Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
cAMP-response Element-binding Protein Mediates Acid-induced NADPH Oxidase NOX5-S Expression in Barrett Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Cells*

Gastroesophageal reflux disease complicated by Barrett esophagus (BE) is a major risk factor for esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA). The mechanisms whereby acid reflux may accelerate the progression from BE to EA are not known. We found that NOX1 and NOX5-S were the major isoforms of NADPH oxidase in SEG1-EA cells. The expression of NOX5-S mRNA was significantly higher in these cells than in esophageal squamous epithelial cells. NOX5 mRNA was also significantly higher in Barrett tissues with high grade dysplasia than without dysplasia. Pulsed acid treatment significantly increased H2O2 production in both SEG1-EA cells and BE mucosa, which was blocked by the NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin. In SEG1 cells, acid treatment increased mRNA expression of NOX5-S, but not NOX1, and knockdown of NOX5 by NOX5 small interfering RNA abolished acid-induced H2O2 production. In addition, acid treatment increased intracellular Ca2+ and phosphorylation of cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB). Acid-induced NOX5-S expression and H2O2 production were significantly inhibited by removal of extracellular Ca2+ and by knockdown of CREB using CREB small interfering RNA. Two novel CREB-binding elements TGACGAGA and TGACGCTG were identified in the NOX5-S gene promoter. Overexpression of CREB significantly increased NOX5-S promoter activity. Knockdown of NOX5 significantly decreased [3H]thymidine incorporation, which was restored by 10-13 m H2O2. Knockdown of NOX5 also significantly decreased retinoblastoma protein phosphorylation and increased cell apoptosis and caspase-9 expression. In conclusion, in SEG1 EA cells NOX5-S is overexpressed and mediates acid-induced H2O2 production. Acid-induced NOX5-S expression depends on an increase in intracellular Ca2+ and activation of CREB. NOX5-S contributes to increased cell proliferation and decreased apoptosis.
A comparison of the effects of quetiapine (‘Seroquel’) and haloperidol in schizophrenic patients with a history of and a demonstrated, partial response to conventional antipsychotic treatment

&NA; Quetiapine (‘Seroquel’) is a well‐tolerated, novel, atypical antipsychotic with consistent efficacy in the treatment of schizophrenia. To date, no clinical studies have evaluated the effect of quetiapine in patients who only partially respond to conventional antipsychotics, yet this type of patient is most frequently seen by psychiatrists. Therefore, this international, multicentre, double‐blind study was conducted to compare the efficacy and tolerability of 8 weeks' treatment of quetiapine 600 mg/day with haloperidol 20 mg/day in 288 patients who had a history of partial response to conventional antipsychotics and displayed a partial or no response to 1 month of fluphenazine (20 mg/day) treatment. Patients on quetiapine tended to have greater improvement than those on haloperidol in the primary efficacy measure, mean Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) score, after 4 weeks' treatment (‐9.05, ‐5.82, respectively, P = 0.061) and at study end (‐11.50, ‐8.87, respectively, P = 0.234). Similarly, there was a trend towards patients on quetiapine demonstrating greater improvements in the secondary efficacy measures (Clinical Global Impression, PANSS subscale and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale scores) [week 4 (baseline) to week 12 (end)], but the difference between treatments did not reach significance. Significantly more patients on quetiapine than on haloperidol showed a clinical response — patient response rates, defined as ≥ 20% reduction in PANSS total score between weeks 4 and 12, were 52.2% for quetiapine and 38.0% for haloperidol (P = 0.043). Patients receiving quetiapine required less anticholinergic medication (P ≤ 0.011), had greater reduction in extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) (P = 0.005) and fewer treatment‐emergent EPS‐related adverse events compared to those on haloperidol (P < 0.001). Serum prolactin concentrations were elevated at the end of fluphenazine treatment in 73% of patients. Between weeks 4 and 12, elevated serum prolactin concentrations significantly decreased in quetiapine‐treated patients compared to those receiving haloperidol (P < 0.001). At the end of quetiapine treatment, 83% of patients had normal prolactin levels while only 21% of patients receiving haloperidol were within the normal range. These results suggest that quetiapine may make a valuable contribution to the management of patients with a history of partial response to conventional antipsychotics.
How reliable are incidence estimates based on cross-sectional distributions? Evidence from simulations and linked employer-employee data

The paper validates an empirical approach developed by Alvaredo and Saez (2007) which estimates the economic incidence of social security contributions (SSC) on the basis of cross-sectional earnings distributions. The method utilizes discontinuities at earnings caps where the marginal SSC rate drops. It does not rely on policy reforms, panel data, or hours information. We demonstrate on the basis of simulations that this comes at the cost of ruling out optimization frictions and measurement error destroying identification. Behavioral responses and incidence heterogeneity are secondary problems. Exploiting German linked employer-employee data that provide separate measures of gross and net earnings we find substantial negative discontinuities in net earnings. Together with small, erratic discontinuities in gross earnings this provides consistent empirical evidence that legal and economic incidence of SSC coincide in Germany.
A Standardized Echinacea Extract Demonstrates Efficacy in the Prevention and Treatment of Colds in Athletes

Echinacea is a botanical medicine indigenous to North America. The roots and leaves of this medicinal plant were used for hundreds of years by Native Americans as a remedy for enlarged glands (mumps), coughs, sore throat, burns, snakebite, and as an analgesic. Today, Echinacea preparations constituent one of the most widely used commercial herbal preparations in North America and Europe.1 In modern herbal medicine, Echinacea is known for its immune modulation properties and effectiveness in treatment of common colds, reducing symptoms and duration.2 Several research studies suggest that Echinacea purpurea may provide a valuable treatment option as a prophylaxis and treatment in athletes, a population group with greater susceptibility to the common cold.
Uncertainty Quantification of Oscillation Suppression During DBS in a Coupled Finite Element and Network Model

Models of the cortico-basal ganglia network and volume conductor models of the brain can provide insight into the mechanisms of action of deep brain stimulation (DBS). In this study, the coupling of a network model, under parkinsonian conditions, to the extracellular field distribution obtained from a three dimensional finite element model of a rodent’s brain during DBS is presented. This coupled model is used to investigate the influence of uncertainty in the electrical properties of brain tissue and encapsulation tissue, formed around the electrode after implantation, on the suppression of oscillatory neural activity during DBS. The resulting uncertainty in this effect of DBS on the network activity is quantified using a computationally efficient and non-intrusive stochastic approach based on the generalized Polynomial Chaos. The results suggest that variations in the electrical properties of brain tissue may have a substantial influence on the level of suppression of oscillatory activity during DBS. Applying a global sensitivity analysis on the suppression of the simulated oscillatory activity showed that the influence of uncertainty in the electrical properties of the encapsulation tissue had only a minor influence, in agreement with previous experimental and computational studies investigating the mechanisms of current-controlled DBS in the literature.
Partnering to Build a Pantry: A University Campus Responds to Student Food Insecurity

ABSTRACT The current economic climate negatively affects college students’ ability to pay higher education costs. Rising costs, including tuition and living expenses, coupled with the decreased buying power of federal aid, may create financial difficulty for students. One consequence may be food insecurity. This article details the cross-campus partnership efforts of one university to establish a campus food pantry to serve students. The process of establishing a pantry including assessing food insecurity on campus, fund-raising, creating pantry policies, and recruiting and training volunteers are discussed. Lessons learned about pantry usage, and ways to improve operations are also presented.
Impact assessment of the Nevada 4-H program: an examination of public school students' perceptions and behavior

Impact Assessment of the Nevada 4-H Program: An Examination of Public School Students’ Perceptions and Behavior. (December 2007) Steven Richard Lewis, B.S., University of Nevada Reno; M.S., University of Nevada Reno Co-Chairs of Advisory Committee: Dr. Tim H. Murphy Dr. Matt Baker A 4-H impact evaluation study, conducted in Montana, Idaho, Colorado, and Utah, was replicated in the Nevada public schools. The purpose was to measure the impact of the 4-H experience on the lives of Nevada youth, and to provide impact data for accountability and improvement for University of Nevada Cooperative Extension 4H Programs. The 1,492 respondents were; 47.6% male and 52.4% female; 34.6% 5 grade, 28.1% 7 grade, and 37.3% 9 grade; 63.1% urban and 36.9% rural; and 11.7% 4-H and 88.3% non 4-H youth. Eight youth development constructs were measured including; extracurricular activity involvement; school leadership positions held; close relationship with adults; caring for others; amount of negative behavior; personal identity; positive identity; and self-confidence, character and empowerment. ANOVA for constructs by independent variables, age groups gender, 4-H participation, and population density revealed that 4-H participation significantly contributed to the variance in extracurricular activity involvement (p = .000), school leadership positions held (p = .025), caring for others (p = .000), and self-confidence, character and empowerment (p = .004).
Bioequivalence of topical clotrimazole formulations: an improved tape stripping method.

PURPOSE Investigations were carried out to assess the use of tape stripping (TS) for the determination of bioequivalence of topical products containing 1% clotrimazole. METHODS The study design involved the establishment of an appropriate application time, which was determined by conducting a dose duration study. Subsequently, two bioequivalence studies were conducted: i) using the brand (Canesten Topical - 1% clotrimazole cream) as both the test and the reference product and ii) comparing Canesten cream with a gel product containing the same concentration of clotrimazole (1%). Each tape strip was individually analyzed for clotrimazole content using an HPLC method and Transepidermal Water Loss (TEWL) measurements were used to normalize the stratum corneum thicknesses between subjects. RESULTS The results of the TS investigations showed that, if the study is sufficiently powered, tape stripping may be used to determine bioequivalence according to the conventional bioequivalence limits of 0.8-1.25, as well as detect formulation differences between different clotrimazole products. CONCLUSIONS The data from this study provided compelling evidence that tape stripping has the necessary attributes and potential to be used as a tool for the bioequivalence assessment of topical clotrimazole and/or other topical formulations, thereby circumventing the need to undertake expensive and time-consuming clinical trials for such products. This article is open to POST-PUBLICATION REVIEW. Registered readers (see "For Readers") may comment by clicking on ABSTRACT on the issue's contents page.
Bread and barium: Diagnostic value in patients with suspected primary esophageal motility disorders

Purpose: To evaluate the significance of bread and barium studies as a diagnostic tool as well as a supplement to manometric investigation of the esophagus in patients with suspected esophageal motility disorders. Material and Methods: Eighty-nine patients suspected for primary esophageal motility disorders were examined. All patients were interviewed before the investigation to determine the prevalence of symptoms like heartburn, chest pain, and dysphagia. The patients underwent simultaneous roentgenologic and manometric investigations in the supine position during wet and solid barium swallow, and during continuous drinking, followed by investigation for gastroesophageal reflux (GER). The manometric examination was performed with triple-lumen catheters connected to a hydraulic capillary infusion system and external transducers. Results: All patients with normal esophageal clearing (n=31) had normal manometry. Patients with delayed esophageal clearing (n=58) required manometry for identifying concommittant motility disorders; achalasia and diffuse esophageal spasms were found only in patients with delayed liquid and solid emptying. GER and/or esophageal rings was demonstrated in 31 patients. Conclusion: We suggest bread and barium as the first diagnostic step in patients with clinical suspicion of primary esophageal motility disorders.
Eighty-five million years of Pacific Ocean gyre ecosystem structure: long-term stability marked by punctuated change

While the history of taxonomic diversification in open ocean lineages of ray-finned fish and elasmobranchs is increasingly known, the evolution of their roles within the open ocean ecosystem remains poorly understood. To assess the relative importance of these groups through time, we measured the accumulation rate of microfossil fish teeth and elasmobranch dermal denticles (ichthyoliths) in deep-sea sediment cores from the North and South Pacific gyres over the past 85 million years (Myr). We find three distinct and stable open ocean ecosystem structures, each defined by the relative and absolute abundance of elasmobranch and ray-finned fish remains. The Cretaceous Ocean (pre-66 Ma) was characterized by abundant elasmobranch denticles, but low abundances of fish teeth. The Palaeogene Ocean (66–20 Ma), initiated by the Cretaceous/Palaeogene mass extinction, had nearly four times the abundance of fish teeth compared with elasmobranch denticles. This Palaeogene Ocean structure remained stable during the Eocene greenhouse (50 Ma) and the Eocene–Oligocene glaciation (34 Ma), despite large changes in the overall accumulation of both groups during those intervals, suggesting that climate change is not a primary driver of ecosystem structure. Dermal denticles virtually disappeared from open ocean ichthyolith assemblages approximately 20 Ma, while fish tooth accumulation increased dramatically in variability, marking the beginning of the Modern Ocean. Together, these results suggest that open ocean fish community structure is stable on long timescales, independent of total production and climate change. The timing of the abrupt transitions between these states suggests that the transitions may be due to interactions with other, non-preserved pelagic consumer groups.
The feasibility of using infra-red radiation in determining tooth-vitality

The aim of this Study was to investigate the feasibility of infra-red radiation determining human tooth-vitality, the basis being that a vital tooth with an internal blood-supply may emit more infra-red radiation and be warmer than a non-vital tooth. The commonest pulp tests are sensibility tests which assess the ability of the nerve fibres within the pulp to respond to a stimulus applied to the tooth, rather than assess the pulp blood-flow. Development of the vitality test involved cooling the tooth-tissues and capturing the emitted infra-red radiation of re-warming with a thermal camera. Cooling and re-warming of tooth-slices enabled calculation of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of the mineralised tissues - enamel and dentine - and production of a thermal map which characterised these. Sixteen extracted human molar teeth were tested in a cross-over-study with simulated vitality at four flow-rates: 0.5ml/min, 0.15ml/min, 0.08ml/min and 0.03ml/min under two conditions: pulsed and non-pulsed. The cross-over-design allowed paired testing of the same tooth and independent testing of two dissimilar teeth. The area under the re-warming curve between vital and non-vital teeth was statistically tested. Statistical significance was shown between the paired vital and non-vital teeth at all pulsed flow-rates, and non-pulsed flow-rates of 0.15ml/min and 0.5ml/min. Only the pulsed flow-rate of 0.5ml/min was significant for dissimilar teeth. A thermal map demonstrated re-warming of the vital tooth before the non-vital tooth. The results suggest infra-red radiation may determine tooth-vitality when the teeth are of the same size and shape, with a blood-flow of 0.03ml/min or above. This could be a realistic blood-flow for the human tooth. Testing teeth of differing size and shape may determine vitality at a blood-flow of 0.5ml/min - higher than realistically expected in the human tooth. Clinically, the vitality test between a vital and non-vital root-treated tooth points to this model being inverted. This may be due to the insulating nature of the materials used to restore the non-vital tooth. Further clinical investigation is justified to validate the vitality test.
Doing Good Business by Hiring Directors with Foreign Experience

Using a manually collected dataset on the overseas experiences of directors of Chinese listed firms, we examine the effects of returnee directors on firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement. Our results show that returnee directors significantly improve their firms’ CSR engagement. The positive relationship between the percentage of returnee directors and CSR engagement is more significant when a firm is in a competitive industry, when a firm has no government ownership, when a firm’s CEO is not politically connected, and when a firm’s CEO is older. Furthermore, we find that only long-term foreign professional or academic experience matters, whereas short-term visiting experience does not. Finally, our results are robust after controlling for endogeneity. Therefore, this paper offers clear policy implications by suggesting that hiring more returnees as corporate directors is an efficient way to enhance firms’ CSR, which may be of particular interest to regulators in emerging markets.
Accounting for Hydroelasticity in the Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbine Spar-Type Platforms

In this paper, linear frequency-domain hydroelastic analysis is performed for investigating the behavior of a spar-type supporting platform of a floating offshore wind turbine considering the platform’s flexibility. A “dry” mode superposition approach is utilized, where the flexible mode shapes are determined through the application of a FEM based structural model. The diffraction/radiation problem is solved using the boundary integral equation method. Focus is given on the flexible modes’ generalized hydrodynamic forcing and responses, the spar’s hydroelastic response and the coupling effects between the flexible and the rigid-body modes. For irregular waves, the effect of the peak period on the response spectra and the hydroelastic response is analyzed.
Non Invasive Evaluation of Residual Disease in Women of Locally Advanced Breast Cancer after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy (NACT) in Locally Advanced Breast Cancers (LABC) by correlating the clinical and radiological findings before and after NACT.Methods: A prospective study conducted over a 2yr period, enrolled patients with LABC. All patients were evaluated clinically and radiologically before and after completion of NACT. Breast lump size, axillary nodal metastasis and features of locoregional involvement were recorded. The incidence of complications and locoregional recurrence were also noted.Results: Out of total 100 patients, maximum(n= 72) showed partial response ( PR) and 02 showed no response. There was a decrease in mean tumor size (4.91cm vs 2.74 cm, p=<0.001) on clinical examination and (4.14cm vs 2.24cm, p= <0.001) on radiological evaluation. Mean lymph node size decreased to (1.34cm vs 0.04 cm, p= <0.001) on clinical examination and (9.95mm vs 0.52m, p=<0.001) on radiological evaluation. There was no case of locoregional recurrence on follow up.Conclusions: The implication of this study is that NACT helps in down staging of the tumors and for better clinical evaluation, both physical examination and radiological evaluation should be routinely used in the patients of LABC undergoing NACT.
Making Wine and Making Successful Wineries: Resource Development in New Ventures

Purpose – Most research on new organizations drawing on resource-based theory examines firms in discrete development stages with resources that already exist. The purpose of this paper is to articulate a broader view of changing resource requirements over the life of new organizations. The authors propose four phases of resources development, arguing that new resources and capabilities must develop as new strategic challenges emerge. The paper identifies salient resources in these phases and finds that internal resource development is context dependent, interacting with the external stage of industry development. Design/methodology/approach – After developing the theoretical model, the authors use an exploratory qualitative study involving extensive case studies of new ventures in the wine industry. Key personnel at a sample of firms were interviewed, supplemented with secondary data from published reports. Findings – The paper finds that a linear stage development model for new organizational ventures is inappropriate. The various combinations of early/later new ventures in a formative/developed industry suggest that some may proceed rapidly in a linear fashion through phases of development, while others may find progress slow, difficult, stalled or occasionally regressive. A combination of resources developed simultaneously in a non-linear pattern appears to be critical to the success of new ventures. In other words, combinations must evolve as the strategic challenges evolve, thus bringing an important contextual view to the examination of dynamic resource development efforts for new organizations. Attempts to focus in a piecemeal fashion on individual aspects of resource development, without accounting for resource interactions at a systemic level or the nature of the strategic demands, is likely to leave researchers and practitioners with incomplete insights. Originality/value – Existing studies have failed to grasp the dynamic and interactive process of resource development as organizations evolve in a new industry setting. The model presented in this paper provides a heuristic device for conceptualizing these changes.