Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structural Factors in the Odor of α-Santalol Derivatives

α-Santalol is a sesquiterpene that is a major constituent of sandalwood (Santalum album L.), and is responsible for its distinctive woody odor. We replaced the polycyclic moiety and hydroxyl group of α-santalol with other moieties, and we compared the odors of the E/Z-isomers and their saturated analogues. Our previous study of the structure-odor relationships of α-santalols bearing hydroxyl, formyl, formyloxy, and acetoxy functional groups showed there was a similarity in odor between the Z-isomer and its saturated analogue. We synthesized α-santalols with a benzyl group in place of the hydroxyl group, because many benzyl compounds have strong characteristic odors. We found similar odors for the E-isomer and its saturated analogue. In contrast, the odors of the α-santalol derivatives with a hydroxyl, formyl, formyloxy, or acetoxy group were different. We also replaced the bulky polycyclic moiety with a linear alkyl chain. The polycyclic moiety was the most important structural factor in the characteristic sandalwood odor. The synthesis of derivatives and the evaluation of their odor allowed us to identify the key structural factors in the odor of α-santalol.
Regulation of beta-glucosidase in Bacteroides ruminicola by a different mechanism: growth rate-dependent derepression

Bacteroides ruminicola B(1)4, a predominant ruminal and cecal bacterium, was grown in batch and continuous cultures, and beta-glucosidase activity was measured by following the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl-beta-glucopyranoside. Specific activity was high when the bacterium was grown in batch cultures containing cellobiose, mannose, or lactose (greater than 286 U/g of protein). Activity was reduced approximately 90% when the organism was grown on glucose, sucrose, fructose, maltose, or arabinose. The specific activity of cells fermenting glucose was initially low but increased as glucose was depleted. When glucose was added to cultures growing on cellobiose, beta-glucosidase synthesis ceased immediately. Catabolite repression by glucose was not accompanied by diauxic growth and was not relieved by cyclic AMP. Since glucose-grown cultures eventually exhibited high beta-glucosidase activity, cellobiose was not needed as an inducer. Catabolite repression explained beta-glucosidase activity of batch cultures and high-dilution-rate chemostats where glucose accumulated, but it could not account for activity at slow dilution rates. Maximal beta-glucosidase activity was observed at a dilution rate of approximately 0.35 h-1, and cellobiose-limited chemostats showed a 15-fold decrease in activity as the dilution rate declined. An eightfold decline was observed in glucose-limited chemostats. Since inducer availability was not a confounding factor in glucose-limited chemostats, the growth rate-dependent derepression could not be explained by other mechanisms.
Role of metallothionein against oxidative stress in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

ALDO VIARENGO,1 BRUNO BURLANDO,1 MARIA CAVALETTO,1 BARBARA MARCHI,2 ENRICA PONZANO,2 AND JULIÁN BLASCO3 1Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Avanzate, Universitá del Piemonte Orientale ‘‘Amedeo Avogadro,’’ Corso Borsalino 54, 15100 Alessandria; 2Dipartimento di Biologia Generale Sperimentale e dell’Ambiente, Universitá di Genova, Palazzo delle Scienze, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, Italy; and 3Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucı́a (C.S.I.C.), Campus Universitá Rı́o S. Pedro, 11510 Puerto Real (Cádiz), Spain
Adjuvant activity of pollen grains

Background: The induction of an immune response to a biologically inert soluble protein requires an adjuvant. Here we have examined whether intact grains of pollen display such adjuvant effect, accounting for the immunogenic activity of pollen protein allergens that are devoid of intrinsic pro‐inflammatory/adjuvant property.
Serum L-homoarginine concentration is elevated during normal pregnancy and is related to flow-mediated vasodilatation.

BACKGROUND Normal pregnancy is associated with enhanced vasodilatation because of the increased nitric oxide (NO) production. Because L-homoarginine can act as a substrate for NO production, concentrations of L-homoarginine in normal pregnancy were assessed in the present study to test whether L-homoarginine is associated with endothelial function. METHODS AND RESULTS Healthy non-pregnant (n=61) and pregnant women (n=58) were studied in a cross-sectional study. L-homoarginine, L-arginine, asymmetric dimethylarginine and symmetric dimethylarginine concentrations were determined simultaneously by high-performance liquid chromatography. Endothelium-dependent brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was measured by ultrasound. The serum L-homoarginine concentration was significantly higher during the second and the third trimesters compared with the levels in the non-pregnant women (4.8+/-1.7 and 5.3+/-1.5 vs 2.7+/-1.0 micromol/L, p<0.001, respectively). In line with this, FMD increased in response to pregnancy (p<0.05). Three months after delivery, the L-homoarginine concentrations and FMD were comparable to those recorded in the non-pregnant females. The concentration of L-homoarginine correlated significantly with gestational age (r=0.426, p=0.001) and brachial artery diameter and FMD (r=0.362, p=0.006 and r=0.306, p=0.022, respectively) in pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS L-homoarginine appears to be increased during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy and may contribute to the enhanced endothelial function in normal pregnancies.
Learning Performance Enhancement Using Computer-Assisted Language Learning by Collaborative Learning Groups

This study attempted to test whether the use of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and innovative collaborative learning could be more effective than the use of traditional collaborative learning in improving students’ English proficiencies. A true experimental design was used in the study. Four randomly-assigned groups participated in the study: a traditional collaborative learning group (TCLG, 34 students), an innovative collaborative learning group (ICLG, 31 students), a CALL traditional collaborative learning group (CALLTCLG, 32 students), and a CALL innovative collaborative learning group (CALLICLG, 31 students). TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) listening, reading, speaking, and writing pre-test and post-test assessments were given to all students at an interval of sixteen weeks. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that students who used CALL had significantly better learning performance than those who did not. Students in innovative collaborative learning had significantly better learning performances than those in traditional collaborative learning. Additionally, students using CALL innovative collaborative learning had better learning performances than those in CALL collaborative learning, those in innovative collaborative learning, and those in traditional collaborative learning.
Neuroimaging Studies of Brain Activation for Language, with an Emphasis on Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Review

Neuroimaging studies have greatly enhanced the potential to understand brain-behavior relationships in complex behaviors such as language. The method of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the newest tools for neuroimaging, and it will in all likelihood contribute substantially to new knowledge about brain activation for language processing. This review summarizes basic information about fMRI, including principles of operation, experimental pitfalls and examples of application to language.
Thermal characteristics of microwave ablation in the vicinity of an arterial bifurcation

Purpose: The objective of this research was to reveal the thermal characteristics of microwave ablations in the vicinity of an arterial bifurcation. Methods: The temperature distribution after microwave heating of a liver-like material in the close proximity of an arterial bifurcation was simulated using the finite element method. Coupled fluid flow and solid heat transfer were taken into consideration and a three-dimensional analysis was performed. An experimentally determined SAR (specific absorption rate) generated by the absorption of microwaves in liver-like material was used in the analysis instead of utilizing electromagnetic calculations. Several different tests of time-controlled ablations with varying distances between the microwave antenna and the bifurcation were performed and detailed temperature distributions near the bifurcation were obtained. Results: The interaction between the recirculation flow in the bifurcation and the heat transfer in the surrounding tissue makes the temperature distribution near the bifurcation complicated. Most importantly, after a period of continuous heating with constant microwave output power, the maximum temperatures caused by the ablation did not always increase with the distance between the antenna and the bifurcation. Conclusion: It can be concluded that inadequate ablations can be the result not only from a close proximity between the antenna and the blood vessel, but also from a complicated blood flow in large vessels whose structure causes recirculation flow.
The Exploration of Economic Crises: Parameter Uncertainty and Predictive Ability

Over a long horizon, this paper examines joint economic crises and determines the power of 49 variables in predicting such episodes. While incorporating dynamism in the prediction, we generate the predictive power of various specifications and model the uncertainty in the parameters of interest. The results reveal that growth of real gross domestic product per capita, regulation, bank non‐performing loans, interest rate and inflation rate are the most significant variables in predicting the joint economic crises. These variables predict economic crises with about 93% accuracy and can predict joint economic crises in developing countries and recent joint crises.
Saccular intracranial aneurysms in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

The literature on the association of intracranial aneurysms in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) consists mainly of case reports and small series of patients. To provide a more-detailed description of this association and its frequency, the records of all ADPKD patients with saccular intracranial aneurysms, all ADPKD autopsy cases including brain examination, and sex- and age-matched autopsy cases without ADPKD seen at the Mayo Clinic between 1950 and 1989 and of all Rochester residents with a diagnosis of subarachnoid hemorrhage or ADPKD between 1945 and 1984 were reviewed. The presentation of the 41 patients (22 men and 19 women; mean age, 46.4 yr) with this association was subarachnoid hemorrhage in 33, transient ischemic attacks in 2, incidental angiographic or autopsy finding in 5, and discovery during angiographic screening in 1. Thirty-one, seven, and three patients harbored one, two, and three aneurysms, respectively, arising from the middle cerebral artery (N = 23), anterior communicating artery (N = 16), internal carotid artery (N = 11), and vertebral or basilar artery (N = 4). A family history of intracranial aneurysm, subarachnoid hemorrhage, or intracranial hemorrhage at an early age was present in 22% of the patients. Small aneurysms (less than 5 mm) were less likely to have ruptured or caused symptoms (P less than 0.04). There was a trend for hypertension to be associated with the severity of the subarachnoid hemorrhage. Aneurysmal rupture occurred before age 50 in 64% of patients. Of the 89 ADPKD autopsy cases with brain examination, 22.5% had intracranial aneurysms. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Can Plateletcrit be a Marker for Recurrent Pregnancy Loss?

Aim: To determine the utility of platelet (PLT) indices for the prediction of recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). Methods: In all, 208 patients who experienced 2 or more first trimester spontaneous abortions and 95 controls who had no abortions were studied. The hematological markers, including plateletcrit (PCT) and neutrophil (Neu) to lymphocyte (Lym) ratio (NLR), were measured. Thrombophilia genetic tests for factor V Leiden mutation, prothrombin G202I0A mutation, and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677 T and A1298C mutations were performed. Results: The PLT count, PCT, white blood cell count, red cell distribution width (RDW), Lym and Neu count, and NLR were significantly higher in patients with RPL than in controls. The RDW, PLT, and PCT values were higher in the low-risk group, whereas mean PLT volume values were lower than the high-risk group values. Conclusion: Plateletcrit is a low-cost, widely available marker for prediction of RPL in patients with a history of at least 1 abortus.
Price Clustering and Investor Sentiment

ABSTRACT Among the anomalous findings in the finance literature, perhaps the most persistent is the finding that security prices tend to cluster on round pricing increments. The author examines how investor sentiment influences the degree of price clustering. Both univariate and multivariate tests show a contemporaneous correlation between price clustering and investor sentiment. Recognizing the need to make stronger causal inferences, the author conducts 2 additional sets of tests. First, the author uses the technology bubble period as natural experiment and examine the price clustering of technology vis-à-vis nontechnology stocks. Results show that price clustering is markedly higher in tech stocks than in nontech stocks during this period of rising, sector-specific, investor sentiment. Second, the author estimates a vector autoregression process and examines the impulse responses of price clustering to exogenous shocks in investor sentiment. The results from these tests indicate that causation flows from sentiment to clustering instead of the other way around.
Effects of Childhood Obesity on Three-Dimensional Knee Joint Biomechanics During Walking

Despite the increasing percentages of children who are overweight, few studies have investigated their gait patterns. The purpose of this study was to quantify the three-dimensional knee joint kinematics and kinetics during walking in children of varying body mass and to identify effects associated with obesity. Three-dimensional kinematics and kinetics were collected from children of normal weight and overweight during normal gait using surface-mounted infrared emitting diodes and a force plate. The overweight group walked with a significantly lower peak knee flexion angle during early stance, and no significant differences in peak internal knee extension moments were found between groups. However, the overweight group showed a significantly higher peak internal knee abduction moment during early stance. These data suggest that although overweight children may develop a gait adaptation to maintain a similar knee extensor load, they may not be able to compensate for alterations in the frontal plane, which may lead to increased medial compartment joint loads. Therefore, assuming that the development of varus angular deformities of the knee joint and, in the longer term, medial compartment osteoarthritis are influenced by cumulative stress, this study supports the understanding that childhood obesity may impart a greater risk for the development of these diseases.
Five basic muscle activation patterns account for muscle activity during human locomotion

An electromyographic (EMG) activity pattern for individual muscles in the gait cycle exhibits a great deal of intersubject, intermuscle and context‐dependent variability. Here we examined the issue of common underlying patterns by applying factor analysis to the set of EMG records obtained at different walking speeds and gravitational loads. To this end healthy subjects were asked to walk on a treadmill at speeds of 1, 2, 3 and 5kmh−1 as well as when 35–95% of the body weight was supported using a harness. We recorded from 12–16 ipsilateral leg and trunk muscles using both surface and intramuscular recording and determined the average, normalized EMG of each record for 10–15 consecutive step cycles. We identified five basic underlying factors or component waveforms that can account for about 90% of the total waveform variance across different muscles during normal gait. Furthermore, while activation patterns of individual muscles could vary dramatically with speed and gravitational load, both the limb kinematics and the basic EMG components displayed only limited changes. Thus, we found a systematic phase shift of all five factors with speed in the same direction as the shift in the onset of the swing phase. This tendency for the factors to be timed according to the lift‐off event supports the idea that the origin of the gait cycle generation is the propulsion rather than heel strike event. The basic invariance of the factors with walking speed and with body weight unloading implies that a few oscillating circuits drive the active muscles to produce the locomotion kinematics. A flexible and dynamic distribution of these basic components to the muscles may result from various descending and proprioceptive signals that depend on the kinematic and kinetic demands of the movements.
CD38 Disruption Impairs Glucose-induced Increases in Cyclic ADP-ribose, [Ca2+] i , and Insulin Secretion*

Increases in [Ca2+] i in pancreatic beta cells, resulting from Ca2+ mobilization from intracellular stores as well as Ca2+ influx from extracellular sources, are important in insulin secretion by glucose. Cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR), accumulated in beta cells by glucose stimulation, has been postulated to serve as a second messenger for intracellular Ca2+ mobilization for insulin secretion, and CD38 is thought to be involved in the cADPR accumulation (Takasawa, S., Tohgo, A., Noguchi, N., Koguma, T., Nata, K., Sugimoto, T., Yonekura, H., and Okamoto, H. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 26052–26054). Here we created “knockout” (CD38−/−) mice by homologous recombination. CD38−/− mice developed normally but showed no increase in their glucose-induced production of cADPR in pancreatic islets. The glucose-induced [Ca2+] i rise and insulin secretion were both severely impaired in CD38−/− islets, whereas CD38−/− islets responded normally to the extracellular Ca2+ influx stimulants tolbutamide and KCl. CD38−/− mice showed impaired glucose tolerance, and the serum insulin level was lower than control, and these impaired phenotypes were rescued by beta cell-specific expression of CD38 cDNA. These results indicate that CD38 plays an essential role in intracellular Ca2+ mobilization by cADPR for insulin secretion.
Different Effects of SLCO1B1 Polymorphism on the Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Repaglinide and Nateglinide

Thirty‐two healthy volunteers with different SLCO1B1 genotypes ingested a 0.5‐mg dose of repaglinide and 60‐mg dose of nateglinide with a washout period of 1 week. Participants with SLCO1B1 c.521CC genotype (n = 4) had a 59% (P = 0.001) or 72% (P < 0.001) greater mean area under the plasma repaglinide concentration‐time curve (AUC0‐∞) than participants with c.521TC (n = 12) or c.521TT (n = 16) genotypes. The AUC0‐∞ of repaglinide metabolites M2 and M4 were 112% (P = 0.004) and 81% (P = 0.002) larger in participants with c.521CC genotype than in those with c.521TT genotype, but no differences existed in the pharmacokinetics of M1. Maximum decrease in blood glucose concentration correlated with repaglinide AUC0‐∞ (r = 0.412, P = 0.019). SLCO1B1 polymorphism had no significant effect on the pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics of nateglinide or its M7 metabolite. Thus, in contrast to repaglinide, the disposition of nateglinide is unaffected by the SLCO1B1 c.521T>C polymorphism.
Why Do Firms Adopt E-Procurement Systems? Using Logistic Regression to Empirically Test a Conceptual Model

Once the factors that foster the adoption of electronic-procurement systems (EPSs) are identified, economic agents may act accordingly and develop better programs in order to achieve their objectives. Toward the identification of such factors, a model that explains the adoption of EPS is developed, considering the technology-organization-environment framework as well as the institutional theory. This model was tested with data collected from the 2500 largest companies operating in Portugal. On the grounds of the f-test for equality of means, we found evidence that EPS adoption is positively and significantly associated to: 1) firm size; 2) technology competence; 3) the perception companies have about the EPS success of their competitors; 4) the extent of adoption among competitors; and 5) the readiness of the trading partners to perform electronic transactions. The logistic regression supplied further evidence that technology competence, firm size, extent of adoption among competitors, and trading partner readiness provide a reasonable estimate for each firm's likelihood to adopt EPS. We also found evidence that firms whose main activity is commerce are more likely to adopt EPS than are firms operating on manufacturing or services industries.
Improvement of Lake Ice Thickness Retrieval From MODIS Satellite Data Using a Thermodynamic Model

Observations of ice thickness are limited in high latitude regions, at a time when they are increasingly being requested by operational ice centers. This study aims to improve the retrieval of lake ice thickness using data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua (P.M.) and Terra (A.M.) satellites. The accuracy of ice thickness retrievals based on MODIS lake ice surface temperature (LIST) is investigated using a commonly used heat balance equation and the retrieved ice thicknesses are compared to in situ measurements from the Canadian Ice Service. The accuracy of ice thickness estimates is improved when using snow depth from the 1-D thermodynamic lake ice model Canadian Lake Ice Model (CLIMo) rather than an empirical relationship between snow depth and ice thickness utilized in the recent investigations. Taking into account all data over the study period (2002–2014), the mean bias error and the root-mean-square error are reduced from −0.42 to 0.07 m and 0.58 to 0.17 m, respectively, with the novel approach proposed herein. However, this approach is limited to ice thickness estimations of less than ca. 1.7 m.
Disuse-induced enhancement of Ia synaptic transmission in spinal motoneurons of the rat

Monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) evoked in rat spinal motoneurons by stimulation of a muscle nerve are enhanced during the first few days after section of the muscle nerve before subsiding to subnormal levels. We have examined whether this biphasic alteration results from changes of different factors involved in the regulation of central synaptic function. We chronically blocked the conduction of the intact peripheral nerve with tetrodotoxin (TTX). Under this disuse condition, enhancement of monosynaptic EPSPs was fully expressed within 2 d, and synaptic function remained elevated for at least 3 d, even after resumption of the impulse activity following discontinuance of the TTX. The magnitude of synaptic enhancement and the minimal period of nerve block required for synaptic enhancement were both comparable to those observed following nerve section. Thus, the early synaptic enhancement produced by section of the peripheral nerve could be accounted for entirely by the deprivation of sensory impulse activity. However, a prolonged nerve block up to 6 d still maintained synaptic enhancement. This was in contrast with synaptic depression observed after the first 3–4 d following section of the peripheral nerve. The late synaptic depression can thus be attributed to changes in some factors other than sensory impulse activity. Therefore, sensory impulse activity and the peripheral axonal continuity of sensory fibers appear to be 2 distinct factors for the regulation of central synaptic function.