Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acute hypoxia activates store-operated Ca(2+) entry and increases intracellular Ca(2+) concentration in rat distal pulmonary venous smooth muscle cells.

RATIONALE Exposure to acute hypoxia causes vasoconstriction in both pulmonary arteries (PA) and pulmonary veins (PV). The mechanisms on the arterial side have been studied extensively. However, bare attention has been paid to the venous side. OBJECTIVES To investigate if acute hypoxia caused the increase of intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]i), and Ca(2+) influx through store-operated calcium channels (SOCC) in pulmonary venous smooth muscle cells (PVSMCs). METHODS Fluorescent microscopy and fura-2 were used to measure effects of 4% O2 on [Ca(2+)]i and store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE) in isolated rat distal PVSMCs. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS In PVSMCs perfused with Ca(2+)-free Krebs Ringer bicarbonate solution (KRBS) containing cyclopiazonic acid to deplete Ca(2+) stores in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and nifedipine to prevent Ca(2+) entry through L-type voltage-depended Ca(2+) channels (VDCC), hypoxia markedly enhanced both the increase in [Ca(2+)]i caused by restoration of extracellular [Ca(2+)] and the rate at which extracellular Mn(2+) quenched fura-2 fluorescence. Moreover, the increased [Ca(2+)]i in PVSMCs perfused with normal salt solution was completely blocked by SOCC antagonists SKF-96365 and NiCl2 at concentrations that SOCE >85% was inhibited but [Ca(2+)]i responses to 60 mM KCl were not altered. On the contrary, L-type VDCC antagonist nifedipine inhibited increase in [Ca(2+)]i to hypoxia by only 50% at concentrations that completely blocked responses to KCl. The increased [Ca(2+)]i caused by hypoxia was completely abolished by perfusion with Ca(2+)-free KRBS. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that acute hypoxia enhances SOCE via activating SOCCs, leading to increased [Ca(2+)]i in distal PVSMCs.
The Kit ligand/c-Kit receptor system in goat ovaries: gene expression and protein localization

Summary Relatively little information is available on the local factors that regulate folliculogenesis in goats. To examine the possibility that the Kit ligand (KL) system is expressed throughout the folliculogenesis, we studied the presence and distribution of KL and its receptor, c-Kit, in goat ovaries. Ovaries of goats were collected and either fixed in paraformaldehyde for immunohistochemical localization of KL and c-Kit proteins, or used for the isolation of follicles, luteal cells, surface epithelium and medullary samples to study mRNA expression for KL and c-Kit, using the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). KL protein and mRNA were found in follicles at all stages of development, i.e. primordial, primary, secondary, small and large antral follicles, as well as in corpora lutea, surface epithelium and medullary tissue. Antral follicles expressed both KL-1 and KL-2 mRNAs, while earlier staged follicles expressed KL-1 transcript only. KL protein was demonstrated in granulosa cells from the primordial follicle onward. Its mRNA could be detected in granulosa cells isolated from antral follicles and occasionally in their theca cells. c-Kit mRNA was expressed in all antral follicular compartments and at all stages of follicular development. c-Kit protein was predominantly found in oocytes from the primordial follicle stage onwards, in theca cells of antral follicles, as well as in corpora lutea, surface epithelium and medullary tissue, particularly in the wall of blood vessels, which may indicate these cells as the main sites of action of KL. It is concluded that the KL/c-Kit system, in goat ovaries, is widespread and that it may be involved in the regulation of various local processes, including folliculogenesis and luteal activity.
Use of amplitude-modulated breathing for assessment of cardiorespiratory frequency response within subrespiratory frequencies

Presents a new technique which uses amplitude-modulated breathing patterns to obtain estimates of frequency response between respiration and heart rate within subrespiratory frequencies. Frequency response between respiration and heart rate has been previously estimated using broadband respiration and metronomic breathing. However, the estimates obtained using these techniques show low coherence between respiration and heart rate within the subrespiratory frequencies (<0.12-0.15 Hz). The advantages of amplitude-modulated breathing are: enhancement in the degree of perturbation within subrespiratory frequencies as indicated by relatively higher coherencies between respiration and heart rate (/spl cong/0.7), and the subjects do not have to breathe at very low breathing frequencies or resort to breath holds. Use of a squared sine wave carrier modulated by sinusoidal functions enabled the authors to obtain energy distributions at subrespiratory frequencies without using demodulation. Results obtained at 8 subrespiratory frequencies from 10 subjects show that the new technique is easy to implement and produces relatively higher coherence between respiration and heart rate. The advantage of the new technique in terms of enhancing the level of perturbations within subrespiratory frequencies is particularly important, because it is in this frequency range that the interpretation of variability in heart rate in terms of autonomic origins is incompletely understood and is confounded by respiratory interactions.
Domain Adaptation Network for Cross-Scene Classification

In this paper, we present a domain adaptation network to deal with classification scenarios subjected to the data shift problem (i.e., labeled and unlabeled images acquired with different sensors and over completely different geographical areas). We rely on the power of pretrained convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to generate an initial feature representation of the labeled and unlabeled images under analysis, referred as source and target domains, respectively. Then we feed the resulting features to an extra network placed on the top of the pretrained CNN for further learning. During the fine-tuning phase, we learn the weights of this network by jointly minimizing three regularization terms, which are: 1) the cross-entropy error on the labeled source data; 2) the maximum mean discrepancy between the source and target data distributions; and 3) the geometrical structure of the target data. Furthermore, to obtain robust hidden representations we propose a mini-batch gradient-based optimization method with a dynamic sample size for the local alignment of the source and target distributions. To validate the method, in the experiments we use the University of California Merced data set and a new multisensor data set acquired over several regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The experiments show that: 1) pretrained CNNs offer an interesting solution for image classification compared to state-of-the-art methods; 2) their performances can be degraded when dealing with data sets subjected to the data shift problem; and 3) how the proposed approach represents a promising solution for effectively handling this issue.
Trends over Time in International and African Food Price Volatility

Instability in the price of staple foods is an important source of risk in developing countries. This is particularly true in Africa south of the Sahara because of the low incomes of many African households. Poor urban households allocate a large share of their income to food, so food price volatility affects their purchasing power. Many poor rural households depend on agriculture for their livelihood, so they too are directly influenced by food price volatility. It is almost universally accepted that food prices in developing countries have become more volatile in recent years (Gerard et al. 2011; G2
Symptoms of Depression and Risk of Low Back Pain: A Prospective Co-Twin Study

Objectives: To investigate whether symptoms of depression increase the risk of low back pain (LBP), after adjusting for genetic and environmental influences. Methods: Baseline data of 1607 twins from the Murcia Twin Registry (Spain) were collected in 2009 to 2011 and follow-up data in 2013. Twins answered questions on depression-related symptomatology and LBP. Only participants not reporting chronic LBP (pain >6 mo) at baseline were included. The association between symptoms of depression and LBP was investigated using logistic regression analysis including the complete sample. Subsequent matched within-pair case-control analyses were performed with all complete dizygotic twin pairs discordant for LBP, followed by monozygotic twins. Results: In the total sample analysis, symptoms of depression did not significantly increase the risk of chronic LBP (odds ratio [OR]=1.40; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.96-2.03), LBP care seeking (OR=1.21; 95% CI, 0.81-1.81), or activity-limiting LBP (OR=1.09; 95% CI, 0.69-1.72). State depression (participants’ symptoms at the moment of the interview) was significantly associated with future care seeking (OR=1.06; 95% CI, 1.01-1.12) and activity-limiting LBP (OR=1.07; 95% CI, 1.01-1.14). A significant association was found between trait depression and activity-limiting LBP (OR=1.05; 95% CI, 1.01-1.10), but not for the other LBP outcomes. No significant association was observed in any of the subsequent case-control analyses. Discussion: The magnitude of the association between depression and LBP seems to be small and may be confounded by genetic and early shared environment influences, although firm conclusions could not be made due to small sample size in the case-control analysis. In addition, the observed association is dependent on the method of assessment used for both conditions.
Renewable energy consumption and economic growth in Indonesia. Evidence from the ARDL bounds testing approach

This study serves to examine the effects of renewable energy consumption on economic growth in Indonesia. Quarterly time series data was used for the period 1990 – 2014. Applying the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach, the study established that there is a long run relationship between economic growth, renewable energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, capital and employment. It is established that renewable energy consumption has a significant positive effect on economic growth both in the long run and short run. The findings from the vector error correction model (VECM) technique suggest that there is a long run causality flowing from renewable energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, capital and employment to economic growth. The findings of this study suggest that the government, energy policy makers and associated bodies should act together to improve on the renewable energy infrastructure and lower carbon growth in Indonesia
Selection of Endogenous Reference Genes for Gene Expression Analysis in the Mediterranean Species of the Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Complex

ABSTRACT Quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction is widely used for gene expression analysis, and robust normalization against stably expressed endogenous reference genes (ERGs) is necessary to obtain accurate results. In this study, the stability of nine housekeeping genes of the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Mediterranean were evaluated in various conditions by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction using geNorm and Normfinder programs. Both programs suggested &agr;-tubulin/ubiquitin and 18S small subunit ribosomal RNA the most stable genes for bacterium- and insecticide-treated whiteflies, respectively. For developmental stages, organs, and the samples including salivary glands and the whole body, transcription initiation factor TFIID subunit was calculated as the most stably expressed gene by both programs. In addition, we compared the RNA-seq data with the results of geNorm and Normfinder and found that the stable genes revealed by RNA-seq analysis were also the ERGs recommended by geNorm and Normfinder. Furthermore, the use of the most stable gene suggested by RNA-seq analysis as an ERG produced similar gene expression patterns compared with results generated from the normalization against the most stable gene selected by geNorm and Normfinder and multiple genes recommended by geNorm. It indicates that RNA-seq data are reliable and provide a great source for ERG candidate exploration. Our results benefit future research on gene expression profiles of whiteflies and possibly other organisms.
The Context of Entrepreneurial Judgment: Organizations, Markets, and Institutions

The economics and management literatures pay increasing attention to the technological, competitive, and institutional environment for entrepreneurship. However, less is known about how context influences the judgment of entrepreneurs. Focusing on the emerging judgment‐based approach to entrepreneurship, we argue that economics can say much about how the organizational, market, and institutional context shapes entrepreneurial judgment. We describe entrepreneurs as individuals who deploy scarce, heterogeneous resources to service customer preferences at a profit. Because of uncertainty, this process is essentially experimental, and context influences the experimental process. Thus, entrepreneurs will seek to design the internal organization of the firm so that it facilitates internal experimentation. Moreover, the market or task environment determines the need for experimentation (e.g., how fast do consumer preferences change, how does technology evolve, which assets are available at which terms, etc.). Finally, the institutional environment influences, for example, the transaction costs of acquiring and divesting assets as firms adjust their boundaries through ongoing commercial experimentation.
The nutritional status of clinic attendees living with HIV/AIDS in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to assess nutritional status and dietary practices in persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). METHODS A case-control design was used. Cases consisted of 36 PLWHA. Controls consisted of 37 persons within the same age range from the general population. Participants filled out a questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic, dietary and health history items. In addition, they had weight, height, upper mid-arm circumference and triceps skinfold measured using standard procedure. Biochemical and clinical data for cases were extracted from their clinic file. RESULTS HIV-positive persons had significantly lower mean weight, BMI, upper mid-arm circumferences, arm muscle area and arm fat area than persons in the control group. They were also less likely to use multivitamins, dietary supplements, fruit and vegetables than persons in the control group. Correlation coefficients between corrected arm muscle area (CAMA) and BMI and weight ranged from 0.67 to 0.74 in cases and 0.41 to 0.68 for the control group, respectively. Screening for depleted CD4 counts using gender specific CAMA cut-offs indicative of depleted arm muscle reserves resulted in 48% sensitivity and 100% specificity in identifying PLWHA with CD4 counts < 200 cells/microL. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that PLWHA are at increased risk for poor intakes of fruits and vegetables and depleted lean body mass. In addition, CAMA along with other clinic measures might be useful in the identification of PLWHA who might be responding adequately to treatment.
Towards sustainable vegetable growing with farmer learning videos in Benin

ABSTRACT Vegetable production plays an important role in nutrition, food security and poverty reduction in Benin. However, vegetable production is hampered by pests and farmers rely on pesticides to control them. Improving farmers’ knowledge is important for the use of sustainable, intensive agricultural practices. This paper assesses the role of learning video in changing vegetable farmers’ behaviour towards sustainable agriculture. Drawing mainly on mass distribution of learning videos, DVDs entitled ‘Improving vegetable production’ were sold through non-conventional dissemination networks from August to December 2015, to strengthen farmers’ learning. In June 2016, we interviewed a sample of 120 buyers/viewers in four different areas where the DVDs were sold. The interviews were followed by a field visit to collect evidence of the change of practices reported during the interviews. Farmers who watched the videos enhanced their creativity and adapted the learning to their environment by using more sustainable agriculture practices. About 86% of respondents indicated that they now spend less money for pesticides to manage pests and diseases. Video-mediated learning promotes local innovation, improves farmers’ knowledge and triggers agro-ecological practices with little or no input from the conventional extension system.
Calprotectin is released from human skeletal muscle tissue during exercise

Skeletal muscle has been identified as a secretory organ. We hypothesized that IL‐6, a cytokine secreted from skeletal muscle during exercise, could induce production of other secreted factors in skeletal muscle. IL‐6 was infused for 3 h into healthy young males (n= 7) and muscle biopsies obtained at time points 0, 3 and 6 h in these individuals and in resting controls. Affymetrix microarray analysis of gene expression changes in skeletal muscle biopsies identified a small set of genes changed by IL‐6 infusion. RT‐PCR validation confirmed that S100A8 and S100A9 mRNA were up‐regulated 3‐fold in skeletal muscle following IL‐6 infusion compared to controls. Furthermore, S100A8 and S100A9 mRNA levels were up‐regulated 5‐fold in human skeletal muscle following cycle ergometer exercise for 3 h at ∼60% of in young healthy males (n= 8). S100A8 and S100A9 form calprotectin, which is known as an acute phase reactant. Plasma calprotectin increased 5‐fold following acute cycle ergometer exercise in humans, but not following IL‐6 infusion. To identify the source of calprotectin, healthy males (n= 7) performed two‐legged dynamic knee extensor exercise for 3 h with a work load of ∼50% of peak power output and arterial–femoral venous differences were obtained. Arterial plasma concentrations for calprotectin increased 2‐fold compared to rest and there was a net release of calprotectin from the working muscle. In conclusion, IL‐6 infusion and muscle contractions induce expression of S100A8 and S100A9 in skeletal muscle. However, IL‐6 alone is not a sufficient stimulus to facilitate release of calprotectin from skeletal muscle.
Contribution of women to household income and decision making in some selected areas of Mymensingh in Bangladesh

The study was conducted to measure the contribution of women to their household income, to analyze the pattern of womens participation in decision making process, their perceptions and impact of income on decision making process. The study was carried out at three villages of Mymensingh Sadar Upazila. Data were collected from 50 rural households by random sampling technique with a structured questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed by using tabular and different statistical techniques. The results of the study showed that the pattern of womens contribution to household income has been changed. In the study area, women were participating in various income generating activities such as crop production, post-harvest activities, poultry rearing, management of livestock and fisheries, etc. Male and female rendered their involvement in income generating activities for 220 man-days and 204 man-days per year, respectively. The average annual womens contribution to household income was estimated at Tk. 42000 per year which was about 43.52 percent of the total household income. The multiple regression analysis showed that womens income was positively related with womens education and farm size but negatively related with age, family size and indebtedness. A logistic regression analysis showed that womens participation in decision making process was negatively related with family size, but positively related with respondents age, education, farm size, income and occupation. Women rendered a great deal of contribution in making decision on post-harvest operation, management of production activities, selling of crops, rearing poultry, goat and cattle, purchasing of agricultural inputs, etc. To reduce their economic, social and political constraints, the study suggested providing logistic supports such as health care facility, credit facility, input supply, agricultural extension services, need-based training, etc. in order to increase their participation in income generating activities and different household decision making events. Progressive Agriculture 28 (2): 120-129, 2017
Homeless mentally ill clients' and providers' perceptions of service needs and clients' use of services.

OBJECTIVE Clients' and providers' perceptions of clients' needs were compared in 18 community treatment programs participating in the Access to Community Care and Effective Services and Supports program of the Center for Mental Health Services, a national demonstration project on treatment of homeless persons with mental illness. The study sought to determine whether perceptions differed and whether assessed needs for services were related to service use. METHODS A total of 1,482 clients contacted through community outreach who entered the case management phase of the program after an average of 32 days were given an evaluation interview at entry into the program. The clients and outreach workers identified clients' needs in seven core domains-mental health, general health, substance abuse, public financial support, housing assistance and support, dental care, and employment. Use of related services in the 60 days before the case management evaluation was determined. RESULTS The greatest differences between clients' and providers' perceptions of service needs were in dental and medical services, which were more frequently identified as needs by clients, and in substance abuse and mental health services, which were more frequently identified by providers. Clients' and providers' assessments of need were significantly, but not strongly, correlated with each other, and both were correlated with use of mental health and substance abuse services. CONCLUSIONS Mental health service providers are less likely than clients to identify needs for services other than mental health services. Service use, at least in the short run, is related to both clients' and providers' assessments of need.