Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin, and body composition in young adult African American and Caucasian men.

This study examined the diurnal variation in circulating total and free testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels in young adult African American and Caucasian men in order to investigate whether there are differences in the secretion of these plasma hormones in populations at different risks of developing prostate cancer as they age. A significant and similar diurnal rhythm for total and free testosterone was found for both groups. Serum levels of total testosterone were 29.4% and 23.9% lower at 8:00 PM than at 8:00 AM in African American and Caucasian men, respectively. Significantly higher serum levels of total testosterone (P<.01) and SHBG (P <.02) were found in the African American than in the Caucasian men in both the morning and evening, whereas free testosterone levels were similar in both groups. The higher SHBG levels appear to have an environmental/metabolic basis in that the waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and fasting insulin concentration were lower (P <.05) in African Americans than in Caucasians. In summary, these data indicate that racial differences in central adiposity in men are established in early adulthood and influence circulating SHBG and thereby testosterone levels. In light of the findings by others that SHBG increases cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) production in the prostate and that cAMP-dependent protein kinase A is a coactivator of the androgen receptor, these studies provide a possible mechanism by which circulating androgens may contribute to the increased risk for prostate cancer among African American men.
Regulation of Apoptotic and Inflammatory Cell Signaling in Cerebral Ischemia: The Complex Roles of Heat Shock Protein 70

Although heat shock proteins have been studied for decades, new intracellular and extracellular functions in a variety of diseases continue to be discovered. Heat shock proteins function within networks of interacting proteins; they can alter cellular physiology rapidly in response to stress without requiring new protein synthesis. This review focuses on the heat shock protein 70 family and considers especially the functions of the inducible member, heat shock protein 72, in the setting of cerebral ischemia. In general, inhibiting apoptotic signaling at multiple points and up-regulating survival signaling, heat shock protein 70 has a net prosurvival effect. Heat shock protein 70 has both antiinflammatory and proinflammatory effects depending on the cell type, context, and intracellular or extracellular location. Intracellular effects are often antiinflammatory with inhibition of nuclear factor-&kgr;B signaling. Extracellular effects can lead to inflammatory cytokine production or induction of regulatory immune cells and reduced inflammation.
Immigrant occupational mobility in Australia

This research note takes an occupational attainment approach to examining the economic assimilation of immigrants in Australia. This approach differs from much of the existing literature, which tends to examine economic assimilation by looking at levels of (un)employment or wages. Focusing on occupational attainment is useful, in that disadvantage in the labour market is not limited to employment status and earnings, and an individual’s occupation may provide a broader signal of their economic and social well-being. Findings indicate that, on arrival, immigrants from a non-English speaking background face significant disadvantage in occupational attainment, particularly those from Asian countries. There is also evidence to suggest that those who arrive later in life, or are from an Asian non-English speaking background, are the least likely to assimilate over time. Results are indicative of the need for policies to better integrate immigrants from more diverse cultures and societies into the Australian labour market.
Enrollee Incentives in Consumer Directed Health Plans

The invention is a device to measure the emittance of a charged particle beam. The device is capable of providing precise time resolution limited only by the chosen detector. The device allows a complete emittance determination as a function of time. The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a plurality of thin foils 11 which generate an optical transistion radiation (OTR) pattern 13; a lens system 14 to collect the OTR pattern 13 from the said foils 11: an optical mask 16 to allow passage of the OTR pattern 13 :and a detector array 17 or similar device placed behind the mask 16 which intercepts, senses and measures the point source OTR pattern 13 for each perforation in the mask.
Idiosyncratic Risk and Expected Returns: A Regime Switching Approach

The evidence on the inter-temporal relation between idiosyncratic risk and future stock returns is conflicting and confusing. We shed new light on the issue using a more flexible econometric approach based on Hamilton's (1989) regime switching model that accommodates the parameter instability of the forecasting relation between returns and financial variables. We find strong evidence suggesting that idiosyncratic risk is related to future stock market returns only in the low variance regime.
Serum sclerostin levels in men with idiopathic osteoporosis.

OBJECTIVE Sclerostin inhibits osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. If aberrant sclerostin action is involved in less efficient bone acquisition in men with idiopathic low bone mass, this might be reflected in higher serum sclerostin levels. METHODS In 116 men with idiopathic osteoporosis (≤65 years old), 40 of their sons and healthy controls, areal bone parameters were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and volumetric and geometric bone parameters were measured using peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Serum analytes were measured using immunoassays and estradiol (E2) levels using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. RESULTS Men with idiopathic low bone mass had lower levels of sclerostin than the controls (0.54±0.17 vs 0.66±0.23 ng/ml; P<0.001). In both groups, sclerostin levels were strongly associated with age; when adjusting for age, no associations with anthropometrics were observed (P>0.14). In multivariate analyses, sclerostin levels displayed a positive association with whole-body bone mineral content (BMC) and areal BMD (aBMD), as well as with trabecular and cortical volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) at the tibia in the probands. No clear associations were observed in the control group, neither were sclerostin levels associated with BMC at the radius or lumbar spine (all P>0.11). Testosterone, but not E2, was inversely related to sclerostin levels in the probands. No difference in sclerostin levels was found in their sons when compared with their controls. CONCLUSION Lower rather than higher serum sclerostin levels in the probands with idiopathic low bone mass suggest that aberrant sclerostin secretion is not involved in the pathogenesis of low bone mass in these subjects.
A Fast Discrete Approximation Algorithm for the Radon Transform

This paper addresses fast parallel methods for the computation of the Radon (or Hough) transform. The Radon transform of an image is a set of projections of the image taken at different angles. Its computation is important in image processing and computer vision for problems such as pattern recognition and reconstruction of medical images. A unique new method for combining partial results is presented, from which an algorithm is constructed that computes a provably good approximation to the discrete Radon transform. The approximate discrete Radon transform (ADRT) algorithm computes 4, N - 4 projections through an $N \times N$ image in time $O(N^2\mathrm{lg}N)$ (the majority of previous algorithms are O(N 3,)). The method is quite simple and easy to parallelize. A parallel version of the ADRT requires only $O(\mathrm{lg}N)$ parallel steps on O(N 2) processors, ignoring communication time. An additional property of the algorithm is that it can be applied directly to compute the backprojection step of the inverse RT.
A Novel Case of Transient Right Ventricular Failure in a Patient With Respiratory Distress

Right ventricular (RV) failure is characterized by an inability to pump blood into the pulmonary circulation and can often lead to hemodynamic instability. Common causes of RV failure include left ventricular (LV) failure, RV infarction, sepsis, cor pulmonale due to acute respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary emboli, or pulmonary hypertension. We report the case of a 61-year-old woman with no significant pulmonary or cardiac disease who presented with hypoxic respiratory failure in the setting of opioid overdose. She remained obtunded despite naloxone treatment and required endotracheal intubation as well as norepinephrine therapy for persistent hypotension. A transthoracic echocardiogram demonstrated isolated severe RV dysfunction without any LV abnormalities. Cardiac catheterization showed no obstructive coronary artery disease, pulmonary hypertension, or elevated left atrial pressures, and chest imaging only revealed signs of aspiration. Over the next 6 days, the patient’s cardiac and respiratory function improved, and a repeat echocardiogram demonstrated complete normalization of RV function. This case demonstrates a novel finding that marked, but transient, RV dysfunction can occur in the setting of acute respiratory failure.
Identifying Potentially Avoidable Hospital Admissions From Canadian Long-Term Care Facilities

Background:The provision of preventive services and continuity of care are important aspects of long-term care (LTC). A proposed quality indicator of such care is the rate of hospitalizations due to ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs). As the ACSC approach to identifying potentially avoidable hospitalizations (PAH) was developed for younger community-dwelling adults in the United States, we sought to examine its applicability as a quality indicator for older institutionalized residents in Canada. Methods:ACSCs were identified in a linked hospital-based LTC and acute care administrative database at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Ontario, Canada. An expert panel was then convened to assess the applicability of existing ACSCs to an older institutionalized population in Canada and to develop consensus-based revisions appropriate to this setting. The revised definition of PAH was then applied to the same linked database. Results:The proportion of hospitalizations categorized as a PAH using the original ACSCs was 47% (4177 of 8885). The panel suggested the inclusion of 2 new conditions (septicemia and falls/fractures) coupled with the deletion of 4 of the original ACSCs (immunization-preventable conditions; nutritional deficiency; severe ear, nose and throat infections; tuberculosis) that were rare hospital diagnoses in this population. Using the revised definition, 55% of hospitalizations (4874) were identified as potentially avoidable. Conclusions:Changes to the original list of ACSCs led to more hospitalizations being categorized as potentially avoidable. Significant variation between LTC facilities and over time in our PAH indicator may identify areas for improvement in preventive services and continuity of care for LTC residents.
Substitution of cysteine 192 in a highly conserved Streptococcus pyogenes extracellular cysteine protease (interleukin 1beta convertase) alters proteolytic activity and ablates zymogen processing

Virtually all strains of the human pathogenic bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes express a highly conserved extracellular cysteine protease. The protein is made as an inactive zymogen of 40,000 Da and undergoes autocatalytic truncation to result in a 28,000-Da active protease. Numerous independent lines of investigation suggest that this enzyme participates in one or more phases of host-parasite interaction, such as inflammation and soft tissue invasion. Replacement of the single cysteine residue (C-192) with serine (C192S mutation) resulted in loss of detectable proteolytic activity against bovine casein, human fibronectin, and the low-molecular-weight synthetic substrate 7-amino-4-trifluoromethyl coumarin. The C192S mutant molecule does not undergo autocatalytic processing of zymogen to mature form. Taken together, these data support the hypothesis that C-192 participates in active-site formation and enzyme catalysis.
A Unified Framework for the Estimation of Intra and Inter Country Food Purchasing Power Parities with Application to Cross Country Comparisons of Food Expenditure: India, Indonesia and Vietnam

This paper proposes a preference based methodology, analogous to the estimation of equivalence scales in the demographic demand literature, for the estimation of the item specific intra country PPPs (i.e. spatial prices) and inter country PPPs in a unified framework using unit records of household food expenditures from three Asian countries: India, Indonesia and Vietnam, covering contemporaneous time periods. The study addresses a key limitation of the ICP exercise, namely, treating all countries, large and small, as homogeneous entities. Moreover, it (i) directly calculates bilateral PPPs between countries based on their expenditure patterns and prices alone and (ii) directly estimates the Price Level Indices (PLI) and their standard errors allowing formal tests of the hypothesis of PLI being unity. The usefulness of the estimated PPPs is illustrated by applying them to comparisons of real food expenditures between the three countries, and benchmarking the comparisons with those using the ICP PPPs.
Transduction of Dendritic Cells with Bcl-xL Increases Their Resistance to Prostate Cancer-Induced Apoptosis and Antitumor Effect in Mice1

We have shown that prostate cancer (PCa) causes apoptosis of dendritic cells (DC), which might block the development of specific antitumor immune responses. Analysis of murine prostatic carcinoma tissues revealed the significant decrease in intratumoral DC number during tumor progression. We demonstrated that the cytokine-mediated increase in DC survival was accompanied by an elevated expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-xL. Next, we evaluated the resistance to tumor-induced apoptosis and the antitumor efficiency of genetically engineered DC overexpressing Bcl-xL. DC were transduced with an adenoviral vector encoding the murine Bcl-xL gene and injected intratumorally. Data analysis revealed that treatment of PCa-bearing mice with Bcl-xL-transduced DC resulted in significant inhibition of tumor growth compared with the administration of nontransduced DC. Thus, our data suggest that the protection of DC from PCa-induced apoptosis might significantly increase the efficacy of DC-based therapies in cancer even in the absence of available tumor-specific Ags.
Human metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 couples to the MAP kinase cascade in chinese hamster ovary cells

WE have examined the functional coupling of the human metabotropic glutamate receptor type 2 (mGluR2) with the regulation of the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAP kinase) signal transduction cascade. We demonstrated that L-glutamate stimulation of the human mGluR2 receptor transiently expressed in chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells leads to a rapid increase in the activity of p42/p44 MAP kinase (also known as the extracellular signal regulated kinases, ERK1 and ERK2). Activation of p42/p44 MAP kinase has been demonstrated in a peptide phosphorylation assay and through the demonstration of a shift in electrophoretic mobility of p42 MAP kinase following activation. In both assay systems L-glutamate stimulation of MAP kinase was inhibited by pertussis toxin and by the MEK (MAP/ERK activating kinase) inhibitor PD 98059. We conclude that L-glutamate stimulation of the mGluR2 receptor in CHO cells mediated regulation of p42/p44 MAP kinase following the activation of pertussis toxin-sensitive Gαi G-proteins via a distinct protein kinase signalling pathway that utilizes MEK.
Environmentally Friendly Production of D(−) Lactic Acid by Sporolactobacillus nakayamae: Investigation of Fermentation Parameters and Fed-Batch Strategies

The interest in the production of lactic acid has increased due to its wide range of applications. In the present study, the variables that affect fermentative D(−) lactic acid production were investigated: neutralizing agents, pH, temperature, inoculum percentage, agitation, and concentration of the medium components. An experimental design was applied to determine the optimal concentrations of the medium components and fermentation was studied using different feeding strategies. High production (122.41 g/L) and productivity (3.65 g/L·h) were efficiently achieved by Sporolactobacillus nakayamae in 54 h using a multipulse fed-batch technique with an initial medium containing 35 g/L of yeast extract (byproduct of alcohol production), 60 g/L of crystallized sugar, and 7.5 mL/L of salts. The fermentation process was conducted at 35°C and pH 6.0 controlled by NaOH with a 20% volume of inoculum and agitation at 125 rpm. The production of a high optically pure concentration of D(−) lactic acid combined with an environmentally friendly NaOH-based process demonstrates that S. nakayamae is a promising strain for D(−) lactic acid production.
Correlation between polymorphisms in ADSL and GARS-AIRS-GART genes with inosine 5′-monophosphate (IMP) contents in Beijing-you chickens

1. The association of single nucleotide polymorphisms identified within the ADSL (adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency) gene and GARS-AIRS-GART (glycinamide ribonucleotide synthetase-aminoimidazole ribonucleotide synthetase-glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase) gene with the content of inosine 5′-monophosphate (IMP) was studied in a population of male Beijing-you (BJY) chickens slaughtered at 90 d of age. 2. A single nucleotide polymorphism in exon 2 of the ADSL gene had an effect on IMP content. Chickens inheriting the positive allele at ADSL, both homozygous and heterozygous genotypes, had a higher content of IMP in breast muscle than did individuals without it. 3. Similar results were obtained for the GARS-AIRS-GART gene. The marker at the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of the GARS-AIRS-GART gene was also significant for the IMP value. Chickens inheriting the genotypes with the positive allele at this locus had a much higher content of IMP than did those homozygous for the unfavourable one. 4. Interactions between ADSL and GARS-AIRS-GART were detected for such traits as body weight and muscle yields in the tested population. The two loci acted in an additive fashion. Because IMP is one of the most important flavour components in meat, markers developed at these two genes, as well as the combination genotypes, could be used as potential molecular markers for improving chicken quality.
Recalibrating Africa's Geo-Political Calculus: A Critique of South Africa's Hegemonic Status

Abstract This article critiques the increasing claims in scholarly and diplomatic circles of a putative South African hegemony in Africa. On the backdrop of the recalibration of Nigeria's GDP making it Africa's largest economy, there have been counter arguments that South Africa's regional influence is dwindling as a result of its staggering economy among other domestic impediments. In this paper, I take the position that although South Africa's capacity to fulfil a hegemonic role may be hindered by internal and external ambivalences, these factors do not in any way disqualify the country from playing a hegemonic role. I conclude by making the assertion that our regional understanding of hegemony in the African context must be one that operates beyond the realm of the preponderant material capabilities of a state into reasonable measures of ideational characteristics.
Maintaining intentional control of behavior under alcohol.

BACKGROUND This research used a process dissociation paradigm to measure the influence of controlled and automatic processes on a word-stem completion task when correct performance under alcohol was positively reinforced, or had no particular consequence. It was predicted that the impairing effect of alcohol on controlled processes that govern intentional control of behavior would be resisted when drinkers were reinforced for performing well. METHODS Four groups of eight male drug-free social drinkers initially studied a list of words. Two of the groups then received 0.56 g/kg alcohol (A) and two received a placebo (P) before the stem-completion task was performed. During the task, the correct responses of one pair of A and P groups were reinforced (money and verbal approval) whereas no reinforcement was provided to the other pair. RESULTS As predicted, under alcohol, the influence of controlled processes that govern intentional responses was greater when reinforcement was provided than when it was absent (p = 0.005). Without reinforcement, controlled processes in the A group were lower than the P control group (p = 0.01). In contrast, the A and P groups that received reinforcement did not differ (p = 0.142). Controlled processes in the P groups were not affected by reinforcement (p = 0.65). In addition, the influence of automatic processes was not affected by alcohol or by reinforcement (p > 0.781). CONCLUSIONS Positive reinforcement for behavior under alcohol increases the influence of controlled processes. These results suggest that the degree to which intentional control is retained under alcohol depends on the consequence of behavior in the situation. It seems that controlled processes enable drinkers to intentionally display the behavior that is rewarded.
RAR‐, not RXR, ligands inhibit cell activation and prevent apoptosis in B‐lymphocytes

We have previously shown that retinoids inhibit activation of human peripheral blood B‐lymphocytes. In the present paper, we wished to explore the involvement of nuclear retinoid‐specific receptors in this process by using ligands specific for the retinoic acid receptors (RARs) and retinoid X receptors (RXRs). We found that the RAR‐specific ligand TTAB reduced anti‐IgM‐induced B‐cell activation in a dose‐dependent manner. Thus, at 100 nM of TTAB, DNA synthesis was reduced by approximately 60%. In contrast, the RXR‐selective ligand SR11217 had no effect on DNA synthesis. Similar findings were obtained when the expression of the activation antigen CD71 (appears late in G1) was examined. The role of retinoids in apoptosis of resting peripheral blood B‐lymphocytes was examined using the same receptor‐selective ligands. Again, we found that the RAR‐selective ligands were more potent effectors than were the RXR‐selective ligands. In spite of the inhibitory effects of retinoids on B‐cell proliferation, the same retinoids significantly promoted the survival of the cells. Thus, 10 nM TTAB significantly reduced spontaneous apoptosis of in vitro cultured B‐cells at day 3 from 45% to 30%, as determined by vital dye staining and DNA end‐labeling. Again, the RXR‐specific ligand SR11217 had no effect. Interestingly, we found that CD40 ligand was able to potentiate the retinoid‐mediated inhibition of apoptosis. By reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we found that peripheral blood B‐lymphocytes expressed RARα, RARγ, and RXRα, but not RARβ, RXRβ, or RXRγ. Hence, the lack of effect of the RXR‐specific ligand SR11217 on growth and apoptosis was not due to absence of RXRs. In conclusion, the ability of retinoids to inhibit growth and prevent apoptosis of normal human B‐lymphocytes indicates a dual role of retinoids in this cell compartment, and it appears that both effects of retinoids are mediated via RARs and not RXRs. J. Cell. Physiol. 175:68–77, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.