Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A systematic assessment of the association of polysomnographic indices with blood pressure: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

STUDY OBJECTIVE Blood pressure (BP) may be adversely affected by a variety of sleep disturbances, including sleep fragmentation, hypoxemia, respiratory disturbances, and periodic limb movements. We aim to identify which polysomnography indices are most strongly and consistently associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) levels in a population-based sample. DESIGN Cross-sectional analysis of data from 2,040 participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) who underwent polysomnography at MESA Exam 5 in 2011-2013. SETTING Multisite cohort study. PARTICIPANTS Participants were mean age 68 y (54% females; 28% African American, 24% Hispanic, 11% Chinese). MEASUREMENTS Thirty-two candidate polysomnography predictors were identified representing the domains of breathing disturbance frequency, hypoxemia, sleep architecture, and periodic limb movements. Cluster analysis was used for variable reduction. Statistical models, adjusted for potential confounders, were derived using stepwise regression. Final models were selected using cross-validation techniques. RESULTS The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) defined using a 4% desaturation hypopnea criterion (AHI4P) was most consistently associated with SBP level. The AHI and periodic limb movement index (associated with arousals; PLMIA) were significantly associated with DBP. Estimated adjusted differences in SBP and DBP levels between an individual with no sleep apnea (AHI4P = 0) and one with moderately severe sleep apnea (AHI4P = 30) were 2.2 mm Hg and 1.1 mm Hg, respectively. Each 10-unit increase in the PLMIA was associated with an increase in DBP of 1.2 mm Hg. CONCLUSION Our results support the use of a currently recommended apnea-hypopnea index definition as a marker of blood pressure risk and indicate that measurement of limb movements with arousals is also independently associated with diastolic blood pressure.
Kaitan Kondisi Makroekonomi dengan Non Performing Financing Berdasarkan Sektor Ekonomi pada Perbankan Syariah di Indonesia

Abstract This study attempts to identify the effect of macroeconomic variables to Non Performing Financing (NPF)based on economic sector of Islamic banking in Indonesia. The macroeconomic variables used in this study areSertifikat Bank Syariah Indonesia (SBIS), Industrial Production Index (IPI), inflation, and exchange rate.Thedata usedin this studyis amonthly time series data and secondaryin the period January 2009 to December 2014. The analytical method used is Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). Based on the result of simulating Variance Decomposition (VD) and Impulse Response Function (IRF), it is found that, exchange rate tends to be theinnovation of the smallest in the short-term and long-term. The conclusion that in the short term or long term, changes in macroeconomic variables affects the NPF of the four sectors with the amount of variability of thirtyto fifty percent, which NPF agriculture, forestry and agricultural inputs, mining, industry, and transport,storage and communication.
Relative contributions of souvenirs on memorability of a trip experience and revisit intention: a study of visitors to Rovaniemi, Finland

ABSTRACT For some tourists, shopping is a “must-do” activity, and many tourists’ purchases can be classified as souvenirs. This study employs a grounded theory approach to explore the central elements of souvenirs that help tourists reminisce about their holiday experiences and encourage their intentions to revisit a place. Based on semi-structured interviews with visitors to Rovaniemi, Finland, from 14 different nationalities, uniqueness, usability and functionality emerged as central elements that prolonged memorability of the travel experience and encouraged revisit intention. This research contradicts studies indicating that a lack of authenticity is an attraction when buying souvenirs and that tourists purchase “genuine counterfeit products” while on holiday due to their lower prices. The managerial implications of this study are that tourism service providers who sell souvenirs in similar contexts should invest more resources on offering objects that represent uniqueness and on local food products and clothes, as well as kitchenware, which represent usability and functionality.
Characterization of the structural and functional diversity of indigenous soil microbial communities in smelter‐impacted and nonimpacted soils

A century of mining and smelting activity at the Anaconda Smelter site in Anaconda, Montana, USA, has contaminated the surrounding soils and groundwater with metals. Soil microbial communities from six smelter‐impacted sites and a nonimpacted site were compared to determine the long‐term effects of a gradient of metal concentrations on microbial activity, biomass, functional diversity (Biolog microtiter plates), and structural diversity (denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis of 16S ribosomal DNA). Microbial activity and biomass were decreased in the smelter‐impacted soils. Likewise, the functional and structural diversity of the microbial communities native to the smelter‐impacted soils were shifted, relative to the microbial community, from the non‐impacted site. These shifts were significantly correlated with soil metal concentration and several soil physicochemical properties (pH, organic matter, NO3, NH4, etc.), which provides evidence of the importance of many environmental variables on microbial community dynamics in soils. Preliminary evidence of functional redundancy was observed within microbial communities native to the smelter‐impacted sites, based on overlapping carbon substrate utilization patterns. However, due to culture‐based selection bias, redundancy pertains only to a subset of the community and may not be ecologically relevant. Nevertheless, the effects of metal contamination on microbial communities in the present study are pronounced and results provide preliminary insight into the complex relationship between soil microbial community structure and function in anthropogenically disturbed soils.
Length‐dependent changes in voluntary activation, maximum voluntary torque and twitch responses after eccentric damage in humans

To assess the contribution of central and peripheral factors to changes in maximum voluntary force and its length dependence after eccentric muscle damage, voluntary and twitch torque were measured across a wide angular range, along with voluntary activation using twitch interpolation. Isometric torque from both maximum voluntary contractions (MVCs) and paired twitches to motor nerve stimulation were measured from 60 to 150 deg elbow flexion in 10 deg increments in eight subjects. Optimal angles were determined by curve fitting. Each subject then performed eccentric contractions until voluntary torque had decreased by ∼40%. Measurements were repeated at 2 h, 1 day and 8 days post‐exercise to follow acute and longer‐term changes. Before exercise, the optimal angle was in the mid‐range (93 ± 10 deg; mean ±s.d.) for MVCs, and at a more extended elbow angle for the twitch (106 ± 6 deg, P < 0.05). Voluntary activation was generally high (> 94%) but depended on elbow angle, with activation being ∼4% lower at the most flexed compared to the most extended angle. Two hours after exercise, MVCs decreased 40%, while twitch torque declined 70%. All subjects showed a shift in optimal angle to longer muscle lengths for MVCs (17 ± 16 deg at 2 h, 14 ± 7 deg at day 1, P < 0.05). This shift contributed minimally (∼3%) to the reduction in torque at 90 deg, as the torque–angle relation was relatively flat around the optimum. The twitch showed a smaller shift (∼4 deg) to longer lengths which was not statistically significant. Voluntary activation was significantly impaired in the early stages after exercise (2 h and day 1, P < 0.05), particularly at short muscle lengths. By 8 days after exercise, the optimal angle had returned to pre‐exercise values, but MVC, twitch torque and voluntary activation had not fully recovered. Eccentric exercise causes a short‐term shift in the optimal angle for MVCs and produces a length‐dependent impairment in voluntary activation. Therefore, it appears that both central and peripheral factors limit muscle performance following eccentric damage, with limits to voluntary drive being especially important at short lengths.
Public Policy and the Private Provision of Public Goods under Heterogeneous Preferences

We compare the relative efficiency of second-best policies designed to promote the private provision of public goods. We use the provision of local public goods as our central example and discuss settings in which the model extends to choices over energy-consuming durables. We introduce preference heterogeneity by allowing a subset of agents to value the public good more than others, reflecting a form of prosocial preference. We further assume that agents face convex costs of provision, an assumption that accords well with individually provided public goods such as neighborhood amenities. We show that minimum standards are often more efficient than uniform price-based incentives in this setting. Extending our model to allow for both benefit and cost heterogeneity, we show how policy choice depends on the strength and correlation between the two forms of heterogeneity.
Neural differentiation of transplanted neural stem cells in a rat model of striatal lacunar infarction: light and electron microscopic observations

The increased risk and prevalence of lacunar stroke and Parkinson's disease (PD) makes the search for better experimental models an important requirement for translational research. In this study we assess ischemic damage of the nigrostriatal pathway in a model of lacunar stroke evoked by damaging the perforating arteries in the territory of the substantia nigra (SN) of the rat after stereotaxic administration of endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoconstrictor peptide. We hypothesized that transplantation of neural stem cells (NSCs) with the capacity of differentiating into diverse cell types such as neurons and glia, but with limited proliferation potential, would constitute an alternative and/or adjuvant therapy for lacunar stroke. These cells showed neuritogenic activity in vitro and a high potential for neural differentiation. Light and electron microscopy immunocytochemistry was used to characterize GFP-positive neurons derived from the transplants. 48 h after ET-1 injection, we characterized an area of selective degeneration of dopaminergic neurons within the nigrostriatal pathway characterized with tissue necrosis and glial scar formation, with subsequent behavioral signs of Parkinsonism. Light microscopy showed that grafted cells within the striatal infarction zone differentiated with a high yield into mature glial cells (GFAP-positive) and neuron types present in the normal striatum. Electron microscopy revealed that NSCs-derived neurons integrated into the host circuitry establishing synaptic contacts, mostly of the asymmetric type. Astrocytes were closely associated with normal small-sized blood vessels in the area of infarct, suggesting a possible role in the regulation of the blood brain barrier and angiogenesis. Our results encourage the use of NSCs as a cell-replacement therapy for the treatment of human vascular Parkinsonism.
Conceptual Foundations of the Balanced Scorecard

David Norton and I introduced the Balanced Scorecard in a 1992 Harvard Business Review article (Kaplan & Norton, 1992). The article was based on a multi-company research project to study performance measurement in companies whose intangible assets played a central role in value creation (Nolan Norton Institute, 1991). Norton and I believed that if companies were to improve the management of their intangible assets, they had to integrate the measurement of intangible assets into their management systems. After publication of the 1992 HBR article, several companies quickly adopted the Balanced Scorecard giving us deeper and broader insights into its power and potential. During the next 15 years, as it was adopted by thousands of private, public, and nonprofit enterprises around the world, we extended and broadened the concept into a management tool for describing, communicating and implementing strategy. This paper describes the roots and motivation for the original Balanced Scorecard article as well as the subsequent innovations that connected it to a larger management literature.
The heat shock protein 90 inhibitor, AT13387, displays a long duration of action in vitro and in vivo in non‐small cell lung cancer

A ubiquitously expressed chaperone, heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) is of considerable interest as an oncology target because tumor cells and oncogenic proteins are acutely dependent on its activity. AT13387 (2,4‐dihydroxy‐5‐isopropyl‐phenyl)‐[5‐(4‐methyl‐piperazin‐1‐ylmethyl)‐1,3‐dihydro‐isoindol‐2‐yl] methanone, l‐lactic acid salt) a novel, high‐affinity HSP90 inhibitor, which is currently being clinically tested, has shown activity against a wide array of tumor cell lines, including lung cancer cell lines. This inhibitor has induced the degradation of specific HSP90 client proteins for up to 7 days in tumor cell lines in vitro. The primary driver of cell growth (mutant epidermal growth factor receptors) was particularly sensitive to HSP90 inhibition. The long duration of client protein knockdown and suppression of phospho‐signaling seen in vitro after treatment with AT13387 was also apparent in vivo, with client proteins and phospho‐signaling suppressed for up to 72 h in xenograft tumors after treatment with a single dose of AT13387. Pharmacokinetic analyses indicated that while AT13387 was rapidly cleared from blood, its retention in tumor xenografts was markedly extended, and it was efficacious in a range of xenograft models. AT13387's long duration of action enabled, in particular, its efficacious once weekly administration in human lung carcinoma xenografts. The use of longer‐acting HSP90 inhibitors, such as AT13387, on less frequent dosing regimens has the potential to maintain antitumor efficacy as well as minimize systemic exposure and unwanted effects on normal tissues. (Cancer Sci, 2012; 103: 522–527)
Leptin measurement in urine in children and its relationship to other growth peptides in serum and urine

objective Leptin has been implicated in the interaction between nutrition, energy balance and sexual maturation in humans. A non‐invasive method of measuring leptin would greatly facilitate longitudinal studies of changes in leptin in normal children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of urinary leptin as a surrogate for serum leptin measurements.
A case study of researchers’ knowledge and opinions about the ethical review process for research in Botswana

Most countries, including Botswana, have established Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) to provide oversight of research involving human beings. Although much has been published on the structure and function of IRBs around the world, there is less literature that empirically describes the perspectives of stakeholders in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings regarding IRB processes. In this study, we employed primarily quantitative methods to examine the perceptions of researchers at the University of Botswana (UB) about the review of research protocols by local IRBs. Data were collected using a web-based survey (SurveyMonkey1). This was a preliminary effort to document some of the emerging experiences of researchers with ethics review in a context where both research and research oversight are relatively new. Findings from 85 researchers indicate that researchers recognized the need for an IRB to review all human research protocols, expressed the need for research ethics training, experienced high rates of approval at government ministries and UB, and generally believed that ethics review processes can help researchers themselves better understand and appreciate research ethics in general. Though only about one-quarter of respondents reported a more positive view of research ethics after interacting with the UB IRB, 56.5 percent reported no change. In contexts where IRBs have recently been established, it can be particularly important to document the perspectives of researchers in order to align expectations with capabilities, and identify areas where IRBs can improve operations. Future efforts to advance research ethics and ethical review in Botswana should include establishing research ethics training requirements and courses for researchers, increasing investment in IRBs and their training, further developing institutional and national research ethics policies, and formalizing agreements between IRBs and others involved in research oversight in the country to support coordinated review.
Role of polyamines in arginine‐dependent colon carcinogenesis in ApcMin/+ mice

We evaluated the role of polyamines in arginine‐dependent intestinal tumorigenesis in ApcMin/+ mice. Arginine is a substrate for ornithine synthesis and thus can influence polyamine production. Supplementing the diet with arginine increased intestinal and colonic polyamine levels and colonic carcinogenesis. Inhibiting polyamine synthesis with D,L‐α‐diflouromethylornithine (DFMO) decreased small intestinal and colonic polyamine pools. In mice provided basal diet, but not when supplemented with arginine, DFMO decreased small intestinal tumor number and burden, and increased intestinal apoptosis. In mice provided supplemental arginine in the diet, DFMO induced late apoptosis and decreased tumorigenesis in the colon. DFMO slightly reduced tumor incidence, number, and size while significantly decreasing tumor burden and grade. These changes in colon tumorigenesis did not occur in mice not provided supplemental arginine. Our study indicates that polyamines play unique roles in intestinal and colonic carcinogenesis in ApcMin/+ mice. Inhibition of polyamine synthesis suppresses the arginine‐dependent risk of colon tumorigenesis, resulting in apoptosis induction and decreased tumorigenesis, in this murine model. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Contracts, incentives and organizations: Hart and Holmström Nobel Laureates

ABSTRACT This article reviews the contribution of Hart and Holmström, the 2016 Nobel Laureates in economics. Holmström's work on the principal-agent problem answered questions as to what should (and should not) be included in an incentive contract. His work helped explain the simple structure of incentive contracts we typically observe in the real world. The models he developed have been used to address questions of CEO compensation, organizational design and optimal regulation. A key element of Hart's research focused on the question of what are the optimal boundaries of a firm (and indeed, what a firm actually is). In doing so he developed the incomplete-contracts framework, which has subsequently been used to explain many economic phenomena whenever renegotiation is important, including authority and decision-making structures in firms, why financial contracts look the way they do, and various questions in international trade and public policy.
Localization of taurine transporters, taurine, and 3H taurine accumulation in the rat retina, pituitary, and brain

The nervous system contains an abundance of taurine, a neuroactive sulfonic acid. Antibodies were generated against two cloned high‐affinity taurine transporters, referred to in this study as TAUT‐1 and TAUT‐2. The distribution of such was compared with the distribution of taurine in the rat brain, pituitary, and retina. The cellular pattern of [3H] taurine uptake in brain slices, pituitary slices, and retinas was examined by autoradiography. TAUT‐2 was predominantly associated with glial cells, including the Bergmann glial cells of the cerebellum and astrocytes in brain areas such as hippocampus. Low‐level labeling for TAUT‐2 was also observed in some neurones such as CA1 pyramidal cells. TAUT‐1 distribution was more limited; in the posterior pituitary TAUT‐1 was associated with the pituicytes but was absent from glial cells in the intermediate and anterior lobes. Conversely, in the brain TAUT‐1 was associated with cerebellar Purkinje cells and, in the retina, with photoreceptors and bipolar cells. Our data suggest that intracellular taurine levels in glial cells and neurons may be regulated in part by specific high‐affinity taurine transporters. The heterogeneous distribution of taurine and its transporters in the brain does not reconcile well with the possibility that taurine acts solely as a ubiquitous osmolyte in nervous tissues. GLIA 37:153–168, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Age-related differences in working memory: ERPs reveal age-related delays in selection- and inhibition-related processes

ABSTRACT Faulty inhibition is implicated in age-related working memory decline. ERP signs of selection and inhibition of items in working memory (WM) are, respectively, a cue-locked parietal positivity (∼350 ms) and a probe-locked frontal negativity (∼520 ms). To determine when in the older age range differences in selective and inhibitory processes might occur, ERPs were recorded in a WM task from 20 young (20–28), 20 young–old (60–70), and 20 old–old (71–82) adults. A 4-digit display was followed by a cue indicating which 2 of 4 digits were relevant. Proactive interference (PI), the reaction time difference between a matching and non-matching to-be-ignored digit was larger, relative to the young, in both older groups. Compared to the young, both the cue- and probe-locked activities were prolonged in the older groups. Although there were no topographic differences among the age groups, the prolonged PI and associated ERPs suggest a relative age-related deficit in inhibition.
Endogenous IL-1 is required for neutrophil recruitment and macrophage activation during murine listeriosis.

By using a mixture of neutralizing mAbs to IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, and to the type I IL-1R, we previously documented a regulatory role for IL-1 in the development of anti-Listeria responses in mice. Both normal C.B-17 and severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice injected with this mixture of Abs exhibit decreased resistance to Listeria. In this study, we demonstrate that the neutralization of IL-1 activity in SCID mice results in a major defect in neutrophil migration to the peritoneum, in response to Listeria infection. Moreover, anti-IL-1 treatment also inhibits Listeria-induced peripheral blood leukocytosis at all time points examined. We also show that mice injected with anti-IL-1 Abs failed to elaborate class II MHC-positive peritoneal macrophages in vivo at any time during Listeria infection. Even though peritoneal macrophages from anti-IL-1-treated Listeria-infected mice are not activated to express MHC class II molecules, IFN-gamma production in vivo is normal. Moreover, the macrophages are unresponsive to IFN-gamma in vitro, as assayed by MHC class II expression, even when rIL-1 is added. rIL-1 also is unable to increase the expression of IFN-gamma-induced surface class II MHC molecules on resident peritoneal macrophages in vitro. These results indicate that endogenously produced IL-1 plays an important role in Listeria-dependent neutrophil migration, increase in blood leukocyte number, generation of MHC class II-positive macrophages in vivo, and macrophage responsiveness to IFN-gamma.