Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cell Attachment to Microcarriers Affects Growth, Metabolic Activity, and Culture Productivity in Bioreactor Culture

It is not well understood how changes from suspension to microcarrier cultures affect cell growth, metabolism, and yield of recombinant proteins. To investigate the effects of culture conditions on cell characteristics, fed‐batch bioreactor cultures were performed under different culture conditions (suspension cultures, cultures attached to Cytodex 3 and Cytopore 1 microcarriers) using two different Chinese hamster ovary cell lines producing either secreted human placental alkaline phosphatase (TR2–255) or tissue plasminogen activator (CHO 1–15–500). In controlled, agitated bioreactors, suspension cultures reached cell densities and product titers higher than those in microcarrier cultures, in contrast to the results in static flask cultures. Growth and metabolic activities showed similar trends in suspension and microcarrier culture regardless of cell line. However, the responses of the specific productivities to the different culture conditions differed significantly between the cell lines.
Neural Correlates of Impulsive Buying Tendencies during the Perception of Product Packages

Research has shown that people differ in their susceptibility to impulsive buying. The appeal of product packaging has the potential to trigger impulsive buying even for consumers with no intention to make a purchase. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether individual differences in consumers’ impulsive buying tendencies affect unconscious neural responses during the perception of product packaging. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was applied to measure neural responses to the perception of product packages in participants with different impulsive buying tendencies. The results of the study support and expand prior research in impulsive and reflective information processing and behavior. First, attractive versus neutral packages evoked more intensive activity changes in brain regions associated with an impulsive system. Second, attractive and unattractive versus neutral packages led to less intensive activity changes in regions associated with a reflective system. Third, attractive packages activated regions associated with reward, whereas unattractive packages activated regions associated with negative emotions. The results suggest that there is indeed a corresponding relationship between stronger impulsive buying tendencies and activity in brain areas associated with impulsive and reflective processes.
The Philistines and Acculturation: Culture Change and Ethnic Continuity in the Iron Age

Acculturation influenced the development of Philistine culture for its entire 600-year history. Using an anthropological approach to examine archaeological and textual data, this article develops a model of the process of Philistine acculturation, which eventually led to the "Levantization" of Philistine culture. It concludes that the commonly held assumptions that the Philistines "lost their cultural core" or assimilated into Canaanite society are unjustified. The Philistines absorbed many outside cultural influences, but they modified those influences to suit their own needs and retained a distinct cultural and political identity throughout the Iron Age. The case of Philistine acculturation provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how archaeologists working in Syria-Palestine can contribute to, and benefit from, anthropological research while addressing historical problems.
Social group identification and perceptions of candidates' ideologies in United States House elections

This dissertation is composed of three related essays that examine various relationships between social group identification, perceptions of candidates’ ideologies, and, in the case of the third essay, voting behavior. In these essays I show that the race and religious background of citizens and candidates are important factors that influence citizens’ perceptions of candidates’ ideological positioning in United States House elections. In the first essay, I demonstrate that racial stereotyping has a significant effect on citizens’ perceptions of candidates’ ideologies. While experimental evidence suggests that white citizens perceive African American candidates to be more liberal than otherwise identical white candidates, experiments differ from actual elections in important ways. In overcoming some of the difficulties that have hampered non-experimental research on the perceptual effects of race, I am able to estimate the importance of race relative to other factors such as partisan identification. I find that white voters perceive black candidates to be more liberal than ideologically identical white candidates in U.S. House elections. In the second essay, I show that religious stereotypes also affect perceptions of candidates’ ideologies. In particular, evangelical candidates are seen to be more conservative than ideologically similar mainline Protestant candidates. I also show that the perceptual effects of religious identification on perceptions of candidates’ ideologies’ are stronger among citizens that attend religious services more frequently. In the third essay, I revisit the importance of racial identification, and show that race influences voting behavior indirectly through its effects on perceptions
Regimes of suprathermal electron transport

Summary form only given. Regimes of the one-dimensional (1-D) transport of suprathermal electrons into a cold background plasma are delineated. A well ordered temporal progression is found through eras where J · E heating, hot electron-cold electron collisional heating, and diffusive heat flow dominate the cold electron energy equation. Scaling relations for how important quantities such as the width and temperature of the heated layer of cold electrons evolve with time are presented. These scaling relations are extracted from a simple 1-D model of the transport that can be written in dimensionless form with one free parameter. The parameter is shown to be the suprathermal electron velocity divided by the drift velocity of cold electrons that balances the suprathermal current. Special attention is paid to the assumption that allows the reduction from the collisional Vlasov equation, using a Fokker-Plank collision operator, to this simple model. These model equations are numerically solved and compared to both the scaling relations and a more complete multigroup electron diffusion transport. Implications of the scaling relations on fast ion generation, magnetic field generation, and electric field inhibition of electron transport are examined as they apply to laser heated plasmas.
Capillary C4d deposition in kidney allografts: a specific marker of alloantibody-dependent graft injury.

Capillary deposition of the complement split product C4d has been discussed as a marker for antibody-mediated kidney allograft rejection. The relationship between C4d staining and posttransplant alloantibody detection remains to be thoroughly investigated, however. In this study, C4d staining in peritubular capillaries (PTC) and the incidence of alloantibody formation, as detected with sensitive techniques, were evaluated among a cohort of transplant recipients who had undergone biopsies and had not been selected for a specific histologic diagnosis. One hundred thirteen biopsies, obtained from 58 cadaveric kidney transplant recipients, were tested. Serum samples obtained at the time of biopsy were evaluated by flow cytometric crossmatch (FCXM) testing and FlowPRA (One Lambda, Inc., Canoga Park, CA) analysis of anti-HLA panel reactivity. Most biopsies with C4d deposits in PTC (C4d(PTC)(+), n = 21 of 24) were associated with positive posttransplant FCXM results (T and/or B cell FCXM) and/or > or =5% FlowPRA (anti-HLA class I and/or II) reactivity. Approximately 50% of the C4d(PTC)(-) biopsies were observed to be associated with donor-specific alloantibodies. Accordingly, high specificity (93%) but low sensitivity (31%) were calculated for capillary C4d staining (with FCXM testing as the standard method). For clinical evaluation, three patient groups were defined, i.e., a group of recipients with positive C4d staining in at least one allograft biopsy (C4d(PTC)(+), n = 16) and two C4d(PTC)(-) groups, which were discriminated on the basis of posttransplant FCXM results as C4d(PTC)(-)/FCXM(+) (n = 22) and C4d(PTC)(-)/FCXM(-) (n = 20) groups. Univariate analyses revealed significant differences between these groups with respect to serum creatinine levels at 12 mo [median, 2.83 mg/dl (interquartile range, 1.93 to 4.2 mg/dl) versus 1.78 mg/dl (1.47 to 2.24 mg/dl) versus 1.59 mg/dl (1.2 to 1.71 mg/dl), P < 0.001]. Of the five immunologic graft losses, four occurred in the C4d(PTC)(+) group and one occurred in the C4d(PTC)(-)/FCXM(+) group. In a multivariate analysis, C4d positivity was observed to have an independent predictive value for inferior 12-mo graft function (P = 0.02), whereas the observed moderate difference between C4d(PTC)(-)/FCXM(+) and C4d(PTC)(-)/FCXM(-) recipients did not achieve significance. In conclusion, these data demonstrate that positive C4d staining, which is an independent predictor of kidney graft dysfunction, represents a reliable specific marker for antibody-dependent graft injury.
The effect of glucosamine, chondroitin and harpagophytum procumbens on femoral hyaline cartilage thickness in patients with knee osteoarthritis– An MRI versus ultrasonography study

Background: the evaluation of cartilage thickness has become possible with new techniques such as musculoskeletal ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imagining (MRI), making the evaluation of the treatment response and the progression of the disease more accurate. Objective: to evaluate the efficacy of a Symptomatic Slow Acting Drug for Osteoarthritis using both US and MRI for measuring cartilage thickness at baseline and after 1 year. Methods: The study included the clinical evaluation of 20 patients at baseline, at 6 and 12 months as well as imaging exams (US and MRI) at baseline and after 1 year. Measurements were performed in both knees, in lateral and medial condyles, and in the intercondylar area. After the baseline visit, patients underwent a SYSADOA treatment which included Harpagophytum procumbens (HPc) administered on a daily basis, in a specific regimen. Results and discussions: The US examination permitted the detailed evaluation of the femoral hyaline cartilage thickness, with statistically significant differences before and after treatment at the level of the medial compartment, both in the dominant (1.59±0.49 vs. 1.68±0.49, p=0.0013) and non-dominant knee (1.73±0.53 vs. 1.79±0.52, p=0.0106). The US and the MRI correlated well (r=0.63) and showed no radiographic progression in knee osteoarthritis after one year of treatment with specific SYSADOA. Moreover, the US showed improvement in the cartilage thickness of the medial compartment. Conclusions: The combination with HPc could increase the delay in the radiographic progression of the knee osteoarthritis, with improvement of femoral hyaline cartilage thickness in the medial and lateral compartment. The US might be an important tool in OA evaluation and monitoring.
The Effects of Peptide and Lipid Endocannabinoids on Arthritic Pain at the Spinal Level

BACKGROUND: Hemopressin, a nonapeptide (PVNFKFLSH: HP) derived from the &agr; chain of hemoglobin was shown to interact specifically with brain cannabinoid CB1 receptors. Therefore, it seems to be the only peptide structure with cannabinoid activities. Our goal in this study was to further characterize this peptide and to clarify the antinociceptive potency of the polyunsaturated fatty acid derivates, 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol (2-AG) and anandamide, by investigating their effects on mechanical allodynia at the spinal level. METHODS: HP was prepared on solid phase by in situ neutralization. After chronic intrathecal catheterization, mechanical hypersensitivity was produced in male Wistar rats by injection of carrageenan (300 &mgr;g/30 &mgr;L) into the tibiotarsal joint of one of the hind legs. Three hours after carrageenan administration, the ligands were administered intrathecally. The mechanical threshold was assessed using a dynamic aesthesiometer. RESULTS: 2-AG (1–200 &mgr;g) and anandamide (10–200 &mgr;g) decreased carrageenan-induced mechanical allodynia in a dose-dependent manner, whereas HP had no antinociceptive effect in a wide dose range (0.3–30 &mgr;g). The effect of 2-AG was prevented by the CB1 receptor antagonist AM 251, but not by the CB2 antagonist SSR144528-2. HP (3 and 30 &mgr;g) also inhibited the effect of 2-AG. None of the ligands influenced the degree of edema. CONCLUSIONS: HP posttreatment had no effect on mechanical allodynia, whereas spinally injected 2-AG and anandamide were potent drugs.
Stocks vs Mutuals: Who Controls?

To what extent do the legal owners of large corporations really control their enterprises? Are directors self-perpetuating entities who control the fortunes of their corporations without effective influence or interference by the stockholder-owners? In the life insurance industry the answers to these questions were such that following the discovery of abuses in control revealed by the famous Armstrong Investigation of 1905,1 many of the major life insurers in the United States were "mutualized" (i.e., adopted that form of organization in which the policyholders became the legal owners). It was expected that this form of organization would not only help reduce abuses in control, but would also deliver insurance at the least possible cost by eliminating profits. The present note reports findings from a survey of both stock and mutual insurers to learn if the influence of mutual insurer policyholders in controlling their companies is different from the influence of stockholders of stock insurers. The major questions addressed were intended to reflect the extent to which the state laws governing the conduct of mutual organizations do in fact, as argued by Gary P. Kreider,2 lead to less power by mutual owners than that enjoyed by stockholders.
Long-range gamma phase synchronization as a compensatory strategy during working memory in high-performing patients with schizophrenia

ABSTRACT Working memory deficits in schizophrenia may be associated with impairments in the integration of neural activity across a distributed network of cortical areas. However, evaluation of the contribution of this integration to working memory impairments in patients is severely confounded by behavioral performance. In the present multidimensional-neuroimaging study, measures of neural oscillations at baseline and during a working memory task, baseline gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) level in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and behavioral performance were obtained. Controlling behavioral performance by recruiting only “high-performing” patients with schizophrenia, we investigated whether the strength of cross-area communications differs between patients with schizophrenia and healthy participants under accurate and equivalent behavioral performance. Results of phase-locking value indicated that these high-performing patients recruited significantly more between frontal and occipital regions in the left hemisphere, t(13) = −2.16, p = . 05, Cohen’s d = −1.20, and between frontal and temporal regions in the right hemisphere, t(13) = −2.63, p = . 02, Cohen’s d = −1.46. These cross-area communication patterns may be associated with visuoverbal and visuospatial working memory networks of the left and right hemispheres, respectively. Moreover, correlations of patient’s cross-area communication with in vivo GABA levels of the left DLPFC revealed a significant positive relationship (r = .77, p = .04), demonstrating that the critical role of GABA functions in gamma band oscillations may go beyond local neuronal assemblies in the left DLPFC. Altogether, these exploratory findings point to the heterogeneity among schizophrenia patients and highlight the notion that high-performing patients may engage in potential compensatory mechanisms and may represent a subgroup of patients that may be categorically or dimensionally divergent in psychopathology.
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and efficiency in the multiple currency exchange rate regime

In this paper, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) was tested to see whether it is efficient or not after the country adopted the multiple currency exchange rate regime. To achieve this, the weak form market efficiency was tested. Data on daily and weekly closing stock prices over a period of 19 February 2009 to 31 December 2012 was used. The non-parametric and parametric research methods through the partial autocorrelation function were used. The results of both tests showed that the successive stock price changes were dependent which indicates that the ZSE was not efficient in the weak form when the country used multiple currencies. In addition, the results showed evidence of autocorrelation which implies that during the period under study, the ZSE did not follow random walk hypothesis. In order to make the ZSE efficient we recommend that regulators may consider putting in place measures and regulations that enable large number of well informed investors. The ZSE may insist on timely release of correct and quality information to boost public and investor confidence and provide a platform for informed decision making by the investing public. There may be need for the removal of fees and other costs by the ZSE committee which hinder smooth trading on the stock exchange. Where removal is not feasible, such costs must be kept to the minimal to avoid hindrance on efficiency.
Endometrial Sampling for Endometrial Cancer: Still the Gold Standard?

Is the most common gynaecological malignancy affecting women in developed countries and the second most common gynaecological malignancy world-wide, due to the higher rates of cervical cancer in the developing world [1]. The incidence of EC is steadily increasing, largely owing to an ageing population and escalating rates of obesity [2]. According to International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), EC is a major differential diagnosis of AUB in the reproductive women [3]. Despite the frequency of this disease, awareness amongst the general population is low and EC research is somewhat underfunded relative to its societal burden [4].
Signal up-conversion by using a cross-phase-modulation in all-optical SOA-MZI wavelength converter

All-optical signal up-conversion into the millimeter-wave frequency band is demonstrated using a semiconductor optical amplifier Mach-Zehnder interferometer (SOA-MZI) wavelength converter, which is based on a cross phase modulation (XPM) effect in the SOA. This scheme shows good conversion efficiency with polarization immunity and no increase in phase noise. The measured phase noise of the up-converted RF signal of 32.5 GHz is -79.2 dBc/Hz at 10 KHz offset, which is limited by that from the LO signal. A two-tone measurement is performed to characterize the linearity of the signal up-conversion. The measured spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) is 75.2 dB/spl middot/Hz/sup 2/3/, which meets the SFDR requirement for mobile communication systems.
Network Usage, Entrepreneurial Orientation and Their Effectiveness on SMEs Growth

Research findings suggest that networks provide small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) opportunities to achieve sustainable competitive advantages and thus compete successfully in the marketplace. In this study, the research question explores the effectiveness of the network usage on the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) development and the moderate role of the EO in the network-SME growth relationship. The empirical part of the study comprises a survey of 121 manufacturing SMEs in Spain. Structural equation modelling confirmed the importance of both organisational networks and EO on SMEs growth and pointed out the positive effect of network usage on EO development.
Awareness in dementia: Conceptual issues

There has been a recent proliferation of studies exploring awareness in people with dementia and, as is the case with similar studies in other clinical areas, results are generally mixed and inconsistent. One of the reasons underlying variability in study results relates to the complexities around the concept of awareness itself. Two sources of conceptual problems are explored. First, the meaning of awareness is examined and, within the dementia literature, various conceptualizations of awareness are identified which could be traced to three broad frameworks within which awareness and related terms are conceived. Differences between meanings of awareness are thus highlighted and the importance of making such differences explicit in studies was discussed. Second, the relational aspect of awareness is raised as a crucial issue determining the phenomenon of awareness elicited in clinical practice. Thus, in dementia, awareness is related to various “objects” including the illness as a whole, memory problems, activities of daily living, affective changes and many others. In each case, however, the object of awareness will elicit a different phenomenon of awareness, again carrying implications for the generalizability of study results. Clarification of conceptual problems is essential for future work in this area in order that empirical studies can provide meaningful answers concerning the therapeutic and predictive validity of different aspects of awareness.
Determination of Skin Repigmentation Progression

In this paper, we describe an image processing scheme to analyze and determine areas of skin that have undergone repigmentation in particular, during the treatment of vitiligo. In vitiligo cases, areas of skin become pale or white due to the lack of skin pigment called melanin. Vitiligo treatment causes skin repigmentation resulting in a normal skin color. However, it is difficult to determine and quantify the amount of repigmentation visually during treatment because the repigmentation progress is slow and moreover changes in skin color can only be discerned over a longer time frame typically 6 months. Here, we develop a digital image analysis scheme that can identify and determine vitiligo skin areas and repigmentation progression on a shorter time period. The technique is based on principal component analysis and independent component analysis which converts the RGB skin image into a skin image that represent skin areas due to melanin and haemoglobin only, followed by segmentation process. Vitiligo skin lesions are identified as skin areas that lack melanin (non-melanin areas). In the initial studies of 4 patients, the method has been able to quantify repigmentation in vitiligo lesion. Hence it is now possible to determine repigmentation progression objectively and treatment efficacy on a shorter time cycle.
Capsule endoscopy in obscure gastrointestinal bleeding--an Indian experience.

BACKGROUND Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB) is a common indication for capsule endoscopy (CE). Reports on diagnostic yield of CE in this situation show a wide variation. We evaluated the diagnostic yield and clinical impact of CE in patients with OGIB. METHODS We reviewed the medical records of patients with OGIB who underwent CE at our institution between June 2002 and October 2005. RESULTS 154 patients (mean age 47 [SD 17] years; 117 men), including 74 with overt OGIB and 80 with occult OGIB, underwent CE. CE yielded positive findings in 57 of 74 patients (77%) with overt OGIB and 22 of 80 (27%) of those with occult OGIB (p < 0.0001); the overall positive diagnostic yield was 52%. NSAID-induced lesions (15%), angiodysplasias (14%) and aphthous ulcers (12%) were the most frequent findings. CE helped in planning further management in 79% of patients with overt OGIB and 26% of those with occult OGIB. CONCLUSION CE is a useful diagnostic technique in patients with OGIB, especially those with overt OGIB.