Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sublethal Concentrations of Ammonia Impair Performance of the Teleost Fast‐Start Escape Response

The fast‐start escape response in fish is essential for predator avoidance, but almost nothing is known about whether sublethal concentrations of pollutants can impair this reflex. Ammonia, a pervasive pollutant of aquatic habitats, is known to have toxic effects on nervous and muscle function in teleost fish. Golden gray mullet (Liza aurata L.) were exposed for 24 h to sublethal ammonia concentrations in seawater (control, 400 μmol L−1, or 1,600 μmol L−1 NH4Cl), and then their response to startling with a mechanical stimulus was measured with high‐speed video. Initiation of the escape response was significantly slowed by ammonia exposure: response latency rose proportionally from <50 ms in controls to >300 ms at a concentration of 1,600 μmol L−1 NH4Cl. This indicates toxic effects on nervous function within the reflex arc. Impaired escape performance was also observed: maximum turning rate, distance covered, velocity, and acceleration were significantly reduced by >45% at a concentration of 1,600 μmol L−1 NH4Cl. This indicates toxic effects on fast‐twitch glycolytic white muscle function, the muscle type that powers the fast‐start response. These neuromotor impairments were associated with significant ammonia accumulations in venous plasma and white muscle and brain tissue. These results indicate that anthropogenic ammonia pollution in aquatic habitats may increase the vulnerability of fish to predation, especially by birds and mammals that are not affected by water ammonia concentrations.
A Health Surveillance of Pesticide Sprayers in Talwandi Sabo Area of Punjab, North–West India

Abstract Human pesticide poisoning has become major public health issue these days. Throughout the world highest levels of pesticide exposure are found in the farm workers, applicators and people living adjacent to heavily treated agricultural land. Pesticides are linked to various chronic diseases like cancers, infertility, kidney failure, reproductive problems and nervous disorders. The present study had been carried out to examine the a cute symptoms of pesticide spraying in the farm workers of three villages in Talwandi Sabo block of Bathinda district of Punjab, a cotton growing area with high usage of pesticides. This is an exploratory health study recorded face– to-face on pre-tested questionnaire. A total of 108 male sprayers from villages Bangi Nihal Singh (34), Jajjal (39) and Mahi Nangal (35) were field interviewed about the immediate impact of pesticides during spraying season from September-October 2003. Majority of the sprayers complained of having nausea, itchiness of the eyes, pain while urinating, discolored nails, nails dropping off, swollen fingers, sleeplessness, headache, excessive sweating and skin rashes. Immediate attention should be given to the implementation of proper awareness programs to pesticide workers. Also, practices like Integrated Pest Management, Organic Farming, Biopesticides, and Crop Diversification should be promoted.
Chronic epithelial NF-κB activation accelerates APC loss and intestinal tumor initiation through iNOS up-regulation

The role of NF-κB activation in tumor initiation has not been thoroughly investigated. We generated Ikkβ(EE)IEC transgenic mice expressing constitutively active IκB kinase β (IKKβ) in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs). Despite absence of destructive colonic inflammation, Ikkβ(EE)IEC mice developed intestinal tumors after a long latency. However, when crossed to mice with IEC-specific allelic deletion of the adenomatous polyposis coli (Apc) tumor suppressor locus, Ikkβ(EE)IEC mice exhibited more β-catenin+ early lesions and visible small intestinal and colonic tumors relative to Apc+/ΔIEC mice, and their survival was severely compromised. IEC of Ikkβ(EE)IEC mice expressed high amounts of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and elevated DNA damage markers and contained more oxidative DNA lesions. Treatment of Ikkβ(EE)IEC/Apc+/ΔIEC mice with an iNOS inhibitor decreased DNA damage markers and reduced early β-catenin+ lesions and tumor load. The results suggest that persistent NF-κB activation in IEC may accelerate loss of heterozygocity by enhancing nitrosative DNA damage.
Sensitivity of Electronic Commerce Measurement to the Survey Instrument

Sample surveys are increasingly being used to measure electronic commerce activities. They often play a key role in efforts to describe and understand e-commerce phenomena, particularly in respect to attitudes, motives, and intentions. This paper studies establishment surveys of e-commerce, focusing especially on the sensitivity of the results to the measurement instrument. Several survey modes are compared, with special attention to the Web as a possible alternative to more expensive telephone and mail data-collection techniques. Controlled experiments show that e-commerce survey topics are sensitive to the measurement instrument, and especially to the Web questionnaire. In consequence, precise elaboration of the methodology is important when interpreting survey findings related to e-commerce.
The Persistent Debate About Convergence in Comparative Corporate Governance

This paper reviews the book, Convergence and Persistence in Corporate Governance, edited by Jeffrey N. Gordon and Mark J. Roe. The book takes its place against the broad theoretical backdrop of the convergence-divergence debate in contemporary corporate governance, and a range of intersecting themes and insights, including the law matters and legal origins hypotheses and path dependence theory. The book maps out the contours of this debate, and includes contributions from prominent U.S. and European scholars, comparing and contrasting the approaches of different legal regimes. In spite of the considerable influence and sway in contemporary corporate governance of convergence theory (represented in the book by the contribution of Henry Hansmann and Reinier Kraakman), many of the authors express skepticism about its explanatory power. Rather, these authors focus on differences in legal systems, seeking to explain the origins, and continued resilience of such differences, from a range of perspectives and across a range of jurisdictions. A particularly strong theme in the book is the influence of political factors in legal regulation and their potential to obstruct convergence, on the basis that corporate governance cannot be separated from political governance. While recognizing economic forces driving convergence, Convergence and Persistence in Corporate Governance provides sophisticated analysis of other constraining forces within a broader regulatory ecosystem. The book's attention to the relevance of political and cultural matters creates a more complex and textured picture of legal regulation. There are, however, a number of other aspects of comparative corporate governance, which could have received greater attention in the book. For example, the assumption is often made by commentators on both sides of the convergence-divergence divide that a standardized Anglo-US model of corporate governance currently exists - a viewpoint that also seems to underpin the book. My paper discusses the extent to which differences, for example, in takeover law in the U.S., U.K. and Australia may challenge this assumption. It also considers several developments, which cast further doubt on a strong convergence position in comparative corporate governance. These developments include first, the corporate governance transplantation experiment in Russia in the early 1990s and secondly, the impact on comparative corporate governance of the international corporate collapses, epitomized by Enron and WorldCom. The regulatory responses to these collapses across several jurisdictions suggest that such events may generate new divergence in laws. Finally, differences in the post-Enron regulatory responses have also affected the issue of cross-listing. The presumption earlier this decade that the trend towards cross-listing of foreign firms in the U.S. could itself operate as a form of regulatory competition may need to be reassessed in the light of international reaction to the stringency of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 and its effect on cross-listing.
Schistosome Interactions within the Schistosoma haematobium Group, Malawi

Molecular analysis of atypical schistosome eggs retrieved from children in Malawi revealed genetic interactions occurring between human (Schistosoma haematobium) and livestock (S. mattheei and S. bovis) schistosome species. Detection of hybrid schistosomes adds a notable new perspective to the epidemiology and control of urogenital schistosomiasis in central Africa.
Folic acid supplementation during early hepatocarcinogenesis: Cellular and molecular effects

Folic acid (FA) supplementation during carcinogenesis is controversial. Considering the impact of liver cancer as a public health problem and mandatory FA fortification in several countries, the role of FA supplementation in hepatocarcinogenesis should be elucidated. We evaluated FA supplementation during early hepatocarcinogenesis. Rats received daily 0.08 mg (FA8 group) or 0.16 mg (FA16 group) of FA/100 g body weight or water (CO group, controls). After a 2‐week treatment, animals were subjected to the “resistant hepatocyte” model of hepatocarcinogenesis (initiation with diethylnitrosamine, selection/promotion with 2‐acetylaminofluorene and partial hepatectomy) and euthanized after 8 weeks of treatment. Compared to the CO group, the FA16 group presented: reduced (p < 0.05) number of persistent and increased (p < 0.05) number of remodeling glutathione S‐transferase (GST‐P) positive preneoplastic lesions (PNL); reduced (p < 0.05) cell proliferation in persistent GST‐P positive PNL; decreased (p < 0.05) hepatic DNA damage; and a tendency (p < 0.10) for decreased c‐myc expression in microdissected PNL. Regarding all these parameters, no differences (p > 0.05) were observed between CO and FA8 groups. FA‐treated groups presented increased hepatic levels of S‐adenosylmethionine but only FA16 group presented increased S‐adenosylmethionine/S‐adenosylhomocysteine ratio. No differences (p > 0.05) were observed between experimental groups regarding apoptosis in persistent and remodeling GST‐P positive PNL, and global DNA methylation pattern in microdissected PNL. Altogether, the FA16 group, but not the FA8 group, presented chemopreventive activity. Reversion of PNL phenotype and inhibition of DNA damage and of c‐myc expression represent relevant FA cellular and molecular effects.
Dependence of Left-Skewed Payoff Distributions on Risky-Asset Price Uncertainty

A left-skewed payoff distribution ascribes more probability to higher payoffs than a right-skewed distribution. The former is a desirable feature of payoff spreading if losses are strongly avoided. Therefore, investment policies leading to left-skewed payoff distributions are of interest to practical fund managers where the probability of loss needs be minimal (e.g., in pension funds). In this paper, features of stochastic optimal control processes, under which left-skewed payoff distributions can be obtained, are examined. In particular, the diffusion parameter that represents risky-asset price uncertainty is varied, and sensitivity of the payoff distribution due to this variation is studied. Interestingly, left-skewed payoff distributions can be obtained for relatively large values of the diffusion parameter.
Manifestations and outcome of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis: impact of human immunodeficiency virus co-infection.

SETTING Metropolitan New Orleans. OBJECTIVE To determine the impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection on the manifestations and outcome of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB). DESIGN Retrospective analysis of 136 patients diagnosed with EPTB between 1 January 1993 to 31 December 2001. Characteristics of EPTB were compared by HIV serostatus. RESULTS Of those tested for HIV (n = 87), 42.5% were seropositive. Except for a higher frequency of disseminated TB among co-infected persons, the manifestations, laboratory diagnostic yield and outcome of EPTB were similar between HIV-infected and non-infected persons. The overall fatality rate was 20%; HIV-infected patients had a three-fold higher mortality compared to non-infected persons. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, factors associated with death were: HIV-seropositive (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 5.2, 95% CI 1.1-24.65) compared to HIV-seronegative, disseminated and meningeal compared to lymphatic disease (aOR 16.87, 95% CI 12.31-123.34), and lack of TB treatment compared to receipt of TB treatment (aOR 29.23, 95% CI 14.47-191.23). CONCLUSION Manifestations of EPTB were non-specific and did not differ between HIV-infected and non-infected persons. Severe disease, lack of TB treatment and HIV co-infection were associated withdeath. Approaches are needed to reduce EPTB morbidity and mortality, especially among HIV-infected persons.
The effect of new corporate accounting regime on earnings management: Evidence from Vietnam

Following the mandatory adoption of new corporate accounting rules that bring Vietnamese accounting standards closer to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), this study examines the impact of these new rules on earnings management of Vietnamese listed firms. The study avails of financial statement figures during pre-adoption and post-adoption of the new corporate accounting regime (as of January 1, 2015) for the top-100 listed firms in Vietnam. The findings suggest there has been an improvement in earnings quality since listed firms moved to the new accounting regime.
Explaining Business Cycles: News Versus Data Revisions ∗

This paper examines the claim by Schmitt-Grohe and Uribe (2009) that the presence of ‘news’ can better explain business cycle fluctuations, an idea that builds on the work of Beaudry and Portier (2006). We assess this claim in a standard New Keynesian (NK) DSGE model and compare it with an alternative that requires less extreme information assumptions (as in Levine et al. (2010)) and utilizes revisions to real time data. Overall we conclude that data revisions can be seen to be a proxy for news shocks, and in a marginal likelihood race, fit the data better. We also find, based on standard moment criteria, including co-movements of key US economic indicators, and validation using an identified DSGE-VAR, qualified empirical support for the most basic NK models augmented with the revision processes. JEL Classication : C11, C52, E12, E32.
Methotrexate enhances the antianabolic and antiproliferative effects of 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside

Because of its ability to mimic a low energy status of the cell, the cell-permeable nucleoside 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide (AICA) riboside was proposed as an antineoplastic agent switching off major energy-consuming processes associated with the malignant phenotype (lipid production, DNA synthesis, cell proliferation, cell migration, etc.). Key to the antineoplastic action of AICA riboside is its conversion to ZMP, an AMP mimetic that at high concentrations activates the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Here, in an attempt to increase the efficacy of AICA riboside, we pretreated cancer cells with methotrexate, an antimetabolite blocking the metabolism of ZMP. Methotrexate enhanced the AICA riboside–induced accumulation of ZMP and led to a decrease in the levels of ATP, which functions as an intrasteric inhibitor of AMPK. Consequently, methotrexate markedly sensitized AMPK for activation by AICA riboside and potentiated the inhibitory effects of AICA riboside on tumor-associated processes. As cotreatment elicited antiproliferative effects already at concentrations of compounds that were only marginally effective when used alone, our findings on the cooperation between methotrexate and AICA riboside provide new opportunities both for the application of classic antimetabolic chemotherapeutics, such as methotrexate, and for the exploitation of the energy-sensing machinery as a target for cancer intervention. [Mol Cancer Ther 2006;5(9):2211–7]
A Population Genetics-Based and Phylogenetic Approach to Understanding the Evolution of Virulence in the Genus Listeria

ABSTRACT The genus Listeria includes (i) the opportunistic pathogens L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii, (ii) the saprotrophs L. innocua, L. marthii, and L. welshimeri, and (iii) L. seeligeri, an apparent saprotroph that nevertheless typically contains the prfA virulence gene cluster. A novel 10-loci multilocus sequence typing scheme was developed and used to characterize 67 isolates representing six Listeria spp. (excluding L. grayi) in order to (i) provide an improved understanding of the phylogeny and evolution of the genus Listeria and (ii) use Listeria as a model to study the evolution of pathogenicity in opportunistic environmental pathogens. Phylogenetic analyses identified six well-supported Listeria species that group into two main subdivisions, with each subdivision containing strains with and without the prfA virulence gene cluster. Stochastic character mapping and phylogenetic analysis of hly, a gene in the prfA cluster, suggest that the common ancestor of the genus Listeria contained the prfA virulence gene cluster and that this cluster was lost at least five times during the evolution of Listeria, yielding multiple distinct saprotrophic clades. L. welshimeri, which appears to represent the most ancient clade that arose from an ancestor with a prfA cluster deletion, shows a considerably lower average sequence divergence than other Listeria species, suggesting a population bottleneck and a putatively different ecology than other saprotrophic Listeria species. Overall, our data suggest that, for some pathogens, loss of virulence genes may represent a selective advantage, possibly by facilitating adaptation to a specific ecological niche.
A structure learning method for concise fuzzy systems

This paper presents a structure learning method for fuzzy systems following our previous work on a Structure Evolving Learning Method for Fuzzy Systems (SELM) and an Evolving Construction Scheme for Fuzzy Systems (ECSFS). Here we extend our previous work to a structure learning method for fuzzy systems which results in more concise systems. We analyse and compare the proposed concise structure learning strategies in terms of three aspects: (1) how to detect the splitting points for the structure learning process; (2) how to set a starting point for the fuzzy system; (3) how the proposed method is applied to Mamdani and TS fuzzy systems.
Gene Identification Programs in Bread Wheat: A Comparison Study

Seven ab initio web-based gene prediction programs (i.e., AUGUSTUS, BGF, Fgenesh, Fgenesh+, GeneID, Genemark.hmm, and HMMgene) were assessed to compare their prediction accuracy using protein-coding sequences of bread wheat. At both nucleotide and exon levels, Fgenesh+ was deduced as the superior program and BGF followed by Fgenesh were resided in the next positions, respectively. Conversely, at gene level, Fgenesh with the value of predicting more than 75% of all the genes precisely, concluded as the best ones. It was also found out that programs such as Fgenesh+, BGF, and Fgenesh, because of harboring the highest percentage of correct predictive exons appear to be much more applicable in achieving more trustworthy results, while using both GeneID and HMMgene the percentage of false negatives would be expected to enhance. Regarding initial exon, overall, the frequency of accurate recognition of 3′ boundary was significantly higher than that of 5′ and the reverse was true if terminal exon is taken into account. Lastly, HMMgene and Genemark.hmm, overall, presented independent tendency against GC content, while the others appear to be slightly more sensitive if GC-poor sequences are employed. Our results, overall, exhibited that to make adequate opportunity in acquiring remarkable results, gene finders still need additional improvements.
Urine homovanillic acid and tissue dopa oxidase in patients with melanoma

The urinary content of homovanillic acid (HVA) and tumor dopa oxidase activities was studied in 169 patients with malignant melanoma. There was good agreement between the tumor dopa oxidase activity and urine HVA level in the same patient, considering the actual volume of tumor present is not taken into consideration. However, there was poor agreement in many instances when either urine HVA or tumor dopa oxidase alone was compared to the clinical condition. Cancer 33:1601–1606, 1974.
Robust Quantum Random Number Generation With Silicon Nanocrystals Light Source

A robust quantum random number generation methodology has been developed and tested. The physical setup is based on a silicon nanocrystals light source coupled with a Si single photon avalanche diode driving a fully synchronous digital logic in a field-programmable gate array. After detailed analyses of the source and the detector, methods have been developed to make the nonidealities of the system and their consequent drawbacks decoupled from the quality of the generated random numbers. All the statistical tests in the national institute of standards and technology tests suite and the TestU01 Alphabit battery are consistently passed without a postprocessing operation on the raw data and without any feedback action on the photon source or any other parameter of the system. The maximum demonstrated bit-rate reaches 1.68 Mb/s, with an efficiency of 4 bits per detected photon. The modeling proves that the system is not influenced by variations of the internal and external parameters, such as the aging of the components and changing temperature.
A Reverse J-Shaped Association Between Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: The CopD Study.

CONTEXT Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death in the Western world, but the association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality remains unclear. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to determine the association between cardiovascular, stroke, and acute myocardial infarct mortality and serum levels of 25(OH)D. DESIGN This was an observational cohort study, the Copenhagen vitamin D study, data from a single laboratory center in Copenhagen, Denmark. Follow-up was from 2004 to 2011. SETTING Serum 25(OH)D was analyzed from 247 574 subjects from the Copenhagen general practice sector. PARTICIPANTS Examination of the association 25(OH)D levels and mortality from cardiovascular disease, stroke, and acute myocardial infarct was performed among 161 428 women and 86 146 men. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES A multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to compute hazard ratios for cardiovascular, stroke, and acute myocardial infarct mortality. RESULTS Of 247 574 subjects, a total of 16 645 subjects died in the ensuing 0-7 years. A total of 5454 died from cardiovascular disease including 1574 from stroke and 702 from acute myocardial infarct. The 25(OH)D level of 70 nmol/L was associated with the lowest cardiovascular disease mortality risk. Compared with that level, the hazard ratio for cardiovascular disease mortality was 2.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.8-2.1] at the lower extreme (∼ 12.5 nmol/L) with a higher risk for men [2.5 (95% CI 2.2-2.9)] than for women [1.7 (95% CI 1.5-1.9)]. At the higher extreme (∼ 125 nmol/L), the hazard ratio of cardiovascular disease mortality was 1.3 (95% CI 1.2-1.4), with a similar risk among men and women. Results were similar for stroke and acute myocardial subgroups. CONCLUSIONS In this large observational study, low and high levels of 25(OH)D were associated with cardiovascular disease, stroke, and acute myocardial mortality in a nonlinear, reverse J-shaped manner, with the highest risk at lower levels. Whether this was a causal or associational finding cannot be determined from our data. There is a need for randomized clinical trials that include information on the effects of 25(OH)D levels greater than 100 nmol/L.