Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Returns to Schooling in Urban China: New Evidence Using Heteroskedasticity Restrictions to Obtain Identification Without Exclusion Restrictions

We estimate the returns to schooling using matched employer-employee data from Shanghai. To do so, we use a novel identification strategy, proposed by Lewbel (2012), which utilizes a heteroscedastic covariance restriction to construct an internal instrumental variable (IV). We find that, for the full sample, the Lewbel (2012) IV estimation suggests returns to schooling generally in the range 25-30 per cent, which is higher than extant studies using conventional IVs. The findings in this study underpin the need for the Chinese government to continue to invest in education and help explain why private demand for education remains strong, despite rising cost.
Untreated Masked Hypertension and Subclinical Cardiac Damage: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

AIM Data on the association of masked hypertension (MH) (i.e., normal office and elevated out-of-office blood pressure (BP)) with cardiac damage are scanty. We performed a meta-analysis in order to provide a comprehensive information on subclinical cardiac alterations in subjects with MH. DESIGN Studies were identified by the following search terms: "masked hypertension," "white coat normotension," "isolated ambulatory hypertension," "left ventricular mass," "left ventricular hypertrophy," "cardiac damage," and "echocardiography. " Full articles published in English language providing data on left ventricular (LV) mass and/or prevalence of LV hypertrophy in MH, as assessed by ambulatory BP monitoring, were considered. RESULTS Overall, 4,884 untreated subjects (2,467 normotensive, 776 MH, and 1,641 sustained hypertensive individuals) of both genders included in 12 studies were analyzed. LV mass index showed a progressive increase from normotensive (79.2 ± 0.35 g/m(2)) to MH (91.6 ± 4.0 g/m(2)) (standard difference in means (SDM): 0.50 ± 0.11, confidence interval (CI): 0.28-0.73, P < 0.01) and to hypertensive subjects (102.9 ± 3.3g/m(2)) (SDM: 0.22 ± 0.07, CI: 0.09-0.35, P < 0.01). After assessing data for publication bias, the difference between groups was still significant. CONCLUSIONS Our findings support an association between MH and increased risk of LV structural alterations compared to true normotensive individuals. Due to the worse cardiovascular prognosis associated with subclinical cardiac damage, subjects with MH should be carefully screened in order to detect hypertensive organ damage and provide appropriate therapeutic interventions.
The role of mitochondrial tRNAPhe C628T variant in deafness expression

Abstract Mutations in mitochondrial genome are one of the most important causes of hearing loss, of these, mitochondrial tRNA (mt-tRNA) genes are the hot spots for mutations associated with deafness. Most recently, a novel mt-tRNAPhe C628T variant has been reported to be associated with non-syndromic and sensorineural hearing loss. To test this association, we characterized the C628T variant using a phylogenetic approach; in addition, we employed the bioinformatics tool to predict the thermodynamic change of the mt-tRNAPhe gene with and without this variant. Intriguingly, the C628T variant was not evolutionary conserved and had little effect on mt-tRNAPhe folding. Moreover, through the application of the pathogenicity scoring system, we classified the C628T variant as a “neutral polymorphism”, suggesting that this variant currently lacked sufficient evident to support as a “pathogenic” mutation.
Identification of early acute lung injury at initial evaluation in an acute care setting prior to the onset of respiratory failure.

BACKGROUND Despite being a focus of intensive investigation, acute lung injury (ALI) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality. However, the current consensus definition impedes identification of patients with ALI before they require mechanical ventilation. To establish a definition of early ALI (EALI), we carried out a prospective cohort study to identify clinical predictors of progression to ALI. METHODS Potential cases of EALI were identified by daily screening of chest radiographs (CXRs) for all adult emergency department and new medicine service admissions at Stanford University Hospital. RESULTS Of 1,935 screened patients with abnormal CXRs, we enrolled 100 patients admitted with bilateral opacities present < 7 days and not due exclusively to left atrial hypertension. A total of 33 of these 100 patients progressed to ALI requiring mechanical ventilation during their hospitalization. Progression to ALI was associated with immunosuppression, the modified Rapid Emergency Medicine Score, airspace opacities beyond the bases, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, and the initial oxygen requirement (> 2 L/min). On multivariate analysis, only an initial oxygen requirement > 2 L/min predicted progression to ALI (odds ratio, 8.1; 95% confidence interval, 2.7 to 24.5). A clinical diagnosis of EALI, defined by hospital admission with bilateral opacities on CXR not exclusively due to left atrial hypertension and an initial oxygen requirement of > 2 L/min, was 73% sensitive and 79% specific for progression to ALI. CONCLUSIONS A new clinical definition of EALI may have value in identifying patients with ALI early in their disease course.
Quantitative Raman spectral changes of the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells into islet-like cells by biochemical component analysis and multiple peak fitting

Abstract. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) differentiate into islet-like cells, providing a possible solution for type I diabetes treatment. To search for the precise molecular mechanism of the directional differentiation of MSC-derived islet-like cells, biomolecular composition, and structural conformation information during MSC differentiation, is required. Because islet-like cells lack specific surface markers, the commonly employed immunostaining technique is not suitable for their identification, physical separation, and enrichment. Combining Raman spectroscopic data, a fitting accuracy-improved biochemical component analysis, and multiple peaks fitting approach, we identified the quantitative biochemical and intensity change of Raman peaks that show the differentiation of MSCs into islet-like cells. Along with increases in protein and glycogen content, and decreases in deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid content, in islet-like cells relative to MSCs, it was found that a characteristic peak of insulin (665 cm−1) has twice the intensity in islet-like cells relative to MSCs, indicating differentiation of MSCs into islet-like cells was successful. Importantly, these Raman signatures provide useful information on the structural and pathological states during MSC differentiation and help to develop noninvasive and label-free Raman sorting methods for stem cells and their lineages.
Wnt3a induces the expression of acetylcholinesterase during osteoblast differentiation via the Runx2 transcription factor

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) hydrolyzes acetylcholine to terminate cholinergic transmission in neurons. Apart from this AChE activity, emerging evidence suggests that AChE could also function in other, non-neuronal cells. For instance, in bone, AChE exists as a proline-rich membrane anchor (PRiMA)-linked globular form in osteoblasts, in which it is proposed to play a noncholinergic role in differentiation. However, this hypothesis is untested. Here, we found that in cultured rat osteoblasts, AChE expression was increased in parallel with osteoblastic differentiation. Because several lines of evidence indicate that AChE activity in osteoblast could be triggered by Wnt/β-catenin signaling, we added recombinant human Wnt3a to cultured osteoblasts and found that this addition induced expression of the ACHE gene and protein product. This Wnt3a-induced AChE expression was blocked by the Wnt-signaling inhibitor Dickkopf protein-1 (DKK-1). We hypothesized that the Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), a downstream transcription factor in Wnt/β-catenin signaling, is involved in AChE regulation in osteoblasts, confirmed by the identification of a Runx2-binding site in the ACHE gene promoter, further corroborated by ChIP. Of note, Runx2 overexpression in osteoblasts induced AChE expression and activity of the ACHE promoter tagged with the luciferase gene. Moreover, deletion of the Runx2-binding site in the ACHE promoter reduced its activity during osteoblastic differentiation, and addition of 5-azacytidine and trichostatin A to differentiating osteoblasts affected AChE expression, suggesting epigenetic regulation of the ACHE gene. We conclude that AChE plays a role in osteoblastic differentiation and is regulated by both Wnt3a and Runx2.
Jun Kinase Phosphorylates and Regulates the DNA Binding Activity of an Octamer Binding Protein, T-Cell Factor β1

ABSTRACT POU domain proteins have been implicated as key regulators during development and lymphocyte activation. The POU domain protein T-cell factor β1 (TCFβ1), which binds octamer and octamer-related sequences, is a potent transactivator. In this study, we showed that TCFβ1 is phosphorylated following activation via the T-cell receptor or by stress-induced signals. Phosphorylation of TCFβ1 occurred predominantly at serine and threonine residues. Signals which upregulate Jun kinase (JNK)/stress-activated protein kinase activity also lead to association of JNK with TCFβ1. JNK associates with the activation domain of TCFβ1 and phosphorylates its DNA binding domain. The phosphorylation of recombinant TCFβ1 by recombinant JNK enhances the ability of TCFβ1 to bind to a consensus octamer motif. Consistent with this conclusion, TCFβ1 upregulates reporter gene transcription in an activation- and JNK-dependent manner. In addition, inhibition of JNK activity by catalytically inactive MEKK (in which methionine was substituted for the lysine at position 432) also inhibits the ability of TCFβ1 to drive inducible transcription from the interleukin-2 promoter. These results suggest that stress-induced signals and T-cell activation induce JNK, which then acts on multiple cissequences by modulating distinct transactivators like c-Jun and TCFβ1. This demonstrates a coupling between the JNK activation pathway and POU domain proteins and implicates TCFβ1 as a physiological target in the JNK signal transduction pathway leading to coordinated biological responses.
Gestational exposure to cigarette smoke imperils the long-term physical and mental health of offspring.

BACKGROUND In this study, we sought to understand whether prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke would be associated with increased offspring hospitalization through age 22 years for various physical and mental health diagnoses. METHODS We used multivariate logistic regression to investigate the relationship between gestational exposure to cigarette smoke and offspring hospitalization for physical and mental health conditions based on International Classification of Diseases (ICD; World Health Organization) diagnoses. RESULTS When controlling for parental psychiatric status, maternal somatic health, socioeconomic status, parity, and maternal age, youth born to mothers who smoked six or more cigarettes per day were more likely to have experienced hospitalization for neuroses (OR, 1.97), diseases of the nervous system (i.e., neurological disorders) (OR, 1.47), respiratory infections (OR, 1.28), accidents (OR, 1.44), infections (OR, 1.54), undiagnosed symptoms (OR, 1.65), and total admissions (OR, 1.48). Female offspring prenatally exposed were more likely to have experienced hospitalization for obstetric complications (OR, 2.94). No association was found for the remaining categories analyzed: blood disorders, skin diseases, psychoses, metabolic/endocrine disease, circulatory disease, digestive disease, disease of the skeletal/muscular system, physical anomalies, neoplasms, and genital/urinary disease. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to investigate the impact of gestational exposure to cigarette smoke on global measures of somatic and physical health in offspring. This study adds to the literature by demonstrating that smoking during pregnancy increases offspring risk for additional health outcomes not previously recognized in the literature, and that the effect of smoking during pregnancy persists throughout the developmental period. The possibility that these findings are related to lifestyle markers or smoke exposure during childhood should also be considered.
The proportion of circulating gammadelta T cells increases after the first week of onset of tularaemia and remains elevated for more than a year.

In various human intracellular bacterial diseases, an increase of the proportion of circulating Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells has been observed. The prevalence of the finding among infected subjects and the time course of the elevation remain to be investigated. In the present study, comprising blood samples from a large number of cases of ulceroglandular tularaemia, the percentage of Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells within the first week of onset of disease (5.3 +/- 0.7% (mean +/- s.e.m.)) did not differ from that of control subjects (5.3 +/- 0. 8%). Thereafter, percentages increased rapidly and within the interval of 8-40 days mean levels were > 20% (P < 0.001). Of 45 individuals sampled within 3 months of onset, 42 showed a percentage of Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells of > 10%. Significantly increased levels were still recorded at 18 months (13.8 +/- 2.4%; P < 0.05) but not at 24 months (10.2 +/- 2.1%; P > 0.10). Thus, a consistent increase of circulating Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells was demonstrated in tularaemia. The initial delay and the prolonged course of elevation may suggest a role in immunoregulation and/or immunological memory. Furthermore, the percentage of gammadelta T cells expressing tumour necrosis factor-alpha in response to phorbol myristate acetate was decreased during the first week and up to 40 days after onset, possibly reflecting the modulation of an inflammatory response.
Examining Successful Retention Practices Of A Career College Dean Of Education

This intrinsic case study examined retention practices utilized by a dean of education at a career college where student outcomes in retention and graduation met and exceeded the standards set forth by the institution’s accrediting agency and the U.S. Department of Education. Furthermore, it seeks to understand how members of the campus leadership and faculty perceive and enact these retention practices. The guiding themes of the literature review were leadership in educational settings as related to the actions of successful educational leaders and how these actions influence student persistence and retention. Distributed and transformative leadership were of particular importance. This study had a total of eighteen participants. The dean of education and the campus president were interviewed individually, while the peers of the dean of education, the programs directors, and faculty members were interviewed in four focus groups. Interviews were recorded through an online meeting service, and transcribed by the researcher. Overall, three themes emerged from the data analysis procedure: (a) focusing campus culture on retention, (b) understanding student needs through individual engagement, and (c) engaging program directors and faculty through distributed leadership. The retention initiatives and leadership actions of the dean of education are important to several stakeholders within the educational organization and each career college campus, including educational leadership, faculty, and perhaps most significantly, retention efforts are important to the student.
The homeoprotein engrailed 1 has pleiotropic functions in calvarial intramembranous bone formation and remodeling

The membranous bones of the mammalian skull vault arise from discrete condensations of neural crest- and mesodermally-derived cells. Recently, a number of homeodomain transcription factors have been identified as critical regulators of this process. Here, we show that the homeoprotein engrailed 1 (EN1) is expressed during embryonic and perinatal craniofacial bone development, where it localizes to the skeletogenic mesenchyme, and, subsequently, to calvarial osteoblasts and osteoprogenitors. Mice lacking En1 exhibit generalized calvarial bone hypoplasia and persistent widening of the sutural joints. A reduction in calvarial membranous bone deposition and mineralization (osteopenia) is coupled to enhanced osteolytic resorption in En1 mutants. Consistent with these observations, expression of established osteoblast differentiation markers reveals that En1 function is required for both early and late phases of calvarial osteogenesis. Further analysis shows that EN1 regulates FGF signaling in calvarial osteoblasts. Moreover, EN1 indirectly influences calvarial osteoclast recruitment and bone resorption by regulating the expression of receptor activator of NFκB ligand (RANKL) in osteoblasts. Thus, during intramembranous bone formation, EN1 acts both cell autonomously and non-cell autonomously. In summary, this study identifies EN1 as a novel modulator of calvarial osteoblast differentiation and proliferation, processes that must be exquisitely balanced to ensure proper skull vault formation.
Longitudinal assessment of hematopoietic abnormalities after autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation for lymphoma.

PURPOSE Autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is being increasingly used as an effective treatment strategy for patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) but is associated with therapy-related myelodysplasia and acute myeloid leukemia (t-MDS/AML) as a major cause of nonrelapse mortality. The phenomenon of hematopoietic reconstitution after autologous HCT and the role of proliferative stress in the pathogenesis of t-MDS/AML are poorly understood. PATIENTS AND METHODS Using a prospective longitudinal study design, we evaluated the nature and timing of alterations in hematopoietic progenitors and telomere length after HCT in patients undergoing autologous HCT at City of Hope Cancer Center (Duarte, CA). RESULTS A significant reduction in primitive and committed progenitors was observed before HCT compared with healthy controls. Further profound and persistent reduction in primitive progenitors but only transient reduction in committed progenitors were seen after HCT. Primitive progenitor frequency in pre-HCT marrow and peripheral-blood stem cells predicted for primitive progenitor recovery after HCT. Shortening of telomere length was observed in marrow cells early after HCT, with subsequent restoration to pre-HCT levels. Patients within this cohort who developed t-MDS/AML had reduced recovery of committed progenitors and poorer telomere recovery, possibly indicating a functional defect in primitive hematopoietic cells. CONCLUSION Our studies suggest that hematopoietic regeneration after HCT is associated with increased proliferation and differentiation of primitive progenitors. Increased proliferative stress on stem cells bearing genotoxic damage could contribute to the pathogenesis of t-MDS/AML. Extended follow-up of a larger number of patients is required to confirm whether alterations in progenitor and telomere recovery predict for increased risk of t-MDS/AML.
Strategies for Successful Vaccination against Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Current therapies against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are not curative in the majority of patients. In the past, immunotherapy approaches aimed to non-specifically stimulate immune response were quite ineffective. New treatments based on stimulation of specific anti-tumor immune response are currently proposed and appear more promising. Tumor-specific antigens identified in HCC demonstrated immunogenicity both in preclinical and clinical trials. Effectiveness in animal studies raised interest in the clinical applicability of non-specific adoptive immunotherapy that prevented disease recurrence after tumor resection. Dendritic cell (DC)-based tumor vaccines achieved encouraging results, and cellular vaccines based on DCs have already entered clinical trials. Preventive and therapeutic DNA vaccination have been proposed, all based on tumor-associated antigens (TAAs), either modified or not, an example being alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). The concomitant expression of co-stimulatory molecules and cytokines was used to increase tumor immunogenicity. Syngeneic or nude mice models indicated that immunotherapy for HCC could stimulate an anti-tumor T-cell response leading to clinical benefit devoid of significant toxicity. The use of DNA-based vaccination raises exciting possibilities in preventing HCC in high-risk individuals such as those with cirrhosis. Novel immunotherapy strategies may contribute in the future to prevention and treatment of HCC.
Rift-wide correlation of 1.1 Ga Midcontinent rift system basalts: implications for multiple mantle sources during rift development

Magmatism that accompanied the 1.1 Ga Midcontinent rift system (MRS) is attributed to the upwelling and decompression melting of a mantle plume beneath North America. Five distinctive flood-basalt compositions are recognized in the rift-related basalt succession along the south shore of western Lake Superior, based on stratigraphically correlated major element, trace element, and Nd isotopic analyses. These distinctive compositions can be correlated with equivalent basalt types in comparable stratigraphic positions in other MRS localities around western Lake Superior. Four of these compositions are also recognized at Mamainse Point more than 200 km away in eastern Lake Superior. These regionally correlative basalt compositions provide the basis for determining the sequential contribution of various mantle sources to flood-basalt magmatism during rift development, extending a model originally developed for eastern Lake Superior. In this refined model, the earliest basalts were derived from small degrees of partial melting at great depth of an enriched, ocean-island-type plume mantle source (E,,(, ,,, value of about 0), followed by magmas representing melts from this plume source and interaction with another mantle source, most likely continental lithospheric mantle (E,,(, ,,, < 0). The