Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Valsartan Promoting Atherosclerotic Plaque Stabilization by Upregulating Renalase

Background: Renalase is a protein that can regulate sympathetic nerve activity by metabolizing catecholamines, while redundant catecholamines are thought to contribute to atherosclerosis (As). Catecholamine release can be facilitated by angiotensin (Ang) II by binding to Ang II type 1 (AT1) receptors. Valsartan, a special AT1 antagonist, can dilate blood vessels and reduce blood pressure, but it remained unclear whether valsartan can promote the stability of atherosclerotic plaque by affecting renalase. Objective: This study examined the tissue distribution of renalase in ApoE−/− mice fed with a high-fat diet and the effect of valsartan on expression of renalase. Methods: ApoE−/− mice were fed with a high-fat diet for 13 or 26 weeks. As a control, 10 C57BL mice were fed with a standard chow diet. After 13 weeks on the high-fat diet, the ApoE−/− mice were randomized (10 mice/group) and treated with valsartan, simvastatin, or distilled water (control group) for an additional 13 weeks accompanied by a high-fat diet. Results: Knockout of ApoE caused a dramatic increase in expression of renalase in mice adipose tissue. With the disturbance of lipid metabolism induced by a high-fat diet, renalase expression decreased in the liver. Renalase can be expressed in smooth muscle cells and M2 macrophages in atherosclerotic plaque, and its expression gradually decreases in the fibrous cap during the transition from stable to vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque. Valsartan, an AT1 receptor antagonist, promotes the stabilization of atherosclerotic plaque by increasing the levels of renalase in serum and the expression of renalase in the fibrous cap of atherosclerotic plaque. It also reduces triglyceride levels in serum and increases the expression of renalase in the liver. Conclusions: Renalase may be a potential-related gene of lipid metabolism and As, and it may be the possible molecular target of valsartan to help stabilize atherosclerotic plaque.
Analytical Model for Performance Evaluation of Blocking Banyan Switches Supporting Double Priority Traffic

In this research, the performance evaluation of two class priority Delta Multistage Interconnection Networks (MINs) is analyzed, using a discrete priority queuing model. All Delta Networks are constructed by special switching elements (SEs) based on an architecture which natively supports two classes of routing traffic. The proposed analytical method which was developed for performance metrics investigation can be applied on any class of Banyan Switches, because the model is independent from their internal link permutations, providing results for all intermediate stages. The analytical method was validated by simulation experiments and the obtained results in the marginal cases of single priority MINs were found to be more accurate as compared with those of three older classic models.The proposed architecture of Delta Networks which have been thoroughly analyzed by our analytical model can be useful in the study and development of communication links that support both voice and data traffic co instantaneously, with good quality of service.
The Role of Antibiotics in the Management of Infection-Related Symptoms in Advanced Cancer Patients

We prospectively evaluated the effect of antibiotic treatment on infection-related symptoms in patients with advanced cancer, in addition to assessing infection characteristics. Methods: A questionnaire was completed for enrolled patients using a personal digital assistant. Pre-antibiotic and post-antibiotic treatment Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) scores were evaluated. Patient and the patient's physician identified infection-related symptoms experienced by the patient, which were documented under the “other” category on the ESAS. Pre-antibiotic and post-antibiotic scores of the patient and physician for the identified infection-related symptoms were evaluated. Results: Twenty-six patients on a tertiary palliative care unit with 31 episodes of infection were included for analysis. Patients’ pre- and post-antibiotic ESAS scores revealed a small improvement in all variables except anxiety. Patient assessment of symptoms related to infection showed a small improvement in all symptoms, with dsyuria being statistically significant. Physician assessment revealed a slight improvement for all the symptoms, although only cough was statistically significant. A general comparative physician assessment of patient outcome following antibiotic treatment suggested symptom improvement in 48.4% of patients. However, 50% of patients died within a week of antibiotic discontinuation. Conclusions: Antibiotic treatment appears to offer a mild improvement in infection-related symptoms. Patients reported the greatest improvement in dysuria, and physicians, in cough. Despite this symptomatic improvement, one quarter of the patients died within one week of antibiotic administration. Further comparative studies to evaluate symptomatic benefit, patient burden, and cost/benefit of antibiotic therapy in the treatment of infections in advanced cancer patients are required.
Deterrence, Tough on Crime, and Links to the Prison Population Rate

This paper examines the relationship between different social factors, Tough on Crime Legislation and prison population rates in order to determine what factors affect prison population rates. The analysis of prison population rate at the state level found that all forms of tough on crime legislation in the purview of this study with the exception of Three Strikes You’re Out laws increased the prison population rate. In addition this analysis used private prison population rate as a new measure of Tough on Crime legislation, finding increased private population rate relates to an increase in prison population rate. Social conditions within each state were also found to contribute to the prison population rate within each state, with increased inequality and public conservatism being related to increases in prison population rate, while increased education was related to a drop in prison population rate. Overall this study falls into the niche of previous studies, which found that prison population rate was effected at the state level by legislation and social factors.
Cross‐Country Spillovers from Fiscal Consolidations

In many OECD countries, government debt reached levels over recent years that call for reduction over the medium to longer term to ensure public finance sustainability. This paper investigates the international transmission of fiscal consolidation shocks via trade flows. Using a measure of exogenous fiscal shocks in export markets, fiscal consolidation spillovers are found to slow domestic growth and decrease employment. When fiscal consolidation efforts are synchronised across partner countries, fiscal policies have large spillover effects on output. Spillovers of fiscal consolidations on growth are found to be initially larger between countries belonging to currency unions, though this larger impact vanishes over the medium term. Larger spillovers of fiscal consolidation coincide with stronger shifts in bilateral trade flows in currency unions in the short term, despite smaller adjustments in relative exchange rates. Spillovers of fiscal consolidation are also found to be more detrimental to domestic growth during economic downturns in export markets.
Local Food, Urbanization, and Transport‐Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions

We argue that “buying local” does not necessarily reduce transport‐related greenhouse gas emissions, even if production technologies and yields are homogeneous in space. We develop a partial‐equilibrium model of rural‐urban systems where the spatial distribution of food production within and between regions is endogenous. We exhibit cases where locating some food production in the least‐urbanized regions results in lower emissions and higher welfare than if all regions are self‐sufficient. The optimal spatial allocation of food production does not exclude the possibility that some regions should be self‐sufficient, provided that their urban population sizes are neither too large nor too small.
Effects of computer-based clinical decision support systems on physician performance and patient outcomes: a systematic review.

CONTEXT Many computer software developers and vendors claim that their systems can directly improve clinical decisions. As for other health care interventions, such claims should be based on careful trials that assess their effects on clinical performance and, preferably, patient outcomes. OBJECTIVE To systematically review controlled clinical trials assessing the effects of computer-based clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) on physician performance and patient outcomes. DATA SOURCES We updated earlier reviews covering 1974 to 1992 by searching the MEDLINE, EMBASE, INSPEC, SCISEARCH, and the Cochrane Library bibliographic databases from 1992 to March 1998. Reference lists and conference proceedings were reviewed and evaluators of CDSSs were contacted. STUDY SELECTION Studies were included if they involved the use of a CDSS in a clinical setting by a health care practitioner and assessed the effects of the system prospectively with a concurrent control. DATA EXTRACTION The validity of each relevant study (scored from 0-10) was evaluated in duplicate. Data on setting, subjects, computer systems, and outcomes were abstracted and a power analysis was done on studies with negative findings. DATA SYNTHESIS A total of 68 controlled trials met our criteria, 40 of which were published since 1992. Quality scores ranged from 2 to 10, with more recent trials rating higher (mean, 7.7) than earlier studies (mean, 6.4) (P<.001). Effects on physician performance were assessed in 65 studies and 43 found a benefit (66%). These included 9 of 15 studies on drug dosing systems, 1 of 5 studies on diagnostic aids, 14 of 19 preventive care systems, and 19 of 26 studies evaluating CDSSs for other medical care. Six of 14 studies assessing patient outcomes found a benefit. Of the remaining 8 studies, only 3 had a power of greater than 80% to detect a clinically important effect. CONCLUSIONS Published studies of CDSSs are increasing rapidly, and their quality is improving. The CDSSs can enhance clinical performance for drug dosing, preventive care, and other aspects of medical care, but not convincingly for diagnosis. The effects of CDSSs on patient outcomes have been insufficiently studied.
A clinical prediction rule and platelet count predict esophageal varices in children.

BACKGROUND & AIMS The validation of noninvasive tests to diagnose esophageal varices is a priority in children because repeated endoscopic evaluations are too invasive. We measured the ability of a previously developed noninvasive clinical prediction rule (CPR) to predict the presence of esophageal varices in children. METHODS We analyzed data from 108 children, younger than age 18, who received endoscopies at 8 centers, to assess portal hypertension from chronic liver disease or portal vein obstruction. Blood test and abdominal ultrasound scan results were obtained within 4 months of endoscopy. Grading of varices identified by endoscopy was confirmed by independent blinded review. Spleen size, based on data from the ultrasound scan, was expressed as a standard deviation score relative to normal values for age. RESULTS Of the children studied, 74 had esophageal varices (69%), including 35 with large varices (32%). The best noninvasive predictors of esophageal varices of any size were as follows: platelet:spleen size z-score ratio (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUROC], 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.75-0.93), CPR (AUROC, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.70-0.91), and platelet count (AUROC, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.69-0.90). The positive predictive values for the CPR and platelet count were 0.87 and 0.86, the negative predictive values were 0.64 and 0.63, the positive likelihood ratios were 3.06 and 2.76, and the negative likelihood ratios were 0.64 and 0.63, respectively. Based on positive and negative predictive values, the most accurate noninvasive tests were the CPR and platelet counts. CONCLUSIONS Noninvasive tests such as CPR and platelet count can assist in triaging children for endoscopy to identify esophageal varices.
Dynamics of pregnant women's oral health status during preventive programme.

UNLABELLED The aim of the study was to determine the efficiency of the applied preventive measures during pregnancy and to improve oral health status to pregnant women. MATERIAL AND METHODS Oral health status of 180 pregnant women was determined according to WHO criteria (WHO: Basic methods, 1997). Dental caries prevalence, DMF-T and DMF-S were evaluated. Gingival status was estimated according to Silness-Loe (GI) index. Women were asked about tooth brushing frequency; oral hygiene was evaluated according to Green-Vermilion (OHI-S) index. Participants were divided into test (89) and control (91) groups. During pregnancy, the following preventive measures were applied to the test group: fluoride varnish applications, mouthrinsing with 0.12% chlorhexine digluconate, professional oral hygiene. RESULTS Oral health status was evaluated three times during pregnancy. Reduction in dental caries increment of the test group was 56.25% in comparison with the control group. The periodontal status has improved, oral hygiene index (OHI-S) has decreased from 1.48+/-0.05 to 0.94+/-0.06 in the test group, and from 1.49+/-0.06 to 1.9+/-0.06 in the control group. CONCLUSION Results of the study showed that selected dental caries preventive measures were effective and significantly improved women's oral health during pregnancy.
Activation of p53 in MDM2-overexpressing cells through phosphorylation.

Overexpressed MDM2 inactivates wild-type (wt) p53 in various human tumors. However, whether and how the wild-type p53 can be activated by anticancer drug treatment in the presence of excess MDM2 is still unclear. In the present study, we showed that the topoisomerase II inhibitor of widely used anticancer drugs etoposide and doxorubicin activated wt p53 in BL2, a Burkitt's lymphoma cell line which overexpressed MDM2. Activation of p53 was followed by apoptosis in BL2 cells, while the same drug treatment did not induce apoptosis in Raji cells, another Burkitt's lymphoma cell line which carried mutant p53. Activation of p53 was accompanied by phosphorylation of p53 at Ser-15 and elevated p21 and MDM2, both of which were at least partly blocked by wortmannin, a kinase inhibitor against proteins with a PI3 kinase domain. Although MDM2 protein was rapidly cleaved and degraded after anticancer drug treatment, cotreatment with caspase inhibitor Z-VAD blocked degradation, while wt p53 remained activated, suggesting MDM2 degradation not to be essential for the activation of p53. Treatment with proteasome inhibitor stabilized p53 without being further phosphorylated. This p53 was co-immunoprecipitated with MDM2, but p53 activated by etoposide or doxorubicin barely complexed with MDM2. These results suggest that the wild-type p53 in MDM2-overexpressing cells can be activated by anticancer drugs through phosphorylation of p53, alleviating inhibitory action by MDM2, and activating caspases which in turn downregulates MDM2. The activation of p53 in MDM2-overexpressing tumor cells, which does not require the downregulation of MDM2, may have important implications in cancer therapy.
City planners' information seeking behavior: information channels used and information types needed in varying types of perceived work tasks

In this paper it is presented how city planners seek information through different information channels depending on the type of work tasks done and the information types needed. The core tasks in city planning are the actual planning and the writing of surveys. In this study other types of tasks that support the performance of core tasks were also identified. The Internet was used most often, clearly displacing the print media. When problem solving information and domain information were needed, colleagues and other people were the most important information-seeking channel. It was also found that the outcomes of supportive tasks are usually hard to recognize. Supportive tasks have however, an important role in terms of collaborative information seeking and personal information management.
Intolerance of Uncertainty in Adolescents: Correlations With Worry, Social Anxiety, and Depression

The current study examined Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU)—the tendency to react negatively to situations that are uncertain—in psychological problems among adolescents. Using data from 191 adolescents, aged 14 to 18, we examined (a) the dimensionality of IU as tapped by the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale short-form (IUS-12), (b) the relationship of IU with worry, social anxiety, and depression, (c) the specificity of IU to these variables, and (d) the role of IU as a mediator of the linkages between negative affectivity (NA) and worry, social anxiety, and depression. Results showed that the IUS-12 encompassed 2 components of IU, named Prospective Anxiety and Inhibitory Anxiety. Furthermore, IU was specifically related with worry and social anxiety, but not depression, when controlling the shared variance between these variables and NA, age, and gender. Finally, IU and its 2 components were found to mediate the linkages of NA with worry and social anxiety.
DnaB from Thermus aquaticus Unwinds Forked Duplex DNA with an Asymmetric Tail Length Dependence*

DnaB helicase is a ring-shaped hexamer of 300 kDa that is essential for replication of the bacterial chromosome. ThednaB gene from Thermus aquaticus was isolated and cloned, and its gene product was expressed and purified to homogeneity. A helicase assay was developed, and optimal conditions forT. aquaticus DnaB activity were determined using a forked duplex DNA substrate. The activity required a hydrolyzable nucleoside triphosphate and both 5′- and 3′-single-stranded DNA tail regions. Under conditions of single enzymatic turnover, the lengths of the 5′- and 3′-single-stranded regions were varied, and 6–10 nucleotides of the 5′-single-stranded tail and 21–30 nucleotides of the 3′-single-stranded tail markedly stimulated the unwinding rate. These data suggest that DnaB from T. aquaticus interacts with both DNA single-stranded tails during unwinding and that a greater portion of the 3′-tail is in contact with the protein. Two models are consistent with these data. In one model, the 5′-single stranded region passes through the central hole of the DnaB ring, and the 3′-tail makes extensive contact with the outside of the protein. In the other model, the 3′-single-stranded region passes through the DnaB ring, and the outside of the protein contacts the 5′-tail.
Chemosensitizing Properties of β-Caryophyllene and β-Caryophyllene Oxide in Combination with Doxorubicin in Human Cancer Cells.

BACKGROUND/AIM The natural sesquiterpenes β-caryophyllene (CRY) and β-caryophyllene oxide (CRYO) were evaluated for their potential chemosensitizing properties. MATERIALS AND METHODS CRY and CRYO cytotoxicity was tested against the Caco-2, CCRF/CEM and CEM/ADR5000 human cancer cell lines. Furthermore, combination experiments were carried out in order to study the ability of the sesquiterpenes to increase doxorubicin cytotoxicity. The possible interference of CRY and CRYO with functionality of ATP-binding cassette (ABC)-transporters was also investigated by Rhodamine123 efflux assay. RESULTS Despite a low cytotoxicity, both substances were able to enhance the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin in all cell lines, with CRYO being the most effective reversal agent. Both sesquiterpenes were also able to increase the Rho123 content into cells, likely due to inhibition of the efflux pumps. CONCLUSION Our results highlight a potential role of CRY and CRYO as new chemosensitizing agents for doxorubicin chemotherapy and to re-sensitize cancer-resistant cells.
Standardized Whole Brain Mapping of Tubers and Subependymal Nodules in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex

Tuberous sclerosis complex is associated with radiologically visible abnormalities of brain structure, principally tubers and subependymal nodules. We reviewed the literature on neuroimaging of tubers and subependymal nodules and found qualitative evidence of bilateral, predominantly frontal distribution of tubers and bilateral, predominantly subcortical distribution of subependymal nodules in prior studies of pediatric samples. We studied 25 high-functioning adults with tuberous sclerosis complex and normal IQ, acquiring both dual spin-echo and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance imaging sequences to optimize radiologic diagnosis of tubers and nodules. Individual lesion maps were then coregistered in a standard stereotactic space to facilitate construction of lesion density maps and estimation of lesion density in cortical and subcortical regions reliably defined by a parcellated template image. We found the highest frequency of tubers in frontal lobes and the highest density of tubers in parietal regions. There was significant regional variation in tuber density but no significant lateralization of frequently bilateral tubers. Nodules were located predominantly in the caudate nucleus and were not significantly lateralized. Tuber and nodule volumes were significantly positively correlated. Tuber volume was larger, on average, in patients with a lifetime history of epilepsy, but there was no correlation between IQ and these measures of lesion load. Contemporary image processing tools can be used to enhance quantitative, whole brain analysis of lesion load in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex. (J Child Neurol 2004; 19:658-665).
Performance comparison of different MIMO configurations for downlink MC-CDMA systems

The multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) multicarrier-code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) system is a potential scheme for future mobile packet transmission. The consideration of performance and computational complexity of different MIMO system configurations leads to various applications. In this paper, the performance of V-BLAST scheme for coded MC-CDMA system and performance comparison of different MIMO MC-CDMA system configurations such as V-BLAST scheme and punctured STBC scheme have been investigated. The results show that punctured STBC scheme is better than V-BLAST scheme at the same transmitted data rate (same bandwidth efficiency) in terms-of performance and complexity. This is because punctured STBC scheme achieves higher diversity gain without inter-stream interference compared to V-BLAST scheme which has severe inter-stream interference and lower diversity gain. However, the punctured STBC scheme can only work with lower rate channel coding (for puncturing) and STBC coding rate for complex data is less than one for antennas more than two. Hence, it is suitable for inexpensive real-time applications with moderate data rate
Causality between external balance and (some) fiscal variables: Preliminary results for the Eurozone

In this article, we present preliminary results, analyzing the causality between external balance and fiscal variables (primary public balance, interest paid on debt and overall public balance) within the so-called twin deficits hypothesis for a set of six Eurozone countries â€“ three core countries (Austria, Finland and Germany) and three peripheral countries (Greece, Portugal and Spain) â€“ in the period 1960â€“2011. We implement the Toda and Yamamoto (1995) approach to Granger non-causality testing (Granger, 1969). Results are not homogeneous for all the Eurozone countries included in the sample. Evidence of causality according to twin deficits hypothesis is provided for the cases of Austria and Spain, while reverse causality was found in the case of Germany.