It is not easy to distinguish among these tapeworms; therefore, a comparative diagram of the 3 parasites is shown in this article, which will facilitate their identification. All morphological features, some of which allow for identification, are clear and can be easily distinguished among the 3 tapeworms.
A New Scheme with Controllable Capacity and Fairness for OFDMA Downlink Resource Allocation

A new scheme is proposed in this paper for OFDMA (orthogonal frequency division multiple access) downlink resource allocation. It seeks to maximize the total system capacity subject to constraints on total available power, BER and rate proportions. Future communication systems should take both capacity and fairness into account together. Therefore, the new scheme has a novel step to rearrange the subcarriers among users with least capacity loss and most fairness gain to achieve a certain tradeoff between enhanced rate (Hui and Zhou, 2006) and proportional fairness (Shen et al., 2003). This tradeoff can be easily controlled by the introduced tradeoff-factor (TF). Simulation results show that this new capacity and fairness controllable scheme may be suitable for future quality of service (QoS) adjustable OFDMA systems.
Explaining Cultural Differences in Evaluations of Emotional Support Behaviors

Research suggests that affirming, emotion-focused expressions of comfort effectively provide social support. However, little research has examined whether preferred approaches to providing support differ as a function of culture and, if so, why. This study sought to document, for both the Barbee and Cunningham typology of support behaviors and the Burleson hierarchy of comforting messages, whether there are cultural differences in preferred approaches to emotional support provision and, if so, what factors might account for these differences. Participants completed assessments of (a) the appropriateness of using solace, solve, dismiss, and escape behaviors, (b) the perceived sensitivity of comforting messages varying in degree of person centeredness, (c) interaction goal orientation, (d) the value placed on skill in comforting, and (e) collectivist and individualist values. Analyses indicated there were significant cultural differences in evaluations of support behaviors and that these differences were partially mediated by interaction goals and value orientations.
Expression of Telomeric Repeat Binding Factor-1 in Astroglial Brain Tumors

OBJECTIVE:In human somatic cells, telomeres shorten with successive cell divisions, resulting in progressive genomic instability, altered gene expression, and cell death. Recently, telomere-specific deoxyribonucleic acid-binding proteins, such as telomeric repeat binding factor-1 (TRF1), have been proposed as candidates for the role of molecules regulating telomerase activity, and they have been suggested to play key roles in the maintenance of telomere function. The present study was designed to assess TRF1 expression in human astroglial brain tumors and to speculate on the clinical implications of its expression. METHODS:Twenty flash-frozen surgical specimens obtained from adult patients who underwent craniotomy for microsurgical tumor resection, histologically verified as World Health Organization Grade II to IV astrocytomas, were used. Expression of TRF1 in astrocytomas of different grades was studied by means of both immunohistochemical and Western blotting analysis. The correlation between the extent of TRF1 expression and histological grading, performance status, and length of survival of patients underwent statistical analyses. RESULTS:TRF1 was expressed in all tumor samples. The level of its expression was variable, decreasing from low-grade through high-grade astrocytomas (P = 0.0032). TRF1 expression correlated with the patient’s length of survival (P < 0.001) and performance status (P < 0.001) and proved to be an independent indicator of length of survival. CONCLUSION:Our findings suggest that the loss of TRF1 expression capability, as a result of down-regulation of TRF1 expression in malignant gliomas cells, may play a role in the malignant progression of astroglial brain tumors.
Maximum Likelihood Analysis of a General Latent Variable Model with Hierarchically Mixed Data

Summary A general two‐level latent variable model is developed to provide a comprehensive framework for model comparison of various submodels. Nonlinear relationships among the latent variables in the structural equations at both levels, as well as the effects of fixed covariates in the measurement and structural equations at both levels, can be analyzed within the framework. Moreover, the methodology can be applied to hierarchically mixed continuous, dichotomous, and polytomous data. A Monte Carlo EM algorithm is implemented to produce the maximum likelihood estimate. The E‐step is completed by approximating the conditional expectations through observations that are simulated by Markov chain Monte Carlo methods, while the M‐step is completed by conditional maximization. A procedure is proposed for computing the complicated observed‐data log likelihood and the BIC for model comparison. The methods are illustrated by using a real data set.
Factors Influencing the Profitability of Heavy Vehicle Industry: A Case of Pakistan

The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of working capital management on the profitability of the heavy vehicle industry in Pakistan from 2005 to 2017. For this purpose, five firms were selected. There were six independent variables that included average account payable, cash conversion cycle, accounts receivable turnover, inventory turnover, and quick ratio. The size of business was used as the control variable. The dependent variables were rerun on assets and return on equity. The Panel least squares regression (PLSR) was employed to examine the relationships amongst the variables. The results revealed that most of the elements of working capital have a significant effect on return on equity and return on assets. However, the size of the business had an insignificant impact on profitability. This research study has provided basic foils to the future research studies, and guidelines to the financial managers of heavy vehicle industry that how to manage their financial portfolios for optimum profitability.
Customer centricity: an empirical analysis in the micro-sized firm

ABSTRACT In theory, customer centricity has been suggested to provide many benefits for the firm. Empirically, there is however limited analysis on the factors that might encourage or constrain a firm from engaging in customer-centric practices. Less is also known about how customer centricity potentially affects firm performance. In response to these research gaps, this paper focuses on the external factors affecting customer centricity and its implications on the firm. This research relies on surveys gathered from micro-sized firms operating in Nigeria. Notably, emerging pattern from the analyses indicates that industry competition and technological turbulence are a force for good given their predictive impact on the adoption of customer centricity, whereas demand uncertainty was found to be unrelated to customer centricity. In addition, there is a consistent pattern that customer centricity not only significantly leads to marketing innovativeness, but indirectly affects financial performance through the marketing innovativeness process.
Multicopy single‐stranded DNA of Escherichia coli enhances mutation and recombination frequencies by titrating MutS protein

Multicopy single‐stranded DNA (msDNA) molecules consist of single‐stranded DNA covalently linked to RNA. In Escherichia coli, such molecules are encoded by genetic elements called retrons. The DNA moieties of msDNAs have characteristic stem‐loop structures, and most of these structures contain mismatched base pairs. Previously, we showed that retrons encoding msDNAs with mismatched base pairs are mutagenic when present in multicopy plasmids. In this study we show that such msDNAs, in a similar manner to genetic defects in mismatch repair, increase the frequency of interspecies recombination in matings between Salmonella typhimurium and E. coli. To demonstrate interference with mismatch repair by msDNA, we show that the addition of a plasmid containing the gene for MutS protein suppresses the mutagenic and recombinogenic effects of msDNAs. We also show that in mutS mutants, msDNA does not increase the frequency of either mutations or interspecies recombination. We conclude from these findings that the mutagenic and recombinogenic effects of msDNAs are due to titrating out MutS protein.
Constipation in infants and children: evaluation and treatment. A medical position statement of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.

BACKGROUND Constipation, defined as a delay or difficulty in defecation, present for 2 or more weeks, is a common pediatric problem encountered by both primary and specialty medical providers. METHODS The Constipation Subcommittee of the Clinical Guidelines Committee of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition has formulated clinical practice guidelines for the management of pediatric constipation. The Constipation Subcommittee, consisting of two primary care pediatricians, a clinical epidemiologist, and pediatric gastroenterologists, based its recommendations on an integration of a comprehensive and systematic review of the medical literature combined with expert opinion. Consensus was achieved through Nominal Group Technique, a structured quantitative method. RESULTS The Subcommittee developed two algorithms to assist with medical management, one for older infants and children and the second for infants less than 1 year of age. The guidelines provide recommendations for management by the primary care provider, including evaluation, initial treatment, follow-up management, and indications for consultation by a specialist. The Constipation Subcommittee also provided recommendations for management by the pediatric gastroenterologist. CONCLUSIONS This report, which has been endorsed by the Executive Council of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, has been prepared as a general guideline to assist providers of medical care in the evaluation and treatment of constipation in children. It is not intended as a substitute for clinical judgment or as a protocol for the management of all patients with this problem.
Leaving a Legacy Neutralizes Negative Effects of Death Anxiety on Creativity

Mortality salience (MS) can lead to a paralyzing terror, and to cope with this, people strive for literal or symbolic immortality. As MS leads to conformity and narrow-mindedness, we predicted that MS would lead to lower creativity, unless creativity itself could lead to leaving a legacy and thus symbolic immortality. We show that this pattern holds (Experiment 1), but only when creativity is socially valued (Experiment 2). Finally, especially individualistic people are more creative under MS when they can leave a legacy than when they cannot, and high originality predicts subsequent accessibility of death thoughts (Experiment 3). Implications are discussed.
Anatomical distribution of sex steroid hormone receptors in the brain of female medaka

Estrogen and androgen play crucial roles in coordinating reproductive functions through estrogen receptors (ERs) and androgen receptors (ARs), respectively. These receptors are considered important for regulation of the hypothalamo‐pituitary‐gonadal (HPG) axis. Despite their biological importance, the distribution of sex steroid receptors has not been fully analyzed anatomically in the teleost brain. The teleosts have many characteristic features, which allow unique approaches toward an understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of reproductive functions. Medaka serves as a good model system for studying the mechanisms by which steroid receptor‐mediated systems are regulated, because 1) their breeding conditions can be easily manipulated; 2) we can take advantage of the genome database; and 3) molecular genetic tools, such as transgenic techniques, are applicable. We analyzed the distribution of ERα, ERβ1, ERβ2, ARα, and ARβ mRNA by in situ hybridization in the brain of female medaka. We found that all subtypes of ERs and ARs were expressed in the following nuclei: the dorsal part of the ventral telencephalic area (Vd), supracommissural part of the ventral telencephalic area (Vs), postcommissural part of the ventral telencephalic area (Vp), preoptic area (POA), and nucleus ventralis tuberis (NVT). These regions are known to be involved in the regulation of sexual behavior (Vd, Vs, Vp, POA) or the HPG axis (NVT). These ER‐ and/or AR‐expressing neurons may regulate sexual behavior or the HPG axis according to their axonal projections. Future analysis should be targeted to the neurons described in the present study to extend our understanding of the central regulatory mechanisms of reproduction. J. Comp. Neurol. 521:1760–1780, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Comparative study of novel biased flux permanent magnet machine with doubly salient permanent magnet machine

A comparative study between the novel biased flux permanent magnet machine (BFPMM) and the doubly salient permanent magnet machine (DSPMM) with the same machine size is presented in this paper. The choice of rotor pole number in BFPMM can be any integers except the phase number and its multiples, which is more flexible than that in DSPMM. Different from 6/4 stator/rotor pole DSPMM which has the unipolar phase flux-linkage and trapezoidal phase back-EMF, they become bipolar and essentially sinusoidal in 6/7 stator/rotor pole BFPMM. Hence, compared with DSPMM under the optimal current angle and rated copper loss, the torque ripple in BFPMM can be reduced significantly by ~70%-80% in both the original design (ORI) and the design with flux focusing technique (FC). Moreover, BFPMM exhibits larger average torque than that of DSPMM in both ORI- and FC-designs under the same copper loss and optimal current angle.
Longitudinal Study of Bowel and Bladder Control by Day and at Night in the First Six Years of Life. II: The Role of Potty Training and the Child's Initiative

The rôle of potty training and the child's own initiative to use the pot were evaluated in 320 Swiss children in the Zurich longitudinal study (1955–1976). Initiating potty training in the first months of life has a short‐term effect on bowel control, but no effect on bladder control by day or at night. Frequent daily prompting to use the pot results in a higher percentage of completely bowel‐trained children, and of children partially but not completely dry during the day. It has no influence on bladder control at night.