Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regulation of Osteopontin Expression in Osteoblasts

Osteopontin (OPN) is a prominent bone matrix protein that is synthesized by osteoblastic cells. To elucidate the function of OPN in bone we studied the regulated expression of the rat OPN protein during bone formation in vivo and in vitro. OPN mRNA is expressed by preosteoblastic cells early in bone formation, but the highest expression is observed in mature osteoblasts at sites of bone remodelling. A low-phosphorylated, 55-kDa form of OPN is produced by the preosteoblastic cells, whereas osteoblasts produce a highly phosphorylated, 44-kDa protein; the two forms of OPN corresponding to pp69 and pp62 in transformed rat cells. The synthesis of the 55-kDa OPN correlates with the formation of a 'cement' matrix that is synthesized prior to bone deposition, whereas the 44-kDa OPN synthesized by osteoblasts associates rapidly with hydroxyapatite, possibly regulating crystal growth, and may also provide a substratum for osteoclast attachment. Expression of OPN mRNA is upregulated by growth and differentiation factors (PDGF, EGF, TGF-beta and BMP-7/OP-1) and by mechanical stress, which promote bone formation, as well as by osteotropic hormones (retinoic acid and vitamin D3), which can promote bone resorption and remodelling. However, OPN mRNA is down-regulated by bisphosphonates, which abrogate bone resorption. Regulation of OPN expression is, therefore, consistent with a multiplicity of functions for OPN that involve specific structural motifs in both the synthesis and resorption of bone.
Idiosyncratic volatility and nominal stock prices: evidence from approximate factor structures

Approximate factor structures defined by Chamberlain and Rotschild (1983 ) allow to test whether a given quantitative firm characteristic (the nominal stock price in this paper) is a determinant of the idiosyncratic volatility of stock returns. Our study of 8,000 U.S stocks over the period 1980-2014 shows that small price stocks exhibit a higher idiosyncratic volatility than large price stocks. This relationship is persistent over time and robust to variations in the number of common factors of the approximate factor structure. Moreover, this small price effect does not hide a small-firm effect because it is still valid when we analyze the tercile of large firms. Our result confirms that small price stocks have lottery-type characteristics and, therefore, it is not in line with the efficient market hypothesis.
Psychophysiological effects of emotional display rules and the moderating role of trait anger in a simulated call center

Abstract In customer interactions, emotional display rules typically prescribe service providers to suppress negative emotions and display positive ones. This study investigated the causal impact of these emotional display rules on physiological indicators of workers’ stress and performance. Additionally, the moderating influence of personality was examined by analyzing the impact of trait anger. In a simulated call center, 82 females were confronted with a complaining customer and instructed to react either authentically and show their true emotions or to “serve with a smile” and hide negative emotions. Increases in diastolic blood pressure and heart rates were higher in the smile condition, while verbal fluency was lower. Trait anger moderated the effects on diastolic blood pressure and observer ratings’ of participants' professional competence, suggesting more negative effects for high trait anger individuals. Findings imply that emotional display rules may increase call center employees' strain and that considering employees' personality may be crucial for precluding health and performance impairments among call center workers.
Is General Intelligence Little More Than the Speed of Higher-Order Processing?

Individual differences in the speed of information processing have been hypothesized to give rise to individual differences in general intelligence. Consistent with this hypothesis, reaction times (RTs) and latencies of event-related potential have been shown to be moderately associated with intelligence. These associations have been explained either in terms of individual differences in some brain-wide property such as myelination, the speed of neural oscillations, or white-matter tract integrity, or in terms of individual differences in specific processes such as the signal-to-noise ratio in evidence accumulation, executive control, or the cholinergic system. Here we show in a sample of 122 participants, who completed a battery of RT tasks at 2 laboratory sessions while an EEG was recorded, that more intelligent individuals have a higher speed of higher-order information processing that explains about 80% of the variance in general intelligence. Our results do not support the notion that individuals with higher levels of general intelligence show advantages in some brain-wide property. Instead, they suggest that more intelligent individuals benefit from a more efficient transmission of information from frontal attention and working memory processes to temporal-parietal processes of memory storage.
THE ENCOUNTERS OF DEVELOPMENT AND ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCES

The current financial crisis, which has engulfed East Asia since July 1997 and has subsequently spread to Russia and Brazil, is one of the most pressing challenges facing countries and businesses in today's global business environment. Development represents the structural making of the world characterized by the free flow of technology and human resources across national boundaries as well as the spread of Information Technology (IT) and mass media presenting an ever-changing and competitive business environment. Two major limitations are observed in the treatment of the twin issues of the responses to the East Asian economic crisis and the coverage of the literature on Development. While the response to the crisis has focused on macroeconomic aspects, the issue of Development has been addressed predominantly in and with respect to the developed economies of Western Europe, North America and Japan. This paper is an attempt to address these two limitations. Since the human factor is the key in the new era of Development, the primary objective of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for effective management of human resources as a response to the growing interaction of Development and business performance. Three central arguments are made in this paper. (1) That a growing body of evidence converge to suggest that changes taking place in the global business environment often are not accompanied by complementary changes in human resource management practices leading to a situation whereby the failure of some firms is due to the mismanagement of people rather than to problems with technical systems per se. (2) That this is because organizations have achieved relatively low levels effectiveness in implementing Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) practices especially in emerging economies of South East Asia and other developing countries like Nigeria that are exposed to the challenges and opportunities of Development. (3) That in order to manage employees for competitive edge in a period of Development, human resource personnel must possess competencies relevant for implementing such strategic HRM policies and practices. Guided by theoretical perspectives such as the firm’s resource-based theory of competitive advantage and empirical evidence, this paper develop propositions draws implications for the strategic management of human resources to prepare organizations for the challenges of Development. Article visualizations:
Menopause: A complex and controversial journey

Menopause is defined as permanent cessation of menstrual periods, determined retrospectively after a woman has experienced 12 months of amenorrhea without any other obvious cause. Over the years, the discourse surrounding the Climacteric was mainly elicited as a “disease of the castrates”, as opposed to the feminist views. There has been a large feminist contribution to both the debate of contraception and menopause in the last few years. Over the years, menopause has been treated in a uniform fashion, as a disease, excluding the different circumstances and lived experiences that patients go through during this sensitive period. Every primary care provider should be familiar with the menopausal process and be able to provide adequate care for these women, respecting patient's autonomy and decision making. A brief historical of menopause and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) will be reviewed in this paper. We will also discuss the different views of the menopausal discourse as well as the benefits and risks, compliance rates and reasons for discontinuation of HRT.
Why Place Really Matters: A Qualitative Approach to Housing Preferences and Neighborhood Effects

Abstract The idea that a person’s neighborhood or zip code can predict his or her life outcomes has motivated a host of housing policies aimed at redressing racial segregation and breaking up areas of concentrated poverty. This article critically examines underlying assumptions about high-poverty neighborhoods that motivate those policies. Using ethnographic methods, I present the location preferences of residents living in a low-income neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, and show the ways in which their perceptions of their neighborhood run counter to common portrayals. This analysis provides clues as to why the underlying logic of dispersal and mobility may be flawed. I conclude that place matters very much to people living in this neighborhood, just not in the way commonly implied by dispersal and mobility policy advocates. The implication is that stability, rather than mobility, ought to be the focus of more housing discussions.
The cost of poor birth outcomes in employer-sponsored health plans.

OBJECTIVES The authors examine the cost and incidence of poor birth outcomes in employer-sponsored health insurance plans. METHODS An extensive study of national inpatient and outpatient claims data for prenatal, delivery, and postnatal care of nearly 59,000 mother-infant pairs was conducted. All maternal and infant costs incurred over a 2-year period were analyzed, and, furthermore, the longitudinal claims experience of a cohort of 20,000 mothers and infants was examined in detail. RESULTS The study revealed that 25% of deliveries resulted in poor birth outcomes, which accounted for 40% of total costs over a 2-year period. Extrapolated nationwide, the net direct medical care cost of poor birth outcomes in employer plans has been estimated at approximately $5.6 billion for 1990, approximately 3% of aggregate after-tax corporate profits that year. CONCLUSIONS Costs related to maternity and infant care are a major source of cost for employer-sponsored health insurance plans. Poor birth outcomes represent significantly higher cost for both the mother and infant at all stages of care-prenatal, at birth, and postnatal. To the extent that poor birth outcomes relate to maternal behavior and are preventable, their very high and protracted cost may justify substantial health promotion activity by employers and insurers.
High‐Affinity Receptor Sites and Rapid Proteolytic Inactivation of Neurotensin in Primary Cultured Neurons

Abstract: The present article describes the interaction of neurotensin with specific receptors in pure primary cultured neurons and the mechanisms by which this peptide is inactivated by these cells. Neurotensin binding sites are not detectable in nondifferentiated neurons and appear during maturation. The binding at 37°C of [monoiodo‐Tyr3 neurotensin to monolayers of neurons 96 h after plating is saturable and characterized by a dissociation constant of 300 pM and a maximal binding capacity of 178 fmol/mg of protein. The binding parameters as well as the specificity of these receptors toward neurotensin analogues reveal close similarities between the binding sites present in primary cultured neurons and those described in other membrane preprations or cells. Neurotensin is rapidly degraded by primary cultured neurons. The sites of primary inactivating cleavages are the Pro7‐Arg8, Arg8‐Arg9, and Pro10‐Tyr11 bonds. Proline endopeptidase is totally responsible for the cleavage at the Pro7‐Arg8 bond and contributes to the hydrolysis mainly at the Pro10‐Tyr11 site. However, the latter breakdown is also generated by a neurotensin‐degrading neutral metallopeptidase. The cleavage at the Arg8‐Arg9 bond is due to a peptidase that can be specifically inhibited by N‐[1 (R, S)‐carboxy‐2‐phenylethyl]‐alanyl‐alanyl‐phenylalanyl‐p‐aminobenzoate. The secondary processing occurring on neurotensin degradation products are: (1) a bestatin‐sensitive aminopeptidasic conversion of neurotensin, 11‐13 to free Tyr11, and (2) a rapid cleavage of neurotensin8‐13 by proline endopeptidase. A model for the inactivation of neurotensin in primary cultured neurons is proposed and compared to that previously described for purified rat brain synaptic membranes.
Measuring location in residential location choice: An empirical study on the canton of Zurich

In transportation and land-use research, discrete choice models have become a common method for assessing the value or utility of discrete alternatives for an individual choice-maker and have led to the simulation of land-use developments on a microscopic level. Discrete location choice models represent relocation behavior in those simulations and generally implement three groups of variables, representing attributes of the alternative, the decision-taker and the location. With the growing availability of spatial data on a disaggregated level, a large number of location variables have been reported in these models, which reduces their comparability and their transferability to other study areas. To address this limitation, Schirmer et al. (2012) classified location variables and proposed a common set of attributes as an initial setup. In this paper, we explore the impact of these attributes on residential location choice in the Canton of Zurich.
Relationship between SRD5A2 rs9282858 polymorphism and the susceptibility of prostate cancer

Abstract The pathogenetic mechanism of prostate cancer (PCa) has not been understood completely, and gene polymorphisms have been demonstrated to play a critical role in the course. It has been reported that rs9282858 polymorphism of steroid 5-&agr;-reductase type 2 (SRD5A2) may affect the susceptibility of PCa, but some researches showed different results. We therefore carried out a meta-analysis to clarify this relationship. Relevant studies were identified through PubMed and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases concerning the association between SRD5A2 rs9282858 polymorphism and PCa. Odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated to assess the strength of the association. Additionally, stratified analyses were performed based on ethnicity and source of control. Besides, heterogeneity test, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias evaluation were conducted in current meta-analysis as well. Ultimately, 20 publications incorporating 30 case-control studies were included in this meta-analysis, involving a total of 7300 cases and 7952 controls. The overall results demonstrated that SRD5A2 rs9282858 polymorphism was remarkably associated with increased susceptibility of PCa (TT vs. AA: OR = 4.08, 95% CI = 1.94–8.58; TT + AT vs. AA: OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.11–1.47; TT vs. AA + AT: OR = 4.44, 95% CI = 2.12–9.27; allele T vs. allele A: OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.17–1.54). After subgroup analyses by ethnicity and source of control, we also observed a similar trend in Latinos, other-ethnicity, population-based, and hospital-based groups under corresponding genetic models. Our findings indicate that SRD5A2 rs9282858 polymorphism may be a susceptible factor to PCa.
A Risk Score Derived from the Analysis of a Cluster of 27 Serum Inflammatory Cytokines to Predict Long Term Outcome in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction: a Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinical utility and prognostic significance of a cluster of 27 serum cytokines for risk stratification after myocardial infarction. MATERIALS AND METHODS We enrolled 33 consecutive patients admitted to our institution for acute myocardial infarction and prospectively followed. We evaluated traditional cardiovascular risk factors and assayed, during the acute phase, 27 serum cytokines (IL-1, IL-1ra, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL -7, IL-8, IL-9, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-15, IL-17, EOTAXIN, FGF, G-CSF, GM-CSF, IFN-γ, IP-10, MCP-1, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, PDGF, RANTES, TNF-α, VEGF) potentially associated with cardiovascular risk. Patients were divided into two groups during follow-up according to the occurrence or absence of adverse cardiovascular events (recurrence of angina, re-infarction, death, need of new revascularization, occurrence of heart failure). We developed an additive risk score by assigning one point for each cytokine that had a value greater than the median value (range 0-27). Cytokines alone and the cytokines score were related to cardiovascular events. RESULTS Patients with and without major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) at follow up had a homogenous distribution of the main cardiovascular risk factors; differences were detected only for sex and age. Patients who experienced MACE had a significantly different distribution of I troponin (p=0.036), IL-8 (p=0.006), IL-13 (p=0.06), IL-10 (p=0.02), IL-17 (p=0.015), IP-10 (p=0.02), MIP-1β (p=0.05). At univariate analysis, IL -8 (p=0.046 OR 1.13), IL-10 (p=0.05 OR 1.14) and MIP-1β (p=0.016, OR 1.02) were significantly associated with the occurrence of MACE. This association was not confirmed at multivariate analysis. At the analysis of variance, a higher score was significantly associated with the occurrence of adverse events at follow up (F=5.07, p=0.03). At ROC curve analysis, a score greater than 13 better predicted the occurrence of adverse events at follow-up (AUC 0.72, p=0.03, sensibility 59.1%, specificity 81.8%). CONCLUSIONS In our study we did not identify a single inflammatory cytokine able to predict adverse events in a long term follow up, whereas the presence of more than 13 cytokines above the median value was useful for risk stratification.
Stimuli that induce a yeast heat shock gene fused to beta-galactosidase

Saccharomyces cerevisiae contain a multigene family related to the Drosophila heat shock gene hsp70. Two members of this family, YG100 and YG101, have been previously characterized (Ingolia et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 2:1388-1398, 1982), and only YG100 was found to have elevated levels of transcription after heat shock. The yeast hsp70 genes contained on YG100 and YG101 were truncated and fused to the Escherichia coli lacZ gene contained on pMC1587 (Casadaban et al., Methods Enzymol. 100:283-308, 1983). The resulting plasmids directed synthesis of the beta-galactosidase gene as measured by in vitro enzyme assays and by colorimetric assays on plates. The expression level from the YG101 gene was constant under all the conditions tested, whereas expression driven by the YG100 gene could be induced over 50-fold. Other stimuli besides heat, including recovery from anoxia and high cell density, were found to strongly induce YG100 gene expression. Most physical and chemical stimuli tested, including UV irradiation, zymolyase treatment, and ethanol, did not stimulate expression of this heat shock gene.
Evidence of persistence and multiple genetic modifications of H7N7 low-pathogenic avian influenza virus in wild mallards in Poland provided by phylogenetic studies

Genetic characterization of the whole genome of four avian influenza H7N7 viruses isolated in three successive winter seasons (2007 to 2009) from wild mallards in three cities in Poland was performed. All of the tested strains were of low pathogenicity and no molecular marker associated with an increased adaptation to poultry, mammals or resistance to antiviral drugs was found. The major outcome of the phylogenetic studies was that the isolate A/mallard/Poland/446/09 (detected in December 2009) shared a recent common ancestor with A/mallard/Poland/41/09 (isolated in February 2009) in relation to HA and PB1 genes, with A/mallard/Poland/16/09 (found in January 2009) regarding NA and NS genes, and with A/mallard/Poland/01/08 (recovered in December 2007) as regards the NS gene. Interestingly, A/mallard/Poland/16/09 and A/mallard/Poland/446/09 were isolated at the same sampling site almost exactly 1 year apart, which points to resident population of mallards (and other resident waterfowl) as responsible for the perpetuation of avian influenza virus (AIV) in the given area between successive winters. On the other hand, the ornithological data discussed in detail in the paper strongly suggest that the virus transmission between close sites but located in different urban areas is most probably achieved by migratory birds, a fact additionally supported by a close relatedness between different gene segments of Polish H7N7 and AIV detected in wild birds in Europe. A high heterogeneity of the gene pool found in the study is indicative of frequent reassortment events. Additionally, two H7N7 isolates were shown to possess selected genes closely related to AIV detected in domestic poultry in Italy and the Czech Republic. The present study corroborates the importance of active surveillance in wild birds as a valuable tool for early warning of avian influenza in poultry.
Microleakage of nanofilled resin-modified glass-ionomer/silorane- or methacrylate-based composite sandwich Class II restoration: effect of simultaneous bonding.

OBJECTIVES Microleakage of composite restorations at the cervical margin placed apically to the cementoenamel junction (CEJ) is still a concern. This study evaluated the effect of simultaneous bonding application on cervical sealing of nano-ionomer/silorane- or methacrylate-based composite open sandwich Class II restorations in the modified technique compared with that of conventional bonding. METHODS AND MATERIALS In 60 sound maxillary premolars, two standardized Class II cavities were prepared with cervical margins 1 mm below the CEJ. The teeth were randomly divided into six groups of 10 teeth each. In the first three groups (groups 1-3), Clearfil SE Bond and Clearfil APX (Kuraray) were used for restoration in the total bonding technique (group 1), conventional open sandwich technique associated with a nano-ionomer (Ketac N100, 3M ESPE) (group 2), and modified open sandwich technique with simultaneous bonding application for both nano-ionomer and composite (group 3). In the second three groups (groups 4-6), Silorane Adhesive and Filtek Silorane composite (3M ESPE) were used in the same manner as in the first three groups, respectively. RESULTS The simultaneous bonding application in the modified sandwich restorations (with SE Bond or Silorane Adhesive) resulted in a significant reduction of the cervical microleakage compared with that of the conventional bonding (p<0.05). However, microleakage of the modified technique was similar to that of the total bonding (with SE Bond or Silorane Adhesive) (p>0.05), both showing good marginal seal.