Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Mass Murder as Quasi-Experiment

Few crimes command as much attention as mass murder. Depending on their magnitude and context, some of these incidents become enshrined as landmark historical events. Some give rise to substantial policy change. One such event in Australia was the Port Arthur Massacre that claimed 35 lives in 1996. Using a disaggregation strategy and intervention analysis, this article explores the impact of the Port Arthur massacre on subsequent homicides in Australia. The results of the analysis indicate that the Port Arthur incident appears to have had no lasting effect on homicide in Australia. However, there was an immediate increase in firearm homicides during the 5 days following the massacre. After this sudden increase, the incidence of homicide resumed its long-term downward trend. This sudden increase can be interpreted as evidence of a contagion effect, with the significant response by the Australian Government contributing to the incidence of homicide resuming its long-term trend, rather than continuing to increase.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY EST-SSR: A New Class of Genetic Markers in Cotton

Recent advances in genomic technologies have generated a large number of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) in cotton. Many of these ESTs are available in public databases, which offer an opportunity to identify simple sequence repeats (SSR) in ESTs by data mining. These sequences may provide an estimate of diversity in the expressed portion of the genome and may be useful for comparative mapping, for tagging important traits of interest, and for additional map-based cloning of important genes. One hundred and thirty-three SSR-containing ESTs (EST-SSRs) were identified by analyzing 9,948 sequences belonging to Gossypium hirsutum L. in GenBank. The EST-SSR sequences and the related EST sequences without SSRs were clustered to reduce redundancy and to develop consensus sequences. Primers were designed for 84 of these EST-SSRs and were tested for their ability to amplify and detect diversity among three lines of G. hirsutum and one line of G. barbadense L. An average of three amplicons was obtained per primer pair. The intraspecies polymorphism rate among the G. hirsutum cotton cultivars was 26% and interspecific polymorphism between G. hirsutum and G. barbadense was 52%. The presence of SSRs in the EST-SSR markers was confirmed by cloning and sequencing of the amplified products of randomly selected primer pairs from four different lines. To explore the potential use of the EST-SSR loci for comparative mapping, these sequences were compared against different plant species using BLAST assuming an e-value of 1E -10 or less as a significant sequence similarity. About 74% of the EST-SSRs were from fiber-related tissues in G. hirsutum, whereas 26% were from other tissues, such as cotton bolls and cottonseed. Fifty-five percent of these EST-SSR sequences matched sequences in G. arboretum L. , and 19% of the sequences showed considerable sequence similarity with sequences in the Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. genome. In this manuscript, information about the primer sequence, repeat motif, and the degree of polymorphism of cotton EST-SSR markers is reported. A cost-effective strategy to develop EST-SSR markers by exploiting EST databases is demonstrated for the first time in cotton.
Development of a standardized screening method for detection of vancomycin-resistant enterococci

The incidence of vancomycin resistance among enterococci is increasing in the United States and elsewhere in the world, but automated susceptibility testing methods have difficulty detecting resistance expressed by certain strains. The agar screening method described by Willey et al. (B. M. Willey, B. N. Kreiswirth, A. E. Simor, G. Williams, S. R. Scriver, A. Phillips, and D. E. Low, J. Clin. Microbiol. 30:1621-1624, 1992) has been proposed as a reliable method for confirming vancomycin resistance. In this study, we investigated various parameters associated with the agar screening method and, on the basis of the findings, established optimum testing conditions for the method. First, to evaluate media and vancomycin concentrations, one laboratory used Mueller-Hinton and brain heart infusion agars supplemented with 4, 6, and 8 micrograms of vancomycin per ml to test 100 genetically characterized enterococcal strains. On the basis of the results obtained, brain heart infusion agar supplemented with 6 micrograms of vancomycin per ml was selected for further study. Subsequently, eight laboratories used the medium to test both reference and clinical isolates. There was very good performance with the reference strains and, among 158 clinical isolates tested, the method demonstrated sensitivity and specificity of 100% and from 96 to 99%, respectively.
ER stress and its regulator X‐box‐binding protein‐1 enhance polyIC‐induced innate immune response in dendritic cells

Multiple physiological and pathological conditions interfere with the function of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). However, much remains unknown regarding the impact of ER stress on inflammatory responses in dentritic cells (DCs) upon the recognition of pathogen molecules. We show that ER stress greatly potentiates the expression of inflammatory cytokines and IFN‐β in murine DCs stimulated by polyIC, a synthetic mimic of virus dsRNA. Both toll‐like receptor 3 and melanoma differentiation‐associated gene‐5 are involved in the enhanced IFN‐β production, which is associated with increased activation of NF‐κB and IRF3 signaling as well as the splicing of X‐box‐binding protein‐1 (XBP‐1), an important regulator involved in ER stress response. Surprisingly, silencing of XBP‐1 reduces polyIC‐stimulated IFN‐β expression in the presence or absence of ER stress, indicating that XBP‐1 may be essential for polyIC signaling and ER stress‐amplified IFN‐β production. Overexpression of a spliced form of XBP‐1 (XBP‐1s) synergistically augments polyIC‐induced inflammatory response. For the first time, we show that XBP‐1s overexpression‐enhanced IFN‐β production in DCs markedly suppresses vesicular stomatitis virus infection, revealing a previously unrecognized role for XBP‐1 in an antiviral response. Our findings suggest that evolutionarily conserved ER stress response and XBP‐1 may function collaboratively with innate immunity to maintain cellular homeostasis.
Design of Integral Reminder for Collaborative Appointment Management

Reminder systems have great potential to enhance healthcare outcome, but there is a big space for improvement to facilitate the collaborative appointment management with accessible mobile communication technology. This study proposes a design of integral reminder systems that automates the process of appointment rescheduling for patients and physicians in addition to confirmation and cancellation. Based on the premises of patient-centered care of media synchronicity theory, design principles are proposed to cater to the different requirements of healthcare providers and patient users on appointment management. The design provides useful guidelines for building integral reminder systems that enhance medical compliance.
D178N, 129Val and N171S, 129Val Genotype in a Family with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Background: Fatal familial insomnia (FFI) and genetic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJDD178N,129V) are two phenotypes that share a common point mutation at codon 178 of the prion protein gene (PRNP), but differ in their polymorphism at codon 129 of the mutant allele. A mutation at codon 171 of the PRNP gene has been described in a family with a strong psychiatric history without prion disease. Methods: Clinical and genetic information of a family with CJD was obtained from medical records and family informants. Results: We identified an African-American family with molecular and genetically confirmed CJDD178N,129V that also carried the N171S, 129V polymorphism and had a strong psychiatric clinical presentation. Conclusion: This is a complex family that carries the D178N, 129V and N171S, 129V genotype. This report is the first description of both genotypes occurring within a family with genetic human prion disease.
Misconceptions, diagnostic challenges and treatment opportunities in bioprosthetic valve thrombosis: lessons from a case series.

OBJECTIVES Bioprosthetic valve thrombosis (BPVT) is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication. Current guidelines favour surgery or thrombolysis as initial treatment. We set forth to characterize timing, diagnostic criteria and treatment strategies in BPVT. METHODS A free-text search tool was used to identify patients diagnosed with BPVT at Mayo Clinic between 1997 and 2013. We compared patients treated initially with vitamin K antagonists (VKA group; N = 15) versus surgery/thrombolysis (non-VKA group; N = 17). RESULTS Peak incidence of BPVT was 13-24 months after implantation in both groups. VKA and surgery/thrombolysis decreased prosthetic mean gradients to a similar extent (VKA group: 13 ± 5 to 6 ± 2 mmHg in mitral position, 9 ± 3 to 5 ± 1 mmHg in tricuspid position and 39 ± 3 to 24 ± 7 mmHg in aortic/pulmonary position; non-VKA group: 16 ± 12 to 5 ± 1 mmHg in mitral, 10 ± 5 to 4 ± 1 mmHg in tricuspid and 57 ± 9 to 18 ± 6 mmHg in aortic position; P = 0.59 for group effect). NYHA class improved in 11 of 15 patients in the VKA group and 10 of 17 patients in the non-VKA group (P = 0.39). There were no deaths, strokes or recognized embolic events; 1 patient in each group experienced gastrointestinal bleeding requiring transfusion. Index transthoracic echocardiogram formally identified BPVT in a minority of patients. CONCLUSIONS BPVT may occur late after surgical implantation. VKA therapy resulted in haemodynamic and clinical improvement with minimal risk, and should be considered the first-line therapy in haemodynamically stable patients. Echocardiographic criteria for improving BPVT diagnosis are proposed.
Congenital Factor Deficiencies in Children: A Report of a Single-Center Experience

Congenital factor deficiencies (CFDs) refer to inherited deficiency of coagulation factors in the blood. A total of 481 patients with CFDs, who were diagnosed and followed at our Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Clinic between 1990 and 2015, were retrospectively evaluated. Of the 481 cases, 134 (27.8%) were hemophilia A, 38 (7.9%) were hemophilia B, 57 (11.8%) were von Willebrand disease (vWD), and 252 (52.3%) were rare bleeding disorders (RBDs). The median age of the patients at the time of diagnosis and at the time of the study was 4.1 years (range: 2 months to 20.4 years) and 13.4 years (range: 7 months to 31.3 years), respectively. The median duration of the follow-up time was 6.8 years (range: 2.5 months to 24.8 years). One hundred nineteen (47.2%) of 252 patients with RBDs were asymptomatic, 49 (41.1%) of whom diagnosed by family histories, 65 (54.6%) through preoperative laboratory studies, and 5 (4.2%) after prolonged bleeding during surgeries. Consanguinity rate for the RBDs was 47.2%. Prophylactic treatment was initiated in 80 patients, 58 of whom were hemophilia A, 7 were hemophilia B, 13 were RBDs, and 2 were vWD. Significant advances have been achieved during the past 2 decades in the treatment of patients with CFDs, particularly in patients with hemophilias. The rarity and clinical heterogeneity of RBDs lead to significant diagnostic challenges and improper management. In this regard, multinational collaborative efforts are needed with the hope that can improve the management of patients with RBDs.
Time Work by Overworked Professionals

How are professionals responding to the time strains brought on by the stress of their higher status jobs? Qualitative data from professionals reveal (a) general acceptance of the emerging temporal organization of professional work, including rising time demands and blurred boundaries around work/nonwork times and places, and (b) time work as strategic responses to work intensification, overloads, and boundarylessness. We detected four time-work strategies: prioritizing time, scaling back obligations, blocking out time, and time shifting of obligations. These strategies are often more work-friendly than family-friendly, but “blocking out time” and “time shifting” suggest promising avenues for work-time policy and practice.
Mind, Brain and Adaptation in the Nineteenth Century. Cerebral Localization and its Biological Context from Gall to Ferrier

and the selection of special burying grounds, the duties of searchers and the segregation of the sick and of contacts in their own houses and the marking of the doors with red crosses, the setting aside of and sometimes the building of huts or special pest-houses, all these are well described. The attempts to provide nurses and watchers for the afflicted and gifts of alms in money and in kind, the appointment by the municipalities of physicians and apothecaries to treat the sick demonstrate the human side of the calamities which so often happened and which were so constantly threatening. The ritual of preventive measures culminating in the Plague Rules of the City of London in 1665 became an accepted part of life. The importance of these measures in bringing to the notice of the nation the need for some degree of control in sanitary matters is not so closely argued. For instance the influence of the plague on the operation of the Poor Laws led in the next century to the rise of the voluntary hospitals. The reason why plague disappeared so rapidly after 1665 was, according to Dr. Shrewsbury, the development of the all-sea trade between Europe and India, which abolished the caravan route for merchandise from the East across Asia Minor and with it the 'rodent pipe-line' for the transit of P. pestis from its Indian homeland to the ports of the Levant. The suggestion that the Great Fire of London was responsible is given a categorical denial. Defoe had attributed this theory to certain 'quacking' philosophers. This work will remain for many years a sourcebook on the epidemics of plague in the British Isles. Dr. Shrewsbury has shown where our knowledge is deficient, and given a wealth of references for those who wish to carry out further inquiries. There is still much to learn. Young follows in his book the development of the relations of mind and brain, that is the history of cerebral localization between Gall and Ferrier, and of the attempts to specify the functions of the brain in the relations between organisms and their environment. He is, like all those who have recently taken up the study of Gall again, rightly surprised by the magnitude of Gall's role in this context. He then surveys on the one hand experimental neurophysiology from Flourens to Broca, Fritsch, Hitzig and Ferrier; on the other hand the …
Correlation of simultaneously obtained capillary, venous, and arterial blood gases of patients in a paediatric intensive care unit

Aims: To investigate the correlation of pH, partial pressure of oxygen (PO2), partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2), base excess (BE), and bicarbonate (HCO3) between arterial (ABG), venous (VBG), and capillary (CBG) blood gases. Methods: Patients admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Çukurova University between August 2000 and February 2002 were enrolled. Results: A total of 116 simultaneous venous, arterial, and capillary blood samples were obtained from 116 patients (mean age 56.91 months, range 15 days to 160 months). Eight (7%) were neonates. Sixty six (57%) were males. pH, PCO2, BE, and HCO3 were all significantly correlated in ABG, VBG, and CBG. Correlation in PO2 was also significant, but less so. Correlation between pH, PCO2, PO2, BE, and HCO3 was similar in the presence of hypothermia, hyperthermia, and prolonged capillary refilling time. In hypotension, correlation in PO2 between VBG and CBG was similar but disappeared in ABG–VBG and ABG–CBG. Conclusions: There is a significant correlation in pH, PCO2, PO2, BE, and HCO3 among ABG, VBG, and CBG values, except for a poor correlation in PO2 in the presence of hypotension. Capillary and venous blood gas measurements may be useful alternatives to arterial samples for patients who do not require regular continuous blood pressure recordings and close monitoring of PaO2. We do not recommend CBG and VBG for determining PO2 of ABG.
Executive Compensation and the Market Valuation of Managerial Attributes

We propose and estimate an interactive fixed effects (IFE) model, which allows for time-variant unobserved manager effects. We find that two managerial attributes are economically important in explaining executive pay. The first captures general managerial talent and the second managerial optimism, risk tolerance, and specific human capital. The labor market for executives prices these attributes differently over time. Importantly, we show that in the presence of time-variant unobserved heterogeneity, conventional fixed effect models produce inconsistent estimates while the IFE model corrects the omitted variable bias. The IFE model proposed in the paper may have potential applications in other areas in economics and finance.
Augmented simvastatin cytotoxicity using optimized lipid nanocapsules: a potential for breast cancer treatment

Abstract Context: We noticed paucity in exploiting solutol-based lipid nanocapsules in statins formulations though they carry all favorable properties that are needed for cancer passive targeting such as their small particle size, stealth properties, ability to highly accommodate lipophilic drugs, good internalization and P-gp pump inhibition. Objective: The aim of this study was to design and optimize new simvastatin drug delivery systems; lipid nanocapsules intended for administration through the intravenous route as potential treatment for breast cancer. Methods: Optimized nanocapsules were prepared by the phase-inversion method according to a D-optimal mixture design, characterized and assessed for their cytotoxicity. Results: Three successful models for particle size, polydispersity index (PDI) and percentage of drug released after 48 h were generated. The prepared lipid nanocapsules acquired spherical and homogenous morphology, good stability and tolerance to sterilization. The obtained release profiles demonstrated desired sustained release pattern. Furthermore, testing selected formulations on human breast cancer adenocarcinoma cells showed augmented cytotoxicity of simvastatin reaching low IC50 values as 1.4 ± 0.02 μg/ml compared to the pure drug. Conclusion: The proposed lipid nanocapsules pose promising candidates as simvastatin carriers intended for the targeting of breast cancer.
Serum uric acid and its association with hypertension, early nephropathy and chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetic patients.

INTRODUCTION Early detection diabetic nephropathy (DN) is important. Whether serum uric acid (SUA) has a role in the development of DN is not known. OBJECTIVE To study the relationship between SUA and hypertension, early nephropathy and progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS The total number of the study was 986 participants, according to presence and duration of diabetes were classified into three groups. Group I; including 250 healthy participants. Group II; including 352 with onset of diabetes < 5 years. Group III; including 384, with the onset of diabetes > 5 years. All participants were submitted to complete clinical examination, anthropometric measurements, laboratory investigations, including glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C), as well triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein ratios (TG/HDL-C), SUA, urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). RESULTS SUA, BP, HbA1c, TG/HDL-C ratio, and ACR levels were significantly higher in group III than group I, II and in II than I. eGFR significantly lower in group III than group I, II and in II than I (p < 0.001). Age, BMI, BP, HbA1c, TG/HDL-C, ACR, were positively correlated with SUA, while GFR negatively correlated. SUA at level of > 6.1 mg/dl, > 6.2 mg/dl and > 6.5 mg/dl had a greater sensitivity and specificity for identifying hypertension, early nephropathy and decline eGFR respectively. CONCLUSION Even high normal SUA level, was associated with the risk of hypertension, early nephropathy and decline of eGFR. Moreover SUA level may identify the onset of hypertension, early nephropathy and progression of CKD in T2DM.
Selective inhibition of endothelial cell proliferation by fumagillin is not due to differential expression of methionine aminopeptidases

The angiogenesis inhibitors fumagillin and TNP‐470 selectively inhibit the proliferation of endothelial cells, as compared with most other cell types. The mechanism of this selective inhibition remains uncertain, although methionine aminopeptidase‐2 (MetAP2) has recently been found to be a target for fumagillin or TNP‐470, which inactivates MetAP2 enzyme activity through covalent modification. Primary cultures of human endothelial cells and six other non‐endothelial cell types were treated with fumagillin to determine its effect on cell proliferation. Only the growth of endothelial cells was completely inhibited at low concentrations of fumagillin. MetAP1 and MetAP2 levels in these cells were investigated to determine whether differential enzyme expression plays a role in the selective action of fumagillin. Western blot analysis and RT‐PCR data showed that MetAP1 and MetAP2 were both expressed in these different types of cells, thus, ruling out differential expression of MetAP1 and MetAP2 as an explanation for the cell specificity of fumagillin. Expression of MetAP2, but not of MetAP1, is regulated. Treatment of human microvascular endothelial cells (HMVEC) with fumagillin resulted in threefold increases of MetAP2 protein in the cells, while MetAP1 remained constant. Similar upregulation of MetAP2 by exposure to fumagillin was also observed in non‐endothelial cells, eliminating this response as an explanation for cell specificity. Taken together, these results indicate that while MetAP2 plays a critical role in the effect of fumagillin on endothelial cell proliferation, differential endogenous expression or fumagillin‐induced upregulation of methionine aminopeptidases is not responsible for this observed selective inhibition. J. Cell. Biochem. 77:465–473, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
High incidence of zinc deficiency among Filipino children with compensated and decompensated liver disease

Background and Aim: The role of zinc in the nutrition and growth of children with chronic liver disease is poorly defined. The present study determined the serum zinc levels of children with compensated liver disease (CLD) and decompensated liver disease (DLD) and compared this with healthy children. Zinc levels were also correlated with the severity of liver disease as measured by Child−Pugh scores.
Primary community assembly on land – the missing stages: why are the heterotrophic organisms always there first?

1 It is proposed that as a general rule primary community assembly by autotrophs is preceded by a previously unrecognized heterotrophic phase that may be instrumental in facilitating the establishment of green plants and consolidating the assembly process. 2 This heterotrophic stage, of variable duration, involves the allochthonous input of both dead organic matter and living invertebrates sufficient to allow the initial establishment of functioning communities comprised of scavenging detritivores and predators. 3 Evidence for deposition of such materials onto newly exposed land surfaces and the development of such animal communities is summarized for a variety of sites and substrates worldwide. 4 It is suggested that these heterotrophic communities conserve nutrients, particularly nitrogen, and facilitate the establishment of green plants.