Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Positively Charged Amino Acid Substitutions in the E2 Envelope Glycoprotein Are Associated with the Emergence of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus

ABSTRACT Epidemic-epizootic Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) viruses (VEEV) have emerged repeatedly via convergent evolution from enzootic predecessors. However, previous sequence analyses have failed to identify common sets of nucleotide or amino acid substitutions associated with all emaergence events. During 1993 and 1996, VEEV subtype IE epizootics occurred on the Pacific Coast of the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Like other epizootic VEEV strains, when inoculated into guinea pigs and mice, the Mexican isolates were no more virulent than closely related enzootic strains, complicating genetic studies of VEE emergence. Complete genomic sequences of 4 of the Mexican strains were determined and compared to those of closely related enzootic subtype IE isolates from Guatemala. The epizootic viruses were less than 2% different at the nucleotide sequence level, and phylogenetic relationships confirmed that the equine-virulent Mexican strains probably evolved from enzootic progenitors on the Pacific Coast of Mexico or Guatemala. Of 35 amino acids that varied among the Guatemalan and Mexican isolates, only 8 were predicted phylogenetically to have accompanied the phenotypic change. One mutation at position 117 of the E2 envelope glycoprotein, involving replacement of Glu by Lys, resulted in a small-plaque phenotype characteristic of epizootic VEEV strains. Analysis of additional E2 sequences from representative enzootic and epizootic VEEV isolates implicated similar surface charge changes in the emergence of previous South American epizootic phenotypes, indicating that E2 mutations are probably important determinants of the equine-virulent phenotype and of VEE emergence. Maximum-likelihood analysis indicated that one change at E2 position 213 has been influenced by positive selection and convergent evolution of the epizootic phenotype.
The reproducibility of temporomandibular joint vibrations over time in the human.

The aim of the study was to assess the reproducibility of vibrations recorded from the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in a group of healthy subjects. The vibrations from TMJ were recorded bilaterally from 34 healthy subjects by electrovibratography in three sessions at intervals of 3 min and again after 1 week. The total integral of the vibration energy, the ratio of the integral between frequencies above 300 Hz and below 300 Hz (ratio of >300 Hz/<300 Hz), peak frequency, median frequency, peak amplitude and distance to centric occlusion position were calculated. Data were analysed with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and two-way anova for repeated measures. All variables showed good to excellent reliability across different sessions (ICCday1 : 0·935-0·987; ICCday2 : 0·910-0·992) and across different days (ICC: 0·738-0·907). According to anova for repeated measures, all variables showed good reproducibility (P > 0·05) between sessions at the same day. There was no significant difference between the 2 days for the frequency-related variables including peak frequency (P = 0·083), median frequency (P = 0·188) and ratio of >300 Hz/<300 Hz (P = 0·26). There was a statistical difference between the 2 days for the intensity-related vibration variables including total integral (P = 0·045) and peak amplitude (P = 0·026). The wave patterns of the power-frequency spectra were qualitatively similar over both the sessions and days. Joint vibration analysis could provide a fast, non-invasive, and repeatable method to record the status of TMJ. Further studies are needed to identify the characteristic waveforms for different subgroups of temporomandibular disorders and to evaluate the possibility of diagnostic value.
Increased Spontaneous Apoptosis of CD4+CD25+ T Cells in Patients with Active Rheumatoid Arthritis Is Reduced by Infliximab

Abstract: Increased secretion of tumor necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α), along with interleukin‐1 (IL‐1) and interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), is important in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). T regulatory CD4+CD25+ cells play a role in maintaining self‐tolerance by downregulating Th1‐induced proinflammation. This function has been found to be altered in active RA, whereas anti‐TNF‐α therapy has been found to improve the suppressive abilities of these cells. Our objectives were to investigate whether T regulatory cells in patients with active RA display a higher sensitivity to spontaneous apoptosis than in normals, and to look into the potential of infliximab (anti‐TNF‐α therapy) to reduce the sensitivity of these cells to spontaneous apoptosis. Seventeen patients suffering from active RA, having failed multiple disease‐modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapies, were treated with infliximab. Spontaneous apoptosis (as detected by annexin V binding) was determined in all patients and compared with a group of normal individuals at baseline and after three months on infliximab treatment. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were incubated in 24‐well plates at 1 × 106 cells/mL for 48 hours. Annexin V binding on CD4+CD25+ was assessed using three‐color assay by flow cytometry. Prior to infliximab initiation, spontaneous apoptosis of T regulatory cells from active RA patients was found to be increased in comparison with controls (26 ± 4.2% vs. 19.8 ± 4.8%, respectively; P= 0.01). Three months later (while still on infliximab) spontaneous apoptosis was comparable in the two groups (20.7 ± 5.2% vs. 20.9 ± 3.4%; P 5 0.8). The absolute number of CD4+CD25+ cells/mL in the peripheral blood at baseline was reduced in 11 out of 17 active RA patients when compared with that of the control group (24 ± 7 vs. 32 ± 11, respectively; P= 0.02). Following anti‐TNF‐α therapy, CD4+CD25+ cell counts of patients were equivalent to those of normals. The alteration and reversal in both spontaneous apoptosis and cell count of T regulatory cells was found to correlate with RA disease activity. CD4+CD25+ T regulatory cells display increased proclivity to undergo spontaneous apoptosis in active RA. Alterations in CD4+CD25+ cell apoptosis and cell count were found to correlate with RA disease activity. Reversal of these deviations from normal was documented in association with the beneficial outcome of infliximab therapy.
Breast magnetic resonance image screening and ductal lavage in women at high genetic risk for breast carcinoma

Intensive screening is an alternative to prophylactic mastectomy in women at high risk for developing breast carcinoma. The current article reports preliminary results from a screening protocol using high‐quality magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ductal lavage (DL), clinical breast examination, and mammography to identify early malignancy and high‐risk lesions in women at increased genetic risk of breast carcinoma.
Anthropometric changes in urban Sardinian children 7 to 10 years between 1975–1976 and 1996

This study is a comparison of several anthropometric variables in school children of the same age (7–10 years) and sex measured in two primary schools in Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) at an interval of 20 years (1996 vs. 1975–1976). For both males and females of each age‐class, there are significant differences in the following dimensions: weight, stature, estimated lower limb length, biacromial breadth, xiphoid chest circumference, xiphoid chest depth, and bicristal breadth, and also in relative sitting height, cephalic index, and facial index. The means of the relative sitting height, cephalic, and facial indexes are higher in the children measured in 1975–1976 than in those measured in 1996. There are no significant differences in sitting height and arm length. In addition, the estimated BMIs of the 1975–1976 sample are, on average, lower than those of the 1996 sample. The results suggest that urban Sardinian children sampled in 1996 are generally taller, heavier, and larger and have a longer head and wider face than their peers of 20 years earlier. The increase in stature is due more to an increase in lower limb length than in sitting height. Am J. Hum. Biol. 12:782–791, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVES Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a serine protease that regulates cholesterol metabolism through low-density lipoprotein receptor degradation and that has been linked with cardiovascular risk. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether PCSK9 levels are related to both abnormalities in the lipid profile and the severe atherosclerosis that occur in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. METHODS Cross-sectional study that encompassed 520 individuals; 326 patients with RA and 194 age- and sex-matched controls. PCSK9 and lipoproteins serum concentrations, standard lipid profile and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and carotid plaques were assessed in patients and controls. A multivariable analysis, adjusted for standard cardiovascular risk factors, was performed to evaluate the influence of PCSK9 on RA related dyslipidaemia and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis. RESULTS After adjusting for classical cardiovascular risk factors, lipid profile and statins, RA patients showed lower PCSK9 serum concentrations than controls (beta coefficient -45 95%CI [-53, -38] ng/ml, p=0.00). PCSK9 was associated with both cIMT and the presence of carotid plaques in RA patients. However, this association was lost after adjusting for classical cardiovascular risk factors. CONCLUSIONS PCSK9 is down-regulated in patients with RA.
Demand response benefits from a power system perspective:methodologies and evaluation of field tests

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Reductions in occipital cortex GABA levels in panic disorder detected with 1h-magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

BACKGROUND There is preclinical evidence and indirect clinical evidence implicating gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the pathophysiology and treatment of human panic disorder. Specifically, deficits in GABA neuronal function have been associated with anxiogenesis, whereas enhancement of GABA function tends to be anxiolytic. Although reported peripheral GABA levels (eg, in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma) have been within reference limits in panic disorder, thus far there has been no direct assessment of brain GABA levels in this disorder. The purpose of the present work was to determine whether cortical GABA levels are abnormally low in patients with panic disorder. METHODS Total occipital cortical GABA levels (GABA plus homocarnosine) were assessed in 14 unmedicated patients with panic disorder who did not have major depression and 14 retrospectively age- and sex-matched control subjects using spatially localized (1)H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy. All patients met DSM-IV criteria for a principal current diagnosis of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. RESULTS Patients with panic disorder had a 22% reduction in total occipital cortex GABA concentration (GABA plus homocarnosine) compared with controls. This finding was present in 12 of 14 patient-control pairs and was not solely accounted for by medication history. There were no significant correlations between occipital cortex GABA levels and measures of illness or state anxiety. CONCLUSIONS Panic disorder is associated with reductions in total occipital cortex GABA levels. This abnormality might contribute to the pathophysiology of panic disorder.
The Perrault syndrome: clinical report and review.

We report on two Japanese sisters with Perrault syndrome, i.e., autosomal recessive ovarian dysgenesis associated with sensorineural deafness. They also had ataxic gait, pes equinovarus, nystagmus, limited extraocular movements, and short stature. One older affected sister had partial growth hormone deficiency. Our review included 21 patients from 8 families, including our patients; 16 are women with ovarian dysgenesis and deafness, 3 deaf males without gonadal defect, one a woman with ovarian dysgenesis without deafness, and one a girl with deafness in whom ovarian function was not evaluated. Perrault syndrome may not be uncommon; some cases may have gone unrecognized, especially when a single child in a family is affected.
A prospective survey of patients with cleft lip and palate in Kumasi.

BACKGROUND There has been a steady increase in the number of patients with cleft lip and palate being treated at our hospital. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to determine the socio-demographic characteristics of patients with cleft lip and palate as seen in a hospital setting. METHODS New and consecutive patients with cleft lip and palate attending the maxillofacial clinic during the period between February 2003 and January 2004 were prospectively surveyed. Data including age of child, gender, address, type of cleft, associated birth anomalies, family history of cleft, mother's age at birth of child, mother's occupation, and mother's smoking and drinking habits were collected and analyzed using a SPSS package. RESULTS Seventy-four new cases of cleft lip and palate were seen comprising 33 males and 41 females. Their ages ranged from one day old to 21 years with an overall mean age of 10 months. Cleft lip alone (57%) was the most common presentation. Seventy percent of the mothers were less than 30 years of age. Majority (76%) lived in the Ashanti Region, i.e. within less than 80 kilometres from the clinic. No patient had a family history of facial cleft. Ninety-three percent of the mothers were either unemployed or worked in jobs considered as low earning which included dressmaking, hairdressing, peasant farming, and petty trading. None of the mothers smoked or drank alcohol either before o r duringthe pregnancy. CONCLUSION Cleft lip and palate was more commonly seen in low income families. The mothers were found to be relatively young. None of the patients and mothers had a family history of cleft. A larger population-based study is warranted to further clarify these findings.
Genetic Dissection of the Signals That Induce Synaptic Reorganization

Synaptic reorganization of mossy fibers following kainic acid (KA) administration has been reported to contribute to the formation of recurrent excitatory circuits, resulting in an epileptogenic state. It is unclear, however, whether KA-induced mossy fiber sprouting results from neuronal cell loss or the seizure activity that KA induces. We have recently demonstrated that certain strains of mice are resistant to excitotoxic cell death, yet exhibit seizure activity similar to what has been observed in rodents susceptible to KA. The present study takes advantage of these strain differences to explore the roles of seizure activity vs cell loss in triggering mossy fiber sprouting. In order to understand the relationships between gene induction, cell death, and the sprouting response, we assessed the regulation of two molecules associated with the sprouting response, c-fos and GAP-43, in mice resistant (C57BL/6) and susceptible (FVB/N) to KA-induced cell death. Following administration of KA, increases in c-fos immunoreactivity were observed in both strains, although prolonged induction of c-fos was present only in the hippocampal neurons of FVB/N mice. Mossy fiber sprouting following KA administration was also only observed in FVB/N mice, while induction of GAP-43, a marker associated with mossy fiber sprouting, was not observed in either strain. These results indicate that: (i) KA-induced seizure activity alone is insufficient to induce mossy fiber sprouting; (ii) mossy fiber sprouting may be due to the loss of hilar neurons following kainate administration; and (iii) induction of GAP-43 is not a necessary component of the sprouting response that occurs following KA in mice.
The relationship between leadership style, job satisfaction and culture of the organization

The purpose of the present study is to provide a critical review of the relation between transformational leadership and the levels of job satisfaction experienced by bank employees. An organization’s or institution’s leadership refers to its leader’s style of providing direction, implementing plans and motivating employees. Transformational leadership is a specific leadership style applied by superiors who motivate their subordinates to perform at a higher level by inspiring them, offering them intellectual challenges and paying attention to their individual needs. Job satisfaction refers to the employees’ perceptions of their working environment, relations among colleagues, earnings and promotion opportunities. The review shows that contemporary job-related phenomena like job satisfaction are related to employees’ relations with colleagues and superiors, performance and perceptions of their organization’s specific culture. In addition, the employees’ preference of leadership style is likely to be affected by several factors, including demographic characteristics. Therefore, the reciprocal relation between organizational culture and transformational leadership in job satisfaction in the banking field is revealed in the review, and several conclusions and suggestions are formed.
Relational Ownership and CEO Continuity: A Property Rights Perspective

Inspired by agency theory, research on Chief Executive Officer (CEO) succession often focuses on turnovers as a mechanism to discipline CEOs in the event of poor firm performance. Recent research extends this view by showing that CEO turnovers can also lead to substantial disruption in a firm's management. Less is known, however, about the antecedents of disruption and continuity in the context of CEO turnovers. Drawing on modern property rights theory, we investigate how CEO continuity varies across different types of firms. Using a sample of Swiss publicly traded firms, we find that relational ownership enhances the likelihood of CEOs staying in office or moving to the position of board chair. Firms with little relational ownership, in contrast, display a high degree of CEO continuity only when capital intensity is high. Provided that a CEO turnover occurs, relational ownership and capital intensity reduce the likelihood of interim CEO successions. These findings highlight the importance of a nuanced view of CEO continuity, taking into account owner types as well as contextual factors.
Volatility of Aggregate Volatility and Hedge Fund Returns

This paper investigates empirically whether uncertainty about equity market volatility can explain hedge fund performance both in the cross section and over time. We measure uncertainty via volatility of aggregate volatility (VOV) and construct an investable version through returns on lookback straddles on the VIX index. We find that VOV exposure is a significant determinant of hedge fund returns. After controlling for fund characteristics, we document a robust and significant negative risk premium for VOV exposure in the cross section of hedge fund returns. We corroborate our results using statistical and parameterized proxies of VOV over a longer sample period.
Geography, cultural remoteness and the second nature of within-country economic development: do island regions lag behind?

ABSTRACT Geography, cultural remoteness and the second nature of within-country economic development: do island regions lag behind? Regional Studies. Using a unique dataset that encompasses island regions worldwide (76 regions) and all the other regions of the countries (22 countries) to which they belong (474 regions in total), we document that the within-country gross domestic product (GDP) per capita delay of island regions(on average –21.7% of their national mean), while not explained by regional (neither geographical nor cultural) distance to the (neither global nor local) frontier of economic development, i.e., remoteness, is associated with ‘second-nature’ regional factors (human capital and institutional quality) not specific to island regions. However, the condition of being an island is strongly associated with worst second-nature characteristics.
What Drives Business Investment in the United Kingdom? Results from a Firm-Level VAR Approach

This paper studies the effects of macroeconomic shocks on business investment in the United Kingdom by filtering a large UK firm-level based dataset of financial accounts into macro-level proxy indicators, and then using these indicators in a Bayesian vector autoregression framework to analyse these effects. The analysis combines micro-level data with macro-level analysis in a unique way, and brings up several interesting empirical results. Supply shocks have tended to have been more persistent and more important than demand shocks in explaining UK investment dynamics over the past fifteen years, and their importance appears to have increased since the financial crisis. Furthermore, shocks to the cost of capital, and uncertainties related to it, have generally been more important for firms in sectors with higher indebtedness, whereas corporate governance issues as measured by dividend payments and share buybacks do not appear to have been a major driver of investment.
Effect of aging on the morphology of bitumen by atomic force microscopy

Effect of aging on the morphology of bitumen was investigated. Two bitumens were aged according to the thin film oven test (TFOT), pressure aging vessel (PAV) test and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, respectively. The morphology of the binders before and after aging was characterized by atomic force microscopy. The physical properties and chemical compositions of the binders were also measured. The results showed that aging affected the bitumen morphology significantly. Aging increased the overall surface stiffness of the bitumen and made the bitumen surface more solid‐like. The extent of these changes was dependent on aging conditions. TFOT decreased the contrast between the dispersed domains and the matrix, which contributed to the single‐phase trend of the binders. The effect of PAV aging on morphology of the binders was dependent on the base bitumen. In one case, it further accelerated the single‐phase trend of bitumen in comparison with that after TFOT. In the other case, it caused the phase separation of bitumen. In both cases, PAV aging increased the surface roughness of the binders obviously. As a result of UV aging, the contrast between the matrix phase and dispersed phase was increased due to the difference in sensitivity to UV radiation of the bitumen molecules, which caused or further promoted the phase separation in the binders. Regardless of the aging procedure carried out, a strong correlation was observed between the changes in morphology and physical properties as well as chemical compositions of the binders before and after aging.