Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NUCLEAR‐MITOCHONDRIAL EPISTASIS FOR FITNESS IN SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE

Abstract In addition to the familiar possibility of epistasis between nuclear loci, interactions may evolve between the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes in eukaryotic cells. We looked for such interactions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae genotypes evolved independently and asexually in the laboratory for 2000 generations, and in an ecologically distinct pathogenic S. cerevisiae strain. From these strains we constructed derivatives entirely lacking mitochondrial DNA and then used crosses to construct matched and unmatched pairings of nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. We detected fitness effects of such interactions in an evolved laboratory strain and in crosses between the laboratory and pathogen strains. In both cases, there were significant contributions to progeny fitness of both nuclear and mitochondrial genomes and of their interaction. A second evolved genotype showed incompatibility with the first evolved genotype, but the nuclear and mitochondrial contributions to this incompatibility could not be resolved. These results indicate that cytonuclear interactions analogous to those already known from plants and animals can evolve rapidly on an evolutionary timescale.
A new model predicting locomotor cost from limb length via force production

SUMMARY Notably absent from the existing literature is an explicit biomechanical model linking limb design to the energy cost of locomotion, COL. Here, I present a simple model that predicts the rate of force production necessary to support the body and swing the limb during walking and running as a function of speed, limb length, limb proportion, excursion angle and stride frequency. The estimated rate of force production is then used to predict COL via this model following previous studies that have linked COL to force production. To test this model, oxygen consumption and kinematics were measured in nine human subjects while walking and running on a treadmill at range of speeds. Following the model, limb length, speed, excursion angle and stride frequency were used to predict the rate of force production both to support the body's center of mass and to swing the limb. Model-predicted COL was significantly correlated with observed COL, performing as well or better than contact time and Froude number as a predictor of COL for running and walking, respectively. Furthermore, the model presented here predicts relationships between COL, kinematic variables and body size that are supported by published reduced-gravity experiments and scaling studies. Results suggest the model is useful for predicting COL from anatomical and kinematic variables, and may be useful in intra- and inter-specific studies of locomotor anatomy and performance.
An empirical analysis of the impact of three important aspects of Eclectic Paradigm on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

The main objective of the paper is to empirically examine the impact of three important aspects of Eclectic Paradigm that is ownership, location and internalization on FDI inflows by using different variables for each sub-paradigm. This study examines the relevant variables over the last couple of decades for 196 countries for the period of 1970–2009. The variables of eclectic paradigm are tested first with pooled OLS estimation method and then with panel data analysis by using fixed-effects regressions. This study finds that the variable of trademark, signifying the ownership aspects of investing firms, seems to highly affect FDI inflows. Among location-specific factors, the variable of openness to international trade significantly encourages trade oriented FDI inflows in the country as predicted by earlier empirical literature. The variables of government consumption and gross capital formation both have important implications on FDI inflows. Further, education of the local population has an important influence on direct investments. Similarly, the availability of industrial resources and access to domestic credit resources play a key role in the investment location decisions of multinational corporations. In terms of internalization, countries with English and French legal systems are found significantly affecting inward investments, pointing to the confidence of investors in these systems due to the better quality of ntellectual property rights, law enforcement and legal protection of investment rights. This study finds the evidence that if governments want to attract FDI, they need to avoid excessive government spending, as prodigal public expenditure discourage FDI inflows. In order to attract more FDI, governments should invest in the education of the labour force to make human capital more valuable, in the development of infrastructure facilities and set up a legal environment that is conducive to attracting international investors.
Study on the Costs of Participation in Higher Education

Figure 4.10: Grant receipt by full-time students by net monthly income of family household 40 Figure 4.11: Grant receipt by region 40 Figure 4.12: Social welfare recipients by student group 41 Figure 5.1: Percentage of full-time students working part-time 48 Figure 6.1: Relationship between income and income satisfaction by presence of children (those in independent household only) 61 Figure 6.2: Relationship between income and income satisfaction by commuting (those without children in parental household only) 61 Figure 6.3: Financial satisfaction by social class background 62 vii LIST OF TABLES LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Rates of maintenance grant (€) 10 Table 1.2: Special rates of maintenance grant (€) 11 Table 3.1: Average monthly expenditure levels of all full-time students (€) 21 Table 3.2: Average monthly expenditure levels of full-time students by socioeconomic group (SEG) (€) 23 Table 3.3: Average monthly expenditure levels of full-time students by mature status (23 yrs & over) (€) 24 Table 4.1: Proportion of average monthly expenditure covered by full State grant payment rates 37 Table 5.1: Average monthly income by living arrangements and financial supports (€) 46 Table 5.2: Average monthly income from family and employment by socioeconomic group (SEG) and living arrangements (€) 47 Table 5.3: Factors predicting regular employment during term-time among full-time students (logistic regression model) 50 Table 5.4: Average hours spent in lectures/tutorials etc. and study by field of study 51 Table 5.5: Percentage working in part-time paid employment by field of study 52 Table 6.1: Logistic regression of financial satisfaction among full-time students 60 Table 6.2: Logistic regression of financial satisfaction – income sources 62 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Chair of the HEA For more than three decades there has been a significant level of investment by the State in programmes to alleviate the financial barriers that students face in accessing higher education. The foundations were laid with the introduction of the student grant schemes, and later built upon with the Back to Education Allowance, the Special Rate of Maintenance Grant and the Third Level Access Measure. It is no coincidence that in parallel with this period of investment we have seen rates of higher education participation treble from 20 per cent in 1980 to what is estimated by the HEA to be 60 per cent in 2007. In 2005, the National Office for Equity of Access to Higher Education of the Higher Education Authority (HEA) undertook a review of …
Communication skills training in cancer care: where are we and where are we going?

Purpose of review This review gives an overview of recent developments in the field of communication skills training programs designed for cancer health care professionals. Recent findings The Web of Knowledge was searched for empirical papers published between January 2002 and February 2005. Twenty-two papers were included in the review describing 13 different studies. Four studies were randomised trials using a pretest-posttest comparison design. As regards participant-based outcomes, studies showed improvements in terms of participant satisfaction with course, reported improvements in communication skills, increased knowledge and confidence, and changes in attitudes and beliefs. Results in terms of participants' level of stress and burnout were inconsistent across studies. Improvements were observed as regards the use of taught skills following training. Three studies using an utterance-by-utterance analysis system reported improvements in physicians' use of assessment skills or supportive skills. One study observed improvements in terms of decision-making skills. No change was observed as regards physicians' detection of patient distress. As regards patient-based outcomes, only two of four studies reported improvements in terms of patient satisfaction with and perception of interviews. Summary Results of this review confirm the usefulness of learner-centred, skills-focused, and practise-oriented communication skills training programs organised in small groups of a maximum 6 participants and lasting at least 20 hours. Such communication skills training programs may therefore be recommended to health care professionals treating cancer patients and their families.
Heat- and 4-hydroperoxy-ifosfamide-induced apoptosis in B cell precursor leukaemias

In the group of high risk childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), very early and early relapses have a very poor prognosis with conventional chemotherapy alone. Remission induction in these patients is often hindered by drug resistance. Thus, intensifying chemotherapy strategies are required. Application of hyperthermia enhances efficacy of certain anti-neoplastic drugs such as ifosfamide. In this study, effects and molecular mechanisms of ifosfamide - and hyperthermia-induced apoptosis are investigated in a B cell precursor leukaemia cell line (REH) and in primary patient-derived B cell progenitor leukaemic blasts. Both 4OOH-IFA and hyperthermia are able to induce cell death in leukaemic cells, mainly by induction of caspase-dependent apoptosis. However, completely different kinetics of caspase-3, -8 and -9 activation are found for both stimuli. In addition, activation of caspase-1 is only observed following stimulation with hyperthermia. Combined application of ifosfamide and hyperthermia reveals increased cytotoxicity in both the leukaemia cell line and in 5/8 of the patient-derived leukaemic blast samples. In conclusion, hyperthermia and ifosfamide mediate cytotoxicity in B precursor leukaemic blasts by different kinetics of caspase activation. This might explain the additive effects of 4OOH-IFA and heat on leukaemic cell death. Therefore, whole body thermochemotherapy could be considered as a treatment option in relapsed leukaemic patients.
Public willingness to pay for endocrine disrupting chemicals-free labelling policy in Korea

ABSTRACT As public interest in health and safety grows, endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) have become an inevitable problem in society. One way to reduce the social cost of exposure to EDC is to grant a label certification to eco-friendly products that do not release EDC. The Korean government is considering introducing an EDC-free labelling policy. Therefore, our article tries to examine the public willingness to pay (WTP) for implementing the EDC-free labelling policy in Korea. For this purpose, a contingent valuation survey of 1000 Korean consumers was conducted in 2016. We used a one-and-one-half-bounded dichotomous choice question to elicit the WTP responses from the respondents. The mean of household WTP for the EDC-free labelling policy implementation is estimated to be KRW 2266 (USD 2.05) per year. When we expand the value to the whole country, it amounts to KRW 42.9 billion (USD 38.8 million) per year. These values are statistically meaningful at the 1% level and imply that the EDC-free labelling policy contributes to households’ utility and should be implemented immediately.
Can medical savings accounts for the nonelderly reduce health care costs?

OBJECTIVE To understand how medical savings account (MSA) legislation for the nonelderly would affect health care costs. DESIGN Economic policy evaluation based on the RAND Health Expenditures Simulation Model. SETTING National probability sample of nonelderly noninstitutionalized households. PARTICIPANTS Persons in 23 157 sampled households from the 1993 Current Population Survey. INTERVENTIONS Medical savings account legislation would allow all Americans who are covered only by a catastrophic health care plan to set up a tax-exempt account that they can use to pay medical bills not covered by their health insurance. The interventions we evaluate differ in the deductibles of the catastrophic plan and in whether the employee or employer funds the MSA. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Changes in national health expenditures and net societal benefits of health care. RESULTS If all insured nonelderly Americans switched to MSAs, their health care expenditures would decline by between 0% and 13%, depending on how the MSAs are designed. However, not all nonelderly Americans would choose MSAs; taking into account selection patterns, health spending would change by + 1% to -2%. CONCLUSIONS Medical savings account legislation would have little impact on health care costs of Americans with employer-provided insurance. However, depending on the size of the catastrophic limit, waste from the excessive use of generously insured care could be reduced, and MSAs would be attractive to both sick and healthy people.
Faces of Shame: Implications for Self-Esteem, Emotion Regulation, Aggression, and Well-Being

ABSTRACT There is an increasing interest in psychological research on shame experiences and their associations with other aspects of psychological functioning and well-being, as well as with possible maladaptive outcomes. In an attempt to confirm and extend previous knowledge on this topic, we investigated the nomological network of shame experiences in a large community sample (N = 380; 66.1% females), adopting a multidimensional conceptualization of shame. Females reported higher levels of shame (in particular, bodily and behavioral shame), guilt, psychological distress, emotional reappraisal, and hostility. Males had higher levels of self-esteem, emotional suppression, and physical aggression. Shame feelings were associated with low self-esteem, hostility, and psychological distress in a consistent way across gender. Associations between characterological shame and emotional suppression, as well as between bodily shame and anger occurred only among females. Moreover, characterological and bodily shame added to the prediction of low self-esteem, hostility, and psychological distress above and beyond the influence of trait shame. Finally, among females, emotional suppression mediated the influence of characterological shame on hostility and psychological distress. These findings extend current knowledge on the nomological net surrounding shame experiences in everyday life, supporting the added value of a multidimensional conceptualization of shame feelings.
Effects of replacing a dietary antibacterial agent (zinc bacitracin) with copper salts in Cherry Valley Pekin meat ducks

1. A study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of high dietary copper concentrations obtained from tribasic copper chloride (TBCC, 58% copper) and copper sulphate pentahydrate (CuSO4, 25% copper) in replacing antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) in duck diets. 2. A total of 960 one-day-old Cherry Valley meat-strain ducks were divided into 3 treatment groups, with 8 replicates per treatment, in a 6-week feeding trial. The ducks were fed a basal diet supplemented with AGP (40 mg zinc bacitracin/kg and 40 mg garlicin/kg of diet) or 150 mg of Cu/kg of diet, given as either CuSO4 or TBCC. 3. The body weight, average daily gain, average daily feed intake and mortality of ducks were not affected by the dietary treatments. However, the feed/gain ratio of ducks that were fed TBCC diets was significantly lower than those of ducks that were fed CuSO4 diets and were similar to those in the AGP group. 4. TBCC increased the Cu content in the liver tissue of ducks compared with the content in those that were fed the diet supplemented with AGP. TBCC also increased the Fe and Zn content in breast muscles compared with that in ducks that were fed the diet supplemented with CuSO4. 5. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were significantly higher in the serum of ducks that received the diet supplemented with TBCC than AGP or CuSO4. TBCC treatment decreased the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in serum of ducks compared with groups supplemented with CuSO4. 6. No significant difference was observed in liver or muscle fat content among the different dietary treatment groups. The serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration was lower in ducks fed AGP diets than those fed CuSO4 diets. 7. It was concluded that the replacement of AGP with 150 mg of Cu/kg of feed from TBCC improved the feed efficiency, trace mineral deposition and antioxidant status more than when the source of copper was CuSO4.
Standardization of measles, mumps and rubella assays to enable comparisons of seroprevalence data across 21 European countries and Australia

SUMMARY The aim of the European Sero-Epidemiology Network is to establish comparability of the serological surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases in Europe. The designated reference laboratory (RL) for measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) prepared and tested a panel of 151 sera by the reference enzyme immunoassay (rEIA). Laboratories in 21 countries tested the panel for antibodies against MMR using their usual assay (a total of 16 different EIAs) and the results were plotted against the reference results in order to obtain equations for the standardization of national serum surveys. The RL also tested the panel by the plaque neutralization test (PNT). Large differences in qualitative results were found compared to the RL. Well-fitting standardization equations with R2⩾0·8 were obtained for almost all laboratories through regression of the quantitative results against those of the RL. When compared to PNT, the rEIA had a sensitivity of 95·3%, 92·8% and 100% and a specificity of 100%, 87·1% and 92·8% for measles, mumps and rubella, respectively. The need for standardization was highlighted by substantial inter-country differences. Standardization was successful and the selected standardization equations allowed the conversion of local serological results into common units and enabled direct comparison of seroprevalence data of the participating countries.
Results of immunosuppression in 170 cases of severe aplastic anaemia

This is a report of the European Group of Bone Marrow Transplant (EGBMT) on the influence of immunosuppression (IS) on survival of patients with severe aplastic anaemia (SAA). Fourteen teams participated in this survey involving 170 cases treated from 1974 to December 1980. The 1 year survival was 62.7%. Three types of treatment were used: (1) anti‐thymocyte globulin (ATG) alone, (2) anti‐thymocyte globulin and haplo‐identical related bone marrow infusion, and (3) high dose bolus‐6‐methyl‐prednisolone (b‐6 MePr). There was no statistical difference in survival between these three groups. Androgens did not modify survival. Blood counts before treatment had a significant prognostic value. Patients with less than 0.2 x 109/l granulocytes and less than 10 x 109/l reticulocytes had 40% 1 year survival; the others had more than 70% 1 year survival. Patients with complete or partial reconstitution had the same good prognosis. In contrast, patients with no improvement after IS had a 27% 1 year survival. Several successive courses of IS improved the prognosis of non‐responding patients. This survey confirms that IS improves the survival of patients with SAA. A prospective study will be performed to define the best and safest form of IS and to correlate clinical results with in vitro tests.
Effects of Depression on the Survival of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

Objectives: Depression frequently predates the diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. In other malignancies, depression has been shown to adversely affect survival. The purpose of this study was to assess whether survival after resection for pancreatic cancer is shortened by the pretreatment presence of depression. Methods: A database of all patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer was retrospectively reviewed for depression, resection, and chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. A total of 258 patients were studied; 21% had depression, 19% had surgical resection of the tumor, and 42% were treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. Survival data was analyzed using Cox proportional hazard regression and life table analysis. Results: The median survival time for all depressed patients with pancreatic cancer was 5 months compared with 4 months for all nondepressed patients with pancreatic cancer (P < 0.9). There was no difference in stage, rate of surgical resection, rate of chemotherapy administration, or rate of radiation therapy use between depressed and nondepressed patients. Conclusion: Patients who had undergone surgical resection or chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy had longer survival times than those who did not. Depression, although common among patients with pancreatic cancer, does not affect survival.
Prospective non-interventional multicentre observational trial of first-line anti-cancer treatment in patients with metastatic renal cell cancer in Belgium

Abstract Objectives: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for 2·4% of all new cancers in Belgium. Over the past decade, the armamentarium for systemic therapy of metastatic RCC (mRCC) has undergone important changes with implementation of targeted therapies directed against pathways involved in the pathogenesis of RCC. We describe first-line treatment choice of a group of patients in 9 Belgian oncology centres between October 2009 and November 2012. Methods: A clinical report form was established to assess patient characteristics, Karnofsky performance score, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center risk criteria (MSKCC) and first-line therapy of mRCC patients. Choice of therapy and starting dose was analyzed before and after reimbursement of pazopanib in Belgium. Results: Ninety-six patients were eligible for the study. Non-smokers accounted for 53% of the patients. Seventy-three per cent of the patients had 0 or 1 MSKCC criteria in the group of patients that started treatment more than 1 year after initial diagnosis. In the group of patients that started therapy less than 1 year after diagnosis, 85% had 2 or more MSKCC criteria. This difference was statistically significant (P<0·0001). Overall distribution of the first-line therapies consisted of 43% sunitinib, 33% pazopanib, 14% temsirolimus, 7% everolimus and 3% sorafenib. Seventeen (18%) out of 96 patients started at a reduced dose level. Conclusion: This report shows that the guidelines for the start of first-line treatment in mRCC in 9 centres in Belgium were applied most of the time: a tyrosine kinase inhibitor was the first treatment choice for most patients while temsirolimus was an option for poor prognosis patients. In the majority of patients standard dose levels were initiated, although in some patients adaptation of dosage/treatment schedule was recorded.