Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dual origin of enteric neurons in vagal Schwann cell precursors and the sympathetic neural crest

Significance The enteric nervous system of vertebrates arises mostly from a rostral portion of the neural crest, encapsulated by the term “vagal. ” We show that the “vagal crest” is in fact a juxtaposition of two completely different types of cells: Schwann cell precursors associated with the vagus nerve, which provide esophageal neurons, and the rostral-most trunk crest, which also forms sympathetic ganglia and locally overshoots the aorta to colonize most of the gut. Moreover, in line with the known dependency of both Schwann cell precursors and trunk crest on the ErbB3 tyrosine receptor kinase and its ligand Neuregulin1, we discover that the enteric nervous system is also atrophic in ErbB3 mutants, with potential relevance to Hirschsprung disease, a congenital hypoganglionosis. Most of the enteric nervous system derives from the “vagal” neural crest, lying at the level of somites 1–7, which invades the digestive tract rostro-caudally from the foregut to the hindgut. Little is known about the initial phase of this colonization, which brings enteric precursors into the foregut. Here we show that the “vagal crest” subsumes two populations of enteric precursors with contrasted origins, initial modes of migration, and destinations. Crest cells adjacent to somites 1 and 2 produce Schwann cell precursors that colonize the vagus nerve, which in turn guides them into the esophagus and stomach. Crest cells adjacent to somites 3–7 belong to the crest streams contributing to sympathetic chains: they migrate ventrally, seed the sympathetic chains, and colonize the entire digestive tract thence. Accordingly, enteric ganglia, like sympathetic ones, are atrophic when deprived of signaling through the tyrosine kinase receptor ErbB3, while half of the esophageal ganglia require, like parasympathetic ones, the nerve-associated form of the ErbB3 ligand, Neuregulin-1. These dependencies might bear relevance to Hirschsprung disease, with which alleles of Neuregulin-1 are associated.
De novo renal cell carcinoma of native kidneys in renal transplant recipients: a single-center experience.

OBJECTIVES Our study aimed to determine the incidence of de novo renal cell carcinoma in the native kidneys of patients transplanted at our center and to identify possible risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a retrospective, single-center cohort study, which included patients transplanted at the District Hospital in Poznan, Poland, during 1994-2011, among whom 836 were selected. Sixty-three patients with confirmed de novo cancer were found. Of those, 11 had renal cell carcinoma in the native kidney (1.3%) and 2 in the transplanted kidney (0.2%). RESULTS Mean follow-up was 10 ± 3.2 years. Mean age at renal cell carcinoma diagnosis was 52 ± 9.4 years, and mean time from transplant was 3 ± 2.6 years. A statistical analysis showed no significant differences in demographic or clinical characteristics between renal cell carcinoma and noncancer group, except for the prevalence of male sex and smoking in the cancer group (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS Renal cell carcinoma development in the native kidney seems to be an early event, frequently observed within 4 to 5 years after transplant. We believe that kidneys in renal transplant recipients should be routinely screened by ultrasound for early diagnosis.
Intercultural Language Learning (IcLL): Awareness and Practice of In-service Language Teachers on a Professional Development Programme

Teaching culture in the language classroom is not new. However, with a paradigm shift to a focus on intercultural language learning (IcLL) in New Zealand schools, there are new views on culture and its place in the language teaching curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007a). Teachers' knowledge and application of this new dimension in the classrooms is essential. Formalised professional development can assist teachers in gaining the knowledge and skills to develop the intercultural competence of their language learners. This paper considers the extent to which in-service teachers on a language teaching professional development course incorporate IcLL into their classes. The findings from course participants through observations and interviews indicate that language teachers of students in Years 7-9 were limited in their understanding and demonstration of IcLL in the classroom.
Study Of The Relationship Between Economic Growth, Volatility And Innovation For The Eu-27 And Ceec Countries

The present study applies, along general lines, the methodology used in Ramey&Ramey (1995), and Kroft, Lloyd-Ellis (2002), respectively, to analyze the dependencies between growth, volatility and innovation in the case of the EU-27 and CEEC (new member states from Central and Eastern Europe) countries, respectively. Unlike the above-mentioned papers, which use human capital as proxy for innovation, we use as indicator of innovation the Summary Innovation Index(SII), proposed by the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS). Using the EVIEWS econometric software, we estimate regressions of the GDP growth rate on its total volatility, as well as on its partial volatilities, split with respect to the phases of the economic cycle. We also estimate regressions of the innovation rate on the GDP growth rate volatilities, as well as regressions of the GDP growth rate on the rate of innovation and the split volatility of the GDP growth rate. We find positive dependencies of the GDP growth rate on its own volatility, as well as on the innovation rate. The sources of the data are EUROSTAT, the National Statistical Institute of Romania (INS), and the European Innovation Scoreboard.
Acquired hemophilia in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus: a case report and literature review

We report the case of a 38-year-old female patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who developed acquired hemophilia caused by factor VIII (FVIII) inhibitors. She manifested spontaneous bleeding symptoms such as ecchymoses and hematuria. Laboratory findings showed an isolated prolongation of the activated partial thromboplastin time, reduced FVIII activity, and a high titer of FVIII inhibitors. She was successfully treated with oral predonisolone and cyclosporine in combination with steroid and cyclophosphamide pulse therapy.
If technology is the answer, what does it take?

ABSTRACT This article aims to assess why technology such as improved crop varieties has not taken off in Tanzania in spite of substantial efforts, and to consider what role policy plays in that regard. Few farmers use improved varieties due to reasons such as affordability in relation to the low profitability of farming; high risk, including fake seed in the market; and unpredictable policies and marketing opportunities. Effective governance is needed for agriculture to be transformed in the direction stated in national policy documents, but weak institutions and the collective interests of farmers not being sufficiently recognised hinder the likelihood of necessary technological changes happening.
Liberation through narrativity: A case of organization reconstruction through strategic storytelling

The process perspective of organizations is encouraging us to see organizations as constantly in the process of “becoming”. Such a view challenges many of our assumptions about organizational change, encouraging us to see change as natural and the norm. This paper takes the proposition that the organization is constantly being constituted by communication as its starting point to examine the ebb and flow of organizational power and control during a change initiative. Based on a case study of a call center, we analyze how a CEO constructed and mobilized narratives to institute his form of ‘liberation management’ to free his company from top-down control. The main contribution of this empirical research lies with the model of narrative mechanisms that emerged from the data analysis. Because this conceptual model gives sense to what usually appears at first sight as discursive disorder – a cacophony of change narratives, we see our contributions to the literature as twofold. Firstly, by clearly identifying three different ‘narratives in the making’ – the initial, counter and corrective narratives adopted by internal stakeholders as they engage with the liberation management project, we elaborate on the narrative mechanisms that lie at the meso level of discursive struggles during change. In doing so we extend Boje’s (2010) triad of narrativity by providing evidence of how prospective narratives are incorporated into the narrativity associated with organizational change. Secondly, our model specifies the role communication plays in change implementation and context definition and confirms the utility of the ‘organizational becoming’ and CCO perspectives of organizing and advances knowledge in these areas in relation to innovation and change.
Dissecting Corporate Bond and CDS Spreads

In this article, the authors propose a new method to estimate the components of corporate bond and CDS spreads. They develop a CDS pricing model with default and nondefault factors and a corporate bond pricing model with default, tax, and liquidity factors using the reduced-form approach, and they jointly estimate parameters of both models from the pooled data. By formulating default intensity as a common factor in the prices of the CDS and reference bonds, the authors are able to identify the default and nondefault components of yield spreads more precisely. They find that, on average, the liquidity premium accounts for about 20–25% of corporate yield spreads across ratings and the size of the liquidity premium increases as the rating decreases. Furthermore, they find that the CDS spread contains a nontrivial nondefault component. Ignoring this component in the CDS spread thus results in a serious bias in the estimate of spread components when using the CDS information to aid in decomposition of corporate yield spreads.
Earnings Volatility And Voluntary Management Forecast Disclosure

In this paper I report the findings of an empirical investigation of the association between firms' earnings volatility and the timing and frequency of management earnings forecasts. Such a relationship might be expected if earnings volatility is associated with either the costs or benefits to executives in publicly disclosing such projections. A potential cost-related interpretation is that managers of firms with more volatile earnings are reluctant to disclose their forecasts due to increased exposure to costs (e.g., legal sanctions) associated with unattained projections. A benefit-related interpretation might be that managers perceive benefits from issuing forecasts which improve the projections of individuals (e.g., security analysts) external to the firm. To the extent that informativeness of forecast information is related to management's ability to generate accurate projections, then an association between volatility and forecast disclosure frequency might be expected. Recent survey evidence by Lees [1981] suggests that both of these factors appear to be consistent with stated executive preferences about voluntary forecast disclosure. Further
Aqueous humor-borne factor upregulates Bcl-2 expression in corneal endothelial cells.

PURPOSE To determine if factors present in the aqueous humor (AH) protect the corneal endothelium from apoptosis. METHODS Mouse and human corneal endothelial cells were cultured in vitro, and apoptosis was induced by nutrient deprivation. AH and supernatant from iris/ciliary body (I/CB) cell cultures were tested for their effect on corneal endothelial cell apoptosis. The effect of I/CB supernatant on Fas, Bax, and Bcl-2 gene transcription was evaluated by Northern blotting. I/CB supernatant was subjected to proteinase analysis to identify the apoptosis inhibitory factor(s). RESULTS Rabbit AH and supernatant from mouse I/CB cell cultures inhibited the apoptosis of mouse and human immortalized corneal endothelial cell lines. The inhibition of apoptosis was associated with an upregulation of Bcl-2 gene transcription and Bcl-2 protein expression. Bax gene expression was not significantly affected by I/CB cell supernatant. Induction of apoptosis by stimulation of the Fas receptor was unaffected by I/CB cell supernatant. Protease analyses indicated that the apoptosis inhibitory factor was a protein. CONCLUSIONS The inability of corneal endothelial cells to undergo mitosis renders the corneal endothelium vulnerable to loss of physiological function through cellular attrition. However, a protein(s) produced by I/CB cells and present in the AH, upregulates Bcl-2 gene transcription and protects the corneal endothelial cells from apoptosis.
LIVING STANDARDS IN EUROPE. A REGIONAL VIEW

The European Union aims to be a financial and economic convergent area, yet there still are notable disparities among regions. The goal of this study is to highlight the degree of synchronization of 275 NUTS 2 regions in European countries, between 2002 and 2011, with an emphasis on the impact of the late 2000's economic crisis.In order to focus on the living standard, the chosen variables were the disposable income of the household, the employment rates of adults (20-64 years old) and the regional GDP per inhabitant, which were inserted in a panel data model. Results proved that the regional synchronization is highly influenced by geographical proximity. A notable anomaly concerns capital regions, where, although the regional GDP is higher, disposable income per inhabitant is lower due to higher living costs, not sufficiently compensated by income.
Governance Structure and Firm Performance in Private Family Firms

Although a large proportion of firms are family owned and most family firms are private, our understanding of private family firms is limited. Using confidential information on family relationship between board members, CEOs, and shareholders, this is the first study that provides large-scale evidence on the association between governance structure and firm performance in family controlled private firms. Our sample is unique as it covers almost all private limited liability firms in Norway, spans 11 years, traces firm ownership to ultimate owners, and identifies family relationship using data on kinship, marriage, and adoption. The results show a U-shaped relationship between family ownership and firm performance. Higher ownership of the second largest owner, higher percentage of family members on the board, stronger family power, and smaller boards are associated with higher firm performance. In addition, the positive association between the ownership of the second largest owner and firm performance also occurs when the second largest owner is a member of the controlling family, but the association is stronger when the second largest owner is a non-family member. We further test the relative importance of these test variables and find that ownership structure is more associated with firm performance than board structure.
The Presence of EGFR Mutations Predicts the Response in Chinese Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated with Erlotinib

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a leading cause of death worldwide. The upregulation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) due to mutations has been observed in a number of cancers, and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as gefitinib and erlotinib, which specifically target EGFR signaling, have been used to treat NSCLC patients. The presence of EGFR mutations was previously shown to confer sensitivity to TKIs. In this study, we evaluated the correlation between EGFR mutations and response to erlotinib in Chinese NSCLC patients. We recruited 36 patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC who had failed first-line chemotherapy, and treated them with erlotinib. We used immunohistochemistry to determine EGFR expression, and we screened for mutations using PCR analysis. We used Cox regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier curves for survival analysis. We found that 8 patients had exon 19 mutations, while 3 patients had exon 21 mutations. An Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) grade of 2 was a significant negative predictor of overall survival (OS). Patients with EGFR mutations showed a significantly better OS compared to those without EGFR mutations. Additionally, multivariate analysis showed that erlotinib-treated stage IV patients had a significantly longer progression-free survival (PFS) compared to stage IIIB patients. Patients with EGFR mutations also had a significantly better PFS compared to those without EGFR mutations. The overall remission rate (22.2%) and disease control rate (75%) were significantly higher compared to the rates after second-line chemotherapy (<10%). In conclusion, the presence of EGFR mutations could be a marker to predict the therapeutic efficacy of erlotinib and the prognosis in Chinese NSCLC patients.
Cold‐activated raphé‐spinal neurons in rats

1 In a search for sympathetic premotor neurons subserving thermoregulatory functions, medullary raphé‐spinal neurons were studied in urethane‐anaesthetized, artificially ventilated, paralysed rats. Extracellular unit recordings were made from a region previously shown to drive the sympathetic supplies to tail vessels and brown adipose tissue. Neurons that were antidromically activated by stimulation across the intermediate region of the upper lumbar cord (the origin of the tail sympathetic outflow) were selected for study. 2 Non‐noxious cooling stimuli were delivered to the animal's shaved trunk by circulating cold instead of warm water through a water jacket. Cooling increased the activity of 21 out of 76 raphé‐spinal neurons by 1.0 ± 0.2 spikes s−1°C−1 for falls in skin temperature of 3‐5 °C below a threshold of 35.0 ± 0.6 °C. Their responses followed skin temperature in a graded manner, and did so whether or not there was any change in core (rectal) temperature. 3 Indirect observations suggested that seven of the neurons that were activated by skin cooling were also activated by falls in core temperature (by 2.1 ± 0.7 spikes s−1°C−1 below a threshold of 36.1 ± 0.7 °C), while the remainder were unaffected by core cooling. 4 An additional 7/76 raphé‐spinal neurons showed evidence of inhibition (activity reduced by 2.1 ± 0.5 spikes s−1°C−1) when the trunk skin was cooled. 5 Cold‐activated raphé‐spinal neurons were found in the nuclei raphé magnus and pallidus, centred at the level of the caudal part of the facial nucleus. Their spinal axons conducted at velocities between 3.4 and 29 m s−1 (median 6.8). 6 Drug‐induced rises in arterial pressure partially inhibited the discharge of 6/14 cold‐activated raphé‐spinal neurons. Weak‐to‐moderate cardiac modulation (10‐70 %) was present in arterial pulse‐triggered histograms of the activity of 11/21 cold‐activated raphé‐spinal neurons, and 6/6 showed evidence of ventilatory modulation (two strongly, four weakly) in pump‐triggered histograms. 7 Raphé‐spinal neurons responded to cooling in the absence of any change in the electroencephalogram pattern (6/6 neurons). 8 Most cold‐activated raphé‐spinal neurons responded to noxious tail pinch (13/21 inhibited, 6/21 excited), as did most thermally unresponsive raphé‐spinal cells in the same region (19/41 excited, 9/41 inhibited). 9 It is suggested that these cold‐activated raphé‐spinal neurons may constitute a premotor pathway that drives sympathetically mediated cold defences, such as cutaneous vasoconstriction or thermogenesis. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that a brainstem reflex, with additional descending input signalling body core temperature, may mediate autonomic responses to environmental cooling.
Lung Cancer: Evaluation with MR Imaging During and After Irradiation

We used magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to evaluate treatment response of 10 consecutive lung cancer patients while they were receiving radiation therapy. Patients were scanned before treatment, during treatment, at completion of treatment, and if possible, at 3-month intervals thereafter. The initial tumor response to radiation was increasing signal intensity and increasing heterogeneity, best seen on T2-weighted images. Small tumors virtually disappeared, whereas larger masses remained as complex cystic structures or developed cavities. The adjacent irradiated lung parenchyma had increased signal on both the T1− and T2-weighted images as early as 17 days after start of treatment. The signal intensity continued to increase for several months after treatment, but subsequently decreased.
Morphometric analysis of the fiber populations of the rat sciatic nerve, its spinal roots, and its major branches

Correspondence between the nerve composition and the functional characteristics of its fiber populations is not always evident. To investigate such correspondence and to give a systematic picture of the morphology of the rat hind limb nerves, extensive morphometric study was performed on the sciatic nerve, its founding dorsal and ventral spinal roots, and its major branches. Nerve histology was examined in semithin sections via microscopic image analysis. Variation in the density of myelinated fibers, fiber interspace, and nerve cross‐sectional area was studied in individual roots and nerves. In the dorsal roots, fiber numbers and cross‐sectional areas were directly linearly proportional to the spinal root level number. Constituent fiber populations were identified using multicomponent lognormal models, and an optimal model for every nerve or root was selected by using an information theoretic approach. For the dorsal and ventral roots and the sciatic and peroneal nerves, optimal fiber population models consisted of three components, whereas, for the tibial and sural nerves, two components were optimal. Functional identities of the revealed fiber populations were established by using calculations of corresponding conduction velocities according to Arbuthnott et al. (J. Physiol. [1980] 308:125–157) and anatomical considerations. It is anticipated that morphological parameters established in this study would advance the development of neural prostheses in humans. The proximodistal correspondences among the fiber populations of different nerves were established by parametric statistical comparisons. The proposed approach provides a conceptual framework for understanding the comparative anatomy of the peripheral nerves and spinal roots and can be further applied in other species. J. Comp. Neurol. 503:85–100, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.