Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
(Elster, Jon (1996), Rationality and the Emotions, The Economic Journal, 106 (438): 1386-1397) Rationality and the Emotions

In an earlier paper (Elster, 1989 a), I discussed the relation between rationality and social norms. Although I did mention the role of the emotions in sustaining social norms, I did not focus explicitly on the relation between rationality and the emotions. That relation is the main topic of the present paper, with social norms in a subsidiary part.
The effect of substitution of soybean with canola meal in laying hen diets formulated on the basis of total or digestible amino acids on performance and blood parameters

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of substitution of soybean meal (SBM) with canola meal (CM) in diets formulated on the basis of total or digestible amino acid (AA) on productive performance, egg quality, and selected organ weight and blood parameters in laying hens from 73 to 83 weeks of age. A total of 128 laying hens were allotted randomly to a completely randomized design arranged as a 2×2 factorial experiment with two protein sources (soybean meal and 30% soybean replaced by canola meal), and two diets formulated for total or digestible amino acids. Four experimental diets were formulated with four replicates of eight birds each. Increased egg weight, egg mass and improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded for diets containing SBM compared with CM (P<0.05). Egg weight was increased (P<0.05) by SBM formulated on digestible amino acid compared to other dietary treatments. Increased shell thickness (P<0.05) was recorded for CM when the diet was formulated on total amino acid basis. Yolk color and relative weight (RW) of the liver were increased (P<0.05) by canola meal diet formulated on digestible amino acid. Blood parameters were not affected (P>0.05) by treatments. The results of this study showed that soybean meal caused better performance than canola meal, and feed formulation based on digestible AA in SBM diet resulted in better performance in laying hens.
Impact of Foreign Debt on Economic Growth: Evidence from Pakistan

This study analyzes the impact of foreign debt on economic growth of Pakistan, using annual time series data from1972 to 2013. The research question is tested through ARDL econometric framework and the estimated result shows that foreign debt exerts significant negative impact on economic growth which confirms the existences of debt overhang in Pakistan. Both physical and human capital has strong association with economic growth of Pakistan. The coefficient of Error Correction Term (ECT) suggested that any deviation from the long term inequality is corrected by a moderate speed over each year. Significant ECT is further proof of the existence of stable long run relationship. It can be suggested that the proper management of debt may help the government in attaining the desirable growth of the economy.
Palmoplantar involvement in psoriasis: a clinical study.

Sir, Palmoplantar psoriasis (PPP) that accounts for 3 – 4% of all psoriasis cases, produces significant functional and social disability. [1] There is paucity of literature on the clinical study of palmoplantar involvement in psoriasis. The present study describes the clinical features in 154 consecutive patients with palmoplantar involvement in psoriasis. This was a prospective clinical study of consecutive patients of palmoplantar involvement in psoriasis presenting to the Dermatology Outpatient Department (OPD) of our institute from 2006 to 2008. A total of 154 patients were recruited. They included 111 men (72%) and 43 (28%) women. A majority of the cases, that is, 103 (66.8%) were in the age group of 21 – 50 years. The disease was common among farmers, manual laborers, and housewives (53 cases — 34.4%). Only palmar involvement was seen in 24 cases (15.6%), only plantar in 22 (14.3%), both palmoplantar involvement in 75 (48.7%) cases, and palmar and / or plantar involvement with psoriasis elsewhere in 33 (21.4%) cases. One hundred and twenty-six patients (81.8%) were symptomatic, of whom 80 (51%) complained of pain in lesions, 15 (9%) of itching, 31 (20%) had fissuring, while 28 (18.2%) cases were asymptomatic. Seasonal variation was observed in 62 (40.25%) patients with winter exacerbation in 44 cases. Ten cases (6.5%) complained of disease aggravation with use of soap, two with household work, and one each with trauma, wearing of slippers, or doing field work. Of the relieving factors, none could be observed in 67 (43.5%) patients, while 26 (16%) felt symptomatically better in summer, 10 (6%) in winter, and 51 patients (33.1%) with various allopathic and homeopathic medications.
Understanding Academic Achievement Among Low-Income, Urban, Black Adolescents: The Role of Father Involvement

vi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Conceptual Framework 2 Protective Factors Related To Academic Achievement of Black Adolescents: Parental Residence & Quality of Parental Involvement 4 Protective Factors 4 Black mother residence & quality of mother involvement 4 Black father residence & quality of father involvement 6 Black Father Residence & Black Adolescent Development 7 Father Residence & Academic Achievement 7 Father Residence & Behavior Problems 9 Quality of Black Father Involvement & Black Adolescent Development 11 Quality of Father Involvement & Academic Achievement 11 Quality of Father Involvement & Behavior Problems 13 Black Father Residence, Quality of Father Involvement, & Black Adolescent Development 14 Black Father Residence, Quality of Father Involvement, & Academic Achievement 15 Black Father Residence, Quality of Father Involvement, & Behavior Problems 16 Father Involvement in Black Families: Gaps in the Literature 17 The Present Study: Research Question & Hypotheses 19 CHAPTER TWO: METHODS 21 Participants 21 Measures 22 Father-Child Relationship Quality & Mother-Child Relationship Quality 22 Academic Achievement 23 Father Residence 24 Behavior Problems 24 Background Characteristics 25 Analytic Plan 25 CHAPTER THREE: RESULTS 27 CHAPTER FOUR: DISCUSSION 34 REFERENCE LIST 39 VITA 45
Analysis of the prognostic impact of nestin expression in non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND Nestin is an intermediary filament protein, expressed in progenitor cells of neural and muscle origin and in activated endothelium. The expression of this protein in tumours can be associated with degree of differentiation, biological potential and/or neoangiogenesis. AIMS The aim of this study was to examine the immunohistochemical expression of nestin in primary non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) and to determine its prognostic significance. METHODS Immunohistochemical detection of nestin was carried out on tissue microarrays constructed from 114 formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded NSCLC samples. These included 78 squamous cell carcinomas and 37 adenocarcinomas. Expression of nestin was also analysed in 35 primary tumour independent NSCLC brain metastasis. The H-score and degree of nestin positive microvascularisation were determined. Both parameters correlated with the clinicopathological characteristics including disease-free and overall survival. Results. We demonstrated that expression of nestin is not significantly higher in tumour cells of adenocarcinomas than in sqamous cell carcinomas despite the fact that adenocarcinomas were more frequently positive (P≤0.30). On the other hand, nestin positivity and nestin positive neovascularisation were significantly more often found in stage IIIa tumours than tumours in stages I and II (P≤0.04, P≤0.02). Nestin expression was also significantly higher in brain metastases of squamous cell carcinomas than brain metastases of adenocarcinomas (P≤0.003). The expression of nestin, in general, did not significantly correspond to disease-free or overall survival. CONCLUSION Nestin expression in NSCLCs is associated with poorer prognosis and with greater nestin-positive microvessel density.
EGF-receptor related protein causes cell cycle arrest and induces apoptosis of colon cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.

BACKGROUND EGF Receptor Related Protein (ERRP), a recently identified negative regulator of EGF-receptor (EGFR), has been shown to inhibit growth of colon cancer xenograft tumors in SCID mice. However, the mechanisms by which ERRP exerts its anti-tumor properties are poorly understood The current investigation was undertaken to delineate the inhibitory mechanisms that are triggered by ERRP. MATERIALS AND METHODS For in vivo experiments, recombinant ERRP (20 microg/mouse) or an equivalent volume of vehicle was injected (away from the tumor site) every other day for 10 days to SCID mice xenotransplanted with the colon cancer cell line HCT-116 Tumor explants were obtained for further immunohistochemical analysis. For in vitro studies, the HCT-116 cell line was incubated with recombinant ERRP and apoptosis markers and cell cycle changes were evaluated. RESULTS Recombinant ERRP caused marked inhibition of tumor growth. This was accompanied by increased apoptosis and attenuation of ERK1/2 and Akt activities. Exposure of HCT-116 cells to recombinant ERRP for 24 hours caused apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G0/1-phase. Induction of apoptosis was evidenced by increased levels of cleaved caspase-3, PARP proteins and acridine orange staining. CONCLUSION Our findings reveal a pro-apoptotic property of ERRP both in vitro and in vivo. We propose that ERRP functions by inhibiting the activation of the EGF-receptor signaling and its downstream effectors such as ERK and Akt kinases, underscoring the potential of ERRP for the treatment of colorectal cancer where the EGF pathway is known to be activated.
Psychiatric Diagnosis in New South Wales Compared to England and Wales

Summary Comparative studies of first admission rates to psychiatric hospitals have revealed significant differences in the rates of diagnoses of functional psychoses between the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The present study examined the diagnoses of indigenous patients born between 1921 and 1955 and first admitted to hospitals in New South Wales, Australia, and England and Wales. Admission rates for mania were in striking agreement. The rate in New South Wales for schizophrenia was slighdy higher and for psychotic depression considerably less than in England and Wales. A similar trend in diagnostic dissonance would appear to exist between England and Wales and New South Wales as between England and Wales and the United States for schizophrenia and psychotic depression, but this is considerably less in degree.
Cost-effective multicast approaches for time-critical applications in dynamic network environments

In this paper, we address the issue of optimizing the per request cost and maximizing the number of requests that can be served by a networked system that demands staging of data at vantage sites. In order to provide a guaranteed Quality of Services, generation of multicast trees with end-to-end delay constraints is recommended to minimize the costs. Since such an issue has been proved to be NP-complete in a networked environment, we proposed two efficient and practically realizable heuristic algorithms, referred to as Source-Initiated Scheduling (SIS) algorithm and Client-Initiated Scheduling (CIS) algorithm to solve the problem in polynomial time. Both SIS and CIS algorithms judiciously combine the concept of QoS-constrained multicast routing and network caching, so that the copies of data to be staged can be dynamically cached in the network. These strategies are carefully designed to consider the underlying resource constraints imposed by the dynamic network environments, such as link bandwidth availability, data availability on the network, and the storage capabilities of a site. We analyze and quantify the performance under several influencing parameters such as link availability, cache capacity and the data availability. Simulation results show that both of the proposed algorithms are able to reduce the service cost and achieve a high acceptance ratio.
Liver biopsy under ultrasound control

Operative Strategies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease . Edited by Michelassi F, Milsom JW. (Pp 515; illustrated; £114.50.) New York: Springer-Verlag, 1999. ISBN 0 387 94966 6. I enjoyed looking at this book. The editors' intention is that “at a moment's notice any surgeon may open …
Renal interlobar vein impedance index: A potential new Doppler parameter in the prediction of preeclampsia?

[Gyselaers, Wilfried; Mesens, Tinne] Ziekenhuis Oost Limburg, Dept Obstet & Gynecol, B-3600 Genk, Belgium. [Gyselaers, Wilfried] Hasselt Univ, Dept Physiol, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus activity and serum bilirubins.

BACKGROUND Serum bilirubins play an important role in controlling oxidative stress; there is increased oxidative stress during activity of rheumatic diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). OBJECTIVE To study bilirubin levels in SLE (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) patients and relate them to disease activity. METHODS We analyzed levels of total bilirubins (TB), direct bilirubins (DB) and indirect bilirubins (IB), sedimentation rate (ESR) and C reactive protein (CRP) in 143 SLE patients. Data were collected on the clinical and autoantibody profiles and patients underwent measurement of SLEDAI and SLICC . RESULTS Correlation of indirect bilirubin values with SLEDAI was negative (p=0.02; Spearman rho=-0.18). Comparing the levels of IB according to the clinical activity profile we observed associations with increase of anti DNA titer (p=0.027) and with decrease in complement levels (p=0.017). ESR correlated negatively with IB levels (p=0.01) but CRP did not (p=0.15). In a multiple linear regression analysis only the increase in ESR titer remained significant. SLICC values were not correlated with TB (p=0.30), DB (p=0.12) or IB (p=0.31). CONCLUSIONS We conclude that IB levels in SLE correlate negatively with disease activity. IB levels are lower in patients with higher ESR.
pH control mechanisms of tumor survival and growth

A distinguishing phenotype of solid tumors is the presence of an alkaline cellular feature despite the surrounding acidic microenvironment. This phenotypic characteristic of tumors, originally described by Otto Warburg, arises due to alterations in metabolism of solid tumors. Hypoxic regions of solid tumors develop due to poor vascularization and in turn regulate the expression of numerous genes via the transcription factor HIF‐1. Ultimately, the tumor microenvironment directs the development of tumor cells adapted to survive in an acidic surrounding where normal cells perish. The provision of unique pH characteristics in tumor cells provides a defining trait that has led to the pursuit of treatments that target metabolism, hypoxia, and pH‐related mechanisms to selectively kill cancer cells. Numerous studies over the past decade involving the cancer‐specific carbonic anhydrase IX have re‐kindled an interest in pH disruption‐based therapies. Although an acidification of the intracellular compartment is established as a means to induce normal cell death, the defining role of acid–base disturbances in tumor physiology and survival remains unclear. The aim of this review is to summarize recent data relating to the specific role of pH regulation in tumor cell survival. We focus on membrane transport and enzyme studies in an attempt to elucidate their respective functions regarding tumor cell pH regulation. These data are discussed in the context of future directions for the field of tumor cell acid–base‐related research. J. Cell. Physiol. 226: 299–308, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
How applicable is fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab to the elderly?

Abstract The combination of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR) has been widely used in the treatment of lymphoproliferative disorders, and is now considered as the standard first-line therapy for fit, young patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). However, in routine practice, the majority of patients with lymphoproliferative disease are over the age of 70 years, and most studies involving FCR have included younger, “fitter” patients, on average in their sixth decade of life. It is not easy to extrapolate the results of these studies to routine practice. In general, the impression is that FCR is less well tolerated in more elderly patients (> 70 years) with good organ function. However, there is a relative paucity of evidence to support this. In this review we aimed to critically examine evidence of the efficacy and toxicity of FCR in the elderly patient.
A Comparison of an Immunochromatographic Technique with Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for the Detection of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen in Calabar

Background /Aims: Hepatitis B viral (HBV) infection has been reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) to have attained hyperendemic proportions in sub-Saharan Africa. Routine screening of the general population in Nigerian laboratories for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) frequently uses rapid techniques such as the immunochromatographic assay (ICA). This study aimed to compare an immunochromatographic technique with the more widely accepted enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique for the detection of (HBsAg) in Calabar, southern Nigeria. Material and Methods: This was a prospective observational study of 72 adults attending the gastroenterology clinic of the Department of Medicine, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) between February and May 2013. Each participant was tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs Ag) using both ICA test strip and ELISA methods. Results: The study determined that the negative predictive value of the ICA test was 80%, with a negative likelihood ratio of 0.27. Conclusion: This study revealed that using the ICA test alone was not effective in excluding HBV infection. Recommendation: With the high burden of HBV infection in Nigeria and the grave consequences of contracting the infection, there is an urgent need for nationwide policy change to encourage improved screening methods.
Heart beat perception and emotional experience.

The main assumption of the present study is that emotional experience is coupled to perception of bodily processes. From this it is deduced that individuals who show good perception of heart activity tend to exhibit higher levels of a momentarily experienced emotion (in this case anxiety) and to score higher on the personality trait “Emotional Lability. ” The aspect of cardiac awareness considered here is perception of heart beats. Subjects were instructed to count heart beats (only by concentrating on their body but not by taking their pulse) during a signalled time interval and the reported number of beats was then compared to the actual number of beats as extracted from the EKG. Additionally, skin conductance and respiration were recorded. During the experimental task (i.e., counting heart beats) increases in heart rate, respiration rate and number of spontaneous fluctuations in skin conductance were recorded. Groups of good and poor perceivers were formed on the basis of accuracy on the perception task. The two groups did not differ in heart rate; however, in State Anxiety and Emotional Lability, the group of good perceivers had significantly higher scores. The importance of visceroception for emotional experience is pointed out and the relevance for clinical psychology is discussed.
Effects of Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockade in ApoE‐Deficient Mice with Post‐Ischemic Heart Failure

&NA; We investigated in mice whether atherosclerosis exacerbates the development of post‐ischemic heart failure and alters the beneficial effects of long‐term angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockade in this model. ApoE‐deficient (ApoE−/−) and C57BL/6J (C57) mice with myocardial infarction (coronary ligation) received vehicle (C57 and ApoE−/−) or irbesartan (Ir, 50mg/kg/d orally, C57‐Ir and ApoE‐/—Ir). Ten months post myocardial infarction, survival rates were similar in C57 (58%) and ApoE−/− (62%). Atherosclerosis induced no significant alteration in blood pressure, cardiac output (fluospheres), total peripheral resistance, or shortening fraction (echocardiography) but increased renal resistance (+50%, P < 0.05). Chronic Ir treatment significantly improved survival to a similar extent in both C57‐Ir (85%) and ApoE−/−‐Ir (86%). It also decreased blood pressure to a similar extent in both strains (‐16% and ‐18%, bothP<0.05). In C57‐Ir mice, Ir did not modify cardiac output or total peripheral resistance, but it decreased renal resistance (‐28%, P<0.001) and left‐ventricular weight (‐28%, P < 0.05). In ApoE−/−‐Ir mice, Ir limited atherosclerotic lesions (‐13%, P < 0.05), increased cardiac output (+28%, P < 0.05) and shortening fraction (+24%, P < 0.05), and decreased total peripheral resistance (‐33%, P < 0.01), renal resistance (‐61%, P <0.001), and left‐ventricular weight (‐27%, P <0.001). In conclusion, atherosclerosis does not worsen heart failure development in mice and, although the beneficial cardiovascular effects of AT1 receptor blockade are greater in ApoE−/− than in C57, reduction in mortality is similar in both strains.
A clustering algorithm based on an estimated distribution model

This paper applies an estimated distribution model to clustering problems. The proposed clustering method makes use of an inter-intra cluster metric and performs a conditional split-merge operation. With conditional splitting and merging, the proposed clustering method does not require the information of cluster number and an improved cluster vector is subsequently guaranteed. In addition, this paper compares movement conditions between inter-intra cluster metric and intra cluster metric. It proves that, under some conditions, the intersection of convergence space between inter-intra cluster metric and intra cluster metric is not empty, and neither is the other subset in the convergence space. This sheds light on how much a cluster metric can play in clustering convergence.
Effects of berberine on arylamine N-acetyltransferase activity and 2-aminofluorene-DNA adduct formation in human leukemia cells.

Berberine is an alkaloid occurring in the plant genera Berberis and Coptis. Although berberine had been demonstrated to have antineoplastic function by inhibiting DNA-synthesis in activated lymphocytes, there is no available information to address berberine affects on human leukemia cell N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity and 2-aminofluorene (AF)-DNA adduct formation. Thus, berberine was tested for inhibition of arylamine NAT activity and AF-DNA adduct formation in human leukemia cells. The NAT activity was measured by a high performance liquid chromatography assaying for the amounts of N-acetyl-2-aminofluorene (AAF) and N-acetyl-p-aminobenzoic acid (N-Ac-PABA) and the remaining AF and p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA). The NAT activity and AF-DNA adduct formation in human leukemia cells were inhibited by berberine in a dose-dependent manner, i.e. the higher the concentration of berberine, the higher the inhibition of NAT activity and AF-DNA adduct. The data also indicate that berberine decreased the apparent values of Km and Vmax from human leukemia cells in both cytosol and intact cells.