Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of antibodies, trypsin, and trypsin inhibitors on susceptibility of neonates to rotavirus infection

Levels of antirotaviral secretory immunoglobulin A were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in colostrum and milk samples collected daily for the first 5 days postpartum from 49 mothers breast-feeding their infants. The trypsin-inhibitory capacity of these lacteal secretion samples was assessed by their ability to inhibit the hydrolysis of alpha-N-benzoyl-DL-arginine-p-nitroanilide by trypsin. Stools passed by these breast-fed infants and by an additional 43 bottle-fed infants were pooled by individual and examined by electron microscopy for rotavirus. Stool trypsin levels were estimated with the gelatin hydrolysis test. Breast-fed infants were significantly less likely to become infected with rotavirus and showed significantly lower stool tryptic activity than did bottle-fed infants. Breast-fed infants who did not excrete rotavirus over the 5-day period received milk of significantly higher antirotaviral secretory immunoglobulin A or trypsin-inhibitory capacity or both than breast-fed infants who were infected with rotavirus. A case of probable maternal rotavirus infection during pregnancy, producing greatly elevated lacteal antirotaviral secretory immunoglobulin A levels lasting for 2 years, was detected. Results of this study suggest that both antibodies and trypsin inhibitors in human milk can be associated with the protection of neonates against rotavirus infection in the first 5 days of life.
Liver histology and progression of fibrosis in individuals with chronic hepatitis C and persistently normal ALT

OBJECTIVE:The natural history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients with normal liver biochemistry remains poorly characterized. We performed a retrospective review of patients with chronic HCV infection and persistently normal ALT to compare clinical and histological features with those in patients with abnormal liver biochemistry.METHODS:Ninety-one HCV RNA-positive patients with persistently normal ALT who had a liver biopsy between 1993 and 1999 were identified. Clinical, histological, and epidemiological features in this group were compared with those found in 94 patients with abnormal ALT. Biopsies were assessed using Ishak's scoring system and fibrosis progression rate calculated from the likely time of infection.RESULTS:Although overall necroinflammatory score and fibrosis were significantly lower in those with normal ALT, none had normal liver histology, and 15 (16%) patients with normal ALT were found to have significant necroinflammation with a score of 5 or greater and/or significant fibrosis staged at 3 or 4. No clinical, epidemiological, or virological predictors of severe histological disease were found.CONCLUSIONS:One in six patients with HCV infection and persistently normal ALT will have evidence of significant, progressive liver disease that can only be identified on liver biopsy.
Iron Released by Sodium Nitroprusside Contributes to Heme Oxygenase-1 Induction via the cAMP-Protein Kinase A-Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathway in RAW 264.7 Cells

Nitric oxide (NO) is a potent inducer of heme oxygenase (HO)-1, and NO-induced HO-1 expression is dependent on the cGMP-signaling pathway. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP) produces NO and iron. However, it is unclear whether NO is exclusively responsible for induction of HO-1 by SNP in RAW 264.7 cells. We tested our hypothesis that iron may contribute more to the SNP induction of HO-1 than does NO by comparing the HO-1 protein level and the production of NO in RAW 264.7 cells treated with SNP and S-nitroso-N-acetyl-dl-penicillamine (SNAP). Although SNP induced less NO production than SNAP, SNP induced the production of more HO-1 protein than did SNAP. Deferoxamine (DFO) decreased SNP- but not SNAP-induced HO-1 expression but did not decrease the production of NO. SNP-induced HO-1 was significantly inhibited by specific protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitors or an antagonist of cAMP but not by guanylyl cyclase inhibitors. Exogenous iron (ferric ammonium citrate or ferricyanide) and forskolin increased the level of HO-1, which was inhibited by PKA inhibitor N-[2-(4-bromocinnamylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinoline (H89). These results indicate that iron and cAMP, but not cGMP, play crucial roles in the induction of HO-1 in RAW 264.7 cells. Moreover, DFO and inhibitors of extracellular signal-related kinases 1/2 or c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase inhibited HO-1 production induced by SNP. This study illustrates that iron rather than NO from SNP contributes to HO-1 induction. Therefore, studies on the effects of SNP should consider the role of iron in some biological functions. We concluded that iron released by SNP contributes to HO-1 induction via the cAMP-PKA-mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.
An Alternative to the RNA World.

Centuries of scientific inquiry have brought us progressively closer to answering the big question: how did organisms such as ourselves come to exist? The most stunning advance so far has been the 1952 discovery of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. The elegance of DNA’s structure decisively solved the mystery of genetic inheritance. From opposite strands of DNA’s antiparallel double helix, the nucleotide bases adenine (A) and thymine (T) always face and bind to each other, as do guanine (G) and cytosine (C). This “base pairing” explained in one stroke why the two DNA strands can be copied during cell division—a process called replication—and passed correctly from generation to generation. In doing so, it also confirmed Darwin’s theory of natural selection by furnishing a solid basis for imagining how we and other living things evolved from simpler common ancestors. By connecting us in this way to our past, base pairing became essential to thinking about the origins of life.
Efficacy of Topical Calcineurin Inhibitors in Psoriasis

Background: Topical calcineurin inhibitors (tacrolimus and pimecrolimus) are indicated for the treatment of atopic dermatitis but ve also been studied in the treatment of psoriasis. Objective: To define the efficacy of topical calcineurin inhibitors in the treatment of psoriasis. Methods: We searched for English-language articles published since 1990 in PubMed, Ovid/Cochrane, and Embase using “tacrolimus,” “pimecrolimus,” or “topical calcineurin inhibitors” and “psoriasis. ” Results: Nine double-blind and 13 open studies demonstrated the efficacy of topical tacrolimus in psoriasis, especially for facial, genital, and intertrigious psoriasis, and four double-blind and one open study demonstrated the efficacy of topical pimecrolimus. Conclusions: The evidence (double-blind and open studies) is strong that topical tacrolimus and, to a lesser extent, pimecrolimus have efficacy in the treatment of psoriasis. Since these agents do not cause cutaneous atrophy, they likely have a special role in facial, genital, and intertriginous psoriasis. Further studies would help define their roles in psoriasis.
Market Uncertainty and the Least-Cost Offering Method of Public Utility Debt: A Note

THE CHOICE OF OFFERING method, competitive bidding or negotiated offering, for the issuance of new securities by public utilities is subject to approval by its regulators. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulates security issuance by utility holding companies as stipulated by the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. Rule 50 requires that, unless a waiver is granted, sales of all securities of a holding company or subsidiary company be accomplished through competitive bidding procedures. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requires competitive bidding on all new securities issued by electric utilities. ' Each state regulatory agency can formulate its own policy concerning security issuance. Most states that have the legal authority to require competitive bidding do require it. A fair conclusion of the prevailing regulatory environment is that regulators believe that competitive bidding will lead to lower overall interest cost. Three recent studies have investigated this question. Based on a pooled sample of industrial and public utility debt offerings for the period January 1974 to April 1978, Sorensen [5] found that competitive bidding leads to a significantly lower overall interest cost compared with negotiated offerings. In contrast, Parker and Cooperman [3], using a sample of public utility debt offerings issued between 1970 and 1974, found that competitive bidding did not necessarily result in lower cost. Fabozzi and West [1] resolve these two seemingly conflicting findings using a sample of public utility debt offerings for the period 1974 through 1976. They demonstrate that the "appropriate comparison is not between negotiation and competitive bidding, per se, but rather between negotiation and the intensity of bidding competition" [1, p. 324]. In addition, they show that the general level of uncertainty must be considered in investigating the least-cost offering method. In doing so, they develop a measure to proxy for market uncertainty. The purpose of this note is to provide additional empirical evidence on the importance of market uncertainty in the method of offering controversy using a sample from a more recent time period that includes a more volatile interest rate environment than in previous studies. To investigate this issue, we employ a new measure of market uncertainty as well as the measure developed by Fabozzi and West.
Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase in a Human Glioblastoma Cell Line

Abstract: Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity was induced in the cytosol of A‐172 cells by treatment with lipopolysaccharide, tumor necrosis factor‐α, and interferon‐γ. A 130‐kDa human inducible NOS (iNOS) protein was detected with anti‐rat iNOS antibody by western blot analysis. Northern blot analysis showed that the iNOS mRNA was ∼4.5 kb, using a cDNA fragment for human iNOS, isolated from stimulated A‐172 cells by reverse transcriptase‐PCR, as a probe. The mRNA was induced by interferon‐γ at a trace level, and its expression was synergistically enhanced by simultaneous addition of lipopolysaccharide, tumor necrosis factor‐α, and, to a larger extent, interleukin‐1β. The mRNA expression was blocked by coincubation with actinomycin D or cycloheximide. Furthermore, by transfecting the mouse iNOS gene promoter into A‐172 cells, transcriptional activation of the iNOS gene was detected in these cells upon stimulation with lipopolysaccharide and cytokines. The pattern of promoter activation correlated well with that of iNOS mRNA expression upon stimulation. These data indicate that expression of iNOS is transcriptionally regulated in A‐172 cells. This process requires de novo protein synthesis with a mechanism similar to that in place in mouse macrophages.
Hotel brand personality and brand quality

Hotel brand quality itself may not guarantee to increase hotel brand value and loyalty, but the combination between brand quality and brand personality will be significantly associated with brand value and brand loyalty (Boo et al., 2009). The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between hotel brand quality and hotel brand personality in order to find an effective way for hotel brand managers to develop their brand value and loyalty. The results of the study demonstrated that the five dimensions of hotel brand quality construct (assurance, tangible, empathy, reliability, and responsiveness) are significantly related to preferences on the five dimensions of hotel brand personality (competence, excitement, sincerity, sophistication, and ruggedness), respectively. In addition, effects of hotel prices on brand quality are significant. These findings suggest that in order to develop a successful brand value and loyalty, hotel brand managers should (1) increase high-assurance performance for a competence hotel brand, (2) strengthen tangibles for an excitement hotel brand, (3) develop empathy performance for a sincerity hotel brand, (4) escalate reliability performance for a sophistication hotel brand, and (5) advance responsiveness for the ruggedness hotel brand. This could be an effective way to develop hotel brand value and loyalty. It may be postulated that the interaction between brand quality and brand personality of the hotel experience directly affects brand value and loyalty. Hotel brand managers may then specify their hotel designs and packages such that the congruence between brand personality and perceived quality develop brand value and loyalty.
The Role of Cholesterol and Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored Proteins of Erythrocyte Rafts in Regulating Raft Protein Content and Malarial Infection*

Human erythrocytes are terminally differentiated, nonendocytic cells that lack all intracellular organelles. Here we show that their plasma membranes contain detergent-resistant membrane rafts that constitute a small fraction (4%) of the total membrane protein, with a complex mixture of proteins that differentially associate with rafts. Depletion of raft-cholesterol abrogates association of all proteins with no significant effect on cholesterol:protein ratios in the rest of the membrane, lipid asymmetry, deformability, or transport properties of the bilayer, indicating that cholesterol is critical for protein assembly into rafts and suggesting that rafts have little influence on several erythrocyte functions. Erythrocytes from patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, which lack glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins, show significant elevation in raft-cholesterol but no increase in raft protein association, suggesting that raft assembly does not require glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins, raft proteins do not bind directly to cholesterol, and only threshold levels of raft-cholesterol are critical for protein recruitment. Loss of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins had no effect on erythrocytic infection by malarial parasite or movement of raft markers into the parasite's vacuole. However, infection is blocked following raft-cholesterol disruption, suggesting that erythrocyte rafts can be functionally exploited and providing the first evidence for the involvement of host rafts in an apicomplexan infection.
The Effect Of Strategic Orientation And Gender On Survival: A Study Of Potential Mass Merchandising Suppliers

While a market orientation is associated with superior performance (Narver and Slater, 1990; Kara et al., 2005), it may not be the only approach for small manufacturers (Noble et al., 2002). Our study examines whether two other orientations — production and marketing — influence the survival rate for small manufacturers wanting to supply the mass merchandising marketplace. We also investigate the impact of gender-related preferences on the continued existence of these firms.The sample for this study consisted of 1,690 small, independently-owned manufacturers who participated in an evaluation program in order to become a supplier for a major mass merchandiser. Results showed that surviving firm owners placed more emphasis on production than marketing activities, while non-surviving firm owners did the opposite. When gender was considered, male-owners showed similar preferences as the general sample, but the reverse was true for female entrepreneurs. We conclude that an exclusive focus on a market orientation may be counterproductive to a firm's long-term success. For small manufacturers in the mass merchandising industry, both a production and marketing orientation are needed to survive.
Evaluation of the usability of constraint diagrams as a visual modelling language : theoretical and empirical investigations

This research evaluates the constraint diagrams (CD) notation, which is a formal representation for program specification that has some promise to be used by people who are not expert in software design. Multiple methods were adopted in order to provide triangulated evidence of the potential benefits of constraint diagrams compared with other notational systems. Three main approaches were adopted for this research. The first approach was a semantic and task analysis of the CD notation. This was conducted by the application of the Cognitive Dimensions framework, which was used to examine the relative strengths and weaknesses of constraint diagrams and conventional notations in terms of the perceptive facilitation or impediments of these different representations. From this systematic analysis, we found that CD cognitively reduced the cost of exploratory design, modification, incrementation, searching, and transcription activities with regard to the cognitive dimensions: consistency, visibility, abstraction, closeness of mapping, secondary notation, premature commitment, role-expressiveness, progressive evaluation, diffuseness, provisionality, hidden dependency, viscosity, hard mental operations, and error-proneness. The second approach was an empirical evaluation of the comprehension of CD compared to natural language (NL) with computer science students. This experiment took the form of a web-based competition in which 33 participants were given instructions and training on either CD or the equivalent NL specification expressions, and then after each example, they responded to three multiple-choice questions requiring the interpretation of expressions in their particular notation. Although the CD group spent more time on the training and had less confidence, they obtained comparable interpretation scores to the NL group and took less time to answer the questions, although they had no prior experience of CD notation. The third approach was an experiment on the construction of CD. 20 participants were given instructions and training on either CD or the equivalent NL specification expressions, and then after each example, they responded to three questions requiring the construction of expressions in their particular notation. We built an editor to allow the construction of the two notations, which automatically logged their interactions. In general, for constructing program specification, the CD group had more accurate answers, they had spent less time in training, and their returns to the training examples were fewer than those of the NL group. Overall it was found that CD is understandable, usable, intuitive, and expressive with unambiguous semantic notation.
Role of free radicals in aseptic loosening of hip arthroplasty

Fibrous pseudocapsule around hip implants is an invariable finding at revision operations and is believed to release inflammatory mediators that stimulate bone resorption. Reactive oxygen species have been proposed to be causative factors in various disorders with tissue fibrosis. We were interested in investigating whether aseptic loosening is connected with high oxidative stress, and in showing the underlying mechanism of periprosthetic fibrosis and its role in loosening. Levels of oxidative stress markers reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) gluthatione and malondialdehyde (MDA) were assayed in 28 loose hips and in 12 stable hips revised for high rate of wear and osteolysis. Collagen in the periprosthetic tissues was measured as hydroxyproline content. Osteolysis and polyethylene wear were graded. Increased oxidative stress measured by low GSH/GSSG ratio as well as by increased MDA level was established in patients compared to controls. Oxidative stress markers intercorrelated significantly. MDA and both GSH and GSSG levels correlated significantly with hydroxyproline level. Levels of GSSG and MDA were higher in hips with greater polyethylene wear. The results suggest that high oxidative stress may play a role in formation of a fibrous membrane observed at revision of loose hips. The fibrous pseudocapsule is probably related to high intraarticular pressure and expansion of the effective joint space. This study may elicit some aspects of the pathogenesis of aseptic hip loosening and aid in future investigations aiming at prevention of this complication. © 2005 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res
DO BANK CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS AMPLIFY BUSINESS CYCLES? BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THEORY AND EMPIRICS

In this paper we study the role of bank capital adequacy requirements in the transmission of aggregate productivity shocks. We identify a gap between the empirical and the theoretical work that studies the “credit crunch” effects of these requirements, and how they can work as a financial accelerator that amplifies business cycles. This gap arises because the empirical work faces some difficulties in identifying the effects of capital requirements, whereas the theory still lacks a structural framework that can address these difficulties. We bridge that gap by providing a general equilibrium theoretical framework that allows us to study this financial accelerator. The main insight we obtain is that the “credit crunch” and financial accelerator effects are rather weak, which confirms the findings of existing empirical work. Additionally, by developing a structural framework, we are able to provide an explanation for this result.
Disclosure of profit forecasts during takeover bids

This thesis examines disclosure of 250 profit forecasts in 701 UK takeover bids in the period 1988 to 1992 against five research issues: - Factors influencing disclosure of forecasts - Influence of prevailing market expectations - Effect of disclosure of forecasts on the outcome of bids - Factors influencing disclosure content in forecasts - Whether forecasts disclosed convey good news Logit analysis and negative binomial regression are the two primary statistical techniques used to analyse the results. Results show the domination of the takeover-context of the research. Two variables accounted for almost all the influence on disclosure of forecasts for both bidders and targets: bid horizon and type of bid. Probability of disclosure of a forecast is greater the shorter the bid horizon and during contested bids. In addition to bid horizon and type of bid, for bidders, year, value of bid and purchase consideration were significant, and for targets value of bid and industry were significant in one of the two models estimated. Evidence supporting the hypothesis that forecast disclosure is more likely when market expectations are out of line with actual results is provided. There is some evidence that forecasts by targets affect the outcome of bids, but there is no such evidence for bidders. Takeover-context variables and forecast-related variables were most relevant in determining disclosures in forecasts. Disclosure content in forecasts was significantly greater during contested bids, in voluntary forecasts and in longer period forecasts. Significantly more assumptions were disclosed by target forecasters and in longer horizon forecasts. Evidence shows a tendency to disclose good news, with some disclosure of bad news. Good news forecasts are more likely during contested bids. Targets are more likely to disclose bad news forecasts, but when bidders disclose bad news it tends to be worse on average than targets' bad news.
Cross-cultural differences in tourism: a strategy for tourism marketers.

Abstract This paper discusses the importance of understanding cultural differences for developing positive tourist-host contact and, consequently, enhancing tourist holiday satisfaction and repeat visitation. The cultural differences between Korean tourists and Australian service providers are identified and dimensions of these differences are determined by principal components analysis. The strength of the relationships between the cultural dimensions and their critical indicators is measured by using structural equation modeling Submodel 1. The results indicate that the most critical dimensions of cultural difference between Australian hosts and Korean tourists are: communication and understanding the tourist, display of feelings, interaction and idealism. Their critical indicators are identified. The implications of the results for tourism industry marketers are presented.