Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transgenesis and the Study of Expression, Cellular Targeting and Function of Oxytocin, Vasopressin and Their Receptors

The neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin and the neurons in the hypothalamus that synthesize them have been a rich source for the exploration and understanding of both the brain and the endocrine system. Because of their large size and compact nuclear organization the magnocellular neurons of the hypothalamoneurohypophysial system have traditionally attracted scientists using state-of-the-art techniques, including the subject of this review, transgenesis. We discuss the role of transgenics in deciphering gene elements necessary for the appropriate expression of oxytocin and vasopressin and to deliver exogenous genes, such as green fluorescent protein, selectively to secretory granules in the neurons in the hypothalamoneurohypophysial system. Finally, we review the studies of mice whose genes for oxytocin and, most recently, for the oxytocin and vasopressin receptors have been knocked out through homologous recombination.
Socio-economic impact of tuberculosis on patients and family in India.

OBJECTIVE To quantify the socio-economic impact of tuberculosis on patients and their families from the costs incurred by patients in rural and urban areas. DESIGN An interview schedule prepared from 17 focus group discussions was used to collect socio-economic demographic characteristics, employment, income particulars, expenditure on illness and effects on children from newly detected sputum-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients. The direct and indirect costs included money spent on diagnosis, drugs, investigations, travel and loss of wages. Total costs were projected for the entire 6 months of treatment. RESULTS The study population consisted of 304 patients (government health care 202, non governmental organisation 77, private practitioner 25), 120 of whom were females. Mean direct cost was Rs.2052/-, indirect Rs.3934/-, and total cost was Rs.5986/- ($171 US). The mean number of work days lost was 83 and mean debts totalled Rs.2079/-. Both rural and urban female patients faced rejection by their families (15%). Eleven per cent of schoolchildren discontinued their studies; an additional 8% took up employment to support their family. CONCLUSIONS The total costs, and particularly indirect costs due to TB, were relatively high. The average period of loss of wages was 3 months. Care giving activities of female patients decreased significantly, and a fifth of schoolchildren discontinued their studies.
THE SIGNIFICANT EFFECT OF HLA‐DRB1 MATCHING ON LONG‐TERM KIDNEY GRAFT OUTCOME

Serotyping and genotyping (polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes method) were conducted on 520 unrelated individuals to determine the linkage disequilibrium of HLA-B and HLA-DRB1. Analyses of 511 kidney transplants (300 related and 211 cadaver recipients) were carried out at 4 transplant centers using the linkage disequilibrium of HLA-B and HLA-DRB1 established previously. All transplant recipients received CsA immunosuppression and were transplanted from June 1983 to December 1991. There were 51 significant linkages formed between HLA-B and HLA-DRB1 alleles (P<0.05). DRB1-compatible transplants experienced a comparable 5-year graft success rate of 94% as did the HLA-identical recipients with a 100% 5-year success rate. However DRB1-incompatible recipients displayed a significantly reduced 5-year graft survival rate of 73% (73% vs. 94% P<0.01). The 5-year graft survival rate of HLA-DR-incompatible recipients of 71% was compatible to the 73% for HLA-DRBl-incompatible recipients. No variation of rejection rate for DRB1-compatible grafts was seen in any of the 4 transplant centers. The results also indicated that HLA-DRB1 compatibility was essential for optimal success rate, regardless of HLA class I mismatches. The overall conclusion was that matching for HLA-DR was important to achieve optimal kidney graft survival on the molecular level but not on the serotyping level.
Validation and update of a model used to predict copper toxicity to the marine bivalve Mytilus sp.

A model was recently published that relates the toxicity of copper to the most sensitive taxa in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's criteria database (Mytilus sp.) with dissolved organic carbon concentrations in saltwater. This model was developed for potential use in risk assessment and in the development of site‐specific criteria (SSC) for copper in saltwater environments where Mytilus sp. is considered an appropriate indicator species. This manuscript presents the results of a field validation study of that model. Effective concentration 50% (EC50) values (n = 21) for seven sites were all predicted by the model within the previously established range of acceptability. Slopes and intercepts of the two data sets were not significantly different. Consequently, the data were pooled, and new equations were developed. Dissolved copper EC50 values were highly correlated (r2 = 0.76, n = 75, P < 0.0001) across a wide range of sample dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations (0.3–12 mg C/L) and were explained by the equation EC50 = 11.22 DOC0.60. Two updated equations are proposed for consideration as a means of estimating site‐specific final chronic criteria (FCC) and final acute criteria (FAC) for copper in marine and estuarine environments (copper FCCDOC = 3.59 DOC0.60; copper FACDOC = 5.61 DOC0.60). © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 21: 65–70, 2006.
RNAIII of the Staphylococcus aureus agr system activates global regulator MgrA by stabilizing mRNA

Significance In Staphylococcus aureus, the agr quorum-sensing system is critical for regulation of many virulence genes, primarily through RNAIII, a small RNA. RNAIII functions by interacting with translational elements of its downstream genes typically by inhibiting translation initiation. Only a few direct targets of RNAIII have been identified, one of which is global regulator Rot. However, Rot can only partially account for RNAIII regulation. We show here that RNAIII can affect gene expression through another global regulator MgrA by enhancing MgrA production via mRNA stabilization, a novel mechanism of RNAIII regulation. Our findings provide evidence linking two major master regulators, thereby advancing our understanding of virulence regulation in this important human and animal pathogen. RNAIII, the effector of the agr quorum-sensing system, plays a key role in virulence gene regulation in Staphylococcus aureus, but how RNAIII transcriptionally regulates its downstream genes is not completely understood. Here, we show that RNAIII stabilizes mgrA mRNA, thereby increasing the production of MgrA, a global transcriptional regulator that affects the expression of many genes. The mgrA gene is transcribed from two promoters, P1 and P2, to produce two mRNA transcripts with long 5′ UTR. Two adjacent regions of the mgrA mRNA UTR transcribed from the upstream P2 promoter, but not the P1 promoter, form a stable complex with two regions of RNAIII near the 5′ and 3′ ends. We further demonstrate that the interaction has several biological effects. We propose that MgrA can serve as an intermediary regulator through which agr exerts its regulatory function.
African American and Caucasian preschoolers' use of decontextualized language: literate language features in oral narratives.

PURPOSE Low-income preschoolers' use of literate language features in oral narratives across three age groups (3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds) and two ethnic groups (Caucasian and African American) was examined. METHOD Sixty-seven preschoolers generated a story using a wordless picture book. The literate language features examined were simple and complex elaborated noun phrases, adverbs, conjunctions, and mental/linguistic verbs. RESULTS Literate language features occurred at measurable rates for 3- to 5-year-old children. Conjunction use was positively associated with the use of complex elaborated noun phrases and adverbs, and the use of complex and simple elaborated noun phrases was inversely related. There were no differences between African American and Caucasian children's usage rates. Age-related differences were observed in the use of mental/linguistic verbs and conjunctions. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS The importance of supporting decontextualized language skills during the preschool period is discussed.
Recoding life

the corporeal in the life sciences and turns to Foucault’s biopolitics in order to understand how life is being turned into a technological object. It examines a wide range of bioscientific knowledge practices that allow life to be known through codes that can be shared (copied), owned (claimed, and managed) and optimised (remade through codes based on standard language and biotech engineering visions). The book’s approach is captured in the title, which refers to ‘the biopolitical’. The authors argue that through discussions of political theories of sovereignty and related geopolitical conceptions of nature and society, we can understand how crucially important it is that life is constantly unsettling and disrupting the established and familiar ordering of the material world and the related ways of thinking and acting politically. The biopolitical dynamics involved are conceptualised as the ‘metacode of life’, which refers to the shifting configurations of living materiality and the merging of conventional boundaries between the natural and artificial, the living and non-living. The result is a globalising world in which the need for an alternative has become a core part of its political and legal instability, and the authors identify a number of possible alternative platforms to understand life and the living as framed by the ‘metacodes’ of life. This book will appeal to scholars of science and technology studies, as well as scholars of the sociology, philosophy, and anthropology of science, who are seeking to understand social and technical heterogeneity as a characteristic of the life sciences.
A Note on Variance Estimation in Random Effects Meta-Regression

ABSTRACT For random effects meta-regression inference, variance estimation for the parameter estimates is discussed. Because estimated weights are used for meta-regression analysis in practice, the assumed or estimated covariance matrix used in meta-regression is not strictly correct, due to possible errors in estimating the weights. Therefore, this note investigates the use of a robust variance estimation approach for obtaining variances of the parameter estimates in random effects meta-regression inference. This method treats the assumed covariance matrix of the effect measure variables as a working covariance matrix. Using an example of meta-analysis data from clinical trials of a vaccine, the robust variance estimation approach is illustrated in comparison with two other methods of variance estimation. A simulation study is presented, comparing the three methods of variance estimation in terms of bias and coverage probability. We find that, despite the seeming suitability of the robust estimator for random effects meta-regression, the improved variance estimator of Knapp and Hartung (2003) yields the best performance among the three estimators, and thus may provide the best protection against errors in the estimated weights.
Exploring preferences beyond the (cereal) box: ready-to-eat breakfast cereal buying behaviors

Ready-to-eat breakfast cereals vary widely in terms of nutrition and price. The diversity in cereal offerings makes it ideal for the study of preferences for individual nutrients and the potential impact that providing nutritional information may have on consumer purchasing behavior. Using a survey of 1,265 Midwestern residents, a random parameters logit model was employed to estimate the willingness to pay for nutritional elements of ready-to-eat breakfast cereal. Household demographic data, including household food security status, were collected. Agricultural and food businesses may seek to provide product information, including nutritional information, to their customers. In addition, national and local policies may seek to empower consumers’ decision making through education. Nutritional information may not have the intended impact of influencing healthier choices. Responses from those shown educational material on nutrition were tested and found not different from respondents not shown the information.
Cardiovascular Disease Risk and Breast Cancer Outcomes: A Pilot Study.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To assess feasibility of using electronic health records for profiling multiple cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in women with breast cancer at diagnosis and five years post-treatment, and to explore relationships among CVD risk factors and breast cancer outcomes . DESIGN Retrospective, descriptive . SETTING A comprehensive cancer center in the southwestern United States . SAMPLE 200 women with stage 0-III breast cancer. METHODS A record review using an instrument to profile multiple CVD risk factors and breast cancer outcomes . MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES CVD risk factors, such as blood pressure (BP) and hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C), and breast cancer outcomes, such as metastasis . FINDINGS Most data on CVD risk factors were undocumented. Even BP values to assess hypertension were missing in 35% of women at breast cancer diagnosis. Women with poor outcomes had trends toward higher blood glucose and HbA1C than women with good outcomes . CONCLUSIONS The study failed to comprehensively capture CVD risk factors in women with breast cancer because of missing data. Glucose control may be associated with breast cancer outcomes . IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING Better documentation of shared risk factors for CVD and breast cancer is needed. Prospective studies are needed to evaluate shared CVD risk factors and breast cancer outcomes because of missing health record information .
Pneumococcal bacteraemia in south Auckland: a five year review with emphasis on prescribing practices.

AIMS to determine incidence, predisposing factors, management and outcome of pneumococcal bacteraemia in south Auckland. METHODS medical records were reviewed retrospectively of patients identified as having pneumococcal bacteraemia at Middlemore Hospital during five years 1986-90. RESULTS records were available for 143 of 149 episodes. The incidence of pneumococcal bacteraemia was 12.1/10,000 admissions. The male to female ratio was 1.2:1, 61.5% were over the age of 50 years, 76% had underlying medical conditions, and the mortality was 16.1%. Twenty of the 23 who died were over the age of 60 years. Just over half attended hospital within 48 hours of becoming unwell, while 10.5% had had symptoms for more than one week. Pneumonia was seen in 85% and meningitis in 7%. Initial treatment was with a single antibiotic in 94%. Following microbiological diagnosis, 54% were treated with penicillin G, but in over one-third, an unnecessarily broad spectrum antibiotic was continued as definitive treatment. CONCLUSIONS the incidence, age distribution, predisposing factors and mortality of pneumococcal bacteraemia in south Auckland is similar to those reported elsewhere. Inappropriately broad spectrum antibiotics are used too often in definitive treatment.
Low-Complexity Range-Azimuth FMCW Radar Sensor Using Joint Angle and Delay Estimation Without SVD and EVD

A low complexity range-azimuth frequency-modulated continuous-waveform (FMCW) radar sensor using joint angle and delay estimation method without singular value decomposition (SVD) and eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) is presented in this paper. Conventional joint angle and delay estimation techniques exploit the dual-shift-invariant structure of received signals through matrix decompositions, such as SVD and EVD, which increases the computational burden. The proposed method utilizes the dual-shift-invariant structure through matrix inversion and performs angle and delay estimation using extended one-dimensional pseudospectrum searching instead of two-dimensional pseudospectrum searching to reduce the computational complexity. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method through Monte-Carlo simulations. The proposed algorithm is also verified by processing real FMCW data collected in an anechoic chamber.
Targeted Inhibition of p38 Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase Antagonizes Cardiac Injury and Cell Death Following Ischemia-Reperfusion in Vivo*

The p38 branch of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling cascade has been implicated as a regulator of cardiomyocyte apoptosis in culture as well as in the adult heart. However, considerable disagreement persists as to the functional effects attributed to p38 signaling, given that both pro- and anti-apoptotic regulatory roles have been reported. To address this area of uncertainty in the literature, we investigated the cell death effects associated with p38 inactivation in both cultured neonatal cardiomyocytes and the adult heart. In vitro, adenoviral-mediated gene transfer of two different dominant-negative-encoding p38 vectors reduced apoptosis induced by 2-deoxyglucose treatment, whereas overexpression of wild-type p38α or an activated mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MKK)6 mutant each enhanced cell death. In vivo, transgenic mice expressing a dominant-negative MKK6 mutant or a dominant-negative p38α mutant were each significantly protected from ischemia-reperfusion injury, as assessed by infarct area measurements, DNA laddering, terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling, and functional assessment of ventricular performance. Similarly, transgenic mice overexpressing the p38-inactivating dual specificity phosphatase MAPK phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) were also partially protected, whereas MKP-1 gene-targeted mice showed greater injury after ischemia-reperfusion injury. Mechanistically, inhibition of p38 signaling promoted a dramatic up-regulation of Bcl-2 in the hearts of transgenic mice. In primary neonatal cardiomyocyte cultures, adenoviral-mediated gene transfer of a p38 inhibitory mutant up-regulated Bcl-2, whereas expression of an activated p38 mutant down-regulated Bcl-2 protein levels. Collectively, these results indicate that p38 functions as a pro-death signaling effector in both cultured myocytes as well as in the intact heart.
Social relations and dynamics shaping the implementation of the voluntary guidelines on small-scale fisheries (SSF guidelines) in South Africa

Integral to achieving the SSF Guidelines goal of targeting the most vulnerable and marginalized persons and eliminating discrimination is the need to have adequate understanding of the power relations and intersectionalities that shape access to and control over marine and other resources according to gender, age, race, ethnicity, labour and migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in each national contexts. This monograph identifies and explores the key social relations and dynamics in the SSF fisheries sector in South Africa impacting the implementation of the SSF Guidelines. The monograph will be useful for researchers, scientists, fishworker organizations, environmentalists and anyone interested in the protection of marine biodiversity and the promotion of sustainable ﬁsheries management.
Low‐dose propranolol regimen for infantile haemangioma

Propranolol, now the preferred treatment for problematic proliferating infantile haemangioma (IH), at an empirical cardiovascular dosage of 2–3 mg/kg/day is associated with variable complication rates. A meta‐analysis shows complications in 31% of patients at a mean dosage of 2.12 mg/kg/day. This study reports on the minimal dosage and duration of treatment to achieve accelerated involution and side effects using a stepwise escalation regimen.
The Impact of Digital Communications on Consumer Perceptions of Sport Celebrity Transgressions

ABSTRACT Whilst the use of sport celebrities in marketing strategies is growing in popularity it is not without risk. The increasing reliance on scandal by the news media to capture audience attention, has accelerated the interest in sport-celebrity transgressions. This research adopts an netnographic method to analyze over seven thousand comments from online forums about sport celebrity transgressions. We found that consumers were more likely to express negative comments in relation to transgressions that violated moral, ethical and/or legal norms and that this in turn was most likely to effect the perceived role model ability of a sport celebrity. We provide evidence that the communication behavior of sport fans in a digital communication medium extends the life of a transgression in the public domain. Finally, we noted sport fans exhibited higher levels of engagement and willingness to participate in debate in these mediums than observed in other types of online communities.
Differential effects of bexarotene on intrinsic and extrinsic pathways in TRAIL-induced apoptosis in two myeloid leukemia cell lines

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) induces programmed cell death (apoptosis) preferentially in tumor cells. However, not all cancer cells are sensitive to TRAIL. We determined whether ligation of the retinoid receptor, RXR, would sensitize cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis. The leukemic cell lines KG1a (apoptosis-resistant) and ML-1 (apoptosis-sensitive) were treated with the RXR-specific retinoid bexarotene, TRAIL, or both, and apoptosis was determined. In KG1a cells, bexarotene downregulated FLIPLong and activated caspase-8, thereby allowing for TRAIL-triggered apoptosis. Overexpression of FLIPLong in ML-1 cells abrogated apoptosis. In unmodified ML-1 cells bexarotene enhanced programmed cell death via truncation of Bid and release of cytochrome C. Blockade of caspase-8 prevented enhancement in both cell lines; blockade of caspase-9 had a significant effect only in ML-1 cells. Thus, the effect of bexarotene on TRAIL-mediated programmed cell death involved proximal events of the extrinsic pathway; however, downstream signals involved the intrinsic pathway in ML-1 but not in KG1a cells. These studies add further information to the regulation of programmed cell death in leukemic cells that have to be considered when designing therapeutic strategies.
Estimating incidence and prevalence from population registers: example from myocardial infarction

Aim: To illustrate how the fundamental epidemiological measures, incidence rate and prevalence proportion, can be estimated based on Swedish population registers using acute myocardial infarction (MI) as an example, together with a discussion about the analytical decisions. Methods: All individuals in Sweden aged 60–89 (born 1904–1954) during the study period 1994–2014 were identified through the Total Population Register. Cases of MI were defined and identified from information on hospital admissions and causes of death. Incidence rates of all, first, and recurrent MI were calculated together with prevalence proportions. Results: The incidence rate of all, first, and recurrent MI declined over the study period. While the incidence rates of first MI are lower for women than men, the incidence rates of recurrent MI are considerably higher but similar for men and women. The prevalence calculated with duration of disease set at 28 days also declined. This was despite improved survival from MI and increased life expectancy over the same period meaning that the decline in incidence was large enough to compensate for increased survival. Conclusions: Calculating incidence and prevalence of diseases using population registers requires detailed and well-reasoned definitions. The definitions will affect both the study population and the number of disease events and it is essential that the cases and the study population are defined in a coherent way. Different measures of disease occurrence contribute with different aspects of the disease panorama and a joint interpretation contributes to a thorough understanding of the disease development in a population.