Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aging Augments IL‐17 T‐Cell Alloimmune Responses

As increasing numbers of elderly patients require solid organ transplantation, the need to better understand how aging modifies alloimmune responses increases. Here, we examined whether aged mice exhibit augmented, donor‐specific memory responses prior to transplantation. We found that elevated donor‐specific IL‐17, but not IFN‐γ, responses were observed in aged mice compared to young mice prior to transplantation. Further characterization of the heightened IL‐17 alloimmune response with aging demonstrated that memory CD4+ T cells were required. Reduced IL‐2 alloimmune responses with age contributed to the elevated IL‐17 phenotype in vitro, and treatment with an anti‐IL‐17 antibody delayed the onset of acute allograft rejection. In conclusion, aging leads to augmented, donor‐specific IL‐17 immune responses that are important for the timing of acute allograft rejection in aged recipients. IL‐17 targeting therapies may be useful for averting transplant rejection responses in older transplant recipients.
Insurers and Lenders as Monitors During Securities Litigation: Evidence from D&O Insurance Premiums, Interest Rates and Litigation Costs

This study examines whether directors’ and officers’ (D&O) insurers and lenders effectively monitor securities litigation and respond through pricing before case outcomes are known. By “monitoring,” we refer to tracking case progress and obtaining information from the insured (defendant) firm and its counsel prior to case resolution. We find that insurers and lenders increase rates, and that this effect is almost completely isolated to firms with cases that eventually settle. We confirm that this response is reasonable as settled cases are associated with lower future earnings, while there is generally no relation between future earnings and dismissed cases. As direct costs appear low, our results suggest that most costs are indirect in the form of reputational damage. Overall, our results suggest that researchers and policymakers interested in litigation should focus on settled cases, which are the only cases with material long-term costs.
Process of Care and Prescribing Practices for Hypertension in Public and Private Primary Care Clinics in Malaysia

This study aimed to compare the process of care and the choice of antihypertensive medications used in both public and private primary care clinics in Malaysia. A cross-sectional survey was completed in 2008 on randomly selected 100 public health clinics and 114 private primary care clinics in Malaysia. A total of 4076 patient records, 3753 (92.1%) from public clinics and 323 (7.9%) from private clinics were analyzed. Less than 80% of the records documented the recommended clinical and laboratory assessments. The rates of documentation for smoking status, family history of premature death, retinal assessment, and urine albumin tests were lower in public clinics. Overall, 21% of the prescription practices were less than optimal. The process of care and the use of antihypertensive medications were not satisfactory in both settings.
Moderating the Role of Firm Size in Sustainable Performance Improvement through Sustainable Supply Chain Management

In the context of the Chinese government’s strategy for sustainable development, the study of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) for enterprises has important practical significance. Drawing data from 172 Chinese firms, the model studied the moderating role of firm size on the SSCM practices and the sustainable performance of the firms (economic, environmental, and social), using hierarchical regression analysis on SPSS 22.0. The results suggest that SSCM practices and firm size are positively related to the firm’s environmental and social performance. Firm size moderates the effect of SSCM practices on economic performance. Additionally, SSCM internal practices have a significant positive impact on the economic performance of large enterprises, but not so much on the economic performance of the Small and medium enterprises(SMEs). This paper proposes a comprehensive SSCM practice performance model that identifies firm size as a moderating role. Through research on the moderating effect of firm size, the implementation and recommendation of SSCM for different firm size are given.
Human macrophage differentiation induces OCTN2–mediated L‐carnitine transport through stimulation of mTOR–STAT3 axis

l‐Carnitine, in addition to playing a fundamental role in the β‐oxidation of fatty acids, has been recently identified as a modulator of immune function, although the mechanisms that underlie this role remain to be clarified. In this study, we addressed the modulation of l‐carnitine transport and expression of related transporters during differentiation of human monocytes to macrophages. Whereas monocytes display a modest uptake of l‐carnitine, GM‐CSF–induced differentiation massively increased the saturable Na+‐dependent uptake of l‐carnitine. Kinetic and inhibition analyses demonstrate that in macrophage l‐carnitine transport is mediated by a high‐affinity component (Km ∼4 µM) that is identifiable with the operation of OCTN2 transporter and a low‐affinity component (Km > 10 mM) that is identifiable with system A for neutral amino acids. Consistently, both SLC22A5/OCTN2 and SLC38A2/SNAT2 are induced during the differentiation of monocytes to macrophages at gene and protein levels. Elucidation of GM‐CSF signaling demonstrates that the cytokine causes the activation of mTOR kinase, leading to the phosphorylation and activation of STAT3, which, in turn, is responsible for OCTN2 transcription. SLC22A5/OCTN2 therefore emerges as a novel member of the set of genes markers of macrophage differentiation.
Effects of Calcium â-Hydroxy-â-methylbutyrate (HMB) Supplementation During Resistance-Training on Markers of Catabolism, Body Composition and Strength

■■■■ Calcium β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) supplementation has been reported to reduce muscle catabolism and promote gains in fat-free mass and strength in subjects initiating training. However, whether HMB supplementation promotes these adapations in trained athletes is less clear. This study examined the effects of HMB (as the calcium salt) supplementation during resistance training (6.9 ± 0.7 hr × wk–1) on markers of catabolism, body composition and strength in experienced resistance-trained males. In a double-blind and randomized manner, 40 experienced resistance-trained athletes were matched and assigned to supplement their diet for 28 d with a fortified carbohydrate/protein powder containing either 0, 3 or 6 g × d–1 of calcium HMB. Fasting venous blood and urine samples, dual energy X-ray absorptiometer-determined body composition, and isotonic bench press and leg press one repetition maximums (1 RM) were determined prior to and following 28 d of supplementation. HMB supplementation resulted in significant increases in serum and urinary HMB concentrations. However, no statistically significant differences were observed in general markers of whole body anabolic/catabolic status, muscle and liver enzyme efflux, fat/bone-free mass, fat mass, percent body fat, or 1 RM strength. Results indicate that 28 d of HMB supplementation (3 to 6 g × d–1) during resistance-training does not reduce catabolism or affect training-induced changes in body composition and strength in experienced resistance-trained males.
Assessment of heart rate variability in breath holding children by 24 hour Holter monitoring

Abstract Purpose: Previous studies have shown that the underlying pathophysiologic mechanism in children with breath holding may be generalised autonomic dysregulation. Thus, we performed cardiac rhythm and heart rate variability analyses using 24-hour Holter monitoring to evaluate the cardiac effects of autonomic dysregulation in children with breath-holding spells. Methods: We performed cardiac rhythm and heart rate analyses using 24-hour Holter monitors to evaluate the cardiac effects of autonomic dysregulation in children during a breath-holding spell. Our study group consisted of 68 children with breath-holding spells – 56 cyanotic type and 12 pallid type – and 39 healthy controls. Results: Clinical and heart rate variability results were compared between each spell type – cyanotic or pallid – and the control group; significant differences (p<0.05) in standard deviation of all NN intervals, mean of the standard deviations of all NN intervals for all 5-minute segments, percentage of differences between adjacent RR intervals >50 ms, and square root of the mean of the sum of squares of the differences between adjacent NN intervals values were found between the pallid and cyanotic groups. Conclusions: Holter monitoring for 24 hours and heart rate variability parameters, particularly in children with pallid spells, are crucial for evaluation of cardiac rhythm changes.
Competitive Equilibrium of a Sequence of Incomplete Markets with a Continuum of Agents

By introducing the Large Economical Ideas to multi-period financial market, we have constructed the multi-period economy with incomplete market and a continuum of agents. The competitive equilibrium has been proposed and the existence has been claimed. Our equilibrium definition is a development compared to that described by Radner, and our conclusion for equilibrium existence has generalized the related results obtained by Aumann and Zhang, if only the future contracts and goods are traded on security-spot markets.
A Mixture of Ammonium Perchlorate and Sodium Chlorate Enhances Alterations of the Pitutary-Thyroid Axis Caused by the Individual Chemicals in Adult Male F344 Rats

Ammonium perchlorate (AP) and sodium chlorate (SC) have been detected in public drinking water supplies in many parts of the United States. These chemicals cause perturbations in pituitary-thyroid homeostasis in animals by competitively inhibiting iodide uptake, thus hindering the synthesis of thyroglobulin and reducing circulating T4 (thyroxine). Little is known about the short-term exposure effects of mixtures of perchlorate and chlorate. The present study investigated the potential for the response to a mixture of these chemicals on the pituitary-thyroid axis in rats to be greater than that induced by the individual chemicals. Adult male F-344 rats were exposed, via their drinking water, to the nominal concentrations of 0.1, 1.0, 10 mg/L AP or 10, 100, 1000 mg/L SC and their mixtures for 7 days. Serum T4 levels were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced in rats following exposure to the mixtures, but not after exposure to the individual chemicals. Serum T3 (triiodothyronine) was not altered by treatment and TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) was only increased after the high-dose chlorate treatment. Histological examination of the thyroid gland showed colloid depletion and hypertrophy of follicular epithelial cells in high-dose single chemical and all mixture-treated rats, while hyperplasia was observed only in some of the rats treated with mixtures (AP 10 + SC 100, AP 0.1 + SC 1000, and AP 10 + SC 1000 mg/L). These data suggest that short-term exposure to the mixture of AP and SC enhances the effect of either chemical alone on the pituitary-thyroid axis in rats.
Deep and surface metacognitive processes in non-traditional programming tasks

The different metacognitive approaches to spreadsheet languages can determine the effectiveness of teaching spreadsheet management. We can either stick to the popular but ineffective trial-and-error surface approach methods. Alternatively, we can switch to deep approach metacognitive methods which handle spreadsheets as a programming language and can either serve as a first language or as the ultimate language of nonprofessional end-users. In both cases the focus is on the development of the algorithmic skills of the students. We have introduced a deep approach metacognitive method, using array formula as the tool. When testing the students' results it was found that while in the pretest they preferred the traditional, problem loaded functions and methods, and they were hardly able to solve any problems, in the post- and the delayed post-tests they switched to the algorithmic approach, and their results increased significantly; their algorithmic skills improved, and this knowledge is stored in long term memory.
Long-term memory magnetic correlations in the Hubbard model: A dynamical mean-field theory analysis

We investigate the onset of a not-decaying asymptotic behavior of temporal magnetic correlations in the Hubbard model in infinite dimensions. This long-term memory feature of dynamical spin correlations can be precisely quantified by computing the difference between the zero-frequency limit of the Kubo susceptibility and the corresponding static isothermal one. Here, we present a procedure for reliably evaluating this difference starting from imaginary time-axis data, and apply it to the testbed case of the Mott-Hubbard metal-insulator transition (MIT). At low temperatures, we find long-term memory effects in the entire Mott regime, abruptly ending at the first order MIT. This directly reflects the underlying local moment physics and the associated degeneracy in the many-electron spectrum. At higher temperatures, a more gradual onset of an infinitely-long time-decay of magnetic correlations occurs in the crossover regime, not too far from the Widom line emerging from the critical point of the MIT. Our work has relevant algorithmic implications for the analytical continuation of dynamical susceptibilities in strongly correlated regimes and offers a new perspective for unveiling fundamental properties of the many-particle spectrum of the problem under scrutiny.
Sinus floor augmentation at the time of maxillary molar extraction: success and failure rates of 137 implants in function for up to 3 years.

BACKGROUND Implant restoration of the posterior maxilla poses significant challenges to the clinician. In an effort to increase the apical occlusal dimension of available bone for implant placement, a number of sinus augmentation approaches have been suggested. This paper describes a simplified technique for predictable sinus augmentation at the time of maxillary molar extraction. METHODS A modified trephine and osteotome technique was utilized to implode the interradicular bone following maxillary molar extraction. Particulate material and a membrane were then placed to maximize regeneration of alveolar bone. RESULTS One hundred sixty-seven (167) implants were subsequently placed in regenerated bone following the above technique. One hundred thirty-seven (137) of these implants were restored and in function for up to 3 years at the time of statistical compilation, and 136 of the 137 implants were functioning successfully by the Albrekteson criteria for a cumulative success rate of 97.8%. CONCLUSIONS The technique presented for simultaneous sinus augmentation at the time of molar extraction, followed by subsequent implant placement after maturation of regenerating tissues, demonstrates a high success rate for up to 3 years in function. Long-term studies may be useful in evaluating the continual efficacy of such an approach.
Needle Decompression in Appalachia Do Obese Patients Need Longer Needles?

Introduction: Needle decompression of a tension pneumothorax can be a lifesaving procedure. It requires an adequate needle length to reach the chest wall to rapidly remove air. With adult obesity exceeding one third of the United States population in 2010, we sought to evaluate the proper catheter length that may result in a successful needle decompression procedure. Advance Trauma Life Support (ATLS) currently recommends a 51 millimeter (mm) needle, while the needles stocked in our emergency department are 46 mm. Given the obesity rates of our patient population, we hypothesize these needles would not have a tolerable success rate of 90%. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 91 patient records that had computed tomography of the chest and measured the chest wall depth at the second intercostal space bilaterally. Results: We found that 46 mm needles would only be successful in 52.7% of our patient population, yet the ATLS recommended length of 51 mm has a success rate of 64.8%. Therefore, using a 64 mm needle would be successful in 79% percent of our patient population. Conclusion: Use of longer length needles for needle thoracostomy is essential given the extent of the nation’s adult obesity population.
Crisis management through Twitter: The case of the Barcelona attacks

This article explores how the Government of Catalonia managed the emergency scenario during terrorists attacks of August 2017 (from 17th to 22nd) in Barcelona. Twitter was used for public services, Mossos d’Esquadra (the police force of Catalonia) and the Government of Catalonia Civil Defence, as an essential tool to broadcast information, secure people’s security and drive the investigation. We gathered the network of Twitter posts and interactions, with tens of thousands of users, who helped spreading the information, and applied a social network analysis (SNA) methodology to conclude how those users contribute on the crisis management. In this investigation, we have focused on two questions: How does information diffusion spread during this crisis? And who are the actors that contribute to the expansion? This article aims to inform and explore how public services can use social media to handle crisis of any kind, taking advantage of citizens for spreading information that could contribute to a safer and quicker crisis resolution.
An assessment of stress factors on engineering academics in a regional context

The Australian higher education sector has accepted that increasing work-related stresses can have a negative impact on the quality and productivity of academic life. Workplace stresses can have significant financial impact both on university budgets and the overall economy due to poor decision-making, health issues and accidents resulting from illness. Engineering academics that teach and/or research within higher education institutions have been reported anecdotally to have a high prevalence of stress. The actual (self-perceived) level however has been largely unquantified. The research reported in this paper was conducted to assess self-perceived stress levels and identify the stress factors within a cohort of engineering academics at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), a small regionally based Australian university renowned for its distance education. The questionnaire was applied using a mix of validated and non-validated survey instruments and incorporated a set of questions previously applied at the University of Adelaide (UoA). Findings from USQ are broadly in line with those independently reported elsewhere for Australia and the UK, with some minor exceptions. In summary the USQ project indicates that engineering academics have higher perceived stress levels than the validated health threshold, with significant variation based on age, academic type (teaching-research), and for staff with English as a second language. The results from both universities also indicated that there are significant stress contributors related to the pressure to obtain grants and to publish and to the (low) resultant levels of recognition from employers for any success. More specific to distance education providers (such as USQ), there are stress contributors related to servicing and dealing with the external mode of course design, delivery and lecture preparation.
Prognostic significance of biomarkers in squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue: Multivariate analysis

Expression of a panel of biomarkers, such as p53, Bcl‐2, Cyclin D1, c‐myc, p21ras, c‐erb B2, cytokeratin‐19 (CK‐19), and factor VIII–related antigen (FVIII‐RA), was studied together in anterior tongue tumors from the oral cavity and in posterior tongue tumors from the oropharynx of patients with early‐ and locally advanced‐stage disease, to evaluate their prognostic value.
Decolonizing the Classroom Curriculum: Indigenous Knowledges, Colonizing Logics, and Ethical Spaces

The current moment of education in Canada is increasingly asking educators to take up the mandate and responsibility to integrate Indigenous perspectives into curricula and teaching practice. Many teachers who do so come from a historical context of settler colonialism that has largely ignored or tried to use education to assimilate Indigenous peoples. This project asks how teachers are (or are not) integrating Indigenous perspectives into the classroom curriculum. It asks if and how Eurocentric and colonial perspectives are being disrupted or reproduced in classroom dialogue, and how learning spaces can be guided by an ethics of relationality and coexistence between Indigenous and non-Indigenous ways of knowing. Finally, it seeks promising pedagogical practices through which curriculum can be a bridge for building a new relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in what is now Canada. This project is a critical ethnography of five high school English classrooms in which teachers were attempting to integrate Indigenous perspectives into the curriculum. Over the course of a semester classroom observations, interviews, and focus groups gathered the stories, experiences and perceptions of five high school English teachers, their students, and several Indigenous educators and community members. The stories and experiences gathered describe a decolonizing praxis, which pedagogically situates Indigenous and non-Indigenous worldviews in parallel and in relation, each co-existing in its own right without one dominating the other. The teacher and students who took up this decolonizing praxis centered an Indigenous lens in their reading of texts, and saw questions of ethics, responsibility, and reciprocity as key to changing the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Despite this promising pedagogical approach, I identify knowledge of treaties and the significance of land to Indigenous peoples as a significant gap in knowledge for students (and some teachers), which allows many colonial misunderstandings to persist.
Studies on active substances in herbs used for hair treatment. I. Effects of herb extracts on hair growth and isolation of an active substance from Polyporus umbellatus F.

The effects of methanol extracts of 80 herbs on hair growth were investigated, using normal C3H/He mice from which telogen hair on the back had been removed. Eighteen of the extracts apparently promoted hair regrowth on the mice. As one of active principles in Polyporus umbellatus F. , 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde was isolated by column chromatography on Amberlite XAD-2, Sephadex LH-20 and silica gel.