Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Association of Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components with Serum Prostate-Specific Antigen Levels in a Korean-Screened Population

Background: Metabolic syndrome plays a potential role in the etiology of prostate cancer and is associated with the increase in prostatic growth rate in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. However, the influence of metabolic syndrome on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level remains unclear. Methods: Data were obtained from 23,601 men ages 40 years or older without a history of prostate cancer who underwent general health screening tests between 2006 and 2007 at Asan Medical Center. The criteria for metabolic syndrome were consistent with those defined by the NCEP-ATPIII-AHA/NHLBI statement. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to determine the independent effects of age, body mass index (BMI), metabolic syndrome, and each component of metabolic syndrome, on PSA level. Results: Geometric mean PSA level increased linearly and significantly with increasing age and decreasing BMI (P < 0.001). Although the geometric mean PSA levels were lower in men with metabolic syndrome than in those without the condition, metabolic syndrome no longer retained a statistically significant association with PSA after the adjustment for age and BMI (P = 0.850). Among five metabolic components, higher waist circumference and fasting plasma glucose level were significantly associated with lower PSA (P = 0.021 and P = 0.001), whereas hypertension was significantly associated with higher PSA (P < 0.001), after complete adjustment for age, BMI, and other metabolic components. Conclusions: In our screened population, metabolic syndrome was not associated with PSA level. The lack of association between metabolic syndrome and PSA level may reflect the heterogeneous relationship between each metabolic risk factor and PSA level. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 19(2); 371–80
Giardia Assemblages A and B in Diarrheic Patients: A Comparative Study in Egyptian Children and Adults

Abstract: Giardia duodenalis is considered the most common intestinal parasite in humans worldwide. Children are especially affected, with more severe consequences than adults. The present study was designed to determine the distribution of assemblages A and B Giardia infection in children and adults, with the use of light microscopy and polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) as diagnostic procedures, and to investigate its associations with clinical and epidemiological data collected from children and adult groups. This cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2012 to October 2013 by collecting fecal samples from 200 children and 200 adults complaining of diarrhea. Samples were subjected to parasitological examination by direct wet smear and formol-ether methods. Genotyping of G. doudenalis samples was conducted by PCR-RFLP analysis. Giardia duodenalis infection caused by assemblages A and B was identified in 60 samples, 34 from children and 26 from adults. Assemblage B was detected in 38 patients (63.34%), and assemblage A was detected in 22 patients (36.66%). Assemblage A was significantly more frequent in children with age range 2–8 yr, and assemblage B was higher in children with age range 6–16 yr old. Diarrhea frequency/day and recurrences per month affected patients infected with assemblage A (P value < 0.001) more frequently. Children infected with assemblage A presented significantly more severe diarrhea and dehydration than those infected with assemblage B (P value < 0.001). Although both Giardia assemblages A and B were identified in children and adults, assemblage A infected younger children more frequently and was more closely related to severe clinical manifestations than assemblage B.
The influence of 5% and 10% dietary apple pectin on parameters of fermentation in faeces and caecal digesta of weaning pigs

In order to determine the effect of pectin on fermentation parameters in the faeces and caecal digesta of weaned pigs 18 castrated male crossbred pigs with an average body weight of 8 kg were fitted with T-cannulas at the caecum. The animals were randomly distributed into three groups and fed with diets supplemented with 0, 5 and 10% pectin. Faeces were collected over a period of 3 days. Thereafter the diets were withdrawn for 24 h followed by ad libitum feeding to enhance the feed intake. Caecal chyme was collected 0, 8 and 24 h postprandial. In the faeces the addition of 5% pectin to the diet lowered the content of dry matter and lactic acid. The pH and the digestibility of pectins, the concentration of total SCFA, acetate, propionate, butyrate, bicarbonate and chloride increased. Dietary pectin of 10% increased the content of total SCFA and acetate further. When the diets were withdrawn and fed ad libitum 24 h later, a decline of the pH and an increased concentration of lactate in the caecal chyme could be observed in all groups up to 8 h after feeding. With an interval of 8 to 24 h after feeding, a further decline in pH and a rise of lactate only occurred when the diet was not supplemented with pectin. It was concluded that pectin might be beneficial for the development of fermentative processes in the large intestine.
Do Investors Follow the Herd in Option Markets?

We investigate the previously unexplored herding behaviour of investors in option markets, by examining equity option contracts traded in the US between 1996 and 2012. We document strong herding effects in option trading activity that are conditional on a set of systematic factors related to periods of market stress. More specifically, we find that option investors tend to herd during periods of high market volatility risk, on dates of macroeconomic announcements, during the financial crisis of 2008, when a large number of market option positions is either opened or closed, and during periods of a large average dispersion of analysts’ forecasts.
Determining Linezolid’s Baseline In Vitro Activity in Canada Using Gram-Positive Clinical Isolates Collected prior to Its National Release

ABSTRACT All of the isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (n = 317), Enterococcus species (n = 315), Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 282), and Staphylococcus epidermidis (n = 176) collected at 16 Canadian microbiology laboratories from October 2000 to April 2001 were susceptible to linezolid. Future studies will determine how linezolid clinical use in Canada affects its in vitro activity.
GB virus C genotype 2 predominance in a hepatitis C virus/HIV infected population associated with reduced liver disease

Background and Aim: GB virus C (GBV‐C) infection in hepatitis C virus (HCV)/HIV co‐infection is associated with a significant reduction in the severity of HCV‐related liver disease. The role of GBV‐C genotype in this association is unknown. It has been suggested that GBV‐C genotype may influence CD4 positive T‐cell counts in HCV/HIV co‐infected patients. The aim of the present study was to identify the GBV‐C genotype in a HCV/HIV co‐infected population and determine if the GBV‐C genotype contributes to a reduction in HCV‐related liver disease.
Financial Development And Economic Growth Evidence From Heterogeneous Panel Data

The sharp disagreement in economics literature about the nature of the relationship between financial development and economic growth is widely known.Empirical evidence is also mixed as has been documented by Levine (1997, 2003b). Most empirical studies focused either on indirect finance or on direct finance.Previous panel data studies also failed to permit heterogeneity in slope coefficient. Past empirical studies even ignored the inflation effects on the relationship between finance and growth.This dissertation examines the empirical relationship between financial development and economic growth while incorporating the inflation rate effect on financial development; dividing countries into panels of Low, Lower Middle, Upper Middle, and High Income Countries.It focuses on both the indirect finance and the direct finance, separately as well as collectively.The econometric methodology of Weinhold (1999) and Nair-Reichert and Weinhold (2001) is applied for causality analysis in heterogeneous panel data which is based upon the Mixed Fixed Random Effects model of Hsiao et al. (1989). Two sets of results are reported: First, the relationship between financial development and economic growth from contemporaneous non-dynamic fixed effects panel estimation can be interpreted as mixed. Negative and statistically significant estimates of the coefficient of the inflation and financial development interaction variable, in the case of Low and Lower Middle Income Countries, indicate that financial development may be harmful to economic growth when inflation is rising.Such evidence is not found from the data for Upper Middle and High Income Countries.Second, in contrast to the recent evidence of Beck and Levine (2003), use of a more appropriate econometric methodology of dynamic heterogeneous panel for causality analysis and a refined model reveals that there is no definite indication that finance spurs economic growth or that growth spurs finance.These findings are in line with Lucas’s view on finance that the importance of financial matters is over-stressed in popular and even professional discussion. The only exception is the activity in stock markets in High Income Countries, where the result supports the Robinson (1952) view that finance follows where enterprise leads.
Maximum oxygen consumption of rats and its changes with various experimental procedures.

A ten-stage treadmill test was developed and standardized to secure the VO2max of male and female rats assigned to various cross-sectional and longitudinal experimental groups. Repeated measurements indicated that the test procedure was reliable and could be used for research purposes. When the test was used with different strains, the untrained Sprague-Dawley rats had significantly higher VO2max values than animals of the Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) or the Okamoto-Aoki (SHR) strains. Exercise schedules were evaluated that were similar to those previously used by various investigators and it was found that most were exercising their rats at levels exceeding 75% VO2max. After 6--10 wk of chronic exercise, significant increases in VO2max occurred that ranged between 12 and 26%. Longitudinal studies (1 yr) with hypertensive (SHR) rats revealed that it was more desirable to logarithmically evaluate the relationship between VO2max and body mass than by the conventional method of ml . kg-1 . min-1. When this approach was used with SHR animals, the VO2max differences between the sexes were not apparent until the animals were 1 yr of age. On the other hand, training by male SHR rats caused significant increases in VO2max regardless of the method used to express the results. It is recommended that future studies designed to elucidate exercise mechanisms in rats should include a standardized VO2max test.
Capacitated lot-sizing problem with production carry-over and set-up splitting: mathematical models

This work proposes mathematical models (MMs) for the capacitated lot-sizing problem with production carry-over and set-up splitting, which can handle two scenarios, namely (1) situation/scenario where the set-up costs and holding costs are product dependent and time independent, and with no backorders or lost sales, and (2) situation where the set-up costs and holding costs are product dependent and time dependent, and with no backorders or lost sales. Previously, in an existing study the authors had developed a MM for the same problem and situation where the set-up costs and holding costs are product dependent and time independent, i.e. our Scenario 1. We compare our proposed models with the model in the existing study that appears to be incorrect.
Housing bubble contagion from city centre to suburbs

Most previous studies have reported that housing prices diffuse from the city centre to surrounding areas. However, these studies have overlooked the fact that housing prices comprise fundamental and bubble prices. We investigated whether bubble prices also diffuse from the city centre to suburbs and whether fundamental or bubble prices promote housing price diffusion. We focused on the movement of housing bubbles from the city centre to the suburbs. Using data for the Taipei metropolitan area from 1973 to 2014 for empirical analysis, our state-space model estimates statistically significant fundamental and bubble prices in Taipei City (city centre) and New Taipei City (suburbs). Engle–Granger cointegration test results reveal that the housing and bubble prices of the two cities are cointegrated; however, fundamental prices are not. F statistics reveal that the Granger causality of bubble prices (the central city Granger causing changes in the suburbs) is more significant and powerful than that of the fundamental prices. Therefore, we demonstrate that housing bubbles force housing price diffusion. In addition, when bubble prices spread from the city centre to the suburbs, the housing bubble in the suburbs is larger than that in the city centre, implying that the suburbs have greater potential for a bubble burst crisis called the bubble contagion. Authorities should pay more attention to the bubble contagion and must address the problem of high housing prices in the suburbs to prevent this bubble from bursting
Smooth muscle FGF/TGFβ cross talk regulates atherosclerosis progression

The conversion of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) from contractile to proliferative phenotype is thought to play an important role in atherosclerosis. However, the contribution of this process to plaque growth has never been fully defined. In this study, we show that activation of SMC TGFβ signaling, achieved by suppression of SMC fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling input, induces their conversion to a contractile phenotype and dramatically reduces atherosclerotic plaque size. The FGF/TGFβ signaling cross talk was observed in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, inhibition of FGF signaling increased TGFβ activity, thereby promoting smooth muscle differentiation and decreasing proliferation. In vivo, smooth muscle‐specific knockout of an FGF receptor adaptor Frs2α led to a profound inhibition of atherosclerotic plaque growth when these animals were crossed on Apoe−/− background and subjected to a high‐fat diet. In particular, there was a significant reduction in plaque cellularity, increase in fibrous cap area, and decrease in necrotic core size. In agreement with these findings, examination of human coronary arteries with various degrees of atherosclerosis revealed a strong correlation between the activation of FGF signaling, loss of TGFβ activity, and increased disease severity. These results identify SMC FGF/TGFβ signaling cross talk as an important regulator of SMC phenotype switch and document a major contribution of medial SMC proliferation to atherosclerotic plaque growth.
The Eects of Banning Junk Food Advertising

We develop a structural model to analyze the eect of banning advertising on market equilibria and welfare in junk food markets. We consider the impact on demand and prices, and we show how to quantify welfare eects when advertising might lead consumers to take decisions that are inconsistent with their underlying preferences. We use transaction level data on the potato chips market and nd that banning advertising leads to a direct reduction in demand, but also toughens price competition, leading to lower prices and increased demand. Welfare increases as consumers benet from no longer
Plasma membrane and vesicular glutamate transporter expression in chromaffin cells of bovine adrenal medulla

The study of the functional expression of glutamate signaling molecules in peripheral tissues has received relatively little attention. However, evidence is increasing for a role of glutamate as an extracellular signal mediator in endocrine systems, in addition to having an excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter role in the CNS. Chromaffin cells are good models of catecholaminergic neurons, in which previous work from our group demonstrated the existence of both functional glutamate receptors and specific exocytotic and nonexocytotic glutamate release. In this work, the presence of specific plasma membrane (EAATs) and vesicular glutamate (VGLUTs) transporters has been investigated by using confocal microscopy, flow cytometric analysis, Western blot, and qRT‐PCR techniques. We found specific expression of EAAT3, EAAT2, VGLUT1, and VGLUT3 in about 95%, 65%, 55%, and 25%, respectively, of the whole chromaffin cell population. However, chromaffin cells do not express VGLUT2 and have a very low expression of EAAT1. VGLUTs are localized mainly in the membrane fraction, and EAATs share their subcellular location between membrane and cytosolic fractions. Their estimated molecular weights were about 70 kDa for EAAT2, about 65 kDa for EAAT3, about 50 kDa for VGLUT1, and about 60 kDa for VGLUT3. RT‐qPCR techniques confirm the expression of these glutamate transporters at the mRNA level and show a different regulation by cytokines and glucocorticoids between VGLUT1 and ‐3 and EAAT2 and ‐3 subfamilies. These interesting results support the participation of these glutamate transporters in the process of glutamate release in chromaffin cells and in the regulation of their neurosecretory function in adrenal medulla. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mycobacteria in stool specimens: the nonvalue of smears for predicting culture results

A previous recommendation suggests that stool be cultured for mycobacteria only if the smear is positive. We have correlated smear and culture results of 2,176 stool specimens submitted for mycobacterial culture. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for smears to predict culture results are 34, 99, 90, and 87%, respectively. We recommend that the stool smear not be used as a screening technique to decide which specimens from at-risk patients should be cultured because it lacks the necessary sensitivity.
Linking Language to Latino Turnout

After Latino-Americans demonstrated their power in the 2012 presidential election, securing increased minority support at the polls has become a primary goal for both major U.S. political parties. A reliable bloc of Latino voters on one’s side could mean more wins, yet Latinos have a low voter turnout rate. This paper explores how to increase Latino turnout and argues that the use of the Spanish language in electoral advertising will have a positive effect and actually raise the rate of Latino participation. By comparing statewide Latino turnout data during both the 2002 midterm elections and the 2008 presidential election, I find states with a sizable amount of Spanish-language get-out-the-vote messages do see increased rates of Latino voter turnout even when controlling for other variables, suggesting Spanish-language advertising could possibly be a useful supplemental tool in future political campaigns. Immediately after the Republican Party’s decisive defeat in the 2012 presidential election, GOP leaders scrambled for answers as to what went wrong. A relatively unpopular Democratic incumbent presiding over high unemployment rates and a mediocre economic recovery had managed to survive a brutal and unfathomably expensive campaign against him and his record; with the odds seemingly stacked against him, the GOP had not expected to lose. As demographic data from the election trickled in, however, it became clear that the political power of one particular voting group had been severely underestimated by both sides, a group that ended up having what was arguably the most influential role in the result of the presidential election: Latino-Americans. A record 11.2 million Latino-Americans, or simply Latinos, voted in the 2012 presidential election, and did so overwhelmingly in favor of Barack Obama, who received 71% of their votes
Hemodynamic Effects of Bradykinin on Systemic and Pulmonary Circulation in Healthy and Hypertensive Humans

In our studies, we investigated the vasodepressor effects of bradykinin in vivo in normotensive and hypertensive subjects. Bradykinin was injected intravenously and intra-arterially (40–6,050 pM/kg) and was infused intra-arterially (40–6,050 pM/kg/min). The investigations were performed in 21 normotensive and 15 hypertensive patients. Bradykinin injections were performed after the following pharmacological interventions: salt restriction (10 mmol of Na/day), salt loading (300 mmol of Na/day), captopril (50 mg), ramipril (5 mg), lisinopril (20 mg), ketotifen (2 × 1 mg), indomethacin (2 × 50 mg), and propranolol (80 mg). The results show that bradykinin lowers blood pressure in a dose-related manner by marked reduction in peripheral vascular resistance. The blood pressure reduction was strongly correlated with the increase in kinin concentration. This effect of bradykinin appears to be independent of changes in sodium metabolism, β-adrenoceptors, histamine-1 receptors, and prostaglandins. ACE inhibitors potentiate the blood pressure-lowering effect of bradykinin approximately 20− to 50-fold. In the case of intra-arterial injection of bradykinin, only 2–5% of the intravenously used dose of bradykinin are needed to produce an identical fall in blood pressure. From these experiments, a pulmonary clearance rate of bradykinin of over 95% can be calculated. In the pulmonary arteries, bradykinin has no effect on vascular resistance. In patients suffering from primary or renovascular hypertension, the blood pressure response to bradykinin was enhanced. The bradykinin potentiating effect of the ACE inhibitors was not altered in the hypertensives. In patients suffering from borderline hypertension or primary hyperaldosteronism, bradykinin caused the same blood pressure lowering effect as in the normotensives.
Ganglion Cell-Inner Plexiform Layer and Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thicknesses in Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

PURPOSE To investigate changes of inner retinal layers and optic nerve head (ONH) in patients with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and demonstrate the pattern of these changes. METHODS A total of 76 eyes classified as having dry AMD and 76 control eyes were included. Ophthalmologic evaluations included best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) assessment, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), and Humphrey visual field (VF) test. The drusen area and volume were determined using the automated algorithm of the SD-OCT software. Macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (mGCIPL) and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thicknesses and ONH parameters, as well as VF parameters, were compared between groups. RESULTS Macular GCIPL thickness was significantly lower in eyes with AMD than in controls (73.83 ± 7.13 vs. 82.00 ± 4.85 μm; P < 0.001), and mGCIPL thinning was observed in a ring-shaped pattern around the fovea. The pRNFL thickness was also significantly lower in eyes with AMD than in controls (88.69 ± 6.93 vs. 93.96 ± 8.33 μm; P < 0.001), but no significant difference in ONH parameters was found. An inverse correlation between drusen area and average mGCIPL thickness was found (r = -0.3253; P = 0.0064). Best-corrected visual acuity and VF parameters were worse in AMD eyes than in controls. The pattern of VF defects was mostly consistent with foveal or parafoveal scotoma. CONCLUSIONS In eyes with dry AMD, mGCIPL and pRNFL thicknesses were lower than measurements in control eyes, and the average mGCIPL thickness was negatively correlated with the drusen area. However, the pattern of these changes differed from glaucomatous abnormalities.