Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Telomerase – a Potential Molecular Marker of Lung and Cervical Cancer

Abstract Telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein enzyme that adds hexameric TTAGGG nucleotide repeats onto telomeres is reactivated in most malignancies. Lung cancer is a common malignant disease worldwide as well as in India. Most patients present in advanced stages. As noninvasive diagnostic techniques are preferred, we assayed the telomerase activity in pre-bronchoscopy sputum and compared it with that of bronchial washings and bronchoscopic biopsies by telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) in 53 cases of lung cancer. These were corroborated with cytopathological/histopathological examinations. Telomerase activity was detected in 58.5% of sputum samples, 70% of bronchial washings and 74% of bronchoscopic biopsies thereby making it a good noninvasive diagnostic marker of lung cancer. Cervical cancer is the 7th most common cancer worldwide, with 100,000 new cases being reported annually in India. It is routinely screened by Papanicolaou's (Pap) smear. Human papilloma virus (HPV) is one of its etiological agents. We have assayed telomerase activity in relation to HPV-16/18 in cervical samples from 93 subjects ranging from normal to precancerous to frank cancers in tissue biopsies and cervical scrapings. HPV infection was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 81% of tumor samples, in 6% of control hysterectomy samples and in 2% of cervical scrapings of normal healthy controls with HPV-16 being the predominant type. Telomerase activity was detected in 96.5% of cervical tumor samples, in 68.7% of premalignant cervical scrapings but was not detected in control hysterectomy samples, or in cervical scrapings of normal healthy controls. There was 71% correlation between telomerase activity and HPV-16/18 infection.
Cell structural changes in the needles of Norway spruce exposed to long-term ozone and drought.

Effects of ozone and/or drought on Norway spruce needles were studied using light microscopy and electron microscopy. Saplings were exposed to ozone in open-top chambers during 1992-1995 and also to drought in the late summers of 1993-1995. Samples from current and previous year needles were collected five times during 1995. Ozone increased the numbers of peroxisomes and mitochondria, which suggests that defence mechanisms against oxidative stress were active. The results from peroxisomes suggest that the oxidative stress was more pronounced in the upper side of the needles, and those from mitochondria that defence was more active in the younger needle generation. Possibly due to the good nitrogen status and the active defence, no ozone-specific chloroplast alterations were seen. At the end of the season, older needles from ozone treatments had smaller central vacuoles compared with other needles. Cytoplasmic vacuoles around the nucleus were increased by ozone in the beginning of the experiment, and did not increase towards the end of the season as in the controls. These results from vacuoles may indicate that ozone affected the osmotic properties of the cells. Decreased number and underdevelopment of sclerenchyma cells and proliferation of tonoplast were related to nutrient imbalance, which was enhanced by drought. Larger vascular cylinders and more effective starch accumulation before and after the drought periods compensated for the reduced water status. Numbers of peroxisomes and mitochondria were increased in the drought-exposed needles before the onset of drought treatments of the study year, i.e. these changes were memory effects. Interactions between ozone and drought were few.
Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Endocannabinoid Degradative Enzyme Inhibitors Attenuate Intracranial Self-Stimulation in Mice

A growing body of evidence implicates endogenous cannabinoids as modulators of the mesolimbic dopamine system and motivated behavior. Paradoxically, the reinforcing effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive constituent of cannabis, have been difficult to detect in preclinical rodent models. In this study, we investigated the impact of THC and inhibitors of the endocannabinoid hydrolytic enzymes fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) on operant responding for electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle [intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS)], which is known to activate the mesolimbic dopamine system. These drugs were also tested in assays of operant responding for food reinforcement and spontaneous locomotor activity. THC and the MAGL inhibitor JZL184 (4-[bis(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)hydroxymethyl]-1-piperidinecarboxylic acid 4-nitrophenyl ester) attenuated operant responding for ICSS and food, and also reduced spontaneous locomotor activity. In contrast, the FAAH inhibitor PF-3845 (N-3-pyridinyl-4-[[3-[[5-(trifluoromethyl)-2-pyridinyl]oxy]phenyl]methyl]-1-piperidinecarboxamide) was largely without effect in these assays. Consistent with previous studies showing that combined inhibition of FAAH and MAGL produces a substantially greater cannabimimetic profile than single enzyme inhibition, the dual FAAH-MAGL inhibitor SA-57 (4-[2-(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl]-1-piperidinecarboxylic acid 2-(methylamino)-2-oxoethyl ester) produced a similar magnitude of ICSS depression as that produced by THC. ICSS attenuation by JZL184 was associated with increased brain levels of 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), whereas peak effects of SA-57 were associated with increased levels of both N-arachidonoylethanolamine (anandamide) and 2-AG. The cannabinoid receptor type 1 receptor antagonist rimonabant, but not the cannabinoid receptor type 2 receptor antagonist SR144528, blocked the attenuating effects of THC, JZL184, and SA-57 on ICSS. Thus, THC, MAGL inhibition, and dual FAAH-MAGL inhibition not only reduce ICSS, but also decrease other reinforced and nonreinforced behaviors.
Preferential Inspection of Views of 3-D Model Heads

The importance of different perspective views for the recognition of model heads was studied. In experiment 1 subjects were instructed to learn the appearance of six heads placed individually on a turntable free to rotate through 360°. Subjects did not distribute their time evenly but focussed their inspection on particular views (the full face view and a view close to the profile). Despite differential inspection of these two views during the learning phase, the face, half profile, and profile views were recognized with equal efficiency in a subsequent recognition task with static views. Experiment 2 used the inspection paradigm to investigate view preference during the recognition of heads from memory. In this experiment subjects were asked to learn the appearance of three heads each seen rotating at an even speed. In a subsequent retrieval task the subjects actively inspected six model heads on the turntable and were asked to differentiate the three heads previously seen rotating from three novel heads. The pattern of inspection in this retrieval task was equivalent to that in experiment 1. Results suggest that during the encoding into memory subjects construct descriptions of specific prototypical views of the head and that descriptions of these same views are preferentially utilised during recognition.
Construction time-cost model in Croatia

The paper deals with the applicability of the «time-cost» model for calculating the sustainable construction time for building projects in Croatia. In this model the time is expressed as a function of money in the project, while the specific constants K and B need to be determined. These constants depend on economic characteristics of the country or a larger area and therefore had to be separately calculated for a region with similar economic characteristics. The modeling of the constants was performed for two groups of building projects – the roads and residential and office multi-storey buildings. The obtained results have been analyzed and compared to the corresponding results from abroad.
Personalized Text Content Summarizer for Mobile Learning: An Automatic Text Summarization System with Relevance Based Language Model

Although millions of text contents and multimedia published on the Web have potential to be shared as the learning contents for mobile learning, effectively extracting useful information from them is an extremely difficult problem. Oft-decried information overloading is the main issue to impede this potential. Many approaches have been proposed to revise and reinforce content to provide the appropriate delivery for mobile learning. However, approaches of manually converting content to suit the mobile learning require a huge effort on the part of the teachers and the instructional designers. Automatic text summarization can reduce this cost significantly, but it may have negative impact on the understanding of the meaning conveyed, as well as the risk of producing a standard summary for all learners without reflecting their interests and preferences. In this paper, a personalized text-based content summarizer is introduced to address an approach to help mobile learners to retrieve and process information more quickly, based on their interests and preferences. In this work, probabilistic language modeling techniques are adapted to build a user model and an extractive text summarization system to generate the personalized and automatic summary for mobile learning. Experimental results have indicated that the proposed solution provides a proper and efficient approach to help mobile learners by summarizing important content quickly and adaptively.
Increased Bone Resorption in the Proximal Femur in Patients with Hemiplegia

Levendo&U01E7;lu F, U&U01E7;urlu H, Gürbilek M, Akkurt E, Karagözo&U01E7;lu E: Increased bone resorption in the proximal femur in patients with hemiplegia. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2004;83:835–841. Objectives:To investigate the relationship between the proximal femoral bone mineral density and bone resorption markers, determinants of calcium metabolism and vitamin D levels in elderly stroke patients. Design:A total of 80 patients and 20 controls were enrolled in the study. Bone mineral density measurements were obtained at the proximal femur. In all subjects, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, intact parathyroid hormone, osteocalcin, deoxypyridinoline, and ionized calcium concentrations were measured. Barthel Index and Motricity Index Leg Score were recorded all patients. Results:The serum concentrations of deoxypyridinoline, intact parathyroid hormone, and the mean serum ionized calcium levels were significantly higher in patients with stroke than that of the control subjects. The mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D concentrations in patients were significantly lower than those of the control group (P < 0.05). The bone mineral density of proximal femurs of paretic limbs was decreased significantly compared with those of the control group (P < 0.05). There were significant correlations between the Z score of the hemiplegic side and the patients’ Barthel Index, Motricity Index Leg Score, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, calcium, and deoxypyridinoline. Conclusions:This study provides clear evidence that decreased mobility, vitamin D status, and bone turnover variables in patients after stroke are important factors in the greater bone loss in the paretic leg.
Production of 5α-Reduced Neurosteroids Is Developmentally Regulated and Shapes GABAA Miniature IPSCs in Lamina II of the Spinal Cord

In lamina II of the spinal dorsal horn, synaptic inhibition mediated by ionotropic GABAA and glycine receptors contributes to the integration of peripheral nociceptive messages. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were performed from lamina II neurons in spinal cord slices to study the properties of miniature IPSCs (mIPSCs) mediated by activation of GABAA and glycine receptors in immature (<30 d) and adult rats. Blockade of neurosteroidogenesis by 1-(2-chlorophenyl)-N-methyl-N-(1-methylpropyl)-3-isoquinoline carboxamide (PK11195), an inhibitor of the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR), or finasteride, which blocks 5α-reductase, accelerated the decay kinetics of GABAA receptor-mediated mIPSCs in immature, but not in adult animals. Glycine receptor-mediated mIPSCs remained unaffected under these conditions. These results suggest the presence of a tonic production of 5α-reduced neurosteroids in young rats that confers slow decay kinetics to GABAA mIPSCs. At all of the ages, selective stimulation of PBR by diazepam in the presence of flumazenil prolonged GABAA mIPSCs in a PK11195- and finasteride-sensitive manner. This condition also increased the proportion of mixed GABAA/glycine mIPSCs in the immature animals and led to the reappearance of mixed GABAA/glycine mIPSCs in the adult. Our results might point to an original mechanism by which the strength of synaptic inhibition can be adjusted locally in the CNS during development and under physiological and/or pathological conditions by controlling the synthesis of endogenous 5α-reduced neurosteroids.
Follow-up after surgical closure of congenital ventricular septal defect

Objectives: The purpose of this retrospective study was to assess long-term outcome of children after surgical closure of a ventricular septal defect (VSD). Material and methods: Between January 1992 and December 2001 a consecutive series of 188 patients (100 females) were operated for closure of a VSD. Temporary tricuspid valve detachment (TVD) was applied in 46 patients (24%) to enhance exposure of the defect using transatrial approach. Pre-operative baseline characteristics showed that the detached group was younger (0.79 ^ 1.8 vs 2.1 ^ 3.5 years, p 1⁄4 0:002) and had a lower weight (6.5 ^ 6.4 vs 10.0 ^ 11.0 kg, p 1⁄4 0:009). Results: There was no difference in crossclamp time (temporary TVD 36.2 ^ 11.3 vs non-temporary TVD 33.6 ^ 13.1 min, p 1⁄4 0:228). Postoperative echocardiography showed that 67 patients (36%) had trivial/minimal regurgitation, 10 patients (22%) from the temporary TVD group vs 57 patients (40%) from the nondetached group (p 1⁄4 0:02). There was no tricuspid stenosis. Hospital mortality comprised two patients (1%). One patient died due to a pulmonary hypertensive crisis and one in relation to an acute patch dehiscence for which an emergency reoperation was necessary. At first postoperative echocardiography no shunting was detected in 113 patients, trivial shunting in 73 and significant shunting in none. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that weight at operation was a predictive factor for the occurrence of residual shunting (OR 0.95, C.I. 0.91–0.99). One patient with conduction disturbances needed a permanent DDD-pacemaker. Three patients were lost to follow-up. Mean follow-up time was 2.6 years (range 0.1–9.4). During follow-up no reoperations were necessary for closing a residual VSD. One patient died 7 months postoperative due to a bronchopneumonia. During follow-up in 37 (51%) of the 73 patients the trivial shunting disappeared spontaneously at a median time of 3.9 years. According to actuarial analysis all trivial shunting had disappeared at 8.4 years. Conclusion: Trivial residual shunting disappeared spontaneously at a median follow-up time of 3.9 years. During follow-up no patient needed to be reoperated for residual VSD. TVD proved to be a safe method to enhance the exposure of a VSD. q 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Effects of RS61443 on functional and morphological changes in chronically rejecting rat kidney allografts.

No immunosuppression agent is as yet available that prevents the process of chronic allograft rejection, the most critical cause of late organ allograft loss. RS61443 (mycophenolate mofetil) inhibits de novo DNA synthesis as well as diminishes expression of cell surface molecules and antibody production. As these factors seem important in the pathophysiology of the chronic phenomenon, we investigated the effects of the agent in an established model of chronic rejection of kidney allografts in a F344-to-Lewis rat strain combination. All recipients were treated for the first 10 days after engraftment with low-dose cyclosporine (1.5 mg/kg/day) to reverse an initial acute rejection episode. Since functional and morphological changes do not become manifest in this model until after 12 wk, treatment with RS61443 (15 mg/kg/day, p.o.) was either initiated at the day of grafting (Gp 1) or 8 wks thereafter (Gp 2), and continued throughout the follow-up period. Non-RS61443-treated allografted rats receiving vehicle only (Gp 3) developed progressive proteinuria after 12 wk. Peak cellular infiltration (particularly macrophages in glomeruli and perivascular areas) at 16 wk was associated with densely expressed adhesion molecules (ICAM-1 on endothelium), cytokines and growth factors (TNF-alpha and TGF-beta in glomeruli and PDGF on arterial smooth muscle cells). Interstitial fibrosis, with tubular atrophy, glomerulosclerosis, and varying degrees of intimal proliferation and luminal obliteration of vessels, progressed thereafter. In vitro binding of MNC from naive animals to chronically rejecting allografted kidneys generally confirmed the immunohistological observations, peaking at 12 wk; this binding was significantly inhibited by mAbs against specific adhesion molecules (CD11a, CD18, and ICAM-1). Serum-allospecific IgG and IgM peaked at 1-2 wk after engraftment in the control recipients, decreasing thereafter. Although IgM declined to baseline after 12 wk, low levels of allospecific IgG persisted throughout the follow-up period. In contrast, recipient treatment with RS61443 (both Gp 1 and Gp 2) allowed the allografts to function normally throughout follow-up period. Proteinuria was virtually absent, and morphological and immunohistological manifestations of the chronic process were markedly diminished. In addition, treated recipients developed no significant side effects, including leukopenia, anemia, thrombopenia, nephrotoxicity, and hepatotoxicity. It appears that this agent can safely prevent the changes of chronic rejection of kidney allografts in this rat model.
Systematic Interpretation of Comutated Genes in Large-Scale Cancer Mutation Profiles

By high-throughput screens of somatic mutations of genes in cancer genomes, hundreds of cancer genes are being rapidly identified, providing us abundant information for systematically deciphering the genetic changes underlying cancer mechanism. However, the functional collaboration of mutated genes is often neglected in current studies. Here, using four genome-wide somatic mutation data sets and pathways defined in various databases, we showed that gene pairs significantly comutated in cancer samples tend to distribute between pathways rather than within pathways. At the basic functional level of motifs in the human protein-protein interaction network, we also found that comutated gene pairs were overrepresented between motifs but extremely depleted within motifs. Specifically, we showed that based on Gene Ontology that describes gene functions at various specific levels, we could tackle the pathway definition problem to some degree and study the functional collaboration of gene mutations in cancer genomes more efficiently. Then, by defining pairs of pathways frequently linked by comutated gene pairs as the between-pathway models, we showed they are also likely to be codisrupted by mutations of the interpathway hubs of the coupled pathways, suggesting new hints for understanding the heterogeneous mechanisms of cancers. Finally, we showed some between-pathway models consisting of important pathways such as cell cycle checkpoint and cell proliferation were codisrupted in most cancer samples under this study, suggesting that their codisruptions might be functionally essential in inducing these cancers. All together, our results would provide a channel to detangle the complex collaboration of the molecular processes underlying cancer mechanism. Mol Cancer Ther; 9(8); 2186–95. ©2010 AACR.
Lender moral hazard in state-owned banks: evidence from an emerging economy

We examine the credit risk-choices of the public sector banks (PSBs) in India with a novel dataset that is able to trace the borrowers to their banks. We determine the likelihood of the ownership type of the lender bank associated with every firm, using a lender type prediction model with a set of observable risk proxies such as the ex-ante credit ratings. The analysis indicates that the PSBs are more likely to lend to observably risky firms compared to the private banks (PBs). The observed likelihood of lending to riskier firms is significantly higher among the smaller PSBs. The set of firms that majorly contribute to the higher credit-risk choice of the PSBs include the riskier service-sector firms, firms that borrow by pledging promoter shares, and firms that are likely to be impacted by the change of political regime.
Household Food Waste: Theory and Empirics

This paper uses a structural model of household food waste to discuss how the jointness of meal production, consumption, and time allocation decisions, are important in understanding potential drivers of household food waste. We discuss how empiricists can utilize the model for empirical applications. We apply one such application to household-level data of food stock usage and meal consumption to estimate correlates of inefficiencies in household meal production at home. We find that inefficiencies are associated with household membership structure, race, human capital, joint preparation of meals, food shopping frequency, and distance traveled to the food store. We provide guidance for future data collection efforts and empirical analyses of household food waste.
Partisan Cues and Opinion Formation on Foreign Policy

How does the extension of party conflict to a foreign policy issue affect the ability of Americans to form an opinion about the issue? We test this using elite references and longitudinal public opinion data about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, a salient foreign policy issue in the United States that is increasingly characterized by partisan divisions. Our findings demonstrate that since the turn of the 21st century, the availability and clarity of party cues have increased, as well as the share of Americans who hold an opinion about the issue. Applying regression models to individual-level data, we reveal that the extension of party conflict to this issue has made it easier for more Americans to form an opinion.