Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Chronic Nicotine Administration on Bone Mineral Content in Mice

Tobacco use has been identified as being a risk factor for the development of osteoporosis. To elucidate the effect of nicotine on bone metabolism we examined 8 intact and 8 castrated mice treated for 56 days with nicotine in drinking water and compared with the same number of mice acting as controls. The mineral bone mass in the femora of the animals was measured quantitatively. A significant reduction of bone density and bone mineral content was found in the nicotine treated animals compared to animals without nicotine. Nicotine itself does not exert any antiandrogenic effect, and it does not produce changes in the weight of seminal vesicles.
Optimal Arterial Resistance for the Maximal Stroke Work Studied in Isolated Canine Left Ventricle

In a previous analysis of ventricular arterial interaction (Sunagawa et al., 1983), we represented the left ventricle as an elastic chamber which periodically increases its volume elastance to a value equal to the slope of the linear end-systolic pressure-volume relationship. Similarly, the arterial load property was represented by an effective elastance which is the slope of the arterial end-systolic pressure-stroke volume relationship. Since the maximal transfer of potential energy from one elastic chamber to another occurs when they have equal elastance, we hypothesized that the left ventricle would do maximal external work if the ventricular elastance and the effective arterial elastance were equal. We tested this hypothesis in 10 isolated canine left ventricles, ejecting into a simulated arterial impedance, by extensively altering arterial resistance and finding the optimal resistance that maximized left ventricular stroke work under various combinations of end-diastolic volume, contractility, heart rate, and arterial compliance. Each of these parameters was set at one of three levels while others were at control. The optimal resistance varied only slightly with arterial compliance, whereas it varied widely with contractility and heart rate. We thus determined that the ratio of the optimal effective arterial elastance to the given ventricular elastance remained nearly unity. This result supports the hypothesis that the left ventricle does maximal external work to the arterial load when the ventricular and arterial elastances are equalized.
First International Workshop on Software Engineering for Computational Science & Engineering

In recognition of the general lack of exposure scientists have to software engineering and vice versa, a workshop was held during the 2008 International Conference on Software Engineering in Leipzig, Germany. The workshop's goal was to bring together researchers and practitioners from the software engineering and computational science and engineering (CS&amp;E) communities to build a common understanding of the issues involved in the complex process of CS&amp;E software development and identify common themes to pursue in future research.
Efficacy of Ankaferd Blood Stopper on bone healing in diabetic rats: a stereological and histopathological study

Abstract We evaluated the effects of Ankaferd Blood Stopper (ABS) and routine antibiotic prophylaxis (AP) on early healing of bone defects in diabetic rats. We used 48 rats in the study. Diabetes was induced in 24 rats using streptozotocin; the remaining 24 healthy untreated rats served as controls. Twelve of the diabetic rats and 12 of the healthy rats were treated with AP for 3 days before surgery. Bilateral bone defects were created in the mandible of all animals. ABS was applied to the defects on the left sides of the mandibles, while nothing was applied to the right sides. Animals were sacrificed on days 7 and 14 after operation and examined for histopathology and by stereology. The volume of newly formed bone was significantly less in the diabetic rats on both days 7 and 14. Local administration of ABS significantly increased the mean volume of newly formed bone in both diabetic and nondiabetic rats at days 7 and 14. No significant difference in new bone formation was found between AP and ABS treatment in diabetic rats. Both AP and local administration of ABS have beneficial effects on bone healing in diabetic animals.
Relation of auditory attention and complex sentence comprehension in children with specific language impairment: A preliminary study

We investigated the relation of two dimensions of attentional functioning (sustained auditory attention and resource capacity/allocation) and complex sentence comprehension of children with specific language impairment (SLI) and a group of typically developing (TD) children matched for age. Twentysix school-age children with SLI and 26 TD peers completed an auditory continuous performance task (ACPT, measure of sustained attention), a concurrent verbal processing-storage task (measure of resource capacity/allocation), and a picture pointing comprehension task. Correlation analyses were run to determine the association between the measures of attention and sentence comprehension. The SLI group performed more poorly than the TD group across all tasks. For the SLI group, even after removing the effects of age, ACPT score and performance on the concurrent processing-storage task still significantly correlated with complex sentence comprehension. Sustained attention also correlated with simple sentence comprehension. Neither attention variable correlated with sentence comprehension in the TD children. For children with SLI, the comprehension of complex grammar appears to involve significant use of sustained attention and resource capacity/allocation. Even simple sentence comprehension requires significant auditory vigilance. In the case of TD children, neither complex nor simple sentence comprehension appears to invoke significant attentional involvement. Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have special difficulty comprehending complex grammar (Bishop, Bright, James, Bishop, & van der Lely, 2000; Montgomery & Evans, in press; Norbury, Bishop, & Briscoe, 2002; van der Lely, 1996, 1998; van der Lely & Stollwerck, 1997). Many of these same children
Elevated expression of tumor necrosis factor‐α signaling molecules in colonic tumors of Zucker obese (fa/fa) rats

Zucker obese rats are highly sensitive to colon cancer and possess a plethora of metabolic abnormalities including elevated levels of cytokine tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α). The main objective of this study was to determine if physiologically elevated TNF‐α affects colonic tumor phenotype with regard to an altered TNF‐α signaling pathway. Zucker obese (fa/fa, homozygous recessive for dysfunctional leptin receptors), Zucker lean (Fa/fa, Fa/Fa) and Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were injected twice with azoxymethane (10 mg/kg) over 2 weeks. After 30 weeks, the animals were terminated and physiological and tumor parameters were assessed. Obese rats had notably higher body and organ weights as well as plasma TNF‐α, insulin and leptin levels than lean or SD animals. A 100% tumor incidence and significantly higher tumor size, multiplicity and burden were found in obese rats compared to the lean group that had 47.8% tumor incidence. The SD group had the lowest tumor incidence (20.0%). Tumors from obese animals had higher protein levels of TNF‐α, TNF‐α‐receptor‐2 (TNFR2), nuclear transcription factor‐κB (NF‐κB) and IκB‐kinaseβ (IKKβ) compared to lean animals. In both obese and lean groups, expression levels of these proteins were higher in tumors than in surrounding, normal‐appearing colonic mucosae. These findings support an important role for TNF‐α signaling in tumorigenesis and demonstrate that tumors growing in an obese state had significantly different expression levels of TNFR2 and NF‐κB, proteins known to play a critical role in growth and survival, than those growing in the lean state. It is concluded that the physiological state of the host intricately affects tumor phenotype.
The Comparison of Effectiveness of Various Potential Predictors of Response to Treatment With SSRIs in Patients With Depressive Disorder

Abstract The substantial non-response rate in depressive patients indicates a continuing need to identify predictors of treatment outcome. The aim of this 6-week, open-label study was (1) to compare the efficacy of a priori defined predictors: ≥20% reduction in MADRS score at week 1, ≥20% reduction in MADRS score at week 2 (RM ≥ 20% W2), decrease of cordance (RC), and increase of serum and plasma level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor at week 1; and (2) to assess whether their combination yields higher efficacy in the prediction of response to selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) than when used singly. Twenty-one patients (55%) achieved a response to SSRIs. The RM ≥20% W2 (areas under curve—AUC = 0.83) showed better predictive efficacy compared to all other predictors with the exception of RC. The identified combined model (RM ≥ 20% W2 + RC), which predicted response with an 84% accuracy (AUC = 0.92), may be a useful tool in the prediction of response to SSRIs.
The Freedman's Story: an Accusation of Witchcraft in the Social World of Early Imperial Roman Italy (CIL 11.4639 = ILS 3001)

Abstract This article proposes a new reading of a late first-century c.e. inscribed dedication from Todi (Umbria) as an accusation of witchcraft, a rhetorical text aimed at propagating a particular story among the local community. Historical and anthropological studies of witchcraft accusations in other societies have emphasised how they can reveal tensions and anxieties that are normally not visible to the observer. By drawing on these studies and close examination of the language and content of the inscription, this article analyses an historical agent's experience of the social structure of early imperial Italy. The accusation is read as a freedman's response to his ambiguous position in a slave society, the ambivalent power of writing in Roman culture and the religious claims of Flavian imperial discourse.
Corticotrophin and corticosteroids in the management of acute and chronic heart block.

Clinical studies and individual case reports indicate that corticotrophin and corticosteroids frequently help to restore sinus rhythm in acute complete A-V heart block associated with recent myocardial infarction (Prinzmetal and Kennamer, 1954; Phelps and Lindsay, 1957; Aber and Wyn Jones, 1960; Caramelli and Tellini, 1960; Friedberg et al., 1960; Dall and Buchanan, 1962; Dalil, 1964). However, the true value of this form of treatment in chronic A-V block is less certain. Tung, Lu, and Fu (1957) and Litchfield, Manley, and Polak (1958) each reported two patients with long-standing block who reverted to sinus rhythm under corticotrophin therapy, and Pay and Waverley (1961) restored sinus rhythm in 5 out of 6 patients with chronic heart block, using oral corticosteroids. On the other hand, Caramelli and Tellini (1960) failed to improve A-V conduction in 10 patients, and in Dall's series (Dall, 1964) only 2 of the 14 patients with long-standing block regained sinus rhythm while receiving "steroid" therapy. Our experience of corticotrophin and corticosteroids in the treatment of heart block has been less pessimistic. Restoration of sinus rhythm or improved A-V conduction has not only been achieved in most patients with acute heart block, but also in an appreciable number with heart block of considerable duration.
Herpes simplex virus transcriptional activator VP16 is detrimental to preimplantation development in mice

The herpes simplex virus transactivator protein VP16 is frequently used to regulate gene expression in several experimental systems, including transgenic mice. It has been suggested that high levels of VP16 expression in mice may be lethal. In order to systematically address this issue, we linked the VP16 gene to promoters that are active early and in a variety of tissues throughout development, such as the human β‐actin promoter or the rat nestin gene enhancer. VP16 expression was assayed using a LacZ reporter gene linked to a VP16‐responsive immediate early gene promoter. We show here that expression of VP16 at high levels is detrimental to pre‐implantation development. By culturing embryos in vitro, we demonstrate that this effect is exerted at the transition from the 2‐cell to the 4‐cell stage, reducing survival to the blastocyst stage dramatically. On the other hand, transgenic mice expressing VP16 transgenes at postimplantation stages are viable. These results suggest a differential sensitivity to VP16 expression in different cell types and stages of development. The reduction of embryo survival by VP16 implicates herpes virus infection as a potential cause of infertility. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 55:37–46, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Oxygen Transport During Hemodilution in Normoxic and Hypoxic Dogs Treated with Verapamil

In order to determine the possible limitations of acute isovolemic hemodilution in patients taking verapamil, the various factors determining oxygen availability were analyzed in an animal experiment. Twenty‐four anaesthetized dogs were subjected to a gradual isovolemic hemodilution. Six dogs received a bolus injection of 0.1 mg kg‐1 of verapamil followed by 0.01 mg kg‐1 min‐1. In 12 dogs, mild hypoxic hypoxia was induced by ventilation with 16–17% oxygen; six of them also received verapamil. Six dogs served as a control group. In the latter, due to an increase in heart rate and stroke volume, oxygen availability in the clinically relevant range of hemodilution between HC 25 and 25% was maintained at 81 % of its control value. In normoxic animals treated with verapamil, oxygen availability decreased more rapidly and was below the level of the control group once HC reached 25%. Mild hypoxic hypoxia alone did not reduce oxygen availability as much as its combination with verapamil. Even though the verapamil‐induced reduction in oxygen availability was similar during normoxia and hypoxia, the sharp rise in serum lactate at HC levels below 35‐30% in the hypoxic verapamil group was a sign of impairment of tissue oxygenation. Hematocrit levels below 35‐30% and even moderate hypoxemia should be avoided whenever the cardiovascular response to hemodilution is influenced by verapamil.
GENETIC DETECTION OF LYMPH NODE MICROMETASTASIS AS A SELECTION CRITERION FOR LIVER TRANSPLANTATION IN PATIENTS WITH LIVER METASTASIS FROM COLORECTAL CANCER.

Aims: Liver transplantation for nonresectable liver metastasis from colorectal cancer was discontinued in 1994 on account of high recurrence rates and limited long-term survival. In this retrospective study, we investigated whether the genetic detection of micrometastasis in histologically negative lymph nodes after primary colon cancer can be applied to select patients for liver transplantation. Methods: Tumor material was gathered from 21 patients with colorectal cancer and subsequent liver metastasis. The patients had undergone a liver transplant within the 1983-1994 interval. Direct DNA sequencing was used to screen the tumor material for p53 mutations. Eleven of these patients had shown no histologically detectable lymph node metastasis at the time of surgery (pN0), 10 patients with lymph node metastasis (pN1) served as control group. We used mutant allele-specific amplification (MASA) to identify corresponding genetic alterations in regional lymph nodes from colorectal cancer. Results: Overall, p53 mutations were found in 13 of 21 patients in the primary colorectal cancer. These mutations were confirmed in the corresponding liver metastasis. MASA technology proved the existence of micrometastasis in the histologically positive lymph nodes of the control group. Nine of eleven histologically lymph nodenegative patients were evaluable due to presence of p53 mutation. MASA revealed 6/9 patients to be genetically positive for micrometastasis. Three patients were genetically a n d histologically negative. These 3 patients showed a significantly longer overall survival (p 0.011) of 4, 5 and 20 years, respectively. Conclusions: p53 MASA is a sensitive technique to identify micrometastasis in histologically negative lymph nodes following primary cancer in patients who present with nonresectable liver metastasis. Patients who are genetically positive do not benefit from liver transplantation. For patients without micrometastasis, liver transplantation seems to be a treatment option. The genetic detection of micrometastasis by MASA could be a powerful prognostic indicator to select those who benefit from liver transplantation.
Treatment for PTSD related to childhood abuse: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to childhood abuse is associated with features of affect regulation and interpersonal disturbances that substantially contribute to impairment. Existing treatments do not address these problems or the difficulties they may pose in the exploration of trauma memories, an efficacious and frequently recommended approach to resolving PTSD. The authors evaluated the benefits and risks of a treatment combining an initial preparatory phase of skills training in affect and interpersonal regulation (STAIR) followed by exposure by comparing it against two control conditions: Supportive Counseling followed by Exposure (Support/Exposure) and skills training followed by Supportive Counseling (STAIR/Support). METHOD Participants were women with PTSD related to childhood abuse (N=104) who were randomly assigned to the STAIR/Exposure condition, Support/Exposure condition (exposure comparator), or STAIR/Support condition (skills comparator) and assessed at posttreatment, 3 months, and 6 months. RESULTS The STAIR/Exposure group was more likely to achieve sustained and full PTSD remission relative to the exposure comparator, while the skills comparator condition fell in the middle (27% versus 13% versus 0%). STAIR/Exposure produced greater improvements in emotion regulation than the exposure comparator and greater improvements in interpersonal problems than both conditions. The STAIR/Exposure dropout rate was lower than the rate for the exposure comparator and similar to the rate for the skills comparator. There were significantly lower session-to-session PTSD symptoms during the exposure phase in the STAIR/Exposure condition than in the Support/Exposure condition. STAIR/Exposure was associated with fewer cases of PTSD worsening relative to both of the other two conditions. CONCLUSIONS For a PTSD population with chronic and early-life trauma, a phase-based skills-to-exposure treatment was associated with greater benefits and fewer adverse effects than treatments that excluded either skills training or exposure.
Pigs in Space (and Time): Pork Consumption and Identity Negotiations in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages of Ancient Israel

Pork consumption and avoidance became a major issue in the study of ancient Israel in the 1980s. Initial works associated massive consumption of pork with the Philistines and its avoidance with the Israelites, and despite the doubts cast by some later studies, the topic is still closely associated with the study of Iron Age ethnic identities. The extensive data that has accumulated over the years, however, show that the distribution of pork-consuming communities in space and time is not random and, when examined in tandem with the wider social background of this era, can reveal a great deal about Iron Age group interactions and boundary maintenance. It appears that the arrival of the Philistines was a watershed as far as pork consumption was concerned, and in subsequent centuries pork consumption and avoidance correlate closely with the changing strategies of boundary maintenance used by the different groups residing in the region.
The Silencing of N-myc Downstream-Regulated Gene-1 in an Orthotopic Pancreatic Cancer Model Leads to More Aggressive Tumor Growth and Metastases

Background: The understanding of molecular mechanisms leading to poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer may help develop treatment options. N-myc downstream-regulated gene-1 (NDRG1) has been correlated to better prognosis in pancreatic cancer. Therefore, we thought to analyze how the loss of NDRG1 affects progression in an orthotopic xenograft animal model of recurrence. Methods: Capan-1 cells were silenced for NDRG1 (Csil) or transfected with scrambled shRNA (Cscr) and compared for anchorage-dependent and anchorage-independent growth, invasion and tube formation in vitro. In an orthotopic xenograft model of recurrence tumors were grown in the pancreatic tail. The effect of NDRG1 silencing was evaluated on tumor size and metastasis. Results: The silencing of NDRG1 in Capan-1 cells leads to more aggressive tumor growth and metastasis. We found faster cell growth, double count of invaded cells and 1.8-fold increase in tube formation in vitro. In vivo local tumors were 5.9-fold larger (p = 0.006) and the number of metastases was higher in animals with tumors silenced for NDRG1 primarily (3 vs. 1.1; p = 0.005) and at recurrence (3.3 vs. 0.9; p = 0.015). Conclusion: NDRG1 may be an interesting therapeutic target as its silencing in human pancreatic cancer cells leads to a phenotype with more aggressive tumor growth and metastasis.
Demographic and Psychological Factors Predicting Organizational Commitment among Industrial Workers

Abstract This study investigated the relationships of demographic factors (age, marital status, gender, job tenure, and educational level), emotional intelligence, work-role salience, achievement motivation and job satisfaction to organizational commitment of industrial workers. Participants were 320 employees (male = 170, female = 150) randomly selected from 5 service and 5 manufacturing organizations in Oyo State, Nigeria. Measures of biographical data, emotional intelligence, work-role salience, achievement motivation, job satisfaction and organizational commitment were administered on the sample. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to analyse the data collected. Results showed that emotional intelligence, work-role salience, achievement motivation, job satisfaction and all demographic factors except gender significantly predicted organizational commitment of the workers. Findings suggest the need for organizational managements and psychologists to consider the factors investigated when designing programmes for increasing the organizational commitment of the workers.