Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Willingness-To-Pay for Pomegranates: Impact of Product and Health Features Using Nonhypothetical Procedures

Willingness-to-Pay for Pomegranates: Impact of Product and Health Features Using Nonhypothetical Procedures. (August 2011) Callie Pauline McAdams, B.S., North Carolina State University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Marco A. Palma The use of functional foods by individuals to address health issues is now gaining attention. Pomegranate fruits and other pomegranate products contain phytochemicals, including antioxidants with potential human health benefits. The production of pomegranates in the United States is concentrated in California; yet pomegranates can be grown in other regions. The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) to address the market potential and consumer preferences for pomegranate fruits and other pomegranate products in Texas and 2) to address issues of experimental auction design and estimation in regards to novel products and health benefits of food products. A nonhypothetical experimental procedure was developed that combined preference rankings with a uniform nth-price auction to elicit preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for pomegranate fruit products. A representative sample of subjects (n=203) from the Bryan-College Station area of Texas submitted baseline rankings and bids on six pomegranate products and a control fruit product. Of the participants, 75.4% had never purchased a pomegranate fruit. Three additional information treatments were imposed: tasting information, health
Effects of calcitonin gene‐related peptide receptor antagonists on renal actions of adrenomedullin

1 Adrenomedullin is a novel vasoactive peptide which is produced in the lungs, ventricle, kidneys, heart and adrenal medulla. Adrenomedullin shows homology to calcitonin gene‐related peptide (CGRP) and has similar pharmacological actions to CGRP. 2 This study examined the dose‐response effects of adrenomedullin (rat, 11–50) on mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), renal blood flow (RBF), glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and renal tubular electrolyte excretion in Inactin‐anaesthetized Sprague Dawley rats. The possible involvement of CGRP receptors in actions of adrenomedullin was also examined via renal arterial injection of a CGRP receptor antagonist, CGRP (8–37) (1 or 10 nmol kg−1) or [Tyr0]CGRP(28–37) (3 or 30 nmol kg−1), starting 15 min prior to the administration of adrenomedullin. 3 Renal arterial infusion (0.001 to 1 nmol kg−1) of adrenomedullin did not alter MAP, HR and renal K+ excretion but dose‐dependently increased RBF and arterial conductance, GFR, urine flow and Na+ excretion. 4 The renal actions of adrenomedullin were not blocked by either the low or the high dose of CGRP(8–37) or [Tyr0]CGRP(28–37). 5 The results show that adrenomedullin causes renal vasodilatation, increments in GFR, diuresis and natriuresis. The renal actions of adrenomedullin are not mediated via the activation of CGRP1 receptors.
Nonproteic Antioxidant Status in Plasma of Subjects with Colon Cancer

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) could be important causative agents of a number of human diseases, including cancer. Thus, antioxidants, which control the oxidative stress state, represent a major line of defense regulating overall health. Human plasma contains many different nonenzymatic antioxidants. Because of their number, it is difficult to measure each of these different antioxidants separately. In addition, the antioxidant status in human plasma is dynamic and may be affected by many factors. Thus, the relationship between nonenzymatic antioxidant capacity of plasma and levels of well-known markers of oxidative stress (oxidized proteins, lipid hydroperoxides, decreases in thiol groups) better reflects health status. The present study considers antioxidant capacity and oxidative stress in human plasma of patients with colon cancer or precancerous lesions, as well as before and after surgical removal of tumors and/or chemo/radiation therapy. Healthy blood donors were used as controls. Colon cancer patients demonstrated a significant decrease in nonproteic antioxidant status and in total thiol groups with respect to healthy controls, whereas oxidized proteins and lipid hydroperoxide levels were significantly increased. In patients with precancerous lesions, the only unmodified parameter was the thiol group level. After surgery, the levels of oxidized proteins, lipid hydroperoxides, and total thiol groups were restored to those seen in healthy subjects, whereas nonproteic antioxidant capacity remained unmodified from that determined before surgery. Conversely, chemo/radiation therapy increased both nonproteic antioxidant capacity and levels of oxidized proteins and lipid hydroperoxides and significantly decreased total thiol groups. These results further support the hypothesis that oxidative stress correlates to the risk of some forms of cancer, not only in the initial stages but also during progression.
Modelling the Structure of Cost and Production for Multiproduct Firms

Virtually all enterprises market a multiplicity of products; yet, most econometric models of production or cost presume a single homogeneous output. Moreover, models which do recognize multiple products typically specify transformation functions with severe a priori restrictions on the structure of production and cost. Recently McFadden [13; 14], Jacobsen [9], and Shephard [16] have used the principles of duality to demonstrate the existence of multiproduct cost functions corresponding to general production structures. This gives rise to the possibility of directly modelling the structure of cost for multiproduct firms without imposing arbitrary a priori restrictions on the structure of production. Two common restrictions on the structure of production are homogeneity and separability. In this paper we demonstrate that these restrictions can be relaxed by the use of a flexible multiproduct cost function. We illustrate the methodology with a data set which has been previously analyzed under restrictive specifications. The results indicate that the imposition of homogeneity and separability can greatly distort estimates of marginal costs and scale economics.
Pharmaceutical pricing policy : a critique

january 28, 2012 vol xlvii no 4 EPW Economic & Political Weekly 20 thrown out to suit the whims of the latter. This land then becomes easily available to all kinds of speculators and middlemen. For all its pious declarations not to acquire the land even of a single unwilling peasant, the “land policy” of the government of maa-maati-maanush (mother-land-man), so far as one may gather from newspaper reports, deliberately glosses over the crisis of the small producer. Moreover, it leaves the latter quite unprotected from the depredations of private buyers, spawning middlemen and the land mafia in the process. Both this declared policy and what is happening on the ground further undermine the position of the small producer in the emerging scenario of land relations in West Bengal.
Ligand‐directed signalling at β‐adrenoceptors

β‐Adrenoceptors (ARs) classically mediate responses to the endogenous ligands adrenaline and noradrenaline by coupling to Gsα and stimulating cAMP production; however, drugs designed as β‐AR agonists or antagonists can activate alternative cell signalling pathways, with the potential to influence clinical efficacy. Furthermore, drugs acting at β‐ARs have differential capacity for pathway activation, described as stimulus trafficking, biased agonism, functional selectivity or ligand‐directed signalling. These terms refer to responses where drug A has higher efficacy than drug B for one signalling pathway, but a lower efficacy than drug B for a second pathway. The accepted explanation for such responses is that drugs A and B have the capacity to induce or stabilize distinct active conformations of the receptor that in turn display altered coupling efficiency to different effectors. This is consistent with biophysical studies showing that drugs can indeed promote distinct conformational states. Agonists acting at β‐ARs display ligand‐directed signalling, but many drugs acting as cAMP antagonists are also able to activate signalling pathways central to cell survival and proliferation or cell death. The observed complexity of drug activity at β‐ARs, prototypical G protein‐coupled receptors, necessitates rethinking of the approaches used for screening and characterization of novel therapeutic agents. Most studies of ligand‐directed signalling employ recombinant cell systems with high receptor abundance. While such systems are valid for examining upstream signalling events, such as receptor conformational changes and G protein activation, they are less robust when comparing downstream signalling outputs as these are likely to be affected by complex pathway interactions.
Why Health Insurance Is Important

A grafted polyolefin polymers having high polarity produced by grafting bi-functional N-substituted diacids to maleated or other functional group grafted polyolefin. The new polymers exhibit improved water miscibility, compatability and good adhesion to polar materials such as nylon, polyester, glass, and metal substrates.
Epstein‐Barr virus and Hodgkin's disease: A comparative immunological, in situ hybridization, and polymerase chain reaction study

During recent years numerous studies have demonstrated the presence of Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) in tissues affected by Hodgkin's disease (HD). The percentage of cases with evidence of EBV infection has varied among the different studies, a positive result being highly dependent on the sensitivity of the method employed. In this study three different methods of detecting EBV in 48 cases of ‘classical’ HD (33 cases of nodular sclerosis and 15 cases of mixed cellularity) were compared: Immunohistochemistry (IH) for detection of latent membrane protein‐1 (LMP‐1), in situ hybridization (ISH) for detection of Epstein‐Barr virus early RNAs (EBER 1 and 2), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of a reiterated 110 base‐pair EBV genomic sequence of the BamHI region. In 14 cases (29%) Hodgkin's (H) and Reed‐Sternberg (RS) cells were positive for LMP‐1 using IH, and in 21 cases (44%) positive signals were seen in H‐RS cells with EBER 1 and 2 probes using ISH. A few EBER‐positive non‐malignant lymphocytes were seen in 17 cases. Thirty‐two cases (71%) were EBV‐positive by PCR. It is concluded that the PCR technique is the most sensitive method for detecting EBV in HD. However, this method cannot provide information about the cellular localization of EBV. ISH with EBER 1 and 2 probes is superior to immunohistochemical detection of LMP‐1 with regard to sensitivity. The advantage that the latter two methods have over the PCR techniques is that it is possible to analyse whether the EBV infection occurs in the H‐RS cells or in the admixed non‐malignant cell population. Furthermore, this study supports the observation that EBV is associated with a considerable number of HD cases.
A Phenome-Wide Mendelian Randomization Study of Pancreatic Cancer Using Summary Genetic Data

Background: The 5-year mortality rate for pancreatic cancer is among the highest of all cancers. Greater understanding of underlying causes could inform population-wide intervention strategies for prevention. Summary genetic data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have become available for thousands of phenotypes. These data can be exploited in Mendelian randomization (MR) phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS) to efficiently screen the phenome for potential determinants of disease risk. Methods: We conducted an MR-PheWAS of pancreatic cancer using 486 phenotypes, proxied by 9,124 genetic variants, and summary genetic data from a GWAS of pancreatic cancer (7,110 cancer cases, 7,264 controls). ORs and 95% confidence intervals per 1 SD increase in each phenotype were generated. Results: We found evidence that previously reported risk factors of body mass index (BMI; 1.46; 1.20–1.78) and hip circumference (1.42; 1.21–1.67) were associated with pancreatic cancer. We also found evidence of novel associations with metabolites that have not previously been implicated in pancreatic cancer: ADpSGEGDFXAEGGGVR*, a fibrinogen-cleavage peptide (1.60; 1.31–1.95), and O-sulfo-l-tyrosine (0.58; 0.46–0.74). An inverse association was also observed with lung adenocarcinoma (0.63; 0.54–0.74). Conclusions: Markers of adiposity (BMI and hip circumference) are potential intervention targets for pancreatic cancer prevention. Further clarification of the causal relevance of the fibrinogen-cleavage peptides and O-sulfo-l-tyrosine in pancreatic cancer etiology is required, as is the basis of our observed association with lung adenocarcinoma. Impact: For pancreatic cancer, MR-PheWAS can augment existing risk factor knowledge and generate novel hypotheses to investigate.
Exploring the boundaries of SLI: findings from morphosyntactic and story grammar analyses

The nature of morphosyntactic and story‐grammar differences were examined between children with SLI and children with language impairments that fell outside the diagnostic category for SLI solely because of their low non‐verbal cognitive abilities (LNVA). Two oral narratives were elicited from 5‐year‐old children with language impairments and age‐matched children with normally developing language. Morphosyntactic difficulties were found to be similar for children with SLI and children with LNVA. The children with SLI produced more complex stories than the children with LNVA when a complex wordless picture book was used, but not for a single scene picture stimulus. These findings challenge notions about the unique nature of SLI and, understandings of differences and similarities with other language impairments.
Workforce composition and the relationship between size, wages and productivity

As shown by previous empirical investigations and as discussed in many models, features of organizations such as human capital stock and organizational structure affect the relationship between employment, labour costs and performance. These effects play, presumably, different roles in firms acting in different industries and operating at different scales. We investigate whether, and to what extent, these phenomena shape the relationship between employed workforce and output. Much of the earlier literature starts from the observation that large firms pay higher wages, and a part of many theories striving to explain this is that larger firms also have stronger performance. Empirical evidence is, however, by no means conclusive. We are interested in investigating how the efficiency in the use of the labour input scales with the size of the firm. The current paper links Danish data to the ongoing discussion of the wage premium paid by larger firms, and it demonstrates how the dynamics of firm size, wages and performance varies significantly across industries. Lastly, the paper points to and explores tentatively some potential explanations for the heterogeneity, arguing that they can be uncovered through the analysis of models taking into account that workers belong to different categories. LEM, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, bottazzi@sssup.it DRUID/IKE, Aalborg University, jrh@business.aau. dk Corresponding
The use of sonoelastography to assess the recovery of stiffness after equine superficial digital flexor tendon injuries: A preliminary prospective longitudinal study of the healing process

BACKGROUND The objective assessment of the mechanical properties of the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) could provide useful information for the rehabilitation of horses with SDFT injuries. Assessment of strain ratio (the strain of a standard reference divided by that of lesions) is a quantitative method in sonoelastography for evaluating tissue stiffness in vivo. As yet, no longitudinal studies have used strain ratio to evaluate the progression of stiffness in SDFT injuries. OBJECTIVES To test the hypothesis that strain ratio can evaluate the recovery of stiffness during the healing of SDFT injuries. STUDY DESIGN Prospective and longitudinal study with observer-blinded evaluation. METHODS Ultrasonography, including sonoelastography, was performed in seven Thoroughbred horses with naturally occurring SDFT injuries at five time points: within 20 days of the injury, and at 2, 3, 6 and 9 months after the injury. Blinded sonoelastographic images were independently evaluated by two veterinarians to assess interobserver agreement. The recovery of stiffness and echogenicity in lesions were evaluated using the strain ratio and grey-scale ratio (echogenicity of lesions divided by that of the surrounding area), respectively. RESULTS Interobserver agreement was assessed as 'almost perfect'. Strain ratios were significantly higher at 9 months after injury than at the other time points (all P<0.05). Strain ratios at 6 months after injury were significantly higher than those at earlier time points (P<0.05). Grey-scale ratios within 20 days of injury were significantly lower than those at the other time points (all P<0.05). MAIN LIMITATIONS Validations of SDFT status were evaluated only by recovery of the echogenicity in lesions and not by histopathological examination. CONCLUSIONS Although further studies are needed to validate the relationships between injured SDFT status and sonoelastographic findings, this preliminary study shows that strain ratio may provide a means to monitor the recovery of stiffness in lesions during rehabilitation, even when the grey-scale ratio remains unchanged from a few months after SDFT injury. The Summary is available in Chinese - see Supporting Information.
A Novel Propagation Model Coupling the Offline Network with Online Social Network Framework

We present a multi-layer network propagation model including both offline and online social networks, which aims to imitate the interaction between the offline actual individuals and the online social networking ones throughout the propagation process. After that, we utilize the improved SIR model to simulate the transmission in social networks under the impact of actual individuals. In our model, the individual layer adopts the generalized linear threshold model, while the social network layer uses the improved SIR model proposed in this paper. We apply these two propagation models into a three-layer network with inter-layer links, and use Monte Carlo simulation to analyze the model dynamic properties. Furthermore, we make use of mean-field approximations to obtain the analytical solutions to the critical thresholds regarding the epidemic process. We discuss the effect of different factors on the model results, and observe whether the model has different dynamic performance from the classical SIR model as well. The present results will provide some deeper insights into how various contagion phenomena spread within many real-world networks.
The Appropriate Use of Neurostimulation: New and Evolving Neurostimulation Therapies and Applicable Treatment for Chronic Pain and Selected Disease States

The International Neuromodulation Society (INS) has determined that there is a need to provide an expert consensus that defines the appropriate use of neuromodulation technologies for appropriate patients. The Neuromodulation Appropriateness Consensus Committee (NACC) was formed to give guidance to current practice and insight into future developments.
Characterizing Honeybee Cuticular Hydrocarbons During Foraging

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) adjust their time and effort during foraging activity. Their metabolic rates together with body temperature rise while gathering profitable resources. These physiological changes may result in a differential cuticular profile, which in turn may bear communicational value. We evaluated if sucrose concentration of collected food affects the cuticular chemistry of honeybees during foraging. We trained bees to artificial feeders with high (2 M) and low (0.5 M) sucrose concentrations, and captured the active foragers for surface extraction of cuticular compounds. We sampled foragers just after feeding, before taking-off towards the hive, and upon landing at the hive entrance, before entering the hive. Through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of cuticular extracts, we identified and quantified 48 compounds, including cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) and volatiles associated with exocrine glands. We found that higher sucrose concentrations resulted in increased amounts of alkanes and alkenes in the surface extracts of foragers captured at the hive entrance, but not at the feeding site. Our results suggest that the differences that have been reported for CHCs in waggle-dancing honey bees can be already found once they return to the hive from profitable food sources.
Role of sulfhydryl-dependent dimerization of soluble guanylyl cyclase in relaxation of porcine coronary artery to nitric oxide.

AIMS Soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) is a heterodimer. The dimerization of the enzyme is obligatory for its function in mediating actions caused by agents that elevate cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). The present study aimed to determine whether sGC dimerization is modulated by thiol-reducing agents and whether its dimerization influences relaxations in response to nitric oxide (NO). METHODS AND RESULTS The dimers and monomers of sGC and cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) were analysed by western blotting. The intracellular cGMP content was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Changes in isometric tension were determined in organ chambers. In isolated porcine coronary arteries, the protein levels of sGC dimer were decreased by the thiol reductants dithiothreitol, l-cysteine, reduced l-glutathione and tris(2-carboxyethyl) phosphine. The effect was associated with reduced cGMP elevation and attenuated relaxations in response to nitric oxide donors. The dimerization of sGC and activation of the enzyme were also decreased by dihydrolipoic acid, an endogenous thiol antioxidant. Dithiothreitol at concentrations markedly affecting the dimerization of sGC had no significant effect on the dimerization of PKG or relaxation in response to 8-Br-cGMP. Relaxation of the coronary artery in response to a NO donor was potentiated by hypoxia when sGC was partly inhibited, coincident with an increase in sGC dimer and enhanced cGMP production. These effects were prevented by dithiothreitol and tris(2-carboxyethyl) phosphine. CONCLUSION These results demonstrate that the dimerization of sGC is exquisitely sensitive to thiol reductants compared with that of PKG, which may provide a novel mechanism for thiol-dependent modulation of NO-mediated vasodilatation in conditions such as hypoxia.