Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Representation and Democracy in Hellenistic Federalism

T HE present paper will try to throw light on Hellenistic federal institutions, particularly of the second century B.C., by means of leagues-the four Macedonian republics and the Lycian League-which ordinarily are not given adequate consideration in the study of Greek political institutions.1 This apI They are neglected both in Heinrich Swoboda, Griechische Staatsalterti2mer (K. F. Hermann, Lehrbuch der griechischen Antiquitdten, I, Part III [Tubingen, 1913]), and in G. Busolt, Griechische Staatskunde (Milnchen, 1920-26), Vol. II, edited after Busolt's death by Swoboda. E. A. Freeman (History of Federal Government in Greece and Italy2 [London, 1893], pp. 162-69) gives an account of the Lycian League, which otherwise is excellent for the time it was written (the sixties of the nineteenth century) but is vitiated by the author's determination to recognize the existence of no representative assemblies in antiquity. For an interesting statement concerning the manner in which Freeman's work was affected by the theory of Teutonic origins see H. J. Ford, Representative Government (New York, 1924), pp. 51-57. The brief account of A. H. J. Greenidge (A Handbook of Greek Constitutional History [London, 1896], pp. 241-42) marks no advance over Freeman. While the Lycian League frequently is omitted from general accounts of Greek political institutions, it is included in similar accounts. of Roman provincial assemblies, such as Paul Guiraud, Les Assemblees provinciales dans l'Empire romain (Paris, 1887), pp. 41, 65; E. G. Hardy, Studies in Roman History (1st ser.; London, 1910), p. 242, and passim in the chapter on "The Provincial Concilia"; F. F. Abbott and A. C. Johnson, Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire (Princeton, 1926), pp. 164, 166, 169, 170, and 172 in the chapter on "Provincial Assemblies. " This is as it should be, for the League survived under the Roman Empire. The four Macedonian republics, however, are not included. This is because it has been held that the republics were dissolved after the revolt of 149 B.C. This point will be discussed below. proach may throw more light on the subject than the discussion of some more familiar problem, such as that of the composition of the Achaean synodos. In fact, so far as the questions of representation and democracy are concerned, the emphasis on the Achaean League rather tends to obscure the issue. The better-known leagues are enough to show that occasionally representative government was adopted, but not to show that it was normal. It is known that the governments both of the Boeotian League of the time of the Peloponnesian War2 and of the Thessalian League founded in 194 B.C.3 were representative. On the other hand, the Aetolian League, while it had a boule or synedrion in which the cities were represented in proportion to their size, also had a primary assembly which met twice a year.4 Under the circum-
Biomarkers of Spontaneous Preterm Birth: An Overview of The Literature in the Last Four Decades

Background: Understanding spontaneous preterm birth ([PTB] < 37 weeks) is difficult due to heterogeneities associated with multitudes of risk factors and pathophysiological pathways. Several biomarkers are routinely used clinically for predicting preterm labor; however, these factors are either nonspecific or detected too late. Objective: Systematic review of literature on PTB biomarkers in the last 40 years to map out the existing knowledge and gaps in understanding PTB biomarkers. Search strategies: Five electronic databases were searched for human studies on PTB biomarkers published in any language between 1965 and 2008. Selection criteria: The phenotype of interest for final data extraction was exclusively spontaneous PTB with no rupture of membranes. Data extraction included (a) general characteristics of the study (clinical setting, period, and study design), (b) study/participant characteristics (inclusion and exclusion criteria, race/ethnicity, number of participants, gestational age at sampling, (c) characteristics of the biomarker (type, rationale for its selection, type of biological sample, and assay used, and (d) concentration of biomarkers in cases and controls. Data collection and analysis: The search yielded 7255 citations and data were extracted from 217 articles which met our inclusion and exclusion criteria. Main results: A total of 116 different biomarkers were reported and these were assayed 578 times in the 217 included studies. Over two thirds of the 217 studies were performed on North American or European populations. No reliable biomarkers emerged as a risk predictor of PTB. Conclusions: Identifying similar studies on biomarkers for the prediction of PTB was a very challenging task due heterogeneities in study design, sampling issues (types, timing and processing), assay methods, and analyses. Major areas of concern identified in this review include poor phenotype definition, nonideal study designs and poor rationale for biomarker selection and assays and population stratification issues.
Patterns of antidepressants prescriptions in a large Italian old population

Depression is themost common psychiatric illness suffered by persons all over the world. Very old persons are particularly prone to significant symptoms of depression. An increase in disability and cognitive impairment, a fall in socioeconomic status, and the high proportion of women who survive their partner’s death might explain this pattern (Rozzini et al., 1997). Most studies show a depressive symptoms prevalence that varies from 20–50% according to the site of the investigation. Available European studies suggest that between 4.6–8.8% of the general population may be experiencing an episode of major depression at any one time (Copeland et al., 2004). According to the increasing rate of diagnosis of depression, data also show an increasing rate of drug treatment, but scanty data are available on the appropriateness of prescriptions and on the possible influences of extraclinical factors. In this framework our study evaluates the rate of antidepressant prescription in elderly persons living in a large region of the Northern Italy.
Turkish Men and the History of Ottoman Women: Studying the History of the Ottoman Dynasty’s Private Sphere Through Women’s Writings

This paper discusses the study of Ottoman dynastic history through women’s writings, such as harem women’s personal letter correspondence, women’s harem memoirs and recollections, and foreign women travelers’ accounts, published in popular historical magazines in Turkey during the 1950s and 60s. The paper also considers the popular nature of the publications that featured these writings and their significance in the framework of the changing nationalist discourse and corresponding changes in Turkish historiography during the 1950s. It shows that articles based on women’s writings revealed intimate aspects of the Ottoman elite’s relationships in general and of Ottoman women in particular, and suggests that their publication in popular magazines played an important role in re-imagining the Turkish woman in the framework of the post-Kemalist nationalist discourse. It concludes that women’s writings, used as primary sources by Turkish historians, provided an insider’s point of view on the secretive life of the harem and its inhabitants and attracted a popular readership, thus exposing wider audiences to an Ottoman-centered historical discourse, and ultimately played an important role in the writing of Ottoman women’s history.
Age-related differences in the incidence and clinicopathological findings of malignant melanoma of the skin

Introduction: In malignant melanoma of the skin, age has been found to be one of the factors associated with different clinical outcome and prognosis of disease. The purpose of our study was to investigate differences in the incidence and clinicopathological findings of cutaneous melanoma in relation to the age of the patients. Material and methods: Study group consisted of 116 primary invasive malignant melanomas of the skin from 116 subjects (57 men, 59 women) between 31 - 93 years of age. They were stratified into three separate age groups: group I (≤ 43 years, young age), group II (44 – 60 years, middle age) and group III (≥ 61 years, old age). Results: In group I, II and III, we confirmed 22 (19%), 45 (38.8%) and 49 (42.2%) individuals, respectively. As age increased, proportion of males, as well as melanomas located on the head and neck were rising. There was evident decline in the percentage of superficial spreading melanoma and conversely, increase in the percentage of nodular melanoma. Acral lentiginous melanoma and lentigo maligna melanoma was found only in patients over 60 years old. In general, advancing age was associated with lower prevalence of stage
Sympathicoblastoma of the adrenal medulla with osseous metastases; a report of three cases including one surviving eleven years after roentgen therapy.

In 1942, TH. ROSENDAL (15) reported in this journal two cases of sympathicoblastoma of the adrenal medulla in children. In both cases definite bone metastases were present, and the patients were treated with roentgen irradiation. The first patient, an 18-month-old boy, died about 12 months after the onset of the disease. The roentgen therapy had only a transitory beneficial effect. The second patient, a 12-month-old boy, was alive at the time of the report, about six months after the onset of symptoms. After the roentgen treatment there were certain signs of improvement but also of progression, so that the prognosis was regarded as very grave. However, this latter patient survived and has been under observation at the Radium Centre for Jutland during recent years. As it must be presumed that, in spite of the presence of bone metastases, a cure has been effected by the irradiation treatment given in 1941-42, it seems justifiable to present a description of the later course of this case in continuation of RosENDAL's report of 1942. At the same time two additional cases of sympathicoblastoma in children treated in this hospital during recent years are reported. Both these patients died. Finally, the therapeutic possibilities are discussed in some detail.
Cardioplegic Strategies for Calcium Control: Low Ca2+, High Mg2+, Citrate, or Na+/H+ Exchange Inhibitor HOE-642

Background—Ca2+ overload plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cardioplegic ischemia-reperfusion injury. The standard technique to control Ca2+ overload has been to reduce Ca2+ in the cardioplegic solution (CP). Recent reports suggest that Na+/H+ exchange inhibitors can also prevent Ca2+ overload. We compared 4 crystalloid CPs that might minimize Ca2+ overload in comparison with standard Mg2+-containing CP: (1) low Ca2+ CP (0.25 mmol/L), (2) citrate CP/normal Mg2+ (1 mmol/L Mg2+), (3) citrate CP/high Mg2+ (9 mmol/L Mg2+), and (4) the addition of the Na+/H+ exchange inhibitor HOE-642 (Cariporide). We also tested the effect of citrate titration in vitro on the level of free Ca2+ and Mg2+ in CPs. Methods and Results—Isolated working rat heart preparations were perfused with oxygenated Krebs-Henseleit buffer and subjected to 60 minutes of 37°C arrest and reperfusion with CPs with different Ca2+ concentrations. Cardiac performance, including aortic flow (AF), was measured before and after ischemia. Myocardial high-energy phosphates were measured after reperfusion. The in vitro addition of citrate to CP (2%, 21 mmol/L) produced parallel reductions in Mg2+ and Ca2+. Because only Ca2+ was required to be low, the further addition of Mg2+ increased free Mg2+, but the highest level achieved was 9 mmol/L. Citrate CP significantly impaired postischemic function (AF 58.3±2.5% without citrate versus 41.6±3% for citrate with normal Mg2+, P <0.05, versus 22.4±6.2% for citrate with high Mg2+, P <0.05). Low-Ca2+ CP (0.25 mmol/L Ca2+) significantly improved the recovery of postischemic function in comparison with standard CP (1.0 mmol/L Ca2+) (AF 47.6±1.7% versus 58.3±2.5%, P <0.05). The addition of HOE-642 (1 &mgr;mol/L) to CP significantly improved postischemia function (47.6±1.7% without HOE-642 versus 62.4±1.7% with HOE-642, P <0.05). Postischemia cardiac high-energy phosphate levels were unaffected by Ca2+ manipulation. Conclusions—(1) A lowered Ca2+ concentration in CP is beneficial in Mg2+-containing cardioplegia. (2) The use of citrate to chelate Ca2+ is detrimental in the crystalloid-perfused isolated working rat heart, especially with high Mg2+. (3) The mechanism of citrate action is complex, and its use limits precise simultaneous control of Ca2+ and Mg2+. (4) HOE-642 in CP is as efficacious in preservation of the ischemic myocardium as is the direct reduction in Ca2+.
The Role of Immunoprophylaxis in the Reduction of Disease Attributable to Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an RNA virus that infects human respiratory epithelial cells and causes annual outbreaks of respiratory tract disease among infants and young children, as well as recurrent infections throughout life. Annual outbreaks of RSV disease are attributable to first-time infection in susceptible infants, reinfection in children and adults with waning or incomplete immunity, and infection by viral genotypes with sufficient antigenic variation to avoid innate and acquired immunity. In industrialized countries, few infectious diseases have a greater effect on the health of young children than does lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV. By 2 years of age, almost all children will experience an RSV infection, and 50% will be infected twice.1 Results from the New Vaccine Surveillance Network (a prospective, population-based surveillance program sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]) define the burden of RSV disease in children younger than 5 years of age.2 An estimated 2million children require medical care because of RSV infection, and 57 500 children younger than 5 years are hospitalized annually. The major burden of RSV disease occurs among previously healthy infants and childrenwhose susceptibility to severe RSV illness cannot be predicted by risk factors.
Endothelin-1 alters the contractile phenotype of cultured embryonic smooth muscle cells.

Smooth muscle tissues may be classified into phasic (fast) or tonic (slow) contractile phenotypes. This study was initiated to examine the specification of these phenotypes during development and the role of growth factors in this process. We used myosin light chain 17 (MLC17) and myosin heavy chain transcript splice variants as markers of the tonic (aortic) and phasic (intestinal) smooth muscle phenotypes in chick embryos. By reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, we determined embryonic days 6 to 16 to be a critical period for the establishment of these phenotypes. During this period, endothelin-1 is present at 40-fold-higher levels in aortic compared with intestinal tissues. To test the hypothesis that endothelin-1 may be involved in establishing the aortic (tonic) phenotype, we developed a system in which embryonic smooth muscle cells exhibit phasic and tonic contractile properties in vitro. Single-cell force measurements showed that cultured embryonic gizzard (phasic) cells developed force more rapidly (8 +/- 2 seconds) and achieved greater force (3.0 +/- 0.7 microN) than did cultured embryonic aortic (tonic) cells (20 +/- 0.7 seconds, 0.76 +/- 0.01 microN; P < .05) in response to depolarization. Chronic exposure of the phasic (gizzard) cells to endothelin-1 prolonged the time to peak force (24 +/- 3 seconds) and reduced the peak force (1.0 +/- 0.1 microN), so that the contraction resembled the tonic type. This effect, mediated by the endothelin-A receptor, was associated with a shift in MLC17 splicing to the tonic pattern. These results demonstrate that endothelin-1 is highly enriched in developing aortic compared with intestinal tissues and can convert phasic smooth muscle cells to the tonic type in vitro, suggesting a role for this growth factor during development in determining the contractile phenotype of smooth muscle cells.
Evidence of two unique variability classes from IGR J17091–3624

IGR J17091−3624 is the second black hole X-ray binary after GRS 1915+105, which showed large and distinct variabilities. The study of these variability classes can be useful to understand the accretion–ejection mechanisms of accreting black holes, and hence to probe the strong gravity regime. We report the discovery of two new variability classes (C1 and C2) from IGR J17091−3624 from the 2011 outburst Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer data. These unique classes will be useful to have complete details about the source, and to learn new aspects about variabilities. For example, the C1 class shows that the intensity and period of oscillations, energy spectrum and power spectrum can clearly evolve in tens of seconds. Moreover, in such a small time-scale, soft-lag becomes hard-lag. The C2 class shows that the variability and the non-variability can occur at similar energy spectrum, and a soft state is not required for variability to happen.
Capital Supply Uncertainty, Cash Holdings, and Investment

We develop a dynamic model of investment, financing, and cash management decisions in which investment is lumpy and firms face capital supply uncertainty. We characterize optimal policies explicitly, demonstrate that smooth-pasting conditions may not guarantee optimality, and show that firms may not follow standard Miller and Orr (1966) barrier policies. In the model, firms with high investment costs differ in their behaviors from firms with low investment costs, financing policy does not follow a strict pecking order, and the optimal payout policy may feature several regions with both incremental and lumpy dividend payments.
Gossypol as undesirable substance in animal feed

Gossypol is a yellow compound produced by the cotton plant that confers resistance to pests. Gossypol exists in two enantiomeric forms, (+) and (-), and is experimentally often used as a racemate, (±)-gossypol, or complexed with acetic acid. (±)-Gossypol is found in cottonseed and cottonseed products in two forms: free gossypol, which is readily extractable with solvents, and bound gossypol. The latter form represents mostly covalent adducts of gossypol to proteins, from which free gossypol can be (partially) liberated by heating with acids. Cottonseeds are by-products of cotton fibre production, and are rich in oil and proteins and are therefore used for cottonseed oil production and as a feed supplement. Storage, steam and
Structure and filament dynamics of the pSK 41 actin-like ParM protein : implications for plasmid DNA segregation

David Popp , Weijun Xu, Akihiro Narita, Anthony J. Brzoska, Ronald A. Skurray, Neville Firth, Umesh Goshdastider, Yuichiro Maéda, Robert C. Robinson, Maria A. Schumacher From the, ERATO "Actin Filament Dynamics" Project, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, c/o RIKEN Harima Institute at Spring 8, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo, 679-5148, Japan, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 61 Biopolis Drive, Proteos, 138673, Singapore, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia, Nagoya University Graduate School of Science, Structural Biology Research Center and Division of Biological Sciences, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan. Running title: Structure of pSK41 ParM Address correspondence to: Dr. Maria A. Schumacher, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Unit 1000, UT MDACC, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030, U.S.A. , Tel: +1-713-834-6392; Fax: +1-713-834-6382; Dr. David Popp; ERATO "Actin Filament Dynamics" Project, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, c/o RIKEN Harima Institute at Spring 8, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo, 679-5148, Japan; Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 61 Biopolis Drive, Proteos, 138673, Singapore. Tel: +65-6586-9755; Fax: +65-779117 E-mail: maschuma@mdanderson.org; dpopp@imcb.A-star.edu. sg
Predicting Risk of Serious Bacterial Infections in Febrile Children in the Emergency Department

Multinomial regression is used to model the risk of SBIs in febrile children in the ED. BACKGROUND: Improving the diagnosis of serious bacterial infections (SBIs) in the children’s emergency department is a clinical priority. Early recognition reduces morbidity and mortality, and supporting clinicians in ruling out SBIs may limit unnecessary admissions and antibiotic use. METHODS: A prospective, diagnostic accuracy study of clinical and biomarker variables in the diagnosis of SBIs (pneumonia or other SBI) in febrile children <16 years old. A diagnostic model was derived by using multinomial logistic regression and internally validated. External validation of a published model was undertaken, followed by model updating and extension by the inclusion of procalcitonin and resistin. RESULTS: There were 1101 children studied, of whom 264 had an SBI. A diagnostic model discriminated well between pneumonia and no SBI (concordance statistic 0.84, 95% confidence interval 0.78–0.90) and between other SBIs and no SBI (0.77, 95% confidence interval 0.71–0.83) on internal validation. A published model discriminated well on external validation. Model updating yielded good calibration with good performance at both high-risk (positive likelihood ratios: 6.46 and 5.13 for pneumonia and other SBI, respectively) and low-risk (negative likelihood ratios: 0.16 and 0.13, respectively) thresholds. Extending the model with procalcitonin and resistin yielded improvements in discrimination. CONCLUSIONS: Diagnostic models discriminated well between pneumonia, other SBIs, and no SBI in febrile children in the emergency department. Improvements in the classification of nonevents have the potential to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and improve antibiotic prescribing. The benefits of this improved risk prediction should be further evaluated in robust impact studies.
Mendelian randomization Association of vitamin D levels and risk of ovarian cancer : a Mendelian randomization study

Background: In vitro and observational epidemiological studies suggest that vitamin D may play a role in cancer prevention. However, the relationship between vitamin D and ovarian cancer is uncertain, with observational studies generating conflicting findings. A potential limitation of observational studies is inadequate control of confounding. To overcome this problem, we used Mendelian randomization (MR) to evaluate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with circulating 25hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration and risk of ovarian cancer. Methods: We employed SNPs with well-established associations with 25(OH)D concentration as instrumental variables for MR: rs7944926 (DHCR7), rs12794714 (CYP2R1) and rs2282679 (GC). We included 31 719 women of European ancestry (10 065 cases, 21 654 controls) from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium, who were genotyped using customized Illumina Infinium iSelect (iCOGS) arrays. A two-sample (summary data) MR approach was used and analyses were performed separately for all ovarian cancer (10 065 cases) and for high-grade serous ovarian cancer (4121 cases). Results: The odds ratio for epithelial ovarian cancer risk (10 065 cases) estimated by combining the individual SNP associations using inverse variance weighting was 1.27 (95% confidence interval: 1.06 to 1.51) per 20 nmol/L decrease in 25(OH)D concentration. The estimated odds ratio for high-grade serous epithelial ovarian cancer (4121 cases) was 1.54 (1.19, 2.01). Conclusions: Genetically lowered 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were associated with higher ovarian cancer susceptibility in Europeans. These findings suggest that increasing plasma vitamin D levels may reduce risk of ovarian cancer.