Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Whole Grape Intake Impacts Cardiac Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor and Nuclear Factor &kgr;B Activity and Cytokine Expression in Rats With Diastolic Dysfunction

Prolonged hypertension is the leading cause of heart failure. Failing hearts show reduced peroxisome proliferator-activating receptor (PPAR) activity and enhanced nuclear factor &kgr;B (NF-&kgr;B) activity, which together modify cardiac inflammation and fibrosis. In vitro studies suggest that phytochemicals alter PPAR and NF-&kgr;B activity, but the capabilities of a phytochemical-rich diet are less understood. Grapes contain an array of commonly consumed dietary phytochemicals. In Dahl salt-sensitive hypertensive rats, we showed previously that dietary provision of whole table grape powder (3% weight:weight) for 18 weeks reduced blood pressure, cardiac hypertrophy, and diastolic dysfunction. The hypothesis tested here is that, in this model, phytochemical provision from whole grape powder impacts cardiac PPAR and NF-&kgr;B activity and their related gene transcripts. Grape-fed rats had enhanced PPAR-&agr; and PPAR-&ggr; DNA binding activity but reduced NF-&kgr;B DNA binding activity. RT-PCR revealed that grape-fed rats showed upregulated mRNA for PPAR-&agr;, PPAR-&ggr; coactivator-1&agr;, PPAR-&ggr;, and the cytosolic NF-&kgr;B inhibitor, inhibitor-&kgr;B&agr;. By contrast, grape-fed rats showed downregulated mRNA for tumor necrosis factor-&agr; and transforming growth factor-&bgr;1. Finally, grape-fed rats showed significantly reduced cardiac tumor necrosis factor-&agr; and transforming growth factor-&bgr; protein expression, increased inhibitor-&kgr;B&agr; expression, and reduced cardiac fibrosis. In the Dahl salt-sensitive rat, chronic intake of grapes altered cardiac transcripts related to PPAR and NF-&kgr;B that may be significant to the observed diet-associated cardioprotection.
ETHNIC HETEROGENEITY IN THE MALAYSIAN ECONOMY : A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE ETHNIC GROUP PARTICIPATION IN FINANCIAL PLANNING ACTIVITIES

The purpose of this article is to outline the current state of knowledge in relation of economic involvement and ethnicity in Malaysia. Firstly, this article will review on the state of employment in relation to the ethnic groups in Malaysia. This is important since the income factor is one of the major factors that determine the level of economic participation and the state of wealth of individuals. Stable and adequate level of income is one of the determinants of wealth accumulation for individuals other than wealth and net wealth level. This raises the question of employment opportunities among different ethnic groups in Malaysia. The root of the employment opportunities, it can be argued, stems from the access of different ethnic groups to high education, which also be discussed in the article. Secondly, this article will review on the involvement of various ethnic groups in Malaysia in several financial planning sector including investment and risk management sector. At the end of the article, it will provide insights on the current state of financial planning activities which reflect the participation of the individuals with different ethnic plan their financial affairs.
Managing Physician Efficiency and Effectiveness in Providing Hospital Services

Physicians control more than 80 percent of the decisions affecting health costs. Consequently, managing physician practice patterns is an important avenue to reducing health care costs. One approach to identifying inefficient practice patterns is demonstrated in this pilot study of physicians treating heart shock patients. Physicians are evaluated using data envelopment analysis (DEA), a relatively new linear-program-based efficiency evaluation tool. This approach (1) locates physicians using excess resources in treating patients, (2) estimates the amount of excess resources used, and (3) explicitly considers the quality of patient care in the overall assessment of the physician's practice patterns. Findings of physician inefficiency that are stable over time could be used to alter practice patterns and subsequently to assist in cost containment.
Persistent Infection of Human Oligodendrocytic and Neuroglial Cell Lines by Human Coronavirus 229E

ABSTRACT Human coronaviruses (HuCV) cause common colds. Previous reports suggest that these infectious agents may be neurotropic in humans, as they are for some mammals. With the long-term aim of providing experimental evidence for the neurotropism of HuCV and the establishment of persistent infections in the nervous system, we have evaluated the susceptibility of various human neural cell lines to acute and persistent infection by HuCV-229E. Viral antigen, infectious virus progeny and viral RNA were monitored during both acute and persistent infections. The astrocytoma cell lines U-87 MG, U-373 MG, and GL-15, as well as neuroblastoma SK-N-SH, neuroglioma H4, and oligodendrocytic MO3.13 cell lines, were all susceptible to an acute infection by HuCV-229E. The CHME-5 immortalized fetal microglial cell line was not susceptible to infection by this virus. The MO3.13 and H4 cell lines also sustained a persistent viral infection, as monitored by detection of viral antigen and infectious virus progeny. Sequencing of the S1 gene from viral RNA after ∼130 days of infection showed two point mutations, suggesting amino acid changes during persistent infection of MO3.13 cells but none for H4 cells. Thus, persistent in vitro infection did not generate important changes in the S1 portion of the viral spike protein, which was shown for murine coronaviruses to bear hypervariable domains and to interact with cellular receptor. These results are consistent with the potential persistence of HuCV-229E in cells of the human nervous system, such as oligodendrocytes and possibly neurons, and the virus’s apparent genomic stability.
Immune Response to HPV16 E6 and E7 Proteins and Patient Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer

Importance Pathology-based measures of human papillomavirus (HPV) status are routinely obtained in the care of head and neck cancer and are clearly associated with patient outcome for cancers of the oropharynx. However, it is unclear if HPV status is of high value for cancers of the larynx and oral cavity. In addition, it is possible to assess HPV infection using serology-based methods; however, the suitability of this pathology-independent measure for predicting patient outcome in head and neck cancer is unknown. Objective To investigate whether immunologic response to HPV16 is associated with patient survival across anatomic sites, independent of smoking and drinking history. Design, Setting, and Participants This was a population-based study of 1054 patients with head and neck cancer in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area (1999-2003, 2006-2011). Main Outcomes and Measures All-cause survival in relation to HPV16 E6 and E7 seropositivity. Results The 1054 patients reflected the demographics of those treated in this timeframe (75% male; mean age, 59 years). Seropositivity was very strongly associated with improved survival overall (hazard ratio HR], 0.33; 95% CI, 0.24-0.45; P < .001), with no evidence that the magnitude of immune response, as assessed by titer levels, effected outcome. Seropositivity was associated with improved patient survival across all head and neck cancer sites: HR for oropharynx cancer, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.18-0.39; for oral cavity cancer, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.18-0.80; and for larynx cancer, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.10-0.85. In addition, the associations with seropositivity were similar across smoking and/or drinking exposure groups: HRfor low exposure, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.20-1.36; for moderate exposure, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.25-0.70; for heavy exposure, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.36-0.73. In a subset of 162 patients with both HPV serology and p16 immunohistochemical (IHC) measures available, both measures were similarly associated with survival in the oropharynx (HR for serology, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.03-0.47; for p16 measures, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.03-0.46), whereas only serology was associated with outcome when considering all head and neck cancer cases (HR for serology,0.49; 95% CI, 0.23-1.04; for p16, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.30-1.42). Conclusions and Relevance Collectively, these data suggest that a positive serologic response to HPV16 oncoproteins may be the best approach to assess HPV-disease for clinical outcome because it is associated with survival for all types of disease and is a marker that is not dependent on pathology material.
Effects of Transaction Costs on Choice of Selling Point: A Case of Smallholder Banana Growers in the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa

Abstract This article examines the effects of transaction costs on the choice of marketing channel by smallholder banana producers (i.e. travel to the market to sell their produce versus selling at the farmgate). A probit analysis is used to identify the factors which determine the choice of a selling point. Variables capturing transaction costs are used in the analysis and these relate to searching for a trading partner, gathering information about the transaction, contracting, negotiating, monitoring and enforcing of contracts. The findings reveal that collective action, gender of household head, degree of dependence on the crop, geographical location and access to price information significantly affect the choice of selling point. This suggests that policies aimed at establishing market information systems, promotion of collective action among smallholder farmers, increased investment in rural infrastructure and achieving gender balance in trade are important.
Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on chronic tinnitus: a randomised, crossover, double blind, placebo controlled study

Background: Chronic tinnitus is a disabling, almost untreatable, condition, usually accompanied by psychiatric distress. In patients with complex neuropsychiatric diseases, such as chronic pain, with which tinnitus shares pathophysiological similarities, placebo effects may be pronounced. Moreover, it may be difficult to distinguish actual repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) induced clinical benefits beyond placebo effects in neuropsychiatric patients. Methods: 16 patients with chronic tinnitus underwent a randomised, double blind, crossover, placebo controlled trial of 1 Hz rTMS (120% of motor threshold; 1200 stimuli/day for 5 days) of the left temporoparietal region. Patients were screened for psychiatric comorbidity; additionally, anxiety and depression were monitored throughout the study. Moreover, an original placebo rTMS procedure produced the same activation of ipsilateral face muscles (a condition which may per se change the subjective rating of tinnitus) as the real rTMS. Results: There were 8 out of 14 responders. Two patients dropped out for transient worsening of tinnitus. Active rTMS induced an overall significant, but transient, improvement (35% of the basal score) of subjective tinnitus perception that was independent of either tinnitus laterality or mood or anxiety changes. No correlations were found between response to rTMS and tinnitus duration, initial subjective score or patient age. When asked after the study was over, 71.4% of patients failed to identify the temporal sequence of the real or sham rTMS interventions. Conclusion: The beneficial effects of rTMS on tinnitus are independent of mood changes. Moreover, they appear in the context of an original placebo stimulation designed to more closely replicate the somatic sensation of active stimulation. Because of the limited temporal duration of the clinical benefit, these neuromodulatory effects could be mediated by transient functional changes taking place in the neural circuits underlying tinnitus processing.
Topoisomerase II-Mediated Breaks in Spermatozoa Cause the Specific Degradation of Paternal DNA in Fertilized Oocytes1

Abstract We have demonstrated that mouse spermatozoa can cleave their DNA into 50-kb fragments when treated with Triton X-100, MnCl2, and CaCl2. This cleavage, which is termed sperm chromatin fragmentation (SCF), is mediated by topoisomerase IIB (TOP2B) following stimulation by a factor in the epididymal fluid, most likely a nuclease, and can be at least partially religated by EDTA. When the protamines are removed, this DNA breakage is followed by digestion of the DNA by a nuclease(s). We tested whether the oocyte could repair TOP2B-induced sperm DNA breaks and whether partial religation by EDTA would allow spermatozoa to fertilize the oocytes normally. Oocytes injected with untreated spermatozoa developed normally. However, oocytes injected with spermatozoa treated with MnCl2 and CaCl2 to induce SCF, with or without subsequent EDTA treatment, failed to develop. In both of these treatment groups, the maternal pronuclei developed normally and replicated their DNA. However the paternal pronuclei did not replicate their DNA and this DNA began to disappear 6 h postinjection, which corresponded approximately to the time at which maternal DNA replication was initiated. These data suggest that when TOP2B is induced to cleave sperm DNA before fertilization, the paternal DNA is subsequently degraded by a highly regulated mechanism that does not affect the maternal chromatin. Furthermore, partial religation by EDTA of TOP2B-induced breaks prevents neither the inhibition of DNA synthesis nor DNA degradation.
Women's experience of bed rest in high-risk pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE To explore women's experience of bed rest in high risk pregnancy. DESIGN Naturalistic, qualitative. SAMPLE, SETTING: Twelve adult, pregnant women on prescribed bed rest of a minimum of 20 hours per day and for at least 3-weeks duration were interviewed in one Western state of the U.S.A. regarding their experiences. FINDINGS Three major themes were perceptions of high risk pregnancy, perceptions of bed rest, and the experience of time and restricted movement. The women described a high level of physical, emotional, familial, and economic hardship resulting from the bed-rest experience. Having adequate income, health insurance, and a supportive relative to take over household responsibilities were dimensions of successful maintenance of bed rest in the women. CONCLUSIONS The routine obstetric procedure of bed-rest should be reevaluated in light of its lack of demonstrated effectiveness and potential to seriously harm women and their families. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Women should be fully informed about controversies surrounding the efficacy of bed rest in pregnancy and encouraged to participate in decisions when complications occur regarding the prescription of prolonged bed rest.
PATHOBIOLOGY OF GALLBLADDER CANCER

Carcinoma of the gallbladder (GBC) is the most common malignant tumour of the biliary tract. Gallbladder cancer demonstrates considerable geographic and gender variation in incidence varying greatly in different parts of the world. While it is more frequent in northern and eastern India, Japan, Chile, China, Eastern Europe and South America, its prevalence is relatively low in many western countries. It affects women two to six times more frequently than men. The incidence of GBC increases steadily with increase in age. Carcinoma of gall bladder is the fifth most mortality causing cancer and its cases are alarmingly increasing in south-east Asia. It is one of the obesity associated cancers and positively correlates with prolonged cholelithiasis (gallstone) and cholecystitis. Other risk factors include gallbladder polyps, anomalous pancreaticobiliary duct junction, chemical carcinogens, and chronic infections. Despite being first described more than two centuries ago in 1777, there has been little progress in its early diagnostics, prognosis and effective treatment. Non-random genomic alterations, gene mutations and epigenetic modifications have been reported in a few studies. Here we have reviewed our current understanding of the epidemiology, aetiology and genetic and epigenetic alterations in GBC.
Effect of Hydrophobicity on Electric Field Distribution and Discharges Along Various Wetted Hydrophobic Surfaces

According to hydrophobicity and hydrophobicity transfer studies on silicone rubber surfaces, although the silicone rubber can transfer its hydrophobicity to various contaminants deposited on its surface, the hydrophobic states of water droplets on clean silicone rubber surfaces and on various contaminated silicone rubber surfaces were found to be different based on evaluation by contact angle measurement. Furthermore, surface discharge and aging of materials decreases the hydrophobicity of the surface. Focused on the difference of hydrophobicity and the effect of water droplets on the hydrophobic contaminated surfaces, some contrastive computations and tests of water droplets on various surfaces were carried out in this study. The results showed that the water droplets existing on the surface of silicone rubber materials might change the electric field and voltage distribution along the surface, and even reduced the initial voltage of the corona discharge, which was verified with a comparison test on a high voltage side of polymer insulator monitored by a photomultiplier tube (PMT) system. Since the leakage current provides much useful information to diagnose the state of outdoor insulation, this study investigates the time and frequency distributions of surface discharges on ceramic insulators, new room temperature vulcanized (RTV) silicone rubber coated insulators and aging RTV insulators with various hydrophobic states with the short time Fourier transform and Gabor transform methods. Then a correlation was found between the distribution of the spectrum of surface discharges and hydrophobicity via the joint time and frequency analysis of discharges on various hydrophobic surfaces.
Directional aspects of balance corrections in man

This article attempts to highlight the new insights into balance control that have been gained by using multidirectional perturbations and to demonstrate how this new focus enables a better understanding of how the central nervous system (CNS) malfunctions in patients with balance disorders. Multidirectional perturbations have proven to be a valuable tool to better understand dynamic postural control in normal and balance-deficient populations. The advantages gained by using multidirectional perturbations to exert joint displacement profiles at different levels and in different directions has allowed greater insight into how passive joint characteristics and active muscle synergies are triggered and shaped by peripheral and central sensory systems to elicit directionally specific postural responses to avoid a fall.
Interrelations between Azospirillum and Rhizobium nitrogen-fixers and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the rhizosphere of alfalfa in sterile , AMF-free or normal soil conditions

Co-inoculations of the alfalfa ( Medicago sativaL.) plants with the associativeand/or the obligate nitrogen-fixing bacteria (Azospirillum brasilense , S;Rhizobium meliloti , R) and/or the vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza fungus ( Glomus fasciculatum, M) were evaluated in a pot experiment under controlled conditions. The effect of these beneficial microbes, as single(M, R, S), dual(MR, MS) or multilevel (MRS) inoculation-treatments were assessed in a calcareous loamy chernozem soil, originating from a grass-type natural ecosystem. A range of substrates were used to separate the influence of the indigenous microbes: C, untreated original soil (i.e. including all of the usual microflora); G, gamma-sterilised soil (no competitive microbes); GB, sterile soil (re-suspension of a mycorrhiza-free soil extract). The weight of the host, nodule-number, macroand microelement contents and the colonisation by the inoculated bacterial and fungal microsymbionts were recorded. In the gamma-sterilised substrate all of the mono(M), dual(MR, MS) or multilevel (MRS) co-inoculations with the selected, Glomus fasciculatumM 107 strain were effective in improving plant growth, nutrient-uptake and abundance of the microsymbionts in the rhizosphere of alfalfa. In contrast a competition from the indigenous microflora in the non-sterilised soil, greatly reduced the functioning of the applied mycorrhizal inoculum. Although the associative Azospirillumbacteria (MS) slightly reduced effects relative to single mycorrhizal inoculation (M), the multilevel treatments, with both of the diazotrophs (MRS), showed a further enhancement (a synergistic effect) for almost all of the tested parameters and substrates. The functional compatibility of the obligateand associative diazotrophs in the mycorhizosphere are discussed. © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Sympathy for the devil: a conservation strategy for devil and manta rays

Background International trade for luxury products, medicines, and tonics poses a threat to both terrestrial and marine wildlife. The demand for and consumption of gill plates (known as Peng Yu Sai, “Fish Gill of Mobulid Ray”) from devil and manta rays (subfamily Mobulinae, collectively referred to as mobulids) poses a significant threat to these marine fishes because of their extremely low productivity. The demand for these gill plates has driven an international trade supplied by largely unmonitored and unregulated catches from target and incidental fisheries around the world. Scientific research, conservation campaigns, and legal protections for devil rays have lagged behind those for manta rays despite similar threats across all mobulids. Methods To investigate the difference in attention given to devil rays and manta rays, we examined trends in the scientific literature and updated species distribution maps for all mobulids. Using available information on target and incidental fisheries, and gathering information on fishing and trade regulations (at international, national, and territorial levels), we examined how threats and protective measures overlap with species distribution. We then used a species conservation planning approach to develop the Global Devil and Manta Ray Conservation Strategy, specifying a vision, goals, objectives, and actions to advance the knowledge and protection of both devil and manta rays. Results and Discussion Our literature review revealed that there had been nearly 2.5-times more “manta”-titled publications, than “mobula” or “devil ray”-titled publications over the past 4.5 years (January 2012–June 2016). The majority of these recent publications were reports on occurrence of mobulid species. These publications contributed to updated Area of Occupancy and Extent of Occurrence maps which showed expanded distributions for most mobulid species and overlap between the two genera. While several international protections have recently expanded to include all mobulids, there remains a greater number of national, state, and territory-level protections for manta rays compared to devil rays. We hypothesize that there are fewer scientific publications and regulatory protections for devil rays due primarily to perceptions of charisma that favour manta rays. We suggest that the well-established species conservation framework used here offers an objective solution to close this gap. To advance the goals of the conservation strategy we highlight opportunities for parity in protection and suggest solutions to help reduce target and bycatch fisheries.