Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diallyl Trisulfide Induces Apoptosis of Human Basal Cell Carcinoma Cells via Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and the Mitochondrial Pathway

Diallyl trisulfide (DATS), an active component of garlic oil, has attracted much attention because of its anticancer effect on several types of cancers. However, the mechanism of DATS-induced apoptosis of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is not fully understood. In the present study, we revealed that DATS-mediated dose-dependent induction of apoptosis in BCC cells was associated with intracellular reactive oxygen species accumulation and disrupted mitochondrial membrane potential. Western analysis demonstrated concordant expression of molecules involved in mitochondrial apoptosis, including DATS-associated increases in phospho-p53, proapoptotic Bax, and decreases in antiapoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl in BCC cells. Moreover, DATS induced the release of cytochrome c, apoptosis-inducing factor, and HtrA2/Omi into the cytoplasm, and activated factors downstream of caspase-dependent and caspase-independent apoptosis, including nuclear translocation of apoptotic-inducing factor and endonuclease G and the caspase cascade. These results were confirmed by pretreatment with the antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine and the caspase inhibitor (z-VAD-fmk), the latter of which did not completely enhance the viability of DATS-treated BBC cells. Exposure to DATS additionally induced endogenous endoplasmic reticulum stress markers and intracellular Ca2+ mobilization, upregulation of Bip/GRP78 and CHOP/GADD153, and activation of caspase-4. Our findings suggest that DATS exerts chemopreventive potential via ER stress and the mitochondrial pathway in BCC cells.
The Efficiency of Security Substitution by Diversified Holding Companies in Belgium

Diversified holding companies play a dominant role on the Belgian capital market. They buy controlling stakes in a large number of companies and achieve a security substitution for the shareholder of the holding company. To evaluate the efficiency of this security substitution I compare a sample of 52 firms with a matching sample of family-owned firms. I find that the family-owned firms perform significantly better than the subsidiaries of holding companies but no difference in investment behavior or total debt level. The sample firms rely much more on short term financing though and depend less on their own cash flow for their investments which confirms the creation of an internal capital market. To verify whether these results obtained can be attributed to earnings management or diversification, I compose a second matching sample of firms controlled by industrial listed firms. I find support for the diversification hypothesis since only subsidiaries of focused firms perform better. So the industrial focused firm, that relies more on intra-group financing and trading activity, seems a more appropriate organizational form than the diversified holding company.
Density maps for improved SPH boundary handling

In this paper, we present the novel concept of density maps for robust handling of static and rigid dynamic boundaries in fluid simulations based on Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). In contrast to the vast majority of existing approaches, we use an implicit discretization for a continuous extension of the density field throughout solid boundaries. Using the novel representation we enhance accuracy and efficiency of density and density gradient evaluations in boundary regions by computationally efficient lookups into our density maps. The map is generated in a preprocessing step and discretizes the density contribution in the boundary's near-field. In consequence of the high regularity of the continuous boundary density field, we use cubic Lagrange polynomials on a narrow-band structure of a regular grid for discretization. This strategy not only removes the necessity to sample boundary surfaces with particles but also decouples the particle size from the number of sample points required to represent the boundary. Moreover, it solves the ever-present problem of particle deficiencies near the boundary. In several comparisons we show that the representation is more accurate than particle samplings, especially for smooth curved boundaries. We further demonstrate that our approach robustly handles scenarios with highly complex boundaries and even outperforms one of the most recent sampling based techniques.
Modeling The Effects Of Social Integration And Job Autonomy On Job Satisfaction Among School Sport Facilitators In Southern Gauteng

Research within the domain of job satisfaction has brought about renewed interest among human resource practitioners and researchers in the past twenty years. Furthermore, many studies have examined the antecedents of job satisfaction in various organisational settings. However, focusing on social integration and job autonomy relationships with work outcomes have been limited and worthy of empirical investigation. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between social integration and job autonomy on job satisfaction among school sport facilitators. The study is located with a quantitative research paradigm. A structured questionnaire consisting of validated scales for social integration, job autonomy and job satisfaction was administered to a sample of 201 school sport facilitators in the Southern Gauteng region of South Africa. The results show significant positive correlations among the constructs, social integration, and job autonomy and job satisfaction. In addition, social integration, a facet of QWL life and job autonomy was found to significantly influence job satisfaction. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the fit to the proposed model and the path model using structural equation modelling (SEM) to examine casual relationships among the constructs. Results show satisfactory goodnessof fit indices. The path model showed strong casual relationships indicating that social integration and job autonomy of school sport facilitators significantly related to job satisfaction. The results demonstrate that the higher the prevalence of social integration and job autonomy, the higher the levels of job satisfaction. It is recommended that sport facilitators should be given adequate autonomy to make decisions about the services they render and any top-down imposition of change may be counter-productive to job satisfaction among sport facilitators.
Non-Cancer Mortality in Supermarket Meat Workers

Objective: To report a non-cancer mortality update in supermarket meat workers. Methods: Mortality of 10,383 supermarket meat workers was compared with that of a control group of non-meat workers and the US population from 1949 to 1989. Results: Compared with both controls, male supermarket meat workers had an elevated relative risk for diabetes. There is also a suggestion of an increase in deaths from ischemic heart disease, other diseases of the kidney and ureter, alcoholism, and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Women had elevated relative risks for chronic bronchitis and ischemic heart disease, and possibly alcoholism. Numbers were too small to interpret the apparent increase in deaths from intracranial and intraspinal abcesses and acute nephritis in men and peritonitis in women. Conclusions: The role of occupational exposure to transmissible agents and exposure to fumes from the wrapping machine warrants further investigation.
Predicting pain among children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE Children and adolescents with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) often report pain as a major symptom that affects their daily activities. Little is known about the factors that contribute to pain, however. Demographic, disease status, and social-psychologic variables were used to predict pain of JRA. METHODS Participants were 37 girls and 23 boys who were 7 to 17 years old. Measures included the Hopelessness Scale for Children, the Sadness Scale from the Differential Emotions Scale--IV, and the Social Support Questionnaire--Revised. A pain visual analogue scale served as the criterion measure. RESULTS Reported pain was modestly correlated with disease duration and age. A hierarchical regression indicated that the predictor variables accounted for a modest amount of variance in pain scores. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that the factors contributing to pain in children with JRA are different from those in adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Research is needed to identify the psychologic and socioenvironmental variables that influence pain among children with JRA.
Audit effort, audit fees, and the provision of nonaudit services to audit clients

SYNOPSIS AND INTRODUCTION: In this article, we use audit-hour and billing-rate data supplied by a large public accounting firm to address the question, "Does providing audit clients with nonaudit services result in knowledge spillovers and audit production efficiencies that could produce economic rents for the auditor? " In prior analytical work, both Simunic (1984) and Beck et al. (1988) have argued that knowledge acquired while providing nonaudit services may "spill over" to the production of the audit, and thus generate production efficiencies. If audit production efficiencies lead to cost savings that are retained in whole or in part by the auditor (rather than passed on to the client), then economic rents accrue to the auditor, creating incentives for the auditor to resolve disputes in the client's favor. Although several past studies suggest that the joint provision of audit and nonaudit services may give rise to knowledge spillovers that could lead to economic rents (Palmrose 1986; Simon 1985; Simunic 1984; Turpen 1990), they do not provide direct evidence that spillovers or rents exist, and the empirical results are mixed. For example, Abdel-khalik (1990, 320) reports that he was unable to detect interdependencies between audit and nonaudit fees, a direct contrast to the findings of Simunic and Palmrose. Further, Palmrose reports a positive relation between audit fees and the nonaudit fees paid to nonincumbent firms, a finding that weakens the argu-
Investigation of diagnostic criteria for cancer-related fatigue syndrome in patients with advanced cancer: a feasibility study

The primary aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of applying diagnostic criteria for cancer-related fatigue syndrome (CRFS) in patients with advanced cancer. A secondary aim was to assess the use of screening instruments for fatigue and depression in this population. Patients with advanced cancer (n = 16) were interviewed using the Diagnostic Interview for CRFS and a semi-structured psychiatric interview. Subjects also completed the Bi-dimensional Fatigue Scale (BFS) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) as screening instruments. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 50% (8/16). The EPDS was found to have a sensitivity of 67% and a specificity of 100% for detecting depression. The prevalence of clinically significant fatigue symptoms was 62.5% (10/16). The BFS was found to have a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 64% for detecting clinically significant fatigue. The prevalence of CRFS was 12.5% (2/16).
Fibromyalgia Is Overdiagnosed in the General Population: Comment on the Article by Hootman et al

mune diseases and interferonopathies. Pharmacol Res 2016;111:336–42. 5. Lin TK, Lin HY, Chen SD, Chuang YC, Chuang JH, Wang PW, et al. The creation of cybrids harboring mitochondrial haplogroups in the Taiwanese population of ethnic Chinese background: an extensive in vitro tool for the study of mitochondrial genomic variations. Oxid Med Cell Longev 2012;2012:824275. 6. Weigert C, Brodbeck K, Staiger H, Kausch C, Machicao F, Håring HU, et al. Palmitate, but not unsaturated fatty acids, induces the expression of interleukin-6 in human myotubes through proteasome-dependent activation of nuclear factor-kB. J Biol Chem 2004;279:23942–52.
Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 3 in Macrophages Prevents Exacerbated Interleukin-6-Dependent Arginase-1 Activity and Early Permissiveness to Experimental Tuberculosis

Suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) is a feedback inhibitor of interleukin (IL)-6 signaling in macrophages. In the absence of this molecule, macrophages become extremely prone to an IL-6-dependent expression of arginase-1 (Arg1) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS)2, the prototype markers for alternative or classical macrophage activation, respectively. Because both enzymes are antipodean macrophage effector molecules in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection, we assessed the relevance of SOCS3 for macrophage activation during experimental tuberculosis using macrophage-specific SOCS3-deficient (LysMcreSOCS3loxP/loxP) mice. Aerosol infection of LysMcreSOCS3loxP/loxP mice resulted in remarkably higher bacterial loads in infected lungs and exacerbated pulmonary inflammation. This increased susceptibility to Mtb infection was accompanied by enhanced levels of both classical and alternative macrophage activation. However, high Arg1 expression preceded the increased induction of NOS2 and at early time points of infection mycobacteria were mostly found in cells positive for Arg1. This sequential activation of Arg1 and NOS2 expression in LysMcreSOCS3loxP/loxP mice appears to favor the initial replication of Mtb particularly in Arg1-positive cells. Neutralization of IL-6 in Mtb-infected LysMcreSOCS3loxP/loxP mice reduced arginase activity and restored control of mycobacterial replication in LysMcreSOCS3loxP/loxP mice. Our data reveal an unexpected role of SOCS3 during experimental TB: macrophage SOCS3 restrains early expression of Arg1 and helps limit Mtb replication in resident lung macrophages, thereby limiting the growth of mycobacteria. Together, SOCS3 keeps IL-6-dependent divergent macrophage responses such as Nos2 and Arg1 expression under control and safeguard protective macrophage effector mechanisms.
Transitional Jobs: A Next Step in Welfare to Work Policy

T he welfare policy debate of the last decade has included an ongoing conversation about the need for publicly funded community service jobs in both cities and distressed rural areas. These jobs are wage paying, community service jobs for welfare recipients and other unemployed adults who have not been hired after a job search in the regular labor market. The jobs provide experience and references that improve chances of success in the job market and enable families to avoid destitution when welfare benefits end. Debate about whether such jobs are an important welfare to work strategy continues today as Congress prepares to reauthorize the landmark welfare reform legislation passed in 1996.
A case of pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis in a patient with polymyositis and interstitial pneumonia

We report the case of a 49-year-old man who presented with pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis associated with polymyositis and interstitial pneumonia. Three months after the administration of prednisolone and cyclosporine, he noticed mild abdominal distension, and a radiographic examination showed intraperitoneal free gas and intramural gas, suggestive of pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis (PCI). Additional treatment with a combination of doxycycline and high-dose oxygen therapy was effective in relieving the clinical symptoms and reducing the intramural gas.
Comparison of hip fracture treatment in Finland, Great Britain and Sweden with special reference to evaluation methods

The treatment of hip fractures in the elderly has been under debate for decades. There is a lack of standardisation of treatment and rehabilitation and also concerning the measurements and follow-up times in studies on treatment. Two patient series with cervical hip fractures treated with Austin Moore hemiarthroplasty in Finland and hook pin osteosynthesis in Sweden were compared using matched-pair analysis in view of different age groups. Hip fracture treatments in six hospitals in Finland and one in Great Britain were surveyed. The adequacy of a short four-month follow-up was studied by comparing outcomes at four months and one year. Standardised Audit of Hip Fractures in Europe data collection sets were tested and used in three studies. Osteosynthesis resulted in lower one-year mortality but a higher reoperation rate in patients aged 55–75 years and was associated with a lesser need for walking aids, less pain and lower four-month mortality in patients aged 76–80 years. There were some differences in the patient characteristics and the methods of treatment between Great Britain and Finland. In Great Britain, more patients returned to their own homes, but one-year mortality after trochanteric fractures was higher. Hip fracture treatments and outcomes were quite similar between the six Finnish hospitals. There was a slight difference in adjusted postoperative mobility and mortality in two hospitals compared to the others. Six of the ten functional domains and residential status remained unchanged, while walking ability and four functional domains improved between four months and one year. The standardised data set was a practical and reliable way to acquire a great variety of information on hip fracture patients, treatments and outcomes. Hook pin osteosynthesis can be recommended for patients with cervical hip fractures younger than 80 years, whereas older patients can also be safely treated with Austin Moore hemiarthroplasty. The characteristics and outcomes of hip fracture patients were rather similar between Finland and Great Britain and between the different Finnish hospitals irrespective of the variety of methods used in treatment. Standardised Audit for Hip Fractures in Europe is a reliable data collection set and suitable as a basis of hip fracture surveys, audits and registers. Four-month follow-up is justified as the shortest feasible alternative in studies on rehabilitation and residential status after hip fractures.
Criteria for Success in Pediatric Functional Endonasal Sinus Surgery

Functional endonasal sinus surgery (FESS) is widely used in the treatment of chronic sinusitis in adults and children. Although success rates of 80% to 93% have been reported, no criteria for success or improvement have been suggested. Standardized measures are needed to assess the outcome of FESS and to compare the results obtained by different surgical teams and for various patient groups. After reviewing the charts of 500 pediatric patients who underwent FESS between July 1987 and June 1992, the authors of this study formalized criteria for assessing the outcome of surgery.
The investigation of the hotels service quality effects on tourist Loyalty

The present study aims to explore the relationship between service quality with tourist satisfaction and loyalty in the Malaysian hotel industry. In this research, the population was international tourists who stayin4 and 5-star hotels located in Kuala Lumpur, sample was selected based on clustering sample method. From the result, it was found that price had a significant effect on tourists` expectation toward hotels. Moreover, tourists` expectation has significant influence on perceived service quality but did not influence on their satisfaction. Finally, the result of this survey support that, tourist`s satisfaction and perceived service quality had significant influence on tourists` loyalty toward hotels. The result of this research is helpful for hotelier to plan new strategies for attracting more tourists therefore it leads to economic development in Malaysia. Keywords: service quality, satisfaction, tourist loyalty, hotel, Malaysia
Functional characterization of the L-type Ca2+ channel Cav1.4alpha1 from mouse retina.

PURPOSE To study the electrophysiological and pharmacological properties of the L-type Ca(2+) channel (LTCC) Ca(v)1.4alpha1 (alpha1F) subunit from mouse retina and assess their contributions to the native retinal channel. METHODS The full-length cDNA of Ca(v)1.4alpha1 was cloned from murine retina in an RT-PCR approach. Ca(v)1.4alpha1 was expressed alone or together with the auxiliary alpha2delta1 and beta2a or beta3 subunits in HEK293 cells. The electrophysiological and pharmacological characteristics of L-type Ca(2+) and Ba(2+) inward currents (I(Ca) and I(Ba)) induced by Ca(v)1.4alpha1 were determined by the whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp method and compared with currents induced by the cardiac and smooth muscle-type Ca(v)1.2alpha1 (alpha1C) channel. RESULTS Ca(v)1.4alpha1-mediated I(Ba) was observed only when the alpha2delta1 and beta subunits were coexpressed. Current densities were approximately two times higher with beta2a than with beta3. I(Ba) activated faster and revealed much slower time-dependent inactivation than I(Ba) induced by Ca(v)1.2alpha1. Unlike in Ca(v)1.2alpha1, inactivation was not accelerated with Ca(2+) as the charge carrier, indicating the absence of Ca(2+)-dependent inactivation in Ca(v)1.4alpha1. Ca(v)1.4alpha1 exhibited voltage-dependent inactivation. The dihydropyridine (DHP) antagonist isradipine blocked Ca(v)1.4alpha1 with approximately 20-fold lower sensitivity than Ca(v)1.2alpha1. The agonistic DHP BayK 8644 stimulated maximum I(Ba) approximately sixfold. Ca(v)1.4alpha1 revealed only moderate sensitivities to L- and D-cis-diltiazem, with IC(50) in the micromolar range. Both enantiomers unexpectedly blocked Ca(v)1.4alpha1 with almost equal IC(50). CONCLUSIONS The data indicate that Ca(v)1.4alpha1 subunit constitutes the major molecular correlate of retinal L-type Ca(2+) current. Its intrinsic biophysical properties, in particular its unique inactivation properties, enable Ca(v)1.4alpha1 to provide a sustained I(Ca) over a voltage range such as required for tonic glutamate release at the photoreceptor synapse.
Effective two‐phase flow in heterogeneous media under temporal pressure fluctuations

We study the combined effect of spatial heterogeneity and temporal pressure fluctuations on the dispersion of the saturation of a displacing fluid during injection into an immiscible one. In a stochastic modeling framework, we define two different dispersion quantities, one which measures the front uncertainty due to temporal pressure fluctuations and another one which quantifies the actual spreading and dispersion of the saturation front in a typical medium realization. We derive an effective large‐scale flow equation for the saturation of the displacing fluid that is characterized by a nonlocal dispersive flux term. From the latter we derive measures for the spread of the saturation front due to spatiotemporal fluctuations. Our analysis demonstrates that temporal fluctuations enhance the front uncertainty but not the average spreading of the saturation front. The analytical developments are complemented by numerical simulations of the full two‐phase flow problem. Correct assessment of the spread of the saturation front is of importance to several applications, including the assessment of the sequestration potential of a carbon dioxide storage site, for example. Spreading enhances the surface area between the fluids, which in turn enhances the dissolution and entrapment efficiency. The latter facilitates reactions and thus the sequestration of CO2 in stable forms. Our study provides a theoretical basis for the design of injection strategies to optimize dispersion and to minimize uncertainty of the saturation front.