Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reduced BDNF mRNA Expression in the Parkinson's Disease Substantia Nigra

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has potent effects on survival and morphology of dopaminergic neurons and thus its loss could contribute to death of these cells in Parkinson's disease (PD). In situ hybridization revealed that BDNF mRNA is strongly expressed by dopaminergic neurons in control substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). In clinically and neuropathologically typical PD, SNpc BDNF mRNA expression is reduced by 70% (P = 0.001). This reduction is due, in part, to loss of dopaminergic neurons which express BDNF. However, surviving dopaminergic neurons in the PD SNpc also expressed less BDNF mRNA (20%, P = 0.02) than their normal counterparts. Moreover, while 15% of control neurons had BDNF mRNA expression >1 SD below the control mean, twice as many (28%) of the surviving PD SNpc dopaminergic neurons had BDNF mRNA expression below this value. This 13% difference in proportions (95% CI 8-17%, P < or = 0.000001) indicates the presence of a subset of neurons in PD with particularly low BDNF mRNA expression. Moreover, both control and PD neurons displayed a direct relationship between the density of BDNF mRNA expression per square micrometer of cell surface and neuronal size (r(2) = 0.93, P </= 0.00001) which was lost only in PD neurons expressing the lowest levels of BDNF mRNA. If BDNF is an autocrine/paracrine factor for SNpc dopaminergic neurons, loss of BDNF-expressing neurons may compromise the well-being of their surviving neighbors. Moreover, neurons expressing particularly low levels of BDNF mRNA may be those at greatest risk of injury in PD and possibly the trigger for the degeneration itself.
Software Reusability Model for Procedure Based Domain-Specific Software Components

Automatic reusability appraisal is helpful in evaluating the quality of developed or developing reusable software components and in identification of reusable components from existing legacy systems; that can save cost of developing the software from scratch. But the issue of how to identify reusable components from existing systems has remained relatively unexplored. In this paper, we mention a two-tier approach by studying the structural attributes as well as usability or relevancy of the component to a particular domain. We evaluate Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis (PLSA) approach, LSA's Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) technique, LSA's Semi-Discrete Matrix Decomposition (SDD) technique and Naive Bayes approach to determine the Domain Relevancy of software components. It exploits the fact that Feature Vector codes can be seen as documents containing terms — the identifiers present in the components — and so text modeling methods that capture co-occurrence information in low-dimensional spaces can be used. In this research work, structural attributes of software components are explored using software metrics and quality of the software is inferred by Neuro-Fuzzy (NF) Inference engine, taking the metric values as input. The influence of different factors on the reusability is studied and the condition for the optimum reusability index is derived using Taguchi Analysis. The NF system is optimized by selecting initial rule-base through modified ID3 decision tree algorithm in combination with the results of Taguchi Analysis. The calculated reusability value enables to identify a good quality code automatically. It is found that the reusability value determined is close to the manual analysis used to be performed by the programmers or repository managers. So, the system developed can be used to enhance the productivity and quality of software development.
FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI NILAI PERUSAHAAN SUBSEKTOR PERBANKAN PADA BEI DALAM MENGHADAPI MEA

Nilai perusahaan merupakan harga pasar per saham berbanding dengan nilai buku per saham, dengan semakin tingginya harga saham maka semakin tinggi pula nilai perusahaan. Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi nilai perusahaan adalah ROA , ROE , Risiko Perusahaan, LDR dan NPL . Penelitian bertujuan untuk menguji pengaruh ROA, ROE, Risiko Perusahaan, LDR, NPL terhadap Nilai Perusahaan, secara simultan maupun parsial. Penelitian ini menggunakan sampel 14 perusahaan diperoleh melalui metode purposive sampling . Teknik analisis data menggunakan regresi berganda yang sebelumnya di uji dengan asumsi klasik. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan secara simultan ROA , ROE , Risiko Perusahaan, LDR , dan NPL berpengaruh signifikan terhadap nilai perusahaan. Sedangkan secara parsial ROA berpengaruh positif dan signifikan, terhadap nilai perusahaan, ROE berpengaruh positif dan tidak signifikan terhadap nilai perusahaan, Risiko Perusahaan dan LDR berpengaruh negatif dan signifikan terhadap nilai perusahaan dan NPL berpengaruh negatif dan tidak signifikan terhadap nilai perusahaan. Perusahaan sebaiknya memperhatikan ROE , dan NPL , karena dapat berdampak pada Nilai Perusahaan. kata kunci : roa, roe, risiko perusahaan, ldr, npl, nilai perusahaan
Oral medroxyprogesterone acetate in the treatment of advanced or recurrent endometrial carcinoma: a dose-response study by the Gynecologic Oncology Group.

PURPOSE Progestins have definite activity against advanced or recurrent endometrial carcinoma. Both parenteral and oral progestins yield similar serum levels and response rates, which range from 18% to 34%. The one major study that used oral medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) noted a response rate at the lower end of the range (18%) and much poorer progression-free and overall survival times (4 and 10.5 months, respectively) than previously reported. The present study sought to confirm this earlier study of oral MPA, to assess the importance of prognostic factors such as histologic grade and receptor levels, and to determine whether a higher dose of MPA would yield a higher response rate. PATIENTS AND METHODS Two hundred ninety-nine eligible women with advanced or recurrent endometrial carcinoma were randomized to receive oral MPA either 200 mg/d or 1, 000 mg/d until unacceptable toxicity intervened or their disease progressed. RESULTS Among 145 patients receiving the low-dose regimen, there were 25 complete (17%) and 11 partial (8%) responses for an overall response rate of 25%. The 154 patients receiving the high-dose regimen experienced 14 (9%) complete and 10 (6%) partial responses for an overall response rate of 15%. Median durations of progression-free survival were 3.2 months and 2.5 months for the low-dose and high-dose regimens, respectively. Median survival durations were 11.1 months and 7.0 months, respectively. The adjusted relative odds of responding to the high-dose regimen compared with the low-dose regimen was 0.61 (90% confidence interval, 0.36 to 1.04). Prognostic factors having a significant impact on the probability of response included initial performance status, age, histologic grade, and progesterone receptor concentration. Compliance with oral therapy was documented with serum levels 1 month after starting therapy, when possible. MPA levels were commensurate with the assigned dose and schedule. CONCLUSION Oral MPA is active against endometrial carcinoma. Response to progestin therapy is more frequent among patients with a well-differentiated histology and positive progesterone receptor status. This study provides no evidence to support the use of MPA 1,000 mg/d orally instead of MPA 200 mg/d orally. In fact, the trends suggest the opposite. The use of oral MPA 200 mg/d is a reasonable initial approach to the treatment of advanced or recurrent endometrial carcinoma, particularly those lesions that are well-differentiated and/or progesterone receptor-positive (> 50 fmol/mg cytosol protein). Patients with poorly differentiated and/or progesterone receptor levels less than 50 fmol/mg cytosol protein had only an 8% to 9% response rate.
Financial Distress Costs and Corporate Governance

The inside and outside environment are very different between companies with and without financial distress,which leads to the different influence of corporate governance to indirect costs of financial distress,as well as to the firm value.Based on the panel data of 193 financially distressed listed companies in China from 2000 to 2006,this paper examines the relationships between corporate governance characteristics and financial distress costs.The results show that the ownership balancing has a positive influence on financial distress costs,and the proportion of state-owned shares,the proportion of independent directors and the percentage of overhead cost all have negative relationships with financial distress costs,while ownership concentration,CEO/chairman duality,proportion of managers′ shares and financial fraud don′t have significant relations.The findings arehelpful for distressed companies to improve their corporate governance and become financially healthy.
Advances in Osteometric Sorting: Utilizing Diaphyseal CSG Properties for Lower Limb Skeletal Pair‐Matching

Pair‐matching of bilateral elements is a major component of resolving commingled remains both in forensic and bioarchaeological contexts. This study presents a new method of osteometric pair‐matching of the lower limbs which relies on 3D digital models of the femur and tibia bones. The proposed method, which is accompanied by a freely available open‐source implementation, automatically computes a number of osteometric variables including cross‐sectional geometric properties from an assemblage of left and right bone antimeres and calculates probabilistically the appropriate matching pairs as well as single elements, whose bones antimere is not present in the given assemblage. The method has been extensively tested on a skeletal sample comprising 396 femurs and 422 tibias from the Athens collection. Our results in testing commingled assemblages with no disparity show that the method’s sensitivity is 1 for sorting femurs and 0.997 for sorting tibias, whereas in assemblages with moderate disparity the sensitivity is 0.999 and 0.992 respectively. Our results further indicate that sensitivity is unaffected by the size of the commingled assemblage although the percentage of identified true matching pairs drops as the number of commingled elements increases. This means that all identified antimeres matched to an individual are still very accurately sorted despite not every individual being identified in very large assemblages. The proposed method can facilitate the sorting process of commingled remains both accurately and efficiently, while leaving a very small percentage of unsorted elements that may require further techniques for further individualization.
Differential signal transduction via TrmB, a sugar sensing transcriptional repressor of Pyrococcus furiosus

TrmB is a transcriptional repressor of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus serving at least two operons. TrmB represses genes encoding an ABC transporter for trehalose and maltose (the TM system) with trehalose and maltose as inducers. TrmB also represses genes encoding another ABC transporter for maltodextrins (the MD system) with maltotriose and sucrose as inducers. Here we report that glucose which was also bound by TrmB acted as a corepressor (causing stronger repression) for both the TM and the MD system. Binding of glucose by TrmB was increased in the presence of TM promoter DNA. Maltose which acted as inducer for the TM system acted as a corepressor for the MD system intensifying repression. We propose that the differential conformational changes of TrmB in response to binding the different sugars governs the ability of TrmB to interact with the promoter region and represents a simple mechanism for selecting the usage of one carbon source over the other, reminiscent of catabolite repression in bacteria.
Methods for primary concentration of viruses from water samples: a review and meta‐analysis of recent studies

Since the beginning of environmental virology in the mid‐twentieth century, a key challenge to scientists in the environmental field has been how to collect, isolate and detect pathogenic viruses from water that is used for drinking and/or recreational purposes. Early studies investigated different types of membrane filters, with more sophisticated technologies being developed more recently. The purpose of this study was to look at the current state of the science of methods for the concentration of viruses from water. Several technologies were reviewed, and associated data were included in a meta‐analysis which showed that electronegative filters, electropositive filters and ultrafilters are comparable in performance and that significant differences in recovery are due to virus type rather than filter type, water matrix or sample volume. This information is useful, as it will help to determine which method(s) should be used, particularly if there is a specific viral type being targeted for a particular study. In addition, it will be helpful when sampling different environmental water matrices and/or when budget allowance must be taken into consideration. Taken together, this will be useful in performing viral occurrence studies, which ultimately can help ensure safer water for both humans and the environment.
Effect of corn silage particle size and level of soybean oil on ruminal mat composition, distribution and consistency in Zel sheep

To determine the effects of two corn silage particle size (coarse particle with geometric mean of 5.83 ± 2.47 mm and fine particle with geometric mean of 4.74 ± 2.74 mm) and two levels of soybean oil (0 and 4% of DM) on ruminal matcomposition, distribution and consistency, four two years fistulated ruminant Zel ewes (BW = 34 ± 1.4 kg), fed with 50:50 roughage-concentrate diet, were allocated to a 4 × 4 change over design. The experiment was carried out in 4 periods of 28-days trial (adaptation, 14 days; collection period‎, 5 days; chewing activity measurement, 1 day; rumen evacuation, 8 days). Experimental diets were: 1) basal diet + coarse corn silage and 0% oil; 2) basal diet + coarse corn silage and 4% oil; 3) basal diet + fine corn silage and 0% oil and; 4) basal diet + fine corn silage and 4% oil. Based on calendar time, rumens were evacuated manually at 3, 7.5 and 12 h post-feeding of each period and total ruminal contents were separated into mat and liquids phase. Dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) intake were less in treatment 4 and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intake in treatment 2 was higher than in the other diets. Physically, effective NDF intakes were higher in treatments 1 and 2 than in treatments 3 and 4, but DM and OM digestibility was higher in treatments 1 than in the other diets. The NDF digestibility was higher in coarse silage diets, but the NFC digestibilities were higher in fine corn silage diets. Rumen mat was greater in coarse silage diets than in fine silage diets (1.83 and 1.32 versus 1.06 and 0.76 kg) at 3 h after feeding. Non-escapable pool sizes in rumen content were higher in diets that contained coarse silage. At all time in post feeding, ruminal pH was less in fine silage particle size with oil supplement. Rumen particulate passage rates were higher in fine corn silage diets. However, passage rates from the lower gastrointestinal tract were similar. In addition, ruminal mean retention times were significantly greater in diets that contained coarse silage. Rumination time was shorter in fine corn silage with oil supplement diet but rumination time per kg of NDF and peNDF was longer in fine corn silage diets. In addition, although reduction of particle size decreased size of rumen mat and non-escapable fraction, oil supplementation reduced ruminal digestion and mean retention of ruminal particulate. However, it seems that oil supplementation can be helpful in fine corn silage diets for maintaining ruminal mat. Key words: Particle size, soybean oil, ruminal mat, Zel sheep
[Characterization by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of Salmonella typhimurium isolates recovered in the acute diarrheal disease surveillance program in Colombia, 1997-2004].

INTRODUCTION In Colombia Salmonella Typhimurium is the second most frequently isolated Salmonella serotype (after S. Enteritidis) from human clinical samples. This serotype represents 28.2% (n=468) of the 1659 Salmonella isolates recovered by the Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS) Acute Diarrheal Diseases Surveillance Program from 1997 to 2004. Previously, little was known about the molecular attributes of these strains and commonality of genetic subtypes among S. Typhimurium isolated from humans in Colombia. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to characterize S. Typhimurium isolates circulating in Colombia using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis in order to establish genetic profiles and determine their potential relatedness. MATERIALS AND METHODS 468 S. Typhimurium isolates were submitted to INS by 14 Public Health Laboratories from January 1997 to December 2004. The pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was performed using restriction enzyme Xbal according to the PulseNet standard protocol (CDC, Atlanta). Restriction pattern analysis and cluster definition were performed using Molecular Analyst Fingerprinting II software. RESULTS 180 distinct electrophoretic patterns were obtained. Pattern COINJPX.X01. 0062 was the most common (21.3% of the 473 isolates, n=101), followed by COINJPX.X01. 0001 (8.4%, n=40), COINJPX.X01. 0058 (3%, n=13), COINJPX.X01. 0003 (2.5%, n=12), COINJPX.X01. 0066 (2.3%, n=11), and COINJPX.X01. 0108 (1.4%, n=6). COINJPX.X01. 0001, was the most prevalent pattern among S. Typhimurium isolated in Bogotá from 1997-2002, but appeared to be replaced both in Bogotá and nationally by COINJPX.X01. 0062 in 2003-2004. Cluster analysis demonstrated three distinct groups with 53% and 82% similarity indicating heterogeneity within the serotype. CONCLUSIONS The study provides important electrophoretic pattern baseline data, which will be useful for prospective real-time comparison of profiles of future isolates. Cluster detection using this method will facilitate outbreak detection and will enhance our ability to find common sources for seemingly unrelated infections.
Message Equivocality, Media Selection, and Manager Performance: Implications for Information Systems

A field study of middle- and upper-level managers was undertaken to explain managers' selection of communication media. The findings indicate that media vary in their capacity to convey information cues. Managers prefer rich media for ambiguous communications and less rich media for unequivocal communications. The data suggest that high performing managers are more sensitive to the relationship between message ambiguity and media richness than low performing managers. Implications for managers' use of information systems and electronic media are discussed.
Electronic properties of magnesium oxide - polyethylene interface

We use density functional theory to calculate band offsets for different configurations of magnesium oxide - polyethylene interface. Our study shows that band bending occurs at the contact between the polymer and the MgO particle. As a result, the surface of the MgO nanoparticle introduces deep traps up to 2 eV in the material. Also, the calculations indicate the possibility of a double layer formation within the nanoparticle.
Proteomic analysis of the dorsal and ventral hippocampus of rats maintained on a high fat and refined sugar diet

The typical Western diet, rich in high saturated fat and refined sugar (HFS), has been shown to increase cognitive decline with aging and Alzheimer's disease, and to affect cognitive functions that are dependent on the hippocampus, including memory processes and reversal learning. To investigate neurophysiological changes underlying these impairments, we employed a proteomic approach to identify differentially expressed proteins in the rat dorsal and ventral hippocampus following maintenance on an HFS diet. Rats maintained on the HFS diet for 8 weeks were impaired on a novel object recognition task that assesses memory and on a Morris Water Maze task assessing reversal learning. Quantitative label‐free shotgun proteomic analysis was conducted on biological triplicates for each group. For the dorsal hippocampus, 59 proteins were upregulated and 36 downregulated in the HFS group compared to controls. Pathway ana‐lysis revealed changes to proteins involved in molecular transport and cellular and molecular signaling, and changes to signaling pathways including calcium signaling, citrate cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation. For the ventral hippocampus, 25 proteins were upregulated and 27 downregulated in HFS fed rats. Differentially expressed proteins were involved in cell‐to‐cell signaling and interaction, and cellular and molecular function. Changes to signaling pathways included protein ubiquitination, ubiquinone biosynthesis, oxidative phosphorylation, and mitochondrial dysfunction. This is the first shotgun proteomics study to examine protein changes in the hippocampus following long‐term consumption of a HFS diet, identifying changes to a large number of proteins including those involved in synaptic plasticity and energy metabolism. All MS data have been deposited in the ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD000028.
Assessment of spatial neglect in clinical practice: A nationwide survey

ABSTRACT This study was part of a nationwide, anonymous, open Internet survey conducted amongst healthcare professionals in Denmark on the assessment and treatment of spatial neglect (SN). The objective was to describe knowledge and practices in the assessment of SN in current clinical practice across different healthcare sectors and professions. Data included the perceived prevalence, assessment methods and observations, subtypes and differential diagnostics of SN. A total of 525 professionals participated in the survey. The vast majority (81.5%) reported that assessment of SN was provided by their workplace. The median of perceived prevalence of SN was 35% (IQR 22–51) but major differences were found between professions. Occupational therapists and psychologists appeared to be most involved in assessment, whilst nursing staff and speech therapists were least involved. Subjective observations were the most common assessment method (90%). Conversely, systematic ADL observations, paper-and-pencil tests, confrontational tests and computerized tests were less common. The survey revealed large differences in the assessment methods and awareness of various aspects of SN symptoms (subtypes and differential diagnostics) between different healthcare professions. The results emphasize the need for international multidisciplinary clinical guidelines on how to assess SN and distinguish between different subtypes and differential diagnoses.