Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In Defense of the Rationality Assumption

It has become commonplace for economists to assert that human beings are not fully economically rational. Many psychologists and behavioral economists now maintain that economic agents do not reason very well, that these agents often do not know what is good for them and that they behave in odd, non-reasoning, inconsistent ways. Paradoxes and inconsistencies supposedly surface in economic behavior, making agents appear to be unpredictable, but interesting and wonderfully “complex. ” In this paper, however, it is argued that economic agents are, in fact, quite rational, are predictable under strict ceteris paribus assumptions, and are much simpler and uninteresting than psychologists and behavioral economists might have us believe. In support of the contention of rationality, Tversky’s classic behavioral experiment of irrelevant alternatives is performed again but results are obtained in disagreement
AP‐1 DNA‐binding activation by methamphetamine involves oxidative stress

Methamphetamine (METH) caused dose‐dependent increases in AP‐1 DNA‐binding activity in both nontransgenic (Non‐Tg) and CuZn‐SOD transgenic (SOD‐Tg) mice. However, the increases in SOD‐Tg mice were less prominent than those observed in Non‐Tg animals. The time‐course of METH‐induced AP‐1 changes was similar in both strains of mice. AP‐1 binding activity showed an initial increase at 1 h, peaked at 3 h, and then gradually declined. AP‐1 binding activity was back to normal by the 72‐h time point. Regional analyses of METH effects revealed increases in the caudate putamen and cerebellum, with the striatum showing relatively higher METH‐induced AP‐1 DNA‐binding activation. These regional effects were also attenuated in the SOD‐Tg mice. These data indicate that METH‐induced stimulation of AP‐1 DNA‐binding depends on cellular redox status. These results are consistent with in vitro studies that have reported that several transcription factors are regulated through redox mechanisms. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.
Expression of hsp90  and hsp90  during Xenopus laevis

October 2010 ABSTRACT Background: Members of the eukaryotic Hsp90 family function as important molecular chaperones in the assembly, folding and activation of cellular signaling in development. Two hsp90 genes, hsp90  and hsp90  , have been identified in fish and homeothermic vertebrates but not in poikilothermic vertebrates. In the present study, the expression of hsp90  and hsp90  genes in Xenopus laevis , which is phylogenetically positioned between zebrafish and mammals, has been addressed. Methods: Partial Xenopus hsp90  and hsp90  cDNA were identified and isolated using RT-PCR, and a full-length Xenopus hsp90  cDNA was isolated from an embryonic cDNA library. Northern-blot analysis was used to study the expression of hsp90  and hsp90  genes in total RNA of the embryos and in situ hybridization was used to compare the expression of these genes with that of hsp70 and MyoD genes in Xenopus embryogenesis. Results: Northern-blot analysis revealed that the hsp90  gene was strongly expressed constitutively at all stages of embryogenesis, but weakly induced following the heat shock. In contrast, the hsp90  gene was weakly expressed in embryos at control temperature, but strongly up-regulated following heat shock. In situ hybridization results showed that hsp90  gene was observed predominantly in cells of the developing somite. Microscopic sections showed that hsp90  and MyoD mRNA are expressed in similar regions in somite and this pattern was distinct from that of hsp70 and hsp90  . Conclusion: These data support the hypothesis that the presence of hsp90  and hsp90  genes is conserved among vertebrates, and these genes
ECMO: Incidence and Outcomes of Patients Undergoing the Hybrid Procedure.

OBJECTIVE To document the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) incidence and outcome in patients undergoing the hybrid procedure at an institution that routinely performs this procedure. DESIGN A retrospective chart review on all patients with single ventricle physiology that underwent the hybrid procedure between 7/2002 and 12/2014. Patients were excluded if they underwent the hybrid procedure after 60 days of birth or subsequently underwent a biventricular repair. SETTING A single center, tertiary pediatric hospital. PATIENTS One hundred eighty-one patients with single ventricle physiology that underwent the hybrid procedure between 7/2002 and 12/2014. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS We studied a total of 181 patients (105 males: 76 females). Gestational age was 37.8 ± 2.0 weeks and birth weight was 3.0 ± 0.7 kg. Underlying diagnosis was hypoplastic left heart syndrome in 149 patients and other in 32 patients. Age at surgery was 7.8 ± 6.8 days and weight at surgery was 3.1 ± 0.6 kg. Two patients underwent ECMO support after the hybrid procedure. One patient had aortic atresia/mitral atresia and weighed 2.3 kg and the other patient had aortic atresia/mitral stenosis and weighed 2.1 kg at time of surgery. Both patients died. Incidence of ECMO support after hybrid procedure was 1.3% (2/149) for the hypoplastic left heart syndrome patients and 1.1% (2/181) for the entire cohort. CONCLUSION Mortality in patients who underwent ECMO after the hybrid procedure was higher than reported for the Norwood procedure, however, the incidence of ECMO after hybrid procedure was also significantly lower than reported for the Norwood procedure. Future studies are needed to determine how to improve outcomes in this complex patient population.
Estudio multidisciplinar del Agadir y Oasis de Amtoudi, provincia de Guelmim (Sur de Marruecos): aspectos geotécnicos e hidrogeológicos, técnicas constructivas y seguridad estructural del emplazamiento

Se ha realizado un estudio interdisciplinar en el sector del Oasis y Agadir de Amtoudi, declarado Patrimonio Cultural de la Humanidad. Este sector se localiza en la Cuenca del Wadi des Argans (Rambla de los Arganes), en la frontera norte del Desierto del Sahara, Cadena del Anti-Atlas del Craton Africano Occidental, Sur de Marruecos. En este sector el contacto entre el basamento Precambrico y la serie sedimentaria Paleozoica de cobertera afloran plegados. Se han tratado cinco aspectos principales: (1) estudio geologico del sector, incluyendo una revision de la cartografia geologica, la realizacion de una cartografia geomorfologica, reconstruccion litoestratigrafica del sustrato y caracterizacion petro-mineralogica de los materiales de la serie; (2) caracterizacion climatica e hidrogeologica del sector de influencia del Oasis de Amtoudi, que incluye la dinamica del agua subterranea y la sostenibilidad de la economia dependiente (agricultura y turismo) en esta zona desertica; (3) estudio de la estabilidad del macizo rocoso de Amtoudi donde se situa el agadir (un granero fortificado), incluyendo ensayos geotecnicos de laboratorio de los materiales; (4) diagnostico de los materiales constructivos, principalmente, piedras, morteros y elementos de madera; y (5) analisis de las tecnicas constructivas y elementos arquitectonicos, tales elementos sustentantes y sustentados. El agadir esta construido directamente sobre un promontorio rocoso con rocas del propio sustrato usando materiales tradicionales y tecnicas ancestrales. El talud SW del macizo rocoso se ha clasificado como inestable en condiciones de saturacion. Se han identificado y clasificado las rocas en cuatro petrofacies, y se ha establecido la degradacion de las mismas. Se han propuesto medidas de conservacion y mantenimiento compatibles con el medio ambiente. Los elementos sustentantes (muros de mamposteria) y los sustentados (forjados) del agadir han sido estudiados tambien para establecer su estabilidad, estudiando los casos mas desfavorables. Se han caracterizado materiales, tecnicas y dimensiones para identificar posibles fallos por cortante, flexion y flexo-pandeo como guia para el mantenimiento del agadir. El analisis hidrogeologico del Oasis de Amtoudi, atractivo para el turismo, muestra evidencias de degradacion del agua subterranea debido al aumento del turismo internacional. Se proponen algunas acciones de tecnologia simple para mitigar dicha degradacion.
The Effect of auditor-provided non-audit services on auditor independence and Sarbanes-Oxley: What separates tax services from other non-audit services?

Objectives of the Study The Sarbanes-Oxley Act prohibited a large number of individual auditor-provided non-audit services, which were seen to have a negative effect on auditor independence. Tax services were not included in the list, implying that the effects of these services should somehow differ from those of other consulting services. Research on all non-audit services however has yielded contradictory results. This study sets out to illustrate the possible effects of tax services using prior research on all services as a framework, and attempts to shed some light on the issue whether the effects of tax services actually are significantly different from those of the other non-audit services. Research Method and Data The methods used in the paper follow the research of Frankel et al. (2002) which approaches independence concerns by examining whether strong economic bonds between auditor and client lead to opportunistic earnings management through the use of discretionary accruals. A modification to the method also allows a separate examination of auditor-provided tax services. The sample used in the models consists of financial statements from 2415 individual North American firms for the financial year 2010. Findings of the Study This study provides heteroscedasticity-robust evidence that there is no statistically significant association between auditor-provided tax services and earnings management. The results are robust to differences in auditor fee composition, to the direction of earnings management as well as to audit client firm size. Since the goal of this paper and the methods used in it is not to measure possible knowledge spillovers, one can only speculate whether the absence of such an association could mean that there are no audit-quality improving knowledge spillovers retainable from the provision of tax services, or that the provision of tax services simply does not have an effect on auditor independence.
On the Robustness of Optimal Network Designs

Robust optimization is an emerging field in telecommunication network design which takes future traffic uncertainty into account. This yields optimal robust network designs which are optimal for all traffic realizations within a pre-defined set of uncertainty. In 2003, Bertsimas and Sim have introduced an adjustable uncertainty set for general optimization problems which preserves the computational complexity of the original non-robust problem. Recently, Koster et al. (NGI2010) have applied this approach to network design problems. In this paper, we consider this so-called Gamma-robust network design problem. We investigate the importance of statistical input data analysis to determine reasonable parameter settings for robust network planning. Using detailed real-life traffic measurements of two backbone networks (Abilene and GEANT), we determine optimal robust network designs for 495 different parameter settings per network. Afterwards, we evaluate the realized robustness (i.e., the percentage of supported traffic matrices) w.r. t. the planning data and a larger set of historical data to simulate uncertain future traffic.
Alterations in neural systems mediating cognitive flexibility and inhibition in mood disorders

Impairment in mental flexibility may be a key component contributing to cardinal cognitive symptoms among mood disorders patients, particularly thought control disorders. Impaired ability to switch from one thought to another might reflect difficulties in either generating new mental states, inhibiting previous states, or both. However, the neural underpinnings of impaired cognitive flexibility in mood disorders remain largely unresolved. We compared a group of mood disorders patients (n = 29) and a group of matched healthy subjects (n = 32) on a novel task‐switching paradigm involving happy and sad faces, that allowed us to separate generation of a new mental set (Switch Cost) and inhibition of the previous set during switching (Inhibition Cost), using fMRI. Behavioral data showed a larger Switch Cost in patients relative to controls, but the average Inhibition Cost did not differ between groups. At the neural level, a main effect of group was found with stronger activation of the subgenual cingulate cortex in patients. The larger Switch Cost in patients was reflected by a stronger recruitment of brain regions involved in attention and executive control, including the left intraparietal sulcus, precuneus, left inferior fontal gyrus, and right anterior cingulate. Critically, activity in the subgenual cingulate cortex was not downregulated by inhibition in patients relative to controls. In conclusion, mood disorder patients have exaggerated Switch Cost relative to controls, and this deficit in cognitive flexibility is associated with increased activation of the fronto‐parietal attention networks, combined with impaired modulation of the subgenual cingulate cortex when inhibition of previous mental states is needed. Hum Brain Mapp 37:1335‐1348, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Assessment of microbial load of some common vegetables among two different socioeconomic groups

Microbiological control is very important in food industry to prevent foodborne diseases. Therefore, the present investigation was undertaken to assess the microbiological quality of fresh vegetables collected from several regions of Ropar, Punjab, India. A total of 36 vegetable samples were collected and examined for their microbial load. Contamination was mainly found in cauliflower, peas, cabbage, and potato. The microbial load in vegetables procured from low economic area was significantly higher in comparison to vegetables from high economic areas. In low economic area maximum total plate count was observed in onion followed by carrot and radish while in high economic area it was recorded in peas followed by potato. Similarly, in low economic area maximum yeast and mold count was recorded in radish, cauliflower while in high economic area maximum yeast and moulds count were recorded in radish, onion and cauliflower, followed by cabbage. Maximum coliform count was observed in low economic areas in cauliflower, followed by onion. Considerable numbers of microbes were also detected in carrot, peas, cabbage and potato in the area. Maximum coliform count in high economic area was recorded in radish followed by carrot. Eshcerichia coli were detected only in onion procured from shops of low economic area. This study demonstrated that vegetables that are sold in the open market are usually having higher microbial load that may represent a risk for human health. Hence, vegetables may act as a reservoir for many microorganisms from which they will be colonized inside these vegetables and infect susceptible host.
Mechanism and Efficacy of Sub–50-nm Tenfibgen Nanocapsules for Cancer Cell–Directed Delivery of Anti-CK2 RNAi to Primary and Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Improved survival for patients with head and neck cancers (HNC) with recurrent and metastatic disease warrants that cancer therapy is specific, with protected delivery of the therapeutic agent to primary and metastatic cancer cells. A further objective should be that downregulation of the intracellular therapy target leads to cell death without compensation by an alternate pathway. To address these goals, we report the utilization of a sub–50-nm tenfibgen (s50-TBG) nanocapsule that delivers RNAi oligonucleotides directed against the essential survival signal protein kinase CK2 (RNAi-CK2) in a cancer cell–specific manner. We have evaluated mechanism and efficacy of using s50-TBG-RNAi-CK2 nanocapsules for therapy of primary and metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). s50-TBG nanocapsules enter cancer cells via the lipid raft/caveolar pathway and deliver their cargo (RNAi-CK2) preferentially to malignant but not normal tissues in mice. Our data suggest that RNAi-CK2, a unique single-stranded oligonucleotide, co-opts the argonaute 2/RNA-induced silencing complex pathway to target the CK2αα′ mRNAs. s50-TBG-RNAi-CK2 inhibited cell growth corresponding with reduced CK2 expression in targeted tumor cells. Treatment of three xenograft HNSCC models showed that primary tumors and metastases responded to s50-TBG-RNAi-CK2 therapy, with tumor shrinkage and 6-month host survival that was achieved at relatively low doses of the therapeutic agent without any adverse toxic effect in normal tissues in the mice. We suggest that our nanocapsule technology and anti-CK2 targeting combine into a therapeutic modality with a potential of significant translational promise. Mol Cancer Ther; 13(8); 2018–29. ©2014 AACR.
Tumor recurrence and survival in stage IB cancer of the cervix

CLINICAL RECORDS OF 371 WOMEN WITH CARCINOMA of the cervix, Stage IB, treated in the decade 1969–1979 were reviewed. Cancer recurred in 67 women (18.1%). A group of 171 patients treated by radiation, including 25 who were surgically staged prior to treatment, was compared to 200 patients treated by radical abdominal hysterectomy and pelvic node dissection, including 35 who had postoperative whole pelvis radiation. A multi-factorial analysis included time to recurrence, site of recurrence, treatment for recurrence, and survival after recurrence. Pathology review and clinicopathological correlation included tumor configuration, histologic type, size of tumor in greatest dimension, and rate of node metastases in patients undergoing either radical hysterectomy or surgical staging procedures. Lesion size was found to be the most accurate predictor of disease-free survival; this was true whether the patient was treated by surgery or radiation and was not significantly affected by the tumor histology. Nodal metastases were associated with increasing size of lesions and predicted high recurrence rates. Node metastasis rates were not affected by the histology of the tumor.
Distinguishing Between Multiple Personality Disorder (Dissociative Identity Disorder) and Schizophrenia Using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV Dissociative Disorders

The authors describe the systematic assessment of dissociative symptoms using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D) in 50 psychiatric outpatients with a referring DSM-III-R diagnosis of either schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (N = 31) and subjects with multiple personality disorder (MPD [DSM-IV name change: dissociative identity disorder]; N = 19). Results indicate that patients with MPD experience significantly higher scores for five specific dissociative symptoms than patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The range, severity, and nature of the five dissociative symptom areas evaluated by the SCID-D distinguish MPD from the occasional occurrence of dissociative symptoms which may be seen in schizophrenia. Systematic assessment of dissociative symptoms using the SCID-D can assist in accurate differential diagnosis of MPD and schizophrenia.
Sequence heterogeneity in the termini of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus genomic and antigenomic RNAs

Sequence analysis of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus L and S RNAs has revealed evidence of heterogeneity within the termini of the genomic and antigenomic RNAs. The RNAs are missing from 0 to 38 bases, show characteristic patterns of deleted nucleotides at both 5' and 3' termini, and often have a nontemplated base at the terminus. The same deletions, at either the 5' or the 3' terminus of the genomic L and S RNAs, are frequently found in the complementary strand of antigenomic RNA, suggesting that RNAs with deleted termini may be recognized as functional templates for replication. RNAs extracted from virions, or viral nucleocapsids isolated from acutely infected cells, are similar in the nature and extent of terminal heterogeneity that have been observed. This finding brings into question the function of the conserved sequences located at the termini of arenavirus genomic RNAs. Our data suggest that, while replication and packaging of the genomic and antigenomic RNA molecules can occur with terminally deleted molecules, mature transcripts may be derived only from full-length templates containing the conserved terminal sequence.
A retrospective cohort study of radial optic neurotomy for severe central retinal vein occlusions.

BACKGROUND Radial optic neurotomy (RON) is a new surgical procedure that has, until now, been studied only in a case series format. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of RON in improving visual acuity in patients suffering from central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) with visual acuity equal to or worse than 20/100. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was conducted of consecutive CRVO patients, consisting of 19 who underwent RON and 38 observation subjects matched on presenting visual acuity. RESULTS The observation group worsened by 0.25 logMAR units from baseline, whereas the surgery group improved by 0.29 logMAR. Multivariate linear regression modelling found that, having controlled for other significant predictors and confounders, the change in visual acuity in the surgery patients was 0.63 logMAR units better than in the observation patients. INTERPRETATION Our data suggest that RON is a promising treatment for visual acuity loss in severe CRVO causing visual acuity equal to or worse than 20/100. These results should be interpreted cautiously because of the limitations of the study, including the retrospective study design and the use of Snellen visual acuity. Our data suggest that further evaluation of RON is warranted.
Dynamic Analysis of Airflow Features in a 3D Real-Anatomical Geometry of the Human Nasal Cavity

Drug delivery in the human respiratory tract is a long standing challenge due to the complexity of the geometry and materials properties. This paper presents a brief summary of flow features in the human respiratory system and simulates an airflow field based on a 3D real-anatomical geometry of the human nasal cavity. A Lagrangian particle-tracking approach is adopted in the flow field solver for the dispersed phase. The dispersion characteristics of particles through the airflow are investigated under the quiet breathing. The particles passing through the domain sections for different value of particle density, diameter and flow rate are investigated. The particle deposition efficiency is also studied. These were compared with experimental data, and results of previous simulations. It is noted that the transportation, dispersion and deposition of particles can be controlled by the particle properties and flow rate. The numerical results show good agreement with previous experimental and computational studies, which are useful for the optimisation design of therapy methodologies, treatment devices and drug materials.