Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of macroeconomic factors and country risk ratings on GCC stock markets: evidence from a dynamic panel threshold model with regime switching

ABSTRACT This study examines the non-linear relationship between stock markets in GCC countries and their country risk ratings as well as with major macroeconomic factors. Based on a dynamic panel threshold model with two and four regimes, the results provide evidence of short-term asymmetry between first-lagged GCC stock returns and the performance of GCC stock markets. In addition, only the financial risk (FR) rating has a significant positive effect on the performance of GCC stock markets according to the prevailing regimes for the GCC lagged returns and the Brent oil market. Among the macroeconomic factors, improvements in the global stock markets, the MSCI Global Islamic Index, and the oil price increased the performance of GCC stock markets, whereas increases in the gold price, the 3-month U.S. Treasury bill rate, and the U.S. Treasury bond rate reduced the performance of the GCC stock markets. These results have important implications for investors, policymakers, and portfolio managers.
Cell Membrane Perforation with Photosensitizer and a Brush-shaped Soft-polymer Sheet Using a Malignant Glioma Cell Line.

BACKGROUND Transduction of foreign molecules into cells is an important technique to investigate the functions of corresponding molecules and/or targets. Recently, a mass-producible nanoprinting perforator was devised enabling for large-scale, high-performance drug or nucleic-acid transfer into cells without cell damage. Since little is known on the performance of the system, we investigated its effects on a malignant glioma cell line. MATERIALS AND METHODS Photosensitization was performed by the Cell Stamper CP-01. The malignant U373MG glioma cell line was used for transduction. RESULTS Photosensitization transduced FITC-conjugated albumin into cells. Trypan blue inclusion test demonstrated membrane disintegration by the procedure and scanning electron microscopy disclosed perforation of the cell membrane. CONCLUSION Local oxidation reaction during the nanoprinting caused reversible membrane perforation. Morphological findings from the current study support the above mechanism, therefore the specific printing system might be convenient for transduction of foreign molecules into malignant glioma cells.
Untangling taxonomy: a DNA barcode reference library for Canadian spiders

Approximately 1460 species of spiders have been reported from Canada, 3% of the global fauna. This study provides a DNA barcode reference library for 1018 of these species based upon the analysis of more than 30 000 specimens. The sequence results show a clear barcode gap in most cases with a mean intraspecific divergence of 0.78% vs. a minimum nearest‐neighbour (NN) distance averaging 7.85%. The sequences were assigned to 1359 Barcode index numbers (BINs) with 1344 of these BINs composed of specimens belonging to a single currently recognized species. There was a perfect correspondence between BIN membership and a known species in 795 cases, while another 197 species were assigned to two or more BINs (556 in total). A few other species (26) were involved in BIN merges or in a combination of merges and splits. There was only a weak relationship between the number of specimens analysed for a species and its BIN count. However, three species were clear outliers with their specimens being placed in 11–22 BINs. Although all BIN splits need further study to clarify the taxonomic status of the entities involved, DNA barcodes discriminated 98% of the 1018 species. The present survey conservatively revealed 16 species new to science, 52 species new to Canada and major range extensions for 426 species. However, if most BIN splits detected in this study reflect cryptic taxa, the true species count for Canadian spiders could be 30–50% higher than currently recognized.
Improved outcome into the 1990s for infants weighing 500–999 g at birth

AIMS To compare the survival and sensorineural disability rates in extremely low birthweight (ELBW) (500–999 g) infants born in 1991–2 with ELBW babies born in 1979–80 and 1985–7, and with normal birthweight infants born in the same time periods. METHODS ELBW infants born in Victoria in 1991–2 were compared with regional cohorts of ELBW infants born in 1979–80 and 1985–7, and with contemporaneous normal birthweight (>2499 g) controls, and those of birthweight 500–749 g with those of birthweight 750–999 g. RESULTS In 1979–80, 25.4% (89/351) ELBW live births survived to 2 years of age, increasing significantly to 37.9% (212/560) in 1985–7, and to 56.2% (241/429) in 1991–2. The rates of severe disability in survivors assessed were 12.4%, 6.6%, and 6.8% in the 1979–80, 1985–7, and 1991–2 ELBW cohorts, respectively. The rate of disability, overall, was significantly lower in the 1985–7 and 1991–2 ELBW cohorts compared with the 1979–80 ELBW cohort, but was significantly higher in 1991–2 ELBW infants than normal birthweight controls. Surviving children with birthweights <750 g had significantly higher rates of sensorineural disability compared with those of birthweight 750–999 g in 1979–80, but not in 1985–7 or 1991–2. CONCLUSIONS Survival rates for ELBW babies in Victoria have progressively improved since the late 1970s. Sensorineural outcome for survivors born in 1985–7 has also improved compared with those born in 1979–80. However, there is no evidence that further reductions in adverse sensorineural outcomes into the 1990s, and these, as well as disabilities remain higher in ELBW than in normal birthweight babies.
Kidney Function Improvement by Soy Milk Containing Lactobacillus plantarum A7 in Type 2 Diabetic Patients With Nephropathy: a Double-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial.

INTRODUCTION Even with the ultimate medical management, more than one-third of diabetic patients develop diabetic nephropathy. To our knowledge, there is no study that has examined the effect of probiotic soy milk on kidney function in type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy. This clinical trial aimed to assess the effects of consumption of probiotic soy milk, compared with conventional soy milk, on kidney-related indexes in patients with diabetic nephropathy. MATERIALS AND METHODS In a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trial, 44 patients were randomly assigned to receive 200 mL/d of either soy milk containing Lactobacillus plantarum A7 or conventional soy milk for 8 weeks. Primary endpoints included urinary albumin excretion, estimated glomerular filtration rate, interlukin-18, serum sialic acid, and serum creatinine. Fasting blood samples and morning fasting spot urine samples were collected at the beginning and after 8 weeks for evaluation of biochemical parameters. RESULTS Forty patients completed the study. Administration of probiotic soymilk resulted in a significant reduction in albuminuria (P = .03), serum creatinine (P < .001), serum interleukin-18 (P = .002), and serum sialic acid (P = .001) compared with conventional soy milk. Probiotic soymilk supplementation also led to a significant improvement in estimated glomerular filtration rate (15.9 ± 10.8 mL/min versus 3.2 ± 8.4 mL/min, P < .001) compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS Probiotic soy milk was safe and well-tolerated by patients with diabetic nephropathy for 8 weeks. Probiotic soy milk also improved indexes of kidney function in type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy.
Vertical transmission of hepatitis B virus during pregnancy and delivery in Denmark

Abstract Objective: In Denmark, pregnant women have been screened for hepatitis B virus (HBV) since 2005, and children born to HBV-infected mothers offered hepatitis B immunoglobulin at birth, vaccination against HBV at birth and after 1, 2 and 12 months. The purpose of this study was to determine the risk of vertical HBV transmission in children born to mothers with chronic HBV infection, to investigate the antibody response in the children and to investigate possible maternal predictive risk factors for HBV transmission. Materials and methods: Through the Danish Database for Hepatitis B and C, we identified 589 HBV-infected women who had given birth to 686 children, of whom 370 children were born to 322 women referred to hospital. 132 (36%) children, born to 109 mothers, were included in the study; 128 children had blood samples tested for HBsAg, anti-HBc (total), anti-HBs and HBV-DNA and four children had saliva samples tested for anti-HBc. Results: We found vertical HBV transmission in Denmark to be 2.3% [95% CI: 0.5, 6.5], a high proportion of HBsAg-negative children with low levels of anti-HBs (18.4%) and a high proportion (15.2%) with resolved HBV infection. No maternal risk factor was statistically significantly associated with HBV vertical transmission. Conclusion: In a HBV low prevalence setting as Denmark, despite a national vaccination program, vertical HBV transmission occurred in 2.3% of children born to HBV-infected mothers. In addition, a high proportion of the children had insufficient anti-HBs levels and a high proportion had serological signs of resolved HBV infection.
Divergent cities in post-industrial Britain

According to Moretti (2013), deindustrialisation has been responsible for a ‘great divergence’ between cities that have moved to become centres of innovation and ideas, and those that have continued to produce material goods. Other authors however, place more emphasis on trends in specialisation and differences in productive bases as the driving forces behind urban divergence. Somewhat similarly, Storper (2013) argues that recent divergence been fundamentally been driven by the fact that some cities have become more specialised in knowledge intensive sectors. While most of this interest in urban divergence has been based on US cities, recent European research also reports divergent processes. The aim of this article is to examine the degree of divergence across UK cities and to analyse how far this has been driven by differences among cities in industrial structure and specialisation, tradable bases and productivity.
Process variation in embedded memories: failure analysis and variation aware architecture

With scaling of device dimensions, microscopic variations in number and location of dopant atoms in the channel region of the device induce increasingly limiting electrical deviations in device characteristics such as threshold voltage. These atomic-level intrinsic fluctuations cannot be eliminated by external control of the manufacturing process and are most pronounced in minimum-geometry transistors commonly used in area-constrained circuits such as SRAM cells. Consequently, a large number of cells in a memory are expected to be faulty due to process variations in sub-50-nm technologies. This paper analyzes SRAM cell failures under process variation and proposes new variation-aware cache architecture suitable for high performance applications. The proposed architecture adaptively resizes the cache to avoid faulty cells, thereby improving yield. This scheme is transparent to processor architecture and has negligible energy and area overhead. Experimental results on a 32 K direct map L1 cache show that the proposed architecture can achieve 93% yield compared to its original 33%. The Simplescalar simulation shows that designing the data and instruction cache using the proposed architecture results in 1.5% and 5.7% average CPU performance loss (over SPEC 2000 benchmarks), respectively, for the chips with maximum number of faulty cells which can be tolerated by our proposed scheme.
Moral distress in undergraduate nursing students

Background: Nurses and nursing students appear vulnerable to moral distress when faced with ethical dilemmas or decision-making in clinical practice. As a result, they may experience professional dissatisfaction and their relationships with patients, families, and colleagues may be compromised. The impact of moral distress may manifest as anger, feelings of guilt and frustration, a desire to give up the profession, loss of self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. Objectives: The purpose of this review was to describe how dilemmas and environmental, relational, and organizational factors contribute to moral distress in undergraduate student nurses during their clinical experience and professional education. Research design: The research design was a systematic literature review. Method: The search produced a total of 157 articles published between 2004 and 2014. These were screened with the assessment sheet designed by Hawker and colleagues. Four articles matched the search criteria (one quantitative study and three qualitative), and these were separately read and analyzed by the researchers. The process of review and analysis of the data was supervised by a colleague experienced in moral distress who provided an independent quality check. Ethical consideration: Since this was a systematic review, no ethical approval was required. Findings: From the analysis, it emerged that inequalities and healthcare disparities, the relationship with the mentor, and students’ individual characteristics can all impact negatively on the decisions taken and the nursing care provided, generating moral distress. All these factors condition both the clinical experience and learning process, in addition to the professional development and the possible care choices of future nurses. Conclusion: Few studies dealt with moral distress in the setting of nurse education, and there is a knowledge gap related to this phenomenon. The results of this review underline the need for further research regarding interventions that can minimize moral distress in undergraduate nursing students.
Does coordinated care management improve employment for substance-using welfare recipients?

OBJECTIVE This study tested whether coordinated care management, a continuity of care intervention for substance-use disorders, improved employment among men and women on public assistance compared with usual welfare management. METHOD Participants were 421 welfare applicants identified via substance-use-disorder screening and assigned via a computerized allocation program to coordinated care management (CCM; n = 232) or referral and monitoring practices in usual care (UC; n = 189). Substance use, treatment attendance, job training and search activities, and employment outcomes were assessed for 1 year after baseline. RESULTS Men were more likely to be working than women overall. Among women, CCM clients increased their employment over time, whereas UC clients remained stable at very low employment levels. There were no treatment effects on employment for men. Also among women only, greater substance-use-disorder treatment attendance and abstinence in the first 6 months of CCM predicted higher rates of later employment. Job training activities were low and did not differ by condition between either gender. CONCLUSIONS Findings are consistent with previous research supporting the effectiveness of case management for improving abstinence, which leads to employment gains, among substance-using women on public assistance. In contrast, various mandated elements of welfare-to-work programs for substance users-treatment attendance, case management, job training-did not improve employment rates for men. Implications of study results for designing effective welfare-to-work interventions in a post-welfare-reform era are discussed.
ATP concentration gradients in cytosol of liver cells during hypoxia.

The activities of two ATP-requiring systems with different subcellular localizations were studied in cells in which average cellular ATP concentration was varied. The cytosolic ATP-sulfurylase activity varied linearly with the cellular ATP concentration; however, the plasma membrane Na+-K+-ATPase was substantially more sensitive to decreased ATP concentration. Under conditions where the cellular ATP concentration was lowered to 40% of control, Rb+ uptake was nearly zero. The results indicate that ATP-utilizing enzymes located in the plasma membrane in liver cells are exposed to a lower ATP concentration than are enzymes present in the cytosolic fluid surrounding the mitochondria. Analysis of radial diffusion of ATP from mitochondria, assuming that mitochondria are spherical and ATP consumption is zero order in ATP concentration, shows that the average ATP supply radius decreases as mitochondrial ATP production decreases. Hence, during limited ATP supply, enzymes with a greater average distance from mitochondria (e.g., plasma membrane ATPases) experience a more dramatic decrease in ATP concentration than enzymes in close proximity to mitochondria (e.g., cytoplasmic enzymes). Thus microheterogeneity of ATP supply can occur in cells without membranal compartmentation due to nonuniform distribution of ATP-generating and ATP-consuming systems.
Transcriptome analysis of GVHD reveals aurora kinase A as a targetable pathway for disease prevention

Transcriptomic profiling of primate T cells during acute graft-versus-host disease reveals signaling pathways that when inhibited, ameliorate disease. Dawn of new graft-versus-host disease therapies Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) is a common therapy for patients with damaged bone marrow or immunodeficiencies. However, HCT has its own risks: In cases where the donor is not a perfect match to the recipient, immune cells derived from the graft can attack their new home. Furlan et al. examined the gene expression profile of nonhuman primate T cells during acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The transcriptomics signatures specific for alloreactive T cells identified pathways altered during acute GVHD that could serve as therapeutic targets. The authors then examined one target in particular, aurora kinase A, and demonstrated that pharmacologic inhibition could improve survival in a mouse model of GVHD. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is the most common complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT). However, our understanding of the molecular pathways that cause this disease remains incomplete, leading to inadequate treatment strategies. To address this, we measured the gene expression profile of nonhuman primate (NHP) T cells during acute GVHD. Utilizing microarray technology, we measured the expression profiles of CD3+ T cells from five cohorts: allogeneic transplant recipients receiving (i) no immunoprophylaxis (No Rx), (ii) sirolimus monotherapy (Siro), (iii) tacrolimus-methotrexate (Tac-Mtx), as well as (iv) autologous transplant recipients (Auto) and (v) healthy controls (HC). This comparison allowed us to identify transcriptomic signatures specific for alloreactive T cells and determine the impact of both mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) and calcineurin inhibition on GVHD. We found that the transcriptional profile of unprophylaxed GVHD was characterized by significant perturbation of pathways regulating T cell proliferation, effector function, and cytokine synthesis. Within these pathways, we discovered potentially druggable targets not previously implicated in GVHD, prominently including aurora kinase A (AURKA). Utilizing a murine GVHD model, we demonstrated that pharmacologic inhibition of AURKA could improve survival. Moreover, we found enrichment of AURKA transcripts both in allo-proliferating T cells and in sorted T cells from patients with clinical GVHD. These data provide a comprehensive elucidation of the T cell transcriptome in primate acute GVHD and suggest that AURKA should be considered a target for preventing GVHD, which, given the many available AURKA inhibitors in clinical development, could be quickly deployed for the prevention of GVHD.
Levothyroxine replacement doses are affected by gender and weight, but not age.

BACKGROUND Body weight (BW) and age have been shown to affect the dose of levothyroxine (LT(4)) that results in normalization of serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in hypothyroid patients. Our objective was to determine whether gender, menstrual status, and ideal BW (IBW) also affect the LT(4) dose required to achieve a serum TSH within the normal range. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the charts of patients being treated for primary hypothyroidism who had TSH values within a normal range. We selected patients aged 18-85 years who were taking LT(4) without any confounding medications, and who had no serious chronic conditions. Their LT(4) doses, referred to here as LT(4) dose requirements, based on both BW and IBW were documented. The relationship between gender, menstrual status, age, serum TSH concentrations, and the degree of overweight on LT(4) dose requirements were determined using multivariate analyses. RESULTS Women were significantly more overweight than men (ratio of BW/IBW was 1.35 for women vs. 1.17 for men, p <0.0001). LT(4) requirements based on BW did not differ by gender when age was included in the model. However, when degree of overweight was also included, men required lower LT(4) doses than both premenopausal women (1.34 μg/kg vs. 1.51 μg/kg, p = 0.038) and menopausal women (1.34 μg/kg vs. 1.49 μg/kg, p = 0.023). When examining IBW using a model incorporating age, men also required lower LT(4) doses than both premenopausal women (1.64 μg/kg vs. 1.92 μg/kg, p = 0.0033) and menopausal women (1.64 μg/kg vs. 1.90 μg/kg, p = 0.0024). Serum TSH concentrations were not significantly different in any of the gender groups. There was no relationship between serum TSH and either age or BW. The initial serum TSH concentration was by design with the normal range, but the concentration within that range was not a significant predictor of the LT(4) replacement dose in any of the models. CONCLUSION In contrast to previous studies suggesting that age affects LT(4) replacement requirements, we found that age-based differences in doses are secondary to differences in BW and gender. In addition, in contrast to prior studies showing that lean body mass, but not gender, affected LT(4) dose, we instead found a significant impact of gender. Gender-based differences in dose requirement only became apparent either when IBW was used to correct for the dose or when degree of overweight was included in the model. Gender differences in LT(4) dose requirement exist, but are masked unless gender-based differences in degree of overweight are also considered.
Proteomics and PUGNAcity will overcome questioning of insulin resistance induction by nonselective inhibition of O‐GlcNAcase

PTMs are the ultimate elements that perfect the existence and the activity of proteins. Owing to PTM, not less than 500 millions biological activities arise from approximately 20 000 protein‐coding genes in human. Hundreds of PTM were characterized in living beings among which is a large variety of glycosylations. Many compounds have been developed to tentatively block each kind of glycosylation so as to study their biological functions but due to their complexity, many off‐target effects were reported. Insulin resistance exemplifies this problem. Several independent groups described that inhibiting the removal of O‐GlcNAc moieties using O‐(2‐acetamido‐2‐deoxy‐d‐glucopyranosylidene)amino‐N‐phenylcarbamate (PUGNAc), a nonselective inhibitor of the nuclear and cytoplasmic O‐GlcNAcase, induced insulin resistance both in vivo and ex vivo. The development of potent and highly selective O‐GlcNAcase inhibitors called into question that elevated O‐GlcNAcylation levels are responsible for insulin resistance; these compounds not recapitulating the insulin‐desensitizing effect of PUGNAc. To tackle this intriguing problem, a South Korean group recently combined ATP‐affinity chromatography and gel‐assisted digestion to identify proteins, differentially expressed upon treatment of 3T3‐L1 adipocytes with PUGNAc, involved in protein turnover and insulin signaling.