Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Associations between polymorphisms in the IL-4 gene and renal cell carcinoma in Chinese Han population

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is considered to be a kind of cytokine reactive tumor. The research has been suggested that the host immune system can regulate the clinical course of RCC. Therefore, cytokine gene polymorphisms in RCC patients were analyzed was necessary. Our study is purpose to analyzing the interleukin-4(IL-4) polymorphisms associated with RCC risk from Han Chinese population. IL-4 genetic polymorphisms were genotyped using Massarray technology from a total of 291RCC and 463 controls. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze their relationship with risk of RCC. A significant association was found between the rs2243250 “C” allel and decreased risk of RCC (OR=0.75, 95%CI=0.59-0.96, P=0.02). Stratified analysis based on the age, gender, smoking status, drinking status revealed no significant association with RCC in age>55, female, smoking and nodrinking. However, for age<55 group (rs2243250, rs2243267, rs2243270), male group (rs2243250), nonsmoking group (rs2227284), and drinking group (rs2243250, rs2227284, rs2243267, rs2243270) polymorphisms were found obviously associated with RCC. The haplotype analyses showed that the haplotype have a significant decreased risk of RCC in the rs2243250/rs2227284/rs2243267/rs2243270/rs2243283/rs2243289 (CGGACA) (Total, OR=0.73, 95%CI=0.54-0.98, P=0.034; Male, OR=0.59, 95%CI=0.39-0.90, P=0.014). Therefore, the present study suggests that IL-4 may be a candidate gene for assessing the risk of RCC.
Guidelines for applying protected area management categories

IUCNs Protected Areas Management Categories, which classify protected areas according to their management objectives, are today accepted as the benchmark for defining, recording and classifying protected areas.They are recognized by international bodies such as the United Nations as well as many national governments. As a result, they are increasingly being incorporated into government legislation. These guidelines provide as much clarity as possible regarding the meaning and application of the Categories. They describe the definition of the Categories and discuss application in particular biomes and management approaches.
The Effects of Youth Labor Market Reforms: Evidence from Italian Apprenticeships

In this paper, we estimate the causal effects of the 2003 reforms to the Italian apprenticeship contract that increased its legal length, allowed on-the-job training and introduced a minimum floor to apprentices’ wages. Using administrative data, we implement a covariate balancing propensity score and a difference-in-differences estimator. We find that the new contract improves the chances of an apprentice obtaining a permanent job in the same firm five years after hiring; however, this occurs more frequently in large firms. We also find sizeable, long-run wage effects that extend well beyond the legal duration of the apprenticeship contract. These effects are compatible with increased human capital accumulation, possibly due to the reformed training provisions.
The Macroeconomic Effects of German Fiscal Austerity under Different Exchange Rate Regimes: The Experience of Central and Eastern European Countries

According to a familiar two-country Mundell-Fleming framework, the policy of fiscal austerity in Germany should be restrictionary for other European countries with a floating exchange rate, while there is a possibility of an expansionary effect for countries with a peg. Using quarterly data of eight Central and Eastern European countries over the 2002–2014 period, it is found with a four-variable VAR model that fiscal austerity in Germany leads to an increase in the money supply and output, while the effects on the real exchange rate are marginal. Our results contrast with several other studies, that imply that the policy of fiscal stimulus in Germany is beneficial for other European countries. Our results could be interpreted in such a way that demand and competitiveness effects are outweighed by the effect of international flows. A strongest expansionary effect is obtained for Bulgaria, Slovakia and Latvia, which maintain fixed exchange rates, while expansionary effects are weaker for countries with greater exchange rate flexibility, such as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Investigation of occupational asthma: sputum cell counts or exhaled nitric oxide?

BACKGROUND The measure of sputum eosinophil counts is a useful tool in the investigation of occupational asthma (OA), but processing sputum is time consuming. Measuring the fractional concentration of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) may be an alternative in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to assess the respective changes of sputum eosinophil counts and FENO following exposure to occupational agents in the routine practice of two tertiary centers in North America and Europe. METHODS Workers undergoing specific inhalation challenges (SICs) for possible OA in tertiary clinics in both Canada and Belgium were enrolled. Sputum cell counts and FENO were collected at the end of the control day and at 7 and 24 h after exposure to the offending agent. RESULTS Forty-one subjects had a negative SIC; 26 subjects had OA proven by a positive SIC. In subjects with positive SIC, there was a significant increase in sputum eosinophils at 7 h (9.0 [9.9]%) and 24 h (11.9 [14.9]%) after exposure compared with the baseline (2.8 [4.2]%), whereas there was a significant increase in FENO only 24 h after exposure (26.0 [30.5] ppb) compared with the baseline (16.6 [18.5] ppb). A 2.2% change in sputum eosinophil counts achieved a much higher sensitivity and positive predictive value than a 10-ppb change in FENO with similar specificity and negative predictive value for predicting a 20% decrease in FEV(1) during SICs. CONCLUSIONS Sputum eosinophil counts constitute a more reliable tool than FENO to discriminate positive and negative SICs.
Bone mineral metabolism and histomorphometry in rats with cholestatic liver disease.

BACKGROUND The etiology of osteopenia in cholestatic liver disease is uncertain. An animal model is needed in order to study the efficacy of therapeutic agents. AIMS In order to characterise the bone disease in rats with cholestatic liver disease. METHODS Four-month old male Sprague-Dawley bile duct-ligated (BDL) and sham-operated (SO) rats were studied. Twenty-eight days after surgery serum osteocalcin, a bone-formation marker, urinary deoxypyridinoline (DPD) cross-links, a resorption marker, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 were determined. Static and dynamic (tetracycline-based) histomorphometric analysis was performed on femurs and tibiae. RESULTS All BDL rats developed biliary cirrhosis. Bile duct-ligated rats had lower bone mass, reflected in statistically significantly 13.5% lower femoral dry-weight, 16% lower femoral ash-weight, 42.7% lower tibial cancellous bone area and 19% lower trabecular thickness, compared with SO rats. Bile duct-ligated rats exhibited decreased bone formation manifested by statistically significantly 70% lower tetracycline double-labelling, 40% lower mineralising surface, 51% lower bone-formation rate and 47% lower osteocalcin compared with SO rats. Deoxypyridinoline levels were 20% lower in BDL rats. Bile duct-ligated rats had 52% lower serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 level, but no significant increase in cortical osteoid area. CONCLUSIONS Bile duct-ligated rats develop osteopenia characterised by low bone-formation rate, and can be used for studying therapeutic agents for patients with cholestatic liver disease displaying similar bone changes.
Genetic mosaic in a marine species flock

We used molecular approaches to study the status of speciation in coral reef fishes known as hamlets (Serranidae: Hypoplectrus). Several hamlet morphospecies coexist on Caribbean reefs, and mate assortatively with respect to their strikingly distinct colour patterns. We provide evidence that, genetically, the hamlets display characteristics common in species flocks on land and in freshwaters. Substitutions within two mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) protein‐coding genes place hamlets within a monophyletic group relative to members of two related genera (Serranus and Diplectrum), and establish that the hamlet radiation must have been very recent. mtDNA distances separating hamlet morphospecies were slight (0.6 ± 0.04%), yielding a coalescent estimate for the age of the hamlet flock of approximately 430 000 years. Morphospecies did not sort into distinct mtDNA haplotype phylogroups, and alleles at five hypervariable microsatellite loci were shared broadly across species boundaries. None the less, molecular variation was not distributed at random. Analyses of mtDNA haplotype frequencies and nested clades in haplotype networks revealed significant genetic differences between geographical regions and among colour morphospecies. We also observed significant microsatellite differentiation between geographical regions and in Puerto Rico, among colour morphospecies; the latter providing evidence for reproductive isolation between colour morphospecies at this locale. In our Panama collection, however, colour morphospecies were mostly genetically indistinguishable. This mosaic pattern of DNA differentiation implies a complex interaction between population history, mating behaviour and geography and suggests that porous boundaries separate species in this flock of brilliantly coloured coral reef fishes.
Lifetime smoking habits among Norwegian men and women born between 1890 and 1974.

BACKGROUND The aims of the present study were to provide lifetime smoking data for epidemiological studies of tobacco-induced cancer in Norway, and to sort out the influence of age, gender, and period on the population's smoking habits in this century. METHODS We used annual surveys of smoking habits from 1954 to 1992, and individual lifetime smoking histories collected in 1965 from a population sample born 1893-1927. The population was divided into 5-year sex-and-birth cohorts born between 1890 and 1974, and smoking habits were described as the proportion of current smokers in 5-year age groups between 15 and 74 years old. We also estimated the average tobacco consumption per smoker by calendar year after 1930. RESULTS The proportion of smokers increased with each succeeding cohort of men and women until the 1950s, when the highest proportion of male smokers (76-78%) was observed among those born 1915-1934. This peak was followed by a decline in both men and women from 1955 to 1965. A second peak occurred in women around 1970, during which the highest proportion of smokers (52%) was observed in women born 1940-1949. From 1970 to 1990 smoking has declined in all cohorts of men and women, but at a slower rate after 1980 in the younger cohorts. The smoking proportion was more than five times higher in men than in women born 1890-1894, but the gap has declined with each succeeding cohort until no gender difference was present among those born after 1950. The average tobacco consumption per smoker between 1930 and 1950 remained fairly constant around 8.5 g per day in male smokers and 6 g per day in female smokers, followed by a continuous increase to 15 g per day in men and 12 g in women in 1985. CONCLUSIONS The smoking habits in Norway appear to have been strongly influenced by social changes and the increasing awareness of the health hazards of smoking. Each cohort's response to these events has depended on the members' age and sex at the time.
Macrophage Activation and Immunomodulation by Myeloperoxidase

Abstract Myeloperoxidase (MyPo) is an enzyme found in neutrophils and monocytes that plays an important role in the microbicidal and cytocidal activities of these cells. The present studies show that this enzyme can also affect both capacities and functions of macrophages. When resident peritoneal macrophages from C57BL/6 mice were exposed to preparations of either human or canine enzyme in vitro, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) was released. The amount of TNF produced was dose dependent and could be neutralized with polyclonal anti-TNF. Low levels of interferon were also produced by these cells. In addition, exposure of murine macrophages in vitro to this enzyme resulted in increased ability to destroy 3T12 target cells. Intravenous injection of mice with myeloperoxidase induced the production of both TNF and interferon, which could be detected in the sera. Possible mechanisms of TNF induction include radical production by myeloperoxidase or ligand-receptor interaction by the binding of this enzyme to the mannosyl-fucosyl receptor. These results, when taken in their entirety, suggest that this enzyme can modulate the immune response through effects on macrophage function.
Microleakage of self-etching primers after thermal and flexural load cycling.

PURPOSE To evaluate the adhesive properties of a one-bottle self-etching primer system. MATERIALS AND METHODS 150 wedge-shaped cervical cavities on bovine teeth were restored with Clearfil Liner Bond 2 (LB), Clearfil Liner Bond 2V (LV) or Clearfil SE Bond (SE), according to the manufacturer's instructions. Twenty specimens of each adhesive system were finished 15 mins after light curing and 30 specimens were finished after a 24-hr storage period in water. From each group, 10 restorations were immediately immersed in 0.5% basic fuchsin solution and kept there for 24 hrs to examine microleakage. The other 10 restorations were thermocycled (5-60 degrees C, 15 s dwell time, 5,000 cycles), and then immersed in the dye solution. The remaining 10 specimens of the 24-hr storage group were subjected to flexural load cycling (0.5 mm labio-lingual displacement at the incisal edge, 10,000 cycles, 1 cps) prior to immersion in the dye solution. The data was analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U-test and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The tensile bond strengths of the adhesive systems to bovine enamel and dentin were also determined. The data was analyzed using the Student's t-test and ANOVA. In addition, SEM examinations were made to evaluate the effects of self-etching primers on enamel and dentin surfaces. RESULTS LV and SE showed significantly better marginal sealing than LB (P<0.05). The marginal integrity of SE did not deteriorate even after immediate finishing, thermal stresses or flexural loads. There were no significant differences in bond strengths among the adhesive systems tested. All adhesive systems showed similar bond strengths to enamel and dentin. The enamel etching patterns using LV and SE systems were obscure and difficult to assess. Although the smear plugs were not fully removed, no smear layer was observed on the treated dentin surfaces, regardless of the self-etching primer system used. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE Clearfil SE bond could possibly improve the clinical performance of cervical cavities.
Detection of apoptosis induced by new type gosling viral enteritis virus in vitro through fluorescein annexin V-FITC/PI double labeling.

AIM To achieve a better understanding of the pathogenesis of new type gosling viral enteritis virus (NGVEV) and the relationship between NGVEV and host cells. METHODS The apoptosis of duck embryo fibroblasts (DEF) induced by NGVEV was investigated by fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) and fluorescence microscope after the cells were stained with Annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide (PI). RESULTS By staining cells with a combination of fluorescein annexin V-FITC and PI, it is possible to distinguish and quantitatively analyze non-apoptotic cells (Annexin V-FITC negative/PI negative), early apoptotic cells (Annexin V-FITC positive/PI negative), late apoptotic/necrotic cells (Annexin V-FITC positive/PI positive) and dead cells (Annexin V-FITC negative/PI positive) through flow cytometry and fluorescence microscope. The percentage of apoptotic cells increased with the incubation time and reached a maximum at 120 h after infection, while the percentage of non-apoptotic cells decreased. CONCLUSION NGVEV can induce the infected DEF cells to undergo apoptosis and the apoptosis occurs prior to necrosis.
MyD88 and IFN‐αβ differentially control maturation of bystander but not Salmonella‐associated dendritic cells or CD11cintCD11b+ cells during infection

The interface between dendritic cells (DCs) and T cells is critical to elicit effective immunity against pathogens. The maturation state of DCs determines the quality of the interaction and governs the type of response. DCs can be matured directly through activating Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) or indirectly by cytokines. We explore the role of the TLR adaptor MyD88 on DC maturation during Salmonella infection. Using Salmonella expressing GFP, we also examine the phenotype and function of bacteria‐associated DCs matured in the absence of bacteria‐mediated TLR signalling. MyD88 was required for upregulation of CD80 on DCs during infection, whereas CD86 and CD40 were upregulated independently of MyD88, although requiring a higher bacterial burden in the MLN. MyD88‐independent upregulation was mediated by IFN‐αβ produced during infection. In infected MyD88−/−IFN‐αβR−/− mice, which lack most bacteria‐driven TLR signalling, indirect DC maturation was abolished. In contrast, DCs containing Salmonella upregulated co‐stimulatory molecules independently of MyD88 and IFN‐αβ, revealing a pathway of phenotypic maturation active in infected DCs. However, despite high co‐stimulatory molecule expression, Salmonella‐containing DCs from MyD88−/− or MyD88−/−IFN‐αβR−/− mice had a compromised capacity to activate T cells. Thus, bacterial stimulation of TLRs influences DC function at multiple levels that modulates their capacity to direct antibacterial immunity.
The Opinions of International Students about an International Student Center’s Orientation Training

The purpose of the research is to examine how the orientation training is performed in the international student center of a U.S. university (University of California, Los Angeles/Dashew Center). The study is in the form of a case study that makes it a qualitative research. The interview was used to get the international students’ opinion about the international center and its orientation training. A total of 41 first year undergraduate and graduate international students who study at UCLA were interviewed to describing what the international students think about the orientation training at the center. The participants in this research were given information about UCLA’s general structure, purpose, students’ rights, the resources of the university, activities, student organization, possible risky situation, which they may encounter on the campus, and their responsibilities and duties, by the center during the orientation. The students’ opinions about the orientation process were mostly positive and they thought that the staff at the center were welcoming during their orientation training. The students’ attachments to the school were also positively affected by the orientation as they gathered a lot of information about their university through this process. Furthermore, students considered the online orientation offerred by the center as a beneficial service that provided constant access to information that international students need to know. The study findings withdraw attention to the necessity of constructing international student centers and organizing international student orientation sessions at universities that provide education to international students.
A Vector Angle-Based Evolutionary Algorithm for Unconstrained Many-Objective Optimization

Taking both convergence and diversity into consideration, this paper suggests a vector angle-based evolutionary algorithm for unconstrained (with box constraints only) many-objective optimization problems. In the proposed algorithm, the maximum-vector-angle-first principle is used in the environmental selection to guarantee the wideness and uniformity of the solution set. With the help of the worse-elimination principle, worse solutions in terms of the convergence (measured by the sum of normalized objectives) are allowed to be conditionally replaced by other individuals. Therefore, the selection pressure toward the Pareto-optimal front is strengthened. The proposed method is compared with other four state-of-the-art many-objective evolutionary algorithms on a number of unconstrained test problems with up to 15 objectives. The experimental results have shown the competitiveness and effectiveness of our proposed algorithm in keeping a good balance between convergence and diversity. Furthermore, it was shown by the results on two problems from practice (with irregular Pareto fronts) that our method significantly outperforms its competitors in terms of both the convergence and diversity of the obtained solution sets. Notably, the new algorithm has the following good properties: 1) it is free from a set of supplied reference points or weight vectors; 2) it has less algorithmic parameters; and 3) the time complexity of the algorithm is low. Given both good performance and nice properties, the suggested algorithm could be an alternative tool when handling optimization problems with more than three objectives.
A Welfare Based Approach for choosing the Inflation Targeting and the Exchange Regime in Tunisia

The inflation targeting is considered as an attractive monetary policy strategy in order to handle the inflation rate and improves the credibility of the central bank. The paper provides a stochastic dynamic general equilibrium model with the specificity of employing a small open economy. This model analyzes the impact of different regimes of inflation targeting and exchange rate in Tunisia in terms of the welfare loss and describes some aspects of the Tunisian’s economy. The results displays that the social loss is higher under the managed exchange rate than the flexible exchange rate regime for all the shocks. Then in terms of the inflation targeting index, it demonstrates that the consumer prices index outperforms the domestic inflation except for the productivity shock, in contrast to the result of (Parrado, 2004). Finally the strict is superior to the flexible inflation targeting except with the foreign inflation and the domestic interest rate shock.
Cardiorespiratory Effects of Forced Activity and Digestion in Toads

Digestion and physical activity are associated with large and sometimes opposite changes in several physiological parameters. Gastric acid secretion during digestion causes increased levels of plasma bicarbonate ([ \( \mathrm{HCO}\,^{-}_{3} \) ]pl), whereas activity leads to a metabolic acidosis with increased lactate and decrease in plasma bicarbonate. Here we describe the combined effects of feeding and activity in the toad Bufo marinus to investigate whether the increased bicarbonate buffering capacity during digestion (the so‐called alkaline tide) protects the acid‐base disturbance during activity and enhances the subsequent recovery. In addition, we describe the changes in arterial oxygen levels and plasma ion composition, as well as rates of gas exchange, heart rates, and blood pressures. Toads were equipped with catheters in the femoral artery and divided into four experimental regimes: control, digestion, forced activity, and forced activity during the postprandial period (N = 6 in each). Digestion induced a significant metabolic alkalosis with increased [ \( \mathrm{HCO}\,^{-}_{3} \) ]pl that was completely balanced by a respiratory acidosis; that is, increased arterial Pco2 (Paco2), so that arterial pH (pHa) did not change. Forced activity led to a substantial reduction in pHa by 0.43 units, an increase in plasma lactate concentration by 12.5 mmol L−1, and a reduction in [ \( \mathrm{HCO}\,^{-}_{3} \) ]pl of similar magnitude. While digesting animals had higher Paco2 and [ \( \mathrm{HCO}\,^{-}_{3} \) ]pl at rest, the magnitude and duration of the changes in arterial acid‐base parameters were similar to those of fasting animals, although the reduction in pHa was somewhat lower (0.32 units). In conclusion, while recovery from the acidosis following exercise did not seem to be affected by digestion, the alkaline tide did slightly dampen the reduction in pHa during activity.