Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Induction of Tumors in Mice by Genomic Hypomethylation

Genome-wide DNA hypomethylation occurs in many human cancers, but whether this epigenetic change is a cause or consequence of tumorigenesis has been unclear. To explore this phenomenon, we generated mice carrying a hypomorphic DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) allele, which reduces Dnmt1 expression to 10% of wild-type levels and results in substantial genome-wide hypomethylation in all tissues. The mutant mice were runted at birth, and at 4 to 8 months of age they developed aggressive T cell lymphomas that displayed a high frequency of chromosome 15 trisomy. These results indicate that DNA hypomethylation plays a causal role in tumor formation, possibly by promoting chromosomal instability.
Lopinavir/ritonavir monotherapy after virologic failure of first-line antiretroviral therapy in resource-limited settings

Objective:To evaluate virologic response rates of lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) monotherapy as second-line antiretroviral treatment (ART) among adults in resource-limited settings (RLSs). Design:An open-label pilot study of LPV/r monotherapy in participants on first-line nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor three-drug combination ART with plasma HIV-1 RNA 1000–200 000 copies/ml. Methods:Participants were recruited from five sites in Africa and Asia within the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) network. All participants received LPV/r 400/100 mg twice daily. The primary endpoint was remaining on LPV/r monotherapy without virologic failure at week 24. Participants with virologic failure were offered addition of emtricitabine and tenofovir (FTC/TDF) to LPV/r. Results:Mutations associated with drug resistance were encountered in nearly all individuals screened for the study. One hundred and twenty-three participants were enrolled, and 122 completed 24 weeks on study. A high proportion remained on LPV/r monotherapy without virologic failure at 24 weeks (87%). Archived samples with HIV-1 RNA levels less than 400 copies/ml at week 24 (n = 102) underwent ultrasensitive assay. Of these individuals, 62 had levels less than 40 copies/ml and 30 had levels 40–200 copies/ml. Fifteen individuals experienced virologic failure, among whom 11 had resistance assessed and two had emergent protease inhibitor mutations. Thirteen individuals with virologic failure added FTC/TDF and one individual added FTC/TDF without virologic failure. At study week 48, 11 of 14 adding FTC/TDF had HIV-1 RNA levels less than 400 copies/ml. Conclusion:In this pilot study conducted in diverse RLS, LPV/r monotherapy as second-line ART demonstrated promising activity.
Did Socioeconomic Inequalities in Morbidity and Mortality Change in the United States over the Course of the Twentieth Century?∗

In this article we present two sets of empirical analyses that consider the extent to which socioeconomic gradients in self-assessed health and child mortality changed since the beginning of the twentieth century in the United States. This empirical issue has important and wide-ranging research and policy implications. In particular, our results speak to the value of considering the role of broader social, economic, and political inequalities in generating and maintaining socioeconomic disparities in morbidity and mortality. Despite dramatic declines in morbidity and mortality rates in the United States across the twentieth century, we find that socioeconomic-status gradients in morbidity and mortality declined only modestly (if at all) during that period.
On the Role of Text Preprocessing in Neural Network Architectures: An Evaluation Study on Text Categorization and Sentiment Analysis

Text preprocessing is often the first step in the pipeline of a Natural Language Processing (NLP) system, with potential impact in its final performance. Despite its importance, text preprocessing has not received much attention in the deep learning literature. In this paper we investigate the impact of simple text preprocessing decisions (particularly tokenizing, lemmatizing, lowercasing and multiword grouping) on the performance of a standard neural text classifier. We perform an extensive evaluation on standard benchmarks from text categorization and sentiment analysis. While our experiments show that a simple tokenization of input text is generally adequate, they also highlight significant degrees of variability across preprocessing techniques. This reveals the importance of paying attention to this usually-overlooked step in the pipeline, particularly when comparing different models. Finally, our evaluation provides insights into the best preprocessing practices for training word embeddings.
Governance, Information Flow, and Stock Returns

We analyze the evolution of governance–returns relationship and show that poor governance stocks outperform good governance ones after 2008. This novel reversal of the governance–returns relationship implies that its disappearance documented in Bebchuk, Cohen, and Wang (2013) is temporary. The revival of this relationship can be explained by sophisticated investors learning to recognize governance risks and becoming more prudent after the global financial crisis. Consistent with this learning, we find that investors could have identified via price and risk channels that the poorly governed firms face higher uncertainty regarding their future earnings power after 2008. Furthermore, following the crisis, we observe that institutional investors update their governance preferences through information-induced learning.
Species-specificity in communication calls of tree shrews (Tupaia: Scandentia)

Abstract Tree shrews are small mammals living in the tropical forest of Southeast Asia. The habitus of species within the genus Tupaia is often quite similar, so that it is difficult to differentiate the species based on their morphology. We applied comparative bioacoustics, a tool successfully used to discriminate cryptic species of nocturnal mammals, to investigate whether species in the diurnal genus Tupaia can be recognized noninvasively on the basis of a conspicuous loud call, the chatter. We studied to what extent the chatter call of 2 tree shrew species, Tupaia glis and T. belangeri, differed in acoustic structure. We also acoustically analyzed the chatter call of T. chinensis, a subspecies or closely related parapatric species of T. belangeri. Analyzed acoustic features allowed assigning chatter calls with a probability of more than 73% to the species that produced them. Bioacoustical differences are in line with subtle morphological differences, supporting species status for all 3 studied tree shrew species and corroborating immunodiffusion and genetic data that differentiate T. glis and T. belangeri. Loud calls may offer a reliable noninvasive tool for species diagnosis and discrimination in cryptic species of this diurnal mammalian group.
Structural characteristics of the agricultural sector in terms of access to agricultural credits in Turkey

EnglishThe purpose of this study is to determine the credit needs and analyse the structural effects o loans with a view to contributing to develop strategies with banks, cooperatives and all other institutions and organizations involved in agricultural credit. The master data was processed using the primary data obtained from 2,029,116 farms. Farmers are registered with the Farmer Registration System and 640 are registered with the Farmer Accounting Data Network. Farms were classified based on farm type and cropping system. Results showed that the education level of farmers is low and household size is high, farm holdings are small and fragmented and there is an imbalance in land distribution. These characteristics affect negatively the utilisation of credit, although 56% of farmers utilise credits and the equity ratio is very high (97.3%). The new regulations on the Inheritance Law will help both increase farmland and solve the problem of fragmentation in Turkey. The institutions and organizations concerned should satisfy this demand taking into account the specific characteristics of the sector (by facilitating utilisation of credit, supporting small businesses and providing additional loan opportunities, renewing machine fleet and regulations on land acquisition) in order to contribute to its advancement. francaisL’objectif de cette etude est de determiner les besoins du secteur agricole en matiere de credit et d'analyser les effets structurels des prets afin de contribuer au developpement des strategies avec les banques, les cooperatives et toutes les institutions et les organismes in- tervenant dans le domaine du credit agricole. Les donnees primaires, constituant le prin- cipal materiel d'etude, ont ete obtenues aupres de 2 029116 agriculteurs inscrits au registre des agriculteurs et de 640 agriculteurs inscrits au Reseau d'information comptable agri- cole. Les resultats ont ete evalues en fonction du type de fermes et des systemes de culture. D’apres les resultats, le niveau d'instruction des agriculteurs est faible, les menages sont de grande taille, les exploitations agricoles sont petites et fragmentees et il y a un desequilibre dans la repartition des terres. Cette structure affecte negativement l'utilisation du credit, bien que 56% des agriculteurs utilisent le credit et le ratio d'equite soit tres eleve (97,3%). Les nouveaux reglements sur le droit des successions contribueront a la fois a accroitre les surfaces agricoles et a resoudre les problemes de morcellemt des terres en Turquie. Les institutions et les organismes de credit agricole doivent satisfaire cette demande tenant compte des caracteristiques du secteur (en facilitant les procedures d’acces au credit, sou- tenant les petites entreprises et accordant des prets supplementaires, renouvelant le parc machines et les reglements sur l'acquisition des terres) afin defavoriser son essor.
Effects of Reform-Based Mathematics Instruction on Low Achievers in Five Third-Grade Classrooms

In this study we examined the responses of 16 low-achieving students to reform-based mathematics instruction in 5 elementary classrooms for 1 year. We used qualitative methods at 2 schools to identify the needs of low achievers in these classrooms, which were using an innovative curriculum. Through classroom observations and interviews with teachers, we studied the involvement of low achievers in whole-class discussions and pair work. Results suggested that both the organization and task demands of the reform classrooms presented verbal and social challenges to low achievers that need to be addressed if these students are to benefit from reform-based mathematics instruction.
Antibacterial Effects of Monolaurin, Sorbic Acid and Potassium Sorbate on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli

Background: Food borne pathogens are of the main concerns of food producers and consumers and Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus create a lot of problems worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate antibacterial effects of monolaurin, sorbic acid and potassium sorbate on S. aureus and E. coli at different pH values and NaCl concentrations. Methods: Micro-well dilution assay was used to determine antimicrobial potency of monolaurin, sorbic acid and potassium sorbate. First, stock solutions of each antimicrobial compounds were prepared and then two-fold dilution method was used to obtain final concentrations of tested antimicrobials. A 96 well microplate was inoculated with different concentrations of antimicrobials and bacterial inoculums (final inoculums was approximately 5×10 5 CFU/ml). After incubation, growth of E. coli and S. aureus were evaluated. Statistical analysis was made by the analysis of variance using SPSS software, version 16.0. Results: The MICs of monolaurin, sorbic acid and potassium sorbate were respectively >4000, >5000, >10000 µg/ml for E. coli, and 128, 1250 and 2500 µg/ml for S. aureus. The results showed that all of these compounds had considerable effect on S. aureus while E. coli was less sensitive. It should be noted that, monolaurin had strong antimicrobial effect on E. coli when used in combination with ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, monolaurin and sorbates can be used effectively as food preservative and growth inhibitor of these food borne pathogens. Using NaCl and/or lower pH values may fortify their bacteriostatic effects.
Stories About Asexuality: A Qualitative Study on Asexual Women

This study aimed to explore how asexual women experience their asexual identity, sexuality, and relationships. The authors recruited participants through the Asexuality Visibility and Education Network's website and posts on several health- and lifestyle-related websites. Interviewees were 9 women between 20 and 42 years of age. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The authors discuss 3 main themes that arose from the data: coming to an (a)sexual identity, experiencing physical intimacy and sexuality, and experiencing love and relationships. Participants described how they have always felt different and how they experienced their process of coming out. The authors found a great variation in the experience of (a) sex and physical intimacy and (b) love and relationships. Engaging in sexual behavior was mainly based on a willingness to comply with partner wishes. Whereas some longed for a relationship, aromantic asexual women did not. Some participants separated love from sex. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
Defining a pro‐inflammatory neutrophil phenotype in response to schistosome eggs

Neutrophils contribute to the pathological processes of a number of inflammatory disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, sepsis and cystic fibrosis. Neutrophils also play prominent roles in schistosomiasis japonica liver fibrosis, being central mediators of inflammation following granuloma formation. In this study, we investigated the interaction between Schistosoma japonicum eggs and neutrophils, and the effect of eggs on the inflammatory phenotype of neutrophils. Our results showed significant upregulated expression of pro‐inflammatory cytokines (IL‐1α, IL‐1β and IL‐8) and chemokines (CCL3, CCL4 and CXCL2) in neutrophils after 4 h in vitro stimulation with S. japonicum eggs. Furthermore, mitochondrial DNA was released by stimulated neutrophils, and induced the production of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP‐9), a protease involved in inflammation and associated tissue destruction. We also found that intact live eggs and isolated soluble egg antigen (SEA) triggered the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), but, unlike those reported in bacterial or fungal infection, NETs did not kill schistosome eggs in vitro. Together these show that S. japonicum eggs can induce the inflammatory phenotype of neutrophils, and further our understanding of the host–parasite interplay that takes place within the in vivo microenvironment of schistosome‐induced granuloma. These findings represent novel findings in a metazoan parasite, and confirm characteristics of NETs that have until now, only been observed in response to protozoan pathogens.
Patent Blue: A Novel Vital Dye in Vitreoretinal Surgery

Purpose: To determine a novel vital dye (patent blue; Blueron®) for vitreoretinal surgery in a prospective consecutive case series. Methods: Five patients with either idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM; n = 2), proliferative vitreoretinopathy (n = 2), or a macular hole (n = 1) underwent a three-port pars plana vitrectomy. Patent blue assisted staining of the retinal surface followed by a consecutive peeling of the ERM (n = 4) or of the internal limiting membrane (ILM; n = 1) was performed. The main outcome measures were quality of intraoperative visualization of preretinal structures and postoperative visual acuity. Results: The dye induced a moderate staining (++) of the ERM and a mild staining (+) of the ILM. Complete ERM and ILM removal was successfully achieved in all cases. A mean visual improvement of three Snellen lines was observed 6 months postoperatively. No visual field defects or visible retinal pigment epithelial changes were present 6 months postoperatively. Conclusion: Patent blue, a novel dye for intraocular applications, may be added as an alternative dye in chromovitrectomy.
Social Simulation That 'Peers into Peer Review'

This article suggests to view peer review as a social interaction problem and shows reasons for social simulators to investigate it. Although essential for science, peer review is largely understudied and current attempts to reform it are not supported by scientific evidence. We suggest that there is room for social simulation to fill this gap by spotlighting social mechanisms behind peer review at the microscope and understanding their implications for the science system. In particular, social simulation could help to understand why voluntary peer review works at all, explore the relevance of social sanctions and reputational motives to increase the commitment of agents involved, cast light on the economic cost of this institution for the science system and understand the influence of signals and social networks in determining biases in the reviewing process. Finally, social simulation could help to test policy scenarios to maximise the efficacy and efficiency of various peer review schemes under specific circumstances and for everyone involved.
Quantitative detection of volatile sulfur compound- producing microorganisms in oral specimens using real-time PCR.

OBJECTIVE It is well-known that some periodontopathic bacteria, especially Porphyromonas gingivalis, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Tannerella forsythia (formerly Bacteroides forsythus or Tan. forsythensis), and Treponema denticola, actively produce volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs), such as H2S and CH3SH. We previously reported a qualitative relationship between periodontopathic bacteria and VSCs; however, a quantitative analysis of periodontopathic bacteria in oral specimens is required for further characterization of the relationship between oral bacteria and VSCs. In this study, we report a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for the quantitative analysis of VSC-producing bacteria in oral specimens. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Specimens were collected from 22 patients who visited the Preventive Dentistry and Breath Odor Clinic of Kyushu Dental College. A real-time PCR assay using the TaqMan system, based on the 5'-3' exonuclease activity of Taq polymerase, was employed for the quantitative analysis of periodontopathic bacteria that produce VSCs. RESULTS Using real-time PCR, we performed a quantitative analysis of P. gingivalis, F. nucleatum, Tan. forsythia, and T. denticola in the saliva, on the tongue coat, and in the subgingival plaque of patients with oral malodor. CONCLUSION Real-time PCR using the TaqMan system can be used for the quantitative analysis of VSC-producing oral bacteria.
A suggestion for the prevention of severe clinical forms of schistosomiasis mansoni.

In an area of Brazil hyperendemic for schistosomiasis mansoni it has been noted that the hepatosplenic form of the disease is associated with high faecal egg-counts.a, b This correlation is particularly true in the 10-15-year age-group which shows the peak in schistosome egg output. After that age the count decreases sharply, reaching levels similar to those found in patients with benign forms of the disease, where no egg/age correlation exists. Data from an area of hypoendemicity now being studied by the author seem to confirm the view that a high egg output is necessary if severe schistosomiasis is to develop. The hypothesis is therefore advanced that the pattern of disease due to Schistosoma mansoni infections is a function of the worm burden, though we are as yet unable to furnish convincing proof of a direct relationship between the number of mature female flukes and the egg output in the faeces. Perfusion studies in human cadavers at present being carried out in Baia, Brazil,c however, appear to lend support to the view that worm burden and the clinical severity of schistosomiasis mansoni are interrelated. The best index for severe schistosomiasis in field studies is spleen enlargement, since determinations of portal pressure or splenography cannot be performed under these conditions. Splenomegaly in chronic schistosomiasis ordinarily heralds the hepatosplenic phase of the disease. Our surveys a indicate that this physical sign is exceptional before the age of 10, but commonest in the 10-15-year agegroup. In some patients investigated over a period of years the appearance of splenomegaly has coincided with a sudden decrease in the stool egg-count. The pathogenesis of hepatosplenic schistosomiasis is in many respects still unknown. We undertook a limited field trial on the effect of chemotherapy on the prophylaxis of schistosomal splenomegaly among
Long-term effect of neonatal monosodium glutamate (MSG) treatment on reproductive system of the female rat.

The study aimed at determining effects of monosodium glutamate (MSG), introduced in the perinatal period, on the reproductive system of sexually mature female rats. In days 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 the newborns received s.c. injections of MSG (4 mg/g body weight) or 2% NaCl solution. When the animals reached the age of 6, 12 or 18 months, their ovaries and uteri were isolated for histological and morphometric studies while in their sera estradiol level was estimated by the RIA technique. The perinatal injection of MSG was found to decrease relative weights of ovaries and uteri. In the ovaries increased numbers of primordial follicles and decreased numbers of graafian follicles were detected. Also the thickness of endometrium and of the epithelium, which lined the endometrium, were lowered in females, which received perinatal injections of MSG, as compared to the controls. Serum estradiol level in MSG injected females was lowered at the age of 12 and 18 months. In 12 and 18 month old females the alterations were accompanied by obesity and a decreased body length.
Sustainability indices in developing markets : a study about Borsa Istanbul sustainability index

Sustainability is currently a very popular topic in the world of business. This paper explores the concept of sustainable investment, its evolution, the role of stock exchanges in corporate sustainability, sustainability indices both in developed and developing markets and literature regarding sustainable investing performance. The main purpose of the study is to introduce Borsa İstanbul Sustainability Index and to study its performance. Wilcoxon test is used to test the differences in return of the index companies before and after the launch of the index. The results obtained revealed that most of the companies suffered a decrease in return after being included in the index. Also, paired samples t-test is used to explore the differences in performance between BIST Sustainability Index and other benchmark indices. The results showed no statistically significant difference between BIST Sustainability index and other benchmark indices.