Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modulation of reproductive hormone secretion by nutritional intake: stress signals versus metabolic signals.

States of chronic undernutrition can cause a profound suppression of reproductive function. To begin to determine the time course and the nature of the mechanism by which undernutrition suppresses the activity of the reproductive axis we have examined the effects of brief periods of fasting on reproductive hormone secretion in men and male rhesus monkeys. In monkeys there is a significant suppression of pulsatile luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone secretion after a single day of fasting, that is apparent within the first 4 h after a meal is missed. The suppression of pulsatile LH secretion on a day of fasting does not appear to be caused by the psychological stress experienced when monkeys are deprived of their daily meal in that monkeys who are maintained in a metabolically fed state (by feeding a large excess of food on the day prior to fasting), but are deprived of a meal and displayed behavioural agitation associated with fasting, have no suppression of LH secretion. The suppression of LH secretion on a day of fasting cannot be reversed by naloxone infusion, indicating that increased secretion of opioid peptides is not the primary mechanism causing the decrease in the central drive to the reproductive axis during fasting. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Advances in Brief Frequent Mutation and Nuclear Localization of b-Catenin in Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma 1

b-catenin is an ubiquitously expressed cytoplasmic protein that has a crucial role in both E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion and as a downstream signaling molecule in the wingless pathway. Stabilization of b-catenin followed by nuclear translocation and subsequent T-cell factor/ lymphoid-enhancing factor-mediated transcriptional activation has been proposed as an important step in oncogenesis. Stabilization may occur through activating mutations in exon-3 at the phosphorylation sites for ubiquitination and degradation of b-catenin. Immunohistochemical subcellular localization of b-catenin and mutational analysis of exon-3 of the b-catenin gene by single-strand conformational polymorphism followed by DNA sequencing was performed on 37 samples from 31 patients with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Immunofluorescent staining showed nuclear localization in 15 (42%) of the 36 samples examined. Nucleotide sequencing of mobility shifts detected by single-strand conformational polymorphism revealed somatic alterations in 19 (61%) of the 31 patients analyzed. We conclude that mutations inb-catenin are common in anaplastic thyroid cancer and that they may activate transcription, as illustrated by frequent nuclear localization of the protein. These findings support the idea that b-catenin acts as an oncogene and contributes to the highly aggressive behavior of this tumor.
Modified Long Lifetime Routing in Unreliable Wireless Sensor Networks

Routing is a process of determining a path between source and destination upon request of data transmission. In multi-hop networks the source node cannot reach the sink directly. So, intermediate sensor nodes have to relay their packets. Some sensor network applications only require the successful delivery of messages between a source and a destination. However, there are applications that need even more assurance. These are the real-time requirements of the message delivery, and in parallel, the maximization of network lifetime. WSNs which are generally composed of large number of nodes are packet-switched wireless systems that share many properties with the other networks. These nodes have severely limited energy, processing, communication, and storage resources. Therefore for reliable and consistent communication in WSN, the lifetime of the network, scalability, heterogeneity, node deployment, fault tolerance, communication range and mobility play a major role. Lifetime is the most important concern in wireless sensor networks due to limited battery power of sensor nodes. In this paper, we focus on designing an energy-efficient and energy-aware routing algorithm with cross layer architecture to increase the operational lifetime with improved data rate in multi-hop wireless sensor networks in the presence of unreliable communication links. The implementation considers both node and link specific parameters. Simulation results reveal that the proposed algorithm can outperform other existing schemes in term of the network lifetime and data rate.
Differential effects of prandial and non-prandial GLP-1 receptor agonists in type 2 diabetes therapy

Abstract In type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), decreased pancreatic beta-cell function and increased insulin resistance contribute to a steady decline in glucose homeostasis. Maintaining levels of glycated hemoglobin ≤7.0% is thought to reduce the microvascular and possibly macrovascular complications that result if T2DM is not properly managed. Recent guidelines have recognized the importance of postprandial glucose (PPG) control in reducing cardiovascular risks, and have recommended a more patient-centered approach. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) mimic the action of the endogenous gastrointestinal hormone GLP-1 to activate the insulin response in pancreatic beta cells in a glucose-dependent manner. Prandial GLP-1 RAs have a short plasma half-life and are particularly effective at targeting PPG elevations, whereas long-acting non-prandial GLP-1 RAs are more effective at reducing fasting plasma glucose. These differences highlight the potential for treatment with these agents to be tailored to the need of individual patients and their glycemic imbalance. All GLP-1 RAs are being evaluated in long-term cardiovascular outcome trials. To date, the only cardiovascular trial that has been completed is the ELIXA trial for lixisenatide, which was found to meet the pre-specified criterion of non-inferiority versus placebo in terms of cardiovascular outcomes.
Pharmacotherapy of chronic viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major etiologic agent of chronic liver disease (CLD) and hepatocellular carcinoma. Drugs have been developed and shown to be effective against HBV replication. These treatments are often associated with the resolution of CLD. However, they are too expensive, not well tolerated, and result in the development of resistance when given as mono or salvage therapies. In addition, most of these drugs target only the virus polymerase. Objective: To revitalize the field, drugs with other targets and combination therapies need to be developed. Methods: Major advances in HBV and liver cancer drug development over the past decade, focusing on Phase III trials and FDA-approved compounds, are presented. Results/discussion: A number of potent nucleoside/nucleotide analogs are now available for treatment, but for the long-term management of CLD, the development of combination therapies will probably be required. Development of compounds with new virus targets will enhance the utility of combination therapies. Development of compounds to host targets altered prior to or after the development of liver cancer, as demonstrated by sorafenib, need to be developed. The goal is to devise drug cocktails that will yield sustained virus responses and halt disease progression and tumor development.
THE WEAK CARBON MONOXIDE EMISSION IN AN EXTREMELY METAL-POOR GALAXY, SEXTANS A

Carbon monoxide (CO) is one of the primary coolants of gas and an easily accessible tracer of molecular gas in spiral galaxies, but it is unclear if CO plays a similar role in metal-poor dwarfs. We carried out a deep observation with IRAM 30 m to search for CO emission by targeting the brightest far-IR peak in a nearby extremely metal-poor galaxy, Sextans A, with 7% solar metallicity. A marginal signal of CO J = 1 − 0 emission is seen, which is already faint enough to place a strong constraint on the conversion factor ( &agr; CO ? > ) from the CO luminosity to the molecular gas mass that is derived from the spatially resolved dust-mass map. The &agr; CO ? > is at least seven hundred times the Milky Way value. This indicates that CO emission is exceedingly weak in Sextans A, challenging its role as a coolant in extremely metal-poor galaxies.
Optical coherence tomography study of retinal changes in normal aging and after ischemia.

PURPOSE Age-related thinning of the retinal ganglion cell axons in the nerve fiber layer has been measured in humans using optical coherence tomography (OCT). In this study, we used OCT to measure inner retinal changes in 3-month-, 1-year-, and 2-year-old mice and after experimental anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION). METHODS We used OCT to quantify retinal thickness in over 200 eyes at different ages before and after a photochemical thrombosis model of AION. The scans were manually or automatically segmented. RESULTS In normal aging, there was 1.3-μm thinning of the ganglion cell complex (GCC) between 3 months and 1 year (P < 0.0001) and no further thinning at 2 years. In studying age-related inner retinal changes, measurement of the GCC (circular scan) was superior to that of the total retinal thickness (posterior pole scan) despite the need for manual segmentation because it was not contaminated by outer retinal changes. Three weeks after AION, there was 8.9-μm thinning of the GCC (circular scan; P < 0.0001), 50-μm thinning of the optic disc (posterior pole scan; P < 0.0001), and 17-μm thinning of the retina (posterior pole scan; P < 0.0001) in the 3-month-old group. Changes in the older eyes after AION were similar to those of the 3-month-old group. CONCLUSIONS Optical coherence tomography imaging of a large number of eyes showed that, like humans, mice exhibited small, age-related inner retinal thinning. Measurement of the GCC was superior to total retinal thickness in quantifying age-related changes, and both circular and posterior pole scans were useful to track short-term changes after AION.
Asthma: time for a change?

Dear Sir, We read with interest Schafheutle’s report of the impact of prescription charges on the use of asthma medication, published in the December 2009 issue of this journal. Poor compliance with treatment is one of the main reasons for therapeutic failure and is an important cause of hospitalisation. Reasons for non-compliance are manifold and often interrelated: underestimation by the patient of the severe consequences of the disease; complex polypharmacy; or, as Schafheutle demonstrates, financial disincentives which limit patients’ access to medication. Everybody agrees that this is a public health problem. However, there are few healthcare programmes which assure fully-inclusive free medication. Consequently many patients cannot afford the price of treatment, or they economise with their dosage administration, leading to complications and hospitalisations. In Romania, for instance, the prevalence of asthma in the general population is about 5-7%, and patients have a mean of two exacerbations per year requiring hospitalisation and three exacerbations per year requiring ambulatory treatment. Approximately 30% of patients with asthma require hospital admissions, thus incurring higher costs for the Romanian health system. Paradoxically, for the Romanian patient, it is cheaper to be admitted to hospital than it is to buy regular medication. In Romania there is also another reason for the poor compliance shown by patients with asthma: the bureaucratic aspect of getting a reduced charge prescription. Despite evidencebased data and the existence of generally accepted international guidelines, Romanian GPs are not allowed to initiate some of the drugs recommended for the modern treatment of asthma; rather, they have to refer the patient to a pneumonologist, who recommends the medication, and then the patient returns to the GP with a letter from the pneumonologist so that the treatment can eventually be prescribed. Because this process is time consuming, many patients abandon the process and treat themselves with aminophylline or theophylline which they can buy over the counter from any pharmacy. In this context we appreciate the message of this paper, but we believe that it would be relevant to extend the study to observe complications that occur when treatment cannot be followed because of financial reasons. In this way, data could be added to the evidence from other countries – such as Finland – which might convince health authorities about the need for a change of attitude in the treatment of asthma.
Sevelamer hydrochloride reverses parathyroid gland enlargement via regression of cell hypertrophy but not apoptosis in rats with chronic renal insufficiency.

BACKGROUND Dietary phosphate restriction suppresses parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion, synthesis, and parathyroid cell proliferation in experimental animals with chronic renal insufficiency (CRI), independently of serum calcium and 1,25(OH)2D3 levels. This study was conducted to examine whether sevelamer hydrochloride (sevelamer), a metal-free phosphate binder, could regress an advanced parathyroid gland (PTG) hyperplasia and enlargement in rats with CRI. METHODS Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a diet containing adenine for 6 weeks to establish CRI. Normal rats and adenine-treated rats were sacrificed to obtain the PTG (baseline group). The adenine diet was changed to a normal diet or diet containing 1 or 3% sevelamer for another 4 weeks. Time course changes of serum levels of calcium, phosphorus, and PTH were measured. At the end of the study, the PTG was weighed and examined histologically. RESULTS Adenine-treated rats developed severe CRI with marked elevation of serum phosphorus and PTH. The PTG weight markedly increased with enlarged cell volume (i.e. cell hypertrophy) at baseline. Sevelamer treatment rapidly lowered serum phosphorus and PTH levels within 6 days, and after 4 weeks, reduced the PTG weight by 38% compared to adenine-treated rats at baseline. The reduction in PTG weight was due to regression of cell hypertrophy, but not to decreased cell number by apoptosis. Decreased expression of calcium receptor in the PTG at baseline was partially recovered by the sevelamer treatment. CONCLUSIONS The sevelamer treatment can reduce the PTG weight with a reduction in serum PTH levels via regression of cell hypertrophy but not apoptosis in rats with CRI. Reduced PTG function might contribute to the regression of cell hypertrophy.
Thymus-independent crypt hyperplasia and villous atrophy in the small intestine of mice infected with the trematode Echinostoma revolutum

SUMMARY Conventional mice and congenitally athymic, nude mice were infected with 20 metacercariae of the intestinal trematode Echinostoma revolutum. The sequential events in the pathological changes in the intestine were studied at different intervals post-infection. By day 11 onwards the conventional mice displayed dilatation of the region of the intestine which harboured the parasites. The mucosa in the dilated region showed marked crypt hyperplasia, villous atrophy and subepithelial fibrosis as the most conspicuous features which, together with a hypertrophy of the muscular layers, made the wall of the gut in the dilated region thicker than normal. The changes were thymus-independent as they were found to be as severe in the athymic, nude mice as in the conventional mice. The main histological features observed in the mice are discussed in relation to other conditions with similar changes, such as coeliac disease, nippostrongyliasis and trichinellosis. It is concluded that the present results support the view that there may be more than one effector mechanism of the change.
Identification of cryptochrome DASH from vertebrates

A new type of cryptochrome, CRY‐DASH, has been recently identified. The CRY‐DASH proteins constitute the fifth subfamily of the photolyase/cryptochrome family. CRY‐DASHs have been identified from Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, Vibrio cholerae, and Arabidopsis thaliana. The Synechocystis CRY‐DASH was the first cryptochrome identified from bacteria, and its biochemical features and tertiary structure have been extensively investigated. To determine how broadly the subfamily is distributed within living organisms, we searched for new CRY‐DASH candidates within several databases. We found five sequences as new CRY‐DASH candidates, which are derived from four marine bacteria and Neurospora crassa. We also found many CRY‐DASH candidates from the EST databases, which included sequences from fish and amphibians. We cloned and sequenced the cDNAs of the zebrafish and Xenopus laevis candidates, based on the EST sequences. The proteins encoded by the two genes were purified and characterized. Both proteins contained folate and flavin cofactors, and have a weak DNA photolyase activity. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that the seven candidates actually belong to the new type of cryptochrome subfamily. This is the first report of the CRY‐DASH members from vertebrates and fungi.
Validation of the rupture properties of the 2001 Kunlun, China (Ms= 8.1), earthquake from seismological and geological observations

SUMMARY We determine the finite-fault slip distribution of the 2001 Kunlun earthquake (Ms= 8.1) by inverting teleseismic waveforms, as constrained by geological and remote sensing field observations. The spatial slip distribution along the 400-km-long fault was divided into five segments in accordance with geological observations. Forward modelling of regional surface waves was performed to estimate the variation of the speed of rupture propagation during faulting. For our modelling, the regional 1-D velocity structure was carefully constructed for each of six regional seismic stations using three events with magnitudes of 5.1–5.4 distributed along the ruptured portion of the Kunlun fault. Our result shows that the average rupture velocity is about 3.6 km s−1, consistent with teleseismic long period wave modelling. The initial rupture was almost purely strike-slip with a rupture velocity of 1.9 km s−1, increasing to 3.5 km s−1 in the second fault segment, and reaching a rupture velocity of about 6 km s−1 in the third segment and the fourth segment, where the maximum surface offset, with a broad fault zone, was observed. The rupture velocity decelerated to a value of 3.3 km s−1 in the fifth and final segment. Coseismic slip on the fault was concentrated between the surface and a depth of about 10 km. We infer that significant variations in rupture velocity and the observed fault segmentation are indicative of variations in strength along the interface of the Kunlun fault, as well as variations in fault geometry.
Controlled and uncontrolled thrombocytosis. Its clinical role in essential thrombocythemia

Only two of 19 patients with spontaneously evolving essential thrombocythemia remained asymptomatic in a 421 patient‐month observation. The rest of the patients showed hemorrhagic diathesis (four patients), nonspecific neurological semiology (two patients), and occlusive vascular illness in cerebral, myocardic, arterial, and often multiple locations (total, 12 patients). Peripheral neuropathy was found in five of 10 patients studied. In this series the incidence of cerebral ischemia in the uncontrolled condition was 180 times higher than the epidemiologic expectancy in a population not affected by the disorder. Of 35 ischemic attacks, 22 occurred when the platelet count was more than 1000 × 109/1, 13 when the count ranged from 650 to 990 × 109/1, and none occurred at counts of less than 650 × 109/1. In contrast, therapeutic control of the thrombocytosis caused all complications to disappear. These findings point out the danger of the natural course of the illness and justify active therapy. At the same time they call into question some of the most commonly used criteria in the diagnosis of essential thrombocythemia.
Rank-Order Tournaments as Optimum Labor Contracts

This paper analyzes compensation schemes which pay according to an individual's ordinal rank in an organization rather than his output level. When workers are risk neutral, it is shown that wages based upon rank induce the same efficient allocation of resources as an incentive reward scheme based on individual output levels. Under some circumstances, risk-averse workers actually prefer to be paid on the basis of rank. In addition, if workers are heterogeneous in ability, low-quality workers attempt to contaminate high-quality firms, resulting in adverse selection. However, if ability is known in advance, a competitive handicapping structure exists which allows all workers to compete efficiently in the same organization.
The Perceptions of Students, Teachers, and Educational Officers in Ghana on the Role of Computer and the Teacher in Promoting the First Five Principles of Instruction

This study explored the perceptions of 395 participants (students, teachers, and education officers) in Ghana on the role of the computer and the teacher in promoting the first five principles of instruction for quality teaching and learning. To achieve the intention of the study, five point Likert-type scales based on the first five principles of instruction, with Cronbach alpha of . 87, were used for the data collection. Frequency distributions and chisquare tests were employed to analyse the data. The results of the study indicate that there is perception dissimilarities among the participants on the role of a computer and a teacher in implementing the first five principles of instruction. In addition, according to the findings, there is a mismatch of participants’ recommendations on training students to acquire computer skills, and training teachers to acquire skills in designing their teaching. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.
Continuance Intention on Using Mobile Banking Applications: A Replication Study of Information Systems Continuance Model

One of the most significant factors to the survival of many service-based firms such as banks and insurance companies is customers’ continuous use of their IT services. The focus of this paper is on replicating IS Continuance Model (Bhattacherjee, 2001) in the mobile banking context. We collected data by surveying 256 college students who were users of mobile banking applications of multiple banks in the U.S. The hypotheses were also tested using Structural Equation Modeling technique (SEM), with AMOS version 23. All five hypotheses of the model were supported, with 67% explained variance for the “continuance intention,” as the dependent variable. Our findings show that the IS Continuance Model, which was originally tested by surveying the users of web-based banking services of one bank, is supported in a modern related context and is generalizable to the mobile banking applications users.
Usability issues with security of electronic mail

i Publications . ii List of Tables . vi List of Figures.vii Acknowledgments . viii 1 Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 1.1 Domain . 1 1.2 Outline of Research Problem. 2 1.3 Background and Previous Work. 3 1.4 Aims and Objectives . 4 1.5 Research Methods . 5 1.6 Organisation of the Thesis. 6 2 Chapter 2: Usability and Security . 7 2.