Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combinatorial strategies for cancer eradication by silibinin and cytotoxic agents: efficacy and mechanisms

AbstractIn an effort to develop effective alternative strategies that increase the therapeutic efficacy and minimize the systemic toxicity of chemotherapeutic agents, more efforts are being directed towards the investigation of dietary supplements and other phytotherapeutic agents for their synergistic efficacy in combination with anticancer drugs. One such agent is silibinin, which has shown promising chemopreventive and anticancer effects in various in vitro and in vivo studies. The present review summarizes the effects of the combination of silibinin and chemotherapeutic drugs on the growth inhibition, cell cycle regulation, and apoptosis induction in prostate, breast, and lung cancer systems. Together, the results indicate a synergistic effect of silibinin on growth inhibition, reversal of chemoresistance, apoptosis induction, and a strong increase in G2–M checkpoint arrest when given in combination with these drugs. These results are highly significant with respect to the combined chemotherapy approach, wherein the criteria for combination is that the response has to be synergistic and that the drugs should not share common mechanisms of resistance and not overlap in their major side-effects.
Alanine racemase activity in the microalga thalassiosira sp.

In this paper, the authors report the detection of alanine racemase activity in the marine diatom Thalassiosira sp. Since the Thalassiosira sp. was cultured under germ-free conditions, it appeared that D-alanine was not derived from bacteria but was produced through catalysis by algal alanine racemase. The rate of conversion of L-alanine to D-alanine was approximately the same as that for the reverse reaction, and the enzyme catalyzed the equilibration of the D- and L-forms. The crude enzyme preparation obtained from the cells at the stationary phase of the growth cycle had an optimal pH of approximately 9.5. The Lineweaver—Burk analysis showed that the Km for D- and L-alanine was 16.5 mM and 29.4 mM, respectively. It appears that the enzyme is highly specific for D- or L-alanine because it does not catalyze the racemization of other amino acids. In addition, after gel filtration, the enzyme did not require exogenous pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) for its activity, however, the effects of several chemicals suggest that the enzyme may be PLP-dependent. The enzyme is more similar to that found in invertebrates when compared with that found in bacteria. This is the first report on the occurrence of alanine racemase activity in the microalga Thalassiosira sp.
Barriers and Pathways to Diffusion of Methamphetamine Use Among African Americans in the Rural South

Abstract There are no studies of African Americans', methamphetamine use in the South where it is widespread among whites. We describe factors that inhibit or facilitate the diffusion of methamphetamine use among African Americans based on qualitative interviews with 86 drug users in rural Arkansas and Kentucky. Results suggest low prevalence of methamphetamine use among African Americans, and interviewees cited several barriers to its diffusion which were linked to the drug's ingredients, psychoactive and physiological effects, difficulty in accessing distribution networks, and established African-American preference for cocaine. Fourteen African Americans reported methamphetamine use and discussed pathways to it. Possible increases in African-American methamphetamine use merits further investigation.
The Impact of International Remittance on Poverty, Household Consumption and Investment in Urban Ethiopia: Evidence from Cross-Sectional Measures

International remittance is an essential source of foreign exchange for Ethiopia, perhaps larger than the export earning of the country in its foreign exchange generation capacity. In the year 2013; total international remittance in Ethiopia reached 557 million USD from 387 million USD in 2010 according to World Bank Report. To assess the impact of international remittances on poverty, household consumption and investment in urban Ethiopia, this study used primary household survey data collected from four major urban areas of the country namely Addis Ababa, Gonder, Hawassa and Mekelle. The study applies both descriptive and empirical analysis; using Heckman two stage selection model the study finds that international remittances substantially reduce the level, depth and severity of poverty. For the sub sample of households which receive remittances poverty head count index, poverty gap and squared poverty gap declined by 64 percent, 67 percent and 70 percent respectively. Similarly the study found that all remittance receiving households spend part of their remittance income mainly on food and non durable goods. Yet, a good number of households are also used part of it for investment such as health, education and housing. Nevertheless; relatively insignificant number of households save part of remittance income and none of them used it to invest in entrepreneurial or other income generating activities. Keywords: International Remittance, Poverty and Household Consumption and Investment
Information technology investment and China's economic growth

While the rapid growth of gross domestic product (GDP) and information technology (IT) investment in China has been seen in recent years, there has little research on interpreting Chinese economic growth from a perspective emphasizing IT as a factor. The paper focuses on the role of information technology in Chinese economic growth during the period from 1990 to 2004, and examines the growth contribution made by information technology with production function and regression methods. Our results indicate that the Chinese economic growth rate devoted to IT investment has risen steadily since 1990. The contribution share of total factor productivity (TFP) from IT in China has increased sharply after 1995, while the TFP growth rate from non-IT sector dropped at that period. Compared with the results of IT contribution to the United States economy, the paper adds to our understanding of how IT affects Chinese economic growth.
Whither the Local Parties?.7 A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analysis of the Strength of Party Organizations*

The authors have earlier demonstrated that state and national party organizations have increased in strength in the last few decades. Here they assess the nature of change in the attributes of local party organizations. They find that local parties have not become less active and less organized over the past two decades. Most sustain a fairly high level of programmatic activity and a significant minority of them conduct some party-maintenance activity in nonelection periods. The strength of local party organizations varies significantly by region, but not by party. Local organizational strength is relatively independent of the strength of the state party organizations, despite the substantial assistance state parties give to their local counterparts. These findings complicate the party demise thesis by suggesting that the consequences of change in one component of party must be assessed within the context of possibly dissimilar and maybe even compensatory change in the other components of party. The last 20 years have not been kind to American political parties. Parties appear less able at performing their traditional functions than in the past: the ability to structure the vote is diminished as the partisan attachments of the electorate weaken; control over candidates' access to the party label is loosened as "democratization" opens primary processes to those with marginal party attachments; candidates eschew party election support and turn to political action committees and campaign consultants instead, thereby reducing the incentives to defer to the party; and the ability of parties to organize the government is waning. Generally, it seems that the forces contributing to the maintenance of the existing parties and party system are badly eroded. But there is also evidence that parties as organizations have grown stronger
Defense Enzyme Responses in Dormant Wild Oat and Wheat Caryopses Challenged with a Seed Decay Pathogen

Seeds have well-established passive physical and chemical defense mechanisms that protect their food reserves from decay-inducing organisms and herbivores. However, there are few studies evaluating potential biochemical defenses of dormant seeds against pathogens. Caryopsis decay by the pathogenic Fusarium avenaceum strain F.a. 1 was relatively rapid in wild oat (Avena fatua L.) isoline “M73,” with >50% decay after 8 days with almost no decay in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) var. RL4137. Thus, this fungal strain has potential for selective decay of wild oat relative to wheat. To study defense enzyme activities, wild oat and wheat caryopses were incubated with F.a. 1 for 2–3 days. Whole caryopses were incubated in assay reagents to measure extrinsic defense enzyme activities. Polyphenol oxidase, exochitinase, and peroxidase were induced in whole caryopses, but oxalate oxidase was reduced, in response to F.a. 1 in both species. To evaluate whether defense enzyme activities were released from the caryopsis surface, caryopses were washed with buffer and enzyme activity was measured in the leachate. Significant activities of polyphenol oxidase, exochitinase, and peroxidase, but not oxalate oxidase, were leached from caryopses. Defense enzyme responses were qualitatively similar in the wild oat and wheat genotypes evaluated. Although the absolute enzyme activities were generally greater in whole caryopses than in leachates, the relative degree of induction of polyphenol oxidase, exochitinase, and peroxidase by F.a. 1 was greater in caryopsis leachates, indicating that a disproportionate quantity of the induced activity was released into the environment from the caryopsis surface, consistent with their assumed role in defense. It is unlikely that the specific defense enzymes studied here play a key role in the differential susceptibility to decay by F.a. 1 in these two genotypes since defense enzyme activities were greater in the more susceptible wild oat, compared to wheat. Results are consistent with the hypotheses that (1) dormant seeds are capable of mounting complex responses to pathogens, (2) a diversity of defense enzymes are involved in responses in multiple plant species, and (3) it is possible to identify fungi capable of selective decay of weed seeds without damaging crop seeds, a concept that may be applicable to weed management in the field. While earlier work on seed defenses demonstrated the presence of passive defenses, this work shows that dormant seeds are also quite responsive and capable of activating and releasing defense enzymes in response to a pathogen.
Sexual patterns in the labroid fishes of the Western Caribbean, II, the parrotfishes (Scaridae)

Warner, Robert R. , and D. Ross Robertson. Sexual Patterns in the Labroid Fishes of the Western Caribbean, I: The Wrasses (Labridae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, number 254, 27 pages, 11 figures, 7 tables, 1978. —We report here on the results of a two year investigation into the interactions of sex change, coloration, and mating behavior in nine Caribbean wrasses (Bodianus rufus, Halichoeres bivittatus, H. garnoti, H. maculipinna, H. pictus, H. poeyi, H. radiatus, Clepticus parrae, and Thalassoma bifasciatum). For each species, we outline (1) the distribution of sexual types according to size and coloration, (2) the testis weights of different types of males, (3) characteristic habitat and relative abundance, (4) the social and mating system, and (5) breeding seasonality. In all dichromatic labrid species, sex change from female to male appears to precede a change of coloration into the bright terminal phase. Two wrasses (B. rufus and C. parrae) that lack non-sex-changed (primary) males have mating systems in which terminal phase males can effectively control the spawning of the females. Other labrid species have lek-type mating systems, within which small primary males interfere in the spawnings of large terminal males. This activity is reflected in the high testis weight of these small males, who face sperm competition in mating. There is a general correlation between population density (measured by relative abundance) and frequency of primary males. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION DATE is handstamped in a limited number of initial copies and is recorded in the Institution's annual report, Smithsonian Year. SERIES COVER DESIGN: The coral Montastrea cavernosa (Linnaeus). Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Warner, Robert R. Sexual patterns in the labroid fishes of the western Caribbean. (Smithsonian contributions to zoology ; no. 254) Bibliography: p.
A prediction of internship performance.

Previous studies of predictors for occupational therapy internship performance were based on the Report of Student Performance, the tool used before 1974 to evaluate students' clinical performance. The instrument was never tested for validity or reliability. No studies for prediction of clinical performance used the present Field Work Performance Report (FWPR), which was tested for validity and reliability before its adoption late in 1973. Thus, new studies using the FWPR were indicated. Grades from 16 selected college courses and the pre-occupational therapy grade-point average were studied to determine significant relationships with the physical disability intership grades of 72 students from Colorado State University. Neurology was significant at the . 0004 level. Further study is necessary to confirm the present findings and to determine additional predictors for clinical performance of Colorado State University students.
Tau Positron Emission Tomographic Imaging in the Lewy Body Diseases.

Importance The causes of cognitive impairment in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson disease (PD) are multifactorial. Tau pathologic changes are commonly observed at autopsy in individuals with DLB and PD dementia, but their contribution to these diseases during life is unknown. Objective To contrast tau aggregation in DLB, cognitively impaired persons with PD (PD-impaired), cognitively normal individuals with PD (PD-normal), and healthy persons serving as control participants, and to evaluate the association between tau aggregation, amyloid deposition, and cognitive function. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study was conducted from January 1, 2014, to April 28, 2016, in a tertiary care center's memory and movement disorders units. Twenty-four patients with Lewy body disease (7 DLB, 8 PD-impaired, and 9 PD-normal) underwent multimodal brain imaging, cognitive testing, and neurologic evaluation, and imaging measures were compared with those of an independently acquired group of 29 controls with minimal brain amyloid burden as measured with carbon 11-labeled Pittsburgh Compound B ([11C]PiB) positron emission tomography (PET). Exposures Imaging with fluorine 18-labeled AV-1451 ([18F]AV-1451) (formerly known as [18F]T807), [11C]PiB PET, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), neurologic examination, and detailed cognitive testing using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Rating scale. Main Outcomes and Measures Main outcomes were differentiation of diagnostic groups on the basis of [18F]AV-1451 binding, the association of [18F]AV-1451 binding with [11C]PiB binding, and the association of [18F]AV-1451 binding with cognitive impairment. All but 3 individuals underwent amyloid imaging with [11C]PiB PET. The hypotheses being tested were formulated before data collection. Mini-Mental State Examination (range, 0-30, with 30 being best) and Clinical Dementia Rating scale sum-of-boxes scale (range, 0-18, with 0 being best) were used for assessment of cognitive function. Results In patients with DLB, cortical [18F]AV-1451 uptake was highly variable and greater than in the controls, particularly in the inferior temporal gyrus and precuneus. Foci of increased [18F]AV-1451 binding in the inferior temporal gyrus and precuneus were also evident in PD-impaired patients. Elevated cortical [18F]AV-1451 binding was observed in 4 of 17 patients with Lewy body disease with low cortical [11C]PiB retention. For DLB and PD-impaired patients, greater [18F]AV-1451 uptake in the inferior temporal gyrus and precuneus was associated with increased cognitive impairment as measured with the MMSE and the Clinical Dementia Rating scale sum-of-boxes score. Conclusions and Relevance Patients with Lewy body disease manifest a spectrum of tau pathology. Cortical aggregates of tau are common in patients with DLB and in PD-impaired patients, even in those without elevated amyloid levels. When present, tau deposition is associated with cognitive impairment. These findings support a role for tau copathology in the Lewy body diseases.
IMPLICATIONS OF HYPERGLYCEMIA FOR POST-EXERCISE RESYNTHESIS OF GLYCOGEN IN TROUT SKELETAL MUSCLE

Rates of whole-body glucose turnover and muscle-specific glucose utilization were determined in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) at rest and at intervals during recovery from burst swimming. Plasma glucose level was high in the experimental animals (range 6­38 mmol l-1), but hyperglycemia was not related specifically to exercise. Estimated glucose turnover, 19.3±2.6 (rest) and 15.8±3.9 µmol min-1 kg-1 (recovery), was also highly variable, but was linearly associated with plasma glucose concentration (turnover=0.97[glucose]+0.57, r=0.93) in both resting and recovering fish. While utilization of glucose in the whole animal was clearly responsive to plasma glucose availability, estimated total skeletal muscle disposal of glucose accounted for less than 15 % of glucose turnover, indicating that glucose was utilized largely by tissues other than locomotory muscle. Rates of glucose utilization in white muscle (range 0.5­4 nmol min-1 g-1) provide direct evidence that glucose, regardless of plasma concentration, accounted for less than 10 % of glycogen repletion during exercise recovery. In red muscle, glucose uptake was influenced by plasma glucose level below 10­12 mmol l-1 (utilization range 1­15 nmol min-1 g-1), but was independent of glucose concentration above about 12 mmol l-1 (utilization plateaued at 15­20 nmol min-1 g-1). Trout red muscle is similar to mammalian white muscle in the sense that glucose is estimated to account incompletely for glycogen restoration (25­60 %), suggesting dependence on both glycogenesis and glyconeogenesis during recovery. It is concluded that hyperglycemia may be important to the pattern of substrate incorporation into red muscle glycogen and to the rate of repletion observed, but glucose availability has, as predicted from earlier indirect studies, little relevance to white muscle glycogen restoration. The regulatory mechanisms that govern apparently very high glucose turnover rates during extreme hyperglycemia, concomitant with low disposal rates in skeletal muscle, require further investigation.
Mitotic spindle misorientation in cancer – out of alignment and into the fire

Mitotic spindle orientation can influence tissue organization and vice versa. Cells orient their spindles by rotating them parallel or perpendicular to the cell – and hence the tissue – axis. Spindle orientation in turn controls the placement of daughter cells within a tissue, influencing tissue morphology. Recent findings implicating tumor suppressor proteins in spindle orientation bring to the forefront a connection between spindle misorientation and cancer. In this Commentary, we focus on the role of three major human tumor suppressors – adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), E-cadherin and von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) – in spindle orientation. We discuss how, in addition to their better-known functions, these proteins affect microtubule stability and cell polarity, and how their loss of function causes spindles to become misoriented. We also consider how other cancer-associated features, such as oncogene mutations, centrosome amplification and the tumor microenvironment, might influence spindle orientation. Finally, we speculate on the role of spindle misorientation in cancer development and progression. We conclude that spindle misorientation alone is unlikely to be tumorigenic, but it has the potential to synergize with cancer-associated changes to facilitate genomic instability, tissue disorganization, metastasis and expansion of cancer stem cell compartments.
Functional model of dual AV nodal pathway physiology

Role of dual AV nodal pathway physiology in the atrioventricular nodal (AVN) conduction during atrial arrhythmias remains unclear. By using His electrogram alternans (HEA), we have developed a functional model of the atrioventricular conduction that incorporates the dual AV nodal pathway physiology. Experiments performed on 5 rabbit atrial-AVN preparations were used to develop and test the presented AV nodal functional model. HEAs from the inferior margin of the His bundle were used to identify fast and slow wavefront propagations (FP and SP). Conduction curves were calculated by using the model and compared with the real experiments, the root mean square error of the FP and SP were 7±4 ms and 3±3 ms respectively. In addition, the model has been used for illustrating the effects of the atrioventricular node modification, which has emerged as one of the alternatives for ventricular rate control during atrial fibrillation. The presented model can help in understanding some of the unclear AV node conduction mechanisms and should be considered as a step forward in understanding the AV node and specifically its dual pathway physiology.
DETERMINATION OF NATURAL RADIONUCLIDES CONTENT IN SOME BUILDING MATERIALS IN NIGERIA BY GAMMA-RAY SPECTROMETRY

This paper presents the findings of a study undertaken to determine the natural radioactivity present in some building materials in Nigeria using a gamma-ray spectrometer with a hyper pure germanium detector. A total of 118 samples of commonly used building materials were collected from manufacturers and suppliers of these materials. The mean radioactivity concentrations measured in the different building materials varied from 9.4 to 62.9, 1.3 to 88.4, and 21.5 to 762.4 Bq kg−1, respectively, for 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K. The average contents of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K for all the samples were 36.3, 46.5, and 320.9 Bq kg−1, respectively, lower than the world average for building materials (50, 50, and 500 Bq kg−1). The calculated mean radium equivalent activity and external and internal hazard indices for the entire sample were lower than United Nation Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation recommended limits and comparable with results of similar studies undertaken in other countries. The mean annual gonadal equivalent doses of some of the samples were higher than the world average value for soil.
Analytic approximation formulae for European crack spread options

In this paper, we investigate and compare the pricing of European crack spread call options under different underlying models. New proposed univariate and explicit constant elasticity of variance (CEV) models are assumed and new analytic approximation formulae in the form of asymptotic expansions are derived. As well we derive an analytic approximation formula based on an explicit version of two correlated Schwartz models. In order to compare the performance of our new formulae with the performance of current popular formulae, we calibrate market prices of short tenor heating oil crack spread call options (traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange) and empirically test their performances. Results from the analysis show that our univariate-based CEV formulae outperforms known univariate formulae in capturing market prices. Overall, however we found the explicit approach to be superior to the univariate approach and in particular our new explicit-based formulae performed best in capturing market prices for options with short tenor.