Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Inverse Association between Age and Cholesterol Level among Older Patients: The Role of Poor Health Status

Background: The total cholesterol concentration decreases with age in older people. The reasons for this phenomenon are controversial. This study investigated the hypothesis that poor health status is a determinant of the inverse association between age and cholesterol in older persons. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 2,486 (53% women) older medical patients (≧65 years) admitted at 35 centers of the Gruppo Italiano di Farmacovigilanza nell’Anziano (GIFA) study in Italy. Total cholesterol was measured on the first day after admission to the hospital. Disease burden and comorbidity were assessed by the Charlson index; low serum albumin and iron were considered markers of frailty and poor health. Results: In men there was a significant, inverse age-cholesterol relationship (–0.97 mg/dl per year, p < 0.001). In women the association was nonlinear and cholesterol significantly decreased after the age of 75 (–0.95 mg/dl per year, p < 0.005). In multiple linear regression analysis, indicators of poor health accounted for almost two thirds of the crude effect of age on the cholesterol level in both men and women (adjusted coefficients for age were: for men, –0.38 mg/dl per year, p = 0.044; for women after the age of 75, –0.37 mg/dl per year, p = 0.205). The unadjusted probability of having low cholesterol significantly increased with age among men (p for trend <0.005). In multiple logistic regression, indicators of poor health were strongly associated with low cholesterol in both men and women. After adjusting for indicators of poor health, the association between age and low cholesterol in men was no longer present. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the age-dependent reduction of cholesterol often observed in clinical and epidemiologic studies is substantially explained by the effect of poor health status. Low cholesterol in older persons may be a marker of poor health.
Competition and the Use of Discretion in Financial Reporting: Evidence from Community Banks

This paper explores firms’ use of discretion in financial reporting as a means to deter entry. The analysis uses the setting of deregulation in interstate branch banking, and a sample of community banks for whom geographic location is a critical aspect of competition. I provide empirical evidence that banks increase their loss provisioning and appear less profitable when faced with an increased threat of competition. Future losses do not justify the increase in provisions. The findings are consistent with managers’ and regulators’ use of discretion in financial reporting. Survey-based evidence collected as part of this study supports the premise that banks prefer to locate in markets where incumbents have high profitability and low credit losses, and that banks use competitors’ financial statements in analyzing their competition. ∗I am grateful to my thesis adviser Maureen McNichols, and committee members David Larcker and Joseph Piotroski. I would also like to thank Lisa De Simone, William Floyd, Saumitra Jha, Rebecca Lester, Ivan Marinovic, and seminar participants at Stanford University for helpful suggestions. I am grateful to Tara Rice, Amit Seru, and Philip Strahan for sharing data, as well as Nicholas Hall and Neil Malhotra for help with the survey questionnaire. I thank staff at the American Bankers Association for help with conducting the survey, survey participants, as well as bankers who agreed to be interviewed. An online appendix to this paper can be downloaded at https://sites.google. com/a/stanford.edu/rtomy/home/appendix. Please send any comments or feedback to rtomy@stanford.edu.
Estimating Probability of Informed Trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange

Informed trading is a major concern within the domain of financial markets microstructure, as it represents a proxy for the efficient functioning of a market during a specific timeframe. The implications of whether information asymmetries occur on financial markets are important. From a trading perspective, excess information events can lead to efficiency biases and can also be associated with spikes in intraday volatility, as well as sharp modifications of intraday liquidity. The probability of informed trading (PIN) metric can provide a viable mean for noise traders in understanding rapid fluctuations in microstructure indicators, such as those indicated above. Even though PIN estimation has been covered in the academic literature from a microstructure vantage point, to our knowledge there are no studies assessing the relationship between macroeconomic variables and the PIN. We find that the exchange rate, the interest rate and the oil price are better suited than microstructure indicators to explain the PIN on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The current study brings insight into the dynamics of certain macroeconomic indicators and informational asymmetries on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Furthermore, estimating the PIN on this stock market has not yet been tackled in the current literature.
A Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Docking Site in the Cytoplasmic Tail of the Jaagsiekte Sheep Retrovirus Transmembrane Protein Is Essential for Envelope-Induced Transformation of NIH 3T3 Cells

ABSTRACT Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) is the causative agent of a transmissible lung cancer of sheep known as ovine pulmonary carcinoma. Recently, we have found that the expression of the JSRV envelope (Env) is sufficient to transform mouse NIH 3T3 cells in classical transformation assays. To further investigate the mechanisms of JSRV oncogenesis, we generated a series of envelope chimeras between JSRV and the JSRV-related endogenous retroviruses of sheep (enJSRVs) and assessed them in transformation assays. Chimeras containing the exogenous JSRV SU region and the enJSRV TM region were unable to transform NIH 3T3 cells. Additional chimeras containing only the carboxy-terminal portion of TM (a region that we previously identified as VR3) of the endogenous envelope with SU and the remaining portion of TM from the exogenous JSRV were also unable to transform NIH 3T3 cells. The VR3 region includes the putative membrane-spanning region and cytoplasmic tail of the JSRV TM glycoprotein; this suggested that the cytoplasmic tail of the JSRV Env mediates transformation, possibly via a cell signaling mechanism. Mutations Y590 and M593 in the cytoplasmic tail of the JSRV envelope were sufficient to inhibit the transforming abilities of these constructs. Y590 and M593 are part of a Y-X-X-M motif that is recognized by the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI-3K). PI-3K initiates a cell signaling pathway that inhibits apoptosis and is required for a number of mitogens during the G1-to-S-phase transition of the cell cycle. PI-3K activates Akt by phosphorylation of threonine 308 and serine 473. We detected by Western blot analysis phosphorylated Akt in serum-starved MP1 cells (NIH 3T3 cells transformed by JSRV) but not in the parental NIH 3T3 cells. These data indicate that the cytoplasmic tail of the JSRV TM is necessary for cell transformation and suggest a new mechanism of retroviral transformation. In addition, the ability to dissociate the function of the JSRV envelope to mediate viral entry from its transforming capacity has direct relevance for the design of JSRV-based vectors that target the differentiated epithelial cells of the lungs.
Structural Studies of Cinnamoyl-CoA Reductase and Cinnamyl-Alcohol Dehydrogenase, Key Enzymes of Monolignol Biosynthesis[C][W]

The enzymes cinnamoyl-CoA reductase and cinnamyl-alcohol dehydrogenase participate in the generation of building blocks for plant lignin-polymers. Their structures reported here shed light on the mechanisms of enzyme activity and regulation and on the determinants of substrate specificity. These findings may ultimately aid in the rational engineering of lignin composition in plants. The enzymes cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR) and cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) catalyze the two key reduction reactions in the conversion of cinnamic acid derivatives into monolignol building blocks for lignin polymers in plant cell walls. Here, we describe detailed functional and structural analyses of CCRs from Medicago truncatula and Petunia hybrida and of an atypical CAD (CAD2) from M. truncatula. These enzymes are closely related members of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) superfamily. Our structural studies support a reaction mechanism involving a canonical SDR catalytic triad in both CCR and CAD2 and an important role for an auxiliary cysteine unique to CCR. Site-directed mutants of CAD2 (Phe226Ala and Tyr136Phe) that enlarge the phenolic binding site result in a 4- to 10-fold increase in activity with sinapaldehyde, which in comparison to the smaller coumaraldehyde and coniferaldehyde substrates is disfavored by wild-type CAD2. This finding demonstrates the potential exploitation of rationally engineered forms of CCR and CAD2 for the targeted modification of monolignol composition in transgenic plants. Thermal denaturation measurements and structural comparisons of various liganded and unliganded forms of CCR and CAD2 highlight substantial conformational flexibility of these SDR enzymes, which plays an important role in the establishment of catalytically productive complexes of the enzymes with their NADPH and phenolic substrates.
Housing Disinvestment and Crime in a Phoenix Suburb: Exploring the Differential Effects of Investors and Owner-Occupants

External investment in neighborhoods can inhibit crime. However, during the housing crisis, many investors were foreclosed upon, triggering large-scale community disinvestment. Yet the impact of this type of disinvestment on crime is currently unknown. Combining data on crime incidents with foreclosure, home sales, and sociodemographic data, this research assesses whether the foreclosure of properties owned by investors has an effect on crime in neighborhoods in Chandler, Arizona, a suburb in the heavily affected Phoenix region. Neighborhoods with a greater proportion of foreclosures on investors (FOIs) have higher total and property crime rates in the short term. In Hispanic neighborhoods, a greater proportion of FOIs result in lower rates of crime. Results suggest that neighborhood stabilization efforts should consider the role of investors in driving short-term crime rates, and that police and code enforcement strategies might prioritize neighborhoods with a high proportion of investor foreclosures.
Subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness alters cooling time during cryotherapy.

OBJECTIVE To determine if differing subcutaneous adipose thickness alters the treatment duration required to produce a standard cooling effect during cryotherapy. DESIGN A 4-group, between-groups comparison in which the independent variable was skinfold thickness (0-10mm, 11-20mm, 21-30mm, 31-40mm) and the dependent variable was cooling time, defined as the treatment duration required to decrease intramuscular (IM) temperature 7 degrees C from baseline. SETTING A sports injury research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS Forty-seven volunteers with anterior thigh skinfold measurement of less than 40mm. INTERVENTION Topical cryotherapy (750g crushed-ice bag) to the anterior thigh to produce a typical cooling effect, defined as IM temperature at 1cm subadipose declining by 7 degrees C. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Cryotherapy treatment duration required to produce a standardized cooling effect in subjects with differing subcutaneous adipose thickness. RESULTS Analysis of variance revealed that mean time to cool IM tissues by 7 degrees C differed across all groups, with cooling time increasing as adipose thickness increased. The mean +/- standard deviation cooling times were as follows: 31-40mm (58.6+/-11.7min), 21-30mm (37.8+/-9.6min), 11-20mm (23.3+/-6.7min), and 0-10mm (8.0+/-3.4min). CONCLUSIONS During cold application, there is a clinically important direct relationship between adipose thickness and required cooling time. This relationship necessitates dramatic adjustments to cryotherapy duration to produce similar IM temperature changes. A 25-minute treatment may be adequate for a patient with a skinfold of 20mm or less; however, a 40-minute application is required to produce similar results in a patients with skinfolds between 21 and 30mm, whereas a 60-minute application is required for patients with skinfolds of 30 to 40mm.
Evaluation of opa-Based Real-Time PCR for Detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Objectives: Detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by commercial and in-house–based assays has been hampered by false-positive and false-negative results. The current study describes a sensitive and specific real-time 5′-nuclease PCR assay targeting a 90-bp region of the multicopy opa gene. Goal: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of this assay in detection of gonococcus. Study: Sensitivity and specificity were determined by testing a panel of 173 microorganisms. In addition, 135 clinical samples previously evaluated by 4 nucleic acid amplification methods were also tested. Results: A sensitivity of 1 copy per reaction was achieved. Positive results were only obtained for N gonorrhoeae strains including 20 cppB-negative strains. Overall, 134 of 135 clinical sample results agreed with the consensus nucleic amplification methods. Conclusion: This study demonstrates opa-based target can be used as an accurate and rapid PCR assay for the detection of N gonorrhoeae in clinical specimens.
The demographic window of opportunity : age structure and sub-national economic growth in developing countries

The demographic window of opportunity that some of the poorest countries of our world are currently entering offers a unique opportunity for economic growth. For a restricted number of years, the size of the working age population is at its maximum compared to the size of the dependent population and hence a high productive capacity goes together with low caring costs for the young and the old. To make optimal use of this “demographic dividend” it is important to gain insight into the circumstances under which this favorable demographic situation is associated with most economic growth. However, almost all studies in this area focus on economic growth at the national level, whereas economic growth is a regional phenomena with often huge variation in growth rate between different areas of a country. This study enriches the literature by exploring the effect of the demographic window of opportunity on economic growth at the sub-national level within developing countries. Using a multilevel convergence growth model, we analyze the changes in economic growth within 367 districts of 39 developing countries from all regions of the developing world. The empirical results demonstrate a robust positive effect of both the share of the working age population and of the growth rate of this share. By including interaction effects it is shown that the effect of the youth dependency ratio is conditional on whether a district has a tropical climate and on whether it’s located in North Africa and the Middle East.
Effects of Chronic Vanadate Administration in the STZ-Induced Diabetic Rat: The Antihyperglycemic Action of Vanadate Is Attributable Entirely to Its Suppression of Feeding

Vanadate treatment can lower glycemia in diabetic rats. This action is generally attributed to vanadate's insulinomimetic properties, but vanadate also inhibits feeding, which could lower blood glucose. We therefore assessed the contribution of hypophagia to vanadate's antihyperglycemic action in a 3-week study of streptozocin-induced (STZ) diabetic rats. Untreated diabetic rats (n = 8) ate 54% more food than nondiabetic control rats (P < 0.001). Diabetic rats given sodium metavanadate (0.5 mg in 0.5 ml of water by gavage twice daily; n = 8) had significantly lower food intakes (P < 0.001) than untreated diabetic rats. In vanadate-treated diabetic rats, blood glucose levels were significantly lower than in untreated diabetic rats (P < 0.001). Untreated diabetic rats pair-fed to the food intake of the vanadate-treated diabetic rats (n = 8) showed virtually identical blood glucose falls (P > 0.05 vs. vanadate-treated diabetic rats). Vanadate treatment did not affect plasma insulin concentrations in diabetic rats. In nondiabetic rats (n = 8), vanadate treatment significantly reduced food intake (P < 0.05) and also lowered plasma insulin concentrations (P < 0.05) without significantly affecting glycemia. To investigate the mechanism of vanadate's hypophagic effect, we also measured regional hypothalamic levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY), a potent central appetite stimulant that is thought to drive hyperphagia in STZ-induced diabetes. Hypothalamic NPY concentrations rise markedly in diabetes and are normalized by insulin replacement. Unlike insulin, vanadate treatment did not normalize regional hypothalamic NPY concentrations in diabetic rats. Vanadate does not therefore appear to exert an insulin-like action at the hypothalamic level; its hypophagic action does not appear to involve inhibition of NPYergic pathways in the hypothalamus. We conclude that the glucose-lowering effect of vanadate in STZ-induced diabetic rats can be explained by its inhibition of feeding. Although vanadate has certain insulinomimetic effects in vitro and in vivo, the role of these effects in vanadate's antidiabetic actions must be critically reexamined.
[Cardiovascular risk factors in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism].

BACKGROUND/AIMS Overt hypothyroidism is disease associated with accelerated arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease. Whether subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk is contraversial. As SH is a high prevalence thyroid dysfunction, specially in older women, it is important to evaluate cardiovascular risk factors in these patients and that was the aim of this study. METHODS We examined 30 patients with SH and 20 healthy controls. Subclinical hypothireoidism was defined as an elevated thyrotropin (TSH) (> 4.5 mU/L) and normal free thyroxine (FT4) level. In all the participants we determined body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, TSH, FT4, antibodies to thyroid peroxidase, antibodies to thyroglobulin, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglicerides, total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio and LDL/HDL cholesterol ratio. RESULTS Mean BMI in patients with SH was significantly higher (p < 0.05), as well as diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.01) compared with the controls. Average levels of total cholesterol (5.40 +/- 0.62 vs 5.06 +/- 0.19 mmol/l, p < 0.01) and triglycerides (2.16 +/- 0.56 vs 1.89 +/- 0.24 mmol/l, p < 0.05) were also significantly higher in the group with SH. Individual analysis revealed that the percentage of patients with SH having borderline elevated total cholesterol (63.33%), hypertrigliceridemia (43.33%) and elevated total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio (26.67%) were significantly higher than the percentage in the controls. No significant correlation between TSH and lipid parameters was detected. CONCLUSION Subclinical hypothyroidism was associated with higher BMI, diastolic hypertension, higher total cholesterol and triglicerides levels and higher total cholesterol/HDL cholesterols ratio. This might increase the risk of accelerated arteriosclerosis in patients with SH.
N‐linked oligosaccharides are necessary and sufficient for association of glycosylated forms of bovine RNase with calnexin and calreticulin.

Calnexin and calreticulin are lectin‐like molecular chaperones that promote folding and assembly of newly synthesized glycoproteins in the endoplasmic reticulum. While it is well established that they interact with substrate monoglucosylated N‐linked oligosaccharides, it has been proposed that they also interact with polypeptide moieties. To test this notion, glycosylated forms of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease (RNase) were translated in the presence of microsomes and their folding and association with calnexin and calreticulin were monitored. When expressed with two N‐linked glycans in the presence of micromolar concentrations of deoxynojirimycin, this small soluble protein was found to bind firmly to both calnexin and calreticulin. The oligosaccharides were necessary for association, but it made no difference whether the RNase was folded or not. This indicated that unlike other chaperones, calnexin and calreticulin do not select their substrates on the basis of folding status. Moreover, enzymatic removal of the oligosaccharide chains using peptide N‐glycosidase F or removal of the glucoses by ER glucosidase II resulted in dissociation of the complexes. This indicated that the lectin‐like interaction, and not a protein‐protein interaction, played the central role in stabilizing RNase‐calnexin/calreticulin complexes.
The Role of Exports in the Economic Growth of Nigeria: The Bounds Test Analysis

This paper uses a robust estimation technique referred to as the bounds test analysis - unrestricted error correction model to analyze the long-run relationships between exports and economic growth for Nigeria over the period 1979-2005. Based on the model, exports, labour force and economic liberalization policies (since 1986) have stimulated economic growth, whereas, imports and exchange rate negatively impacted on economic growth. Our results showed that economic growth, exports, imports labour force and exchange rate are cointegrated. The estimated long-run (short-run) elasticities of economic growth with respect to exports and imports are 1.46(0.656) and -0.234(-0.10659) respectively. Further analysis showed economic growth uni-directionally Granger- causes exports during the period of study. Thus, this study does not provide evidence to support the export-led economic growth hypothesis in the Nigerian economy.
Short-term variability in measures of glycemia and implications for the classification of diabetes.

BACKGROUND Short-term variability in measures of glycemia has important implications for the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus and the conduct and interpretation of epidemiologic studies. Our objectives were to characterize the within-person variability in fasting glucose, 2-hour glucose, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels and to assess the impact of using repeated measurements for classification of diabetes. METHODS We analyzed repeated measurements from 685 fasting participants without diagnosed diabetes from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III Second Examination, a substudy conducted from 1988 to 1994 in which repeated examinations were conducted approximately 2 weeks after the original examination. RESULTS Two-hour glucose levels had substantially more variability (within-person coefficient of variation [CV(w)], 16.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 15.0 to 18.3) compared with either fasting glucose (CV(w), 5.7%; 95% CI, 5.3 to 6.1) or HbA1c (CV(w,) 3.6%; 95% CI, 3.2 to 4.0) levels. The proportion of persons with a fasting glucose level of 126 mg/dL or higher (to convert to millimoles per liter, multiply by 0.0555) on the first test who also had a second glucose level of 126 mg/dL or higher was 70.4% (95% CI, 49.8% to 86.2%). Results were similar using the 2-hour glucose cutoff point of 140 mg/dL or higher. The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes using a single fasting glucose level of 126 mg/dL or higher was 3.7%. If a second fasting glucose level of 126 mg/dL or higher was used to confirm the diagnosis (American Diabetes Association guidelines), the prevalence decreased to 2.8% (95% CI, 1.5% to 4.0%), a 24.4% decrease. CONCLUSIONS We found high variability in 2-hour glucose levels relative to fasting glucose levels and high variability in both of these relative to HbA1c levels. Our findings suggest that studies that strictly apply guidelines for the diagnosis of diabetes (2 glucose measurements) may arrive at substantially different prevalence estimates compared with studies that use only a single measurement.