Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential Expression of MED12-Associated Coding RNA Transcripts in Uterine Leiomyomas

Recent studies have demonstrated that somatic MED12 mutations in exon 2 occur at a frequency of up to 80% and have a functional role in leiomyoma pathogenesis. The objective of this study was to elucidate the expression profile of coding RNA transcripts in leiomyomas, with and without these mutations, and their paired myometrium. Next-generation RNA sequencing (NGS) was used to systematically profile the differentially expressed RNA transcripts from paired leiomyomas (n = 19). The differential analysis indicated there are 394 genes differentially and aberrantly expressed only in the mutated tumors. These genes were predominantly involved in the regulation of extracellular constituents. Of the differentially expressed genes that overlapped in the two comparison groups, the magnitude of change in gene expression was greater for many genes in tumors bearing MED12 mutations. Although the myometrium did not express MED12 mutations, there were marked differences in the transcriptome landscape of the myometrium from mutated and non-mutated specimens, with genes regulating the response to oxygen-containing compounds being most altered. In conclusion, MED12 mutations have profound effects on the expression of genes pivotal to leiomyoma pathogenesis in the tumor and the myometrium which could alter tumor characteristics and growth potential.
Financing the R&D investment of Chinese firms: state-owned versus private firms

ABSTRACT We investigate the effect of financing constraints on the R&D investment of Chinese listed firms for the period 2010–2020. The sample is divided into state-owned versus private firms, which differ substantially in R&D patterns, financial structures, and other characteristics. We find that, in both state-owned and private firms, internal cash flow significantly affects R&D investment, suggesting the presence of binding financing constraints. Both state-owned and private firms actively manage liquid assets to smooth R&D spending. Debt finance is insignificant for both state-owned and private firms. New stock issues have a significant positive effect on R&D in private firms only, not in state-owned firms. Given that the contribution of private firms to aggregate R&D is increasing, stable stock market conditions may have an important aggregate impact on R&D.
Ceramide Nanoliposomes as Potential Therapeutic Reagents for Asthma

Ceramides are an emerging class of anti-inflammatory lipids, and nanoscale ceramide-delivery systems are potential therapeutic strategies for inflammatory diseases. This study investigated the therapeutic effects of ceramide nanoliposomes (CNL) on type 2 inflammation-based asthma, induced by repeated ovalbumin (OVA) challenges. Asthmatic mice intratracheally treated with ceramide-free liposomes (Ghost) displayed typical airway remodeling including mucosal accumulation and subepithelial fibrosis, whereas, in CNL-treated mice, the degree of airway remodeling was significantly decreased. Compared to the Ghost group, CNL treatment unexpectedly failed to significantly influence formation of type 2 cytokines, including IL-5 and IL-13, known to facilitate pathogenic production of airway mucus predominantly comprising MUC5AC mucin. Interestingly, CNL treatment suppressed OVA-evoked hyperplasia of MUC5AC-generating goblet cells in the airways. This suggests that CNL suppressed goblet cell hyperplasia and airway mucosal accumulation independently of type 2 cytokine formation. Mechanistically, CNL treatment suppressed cell growth and EGF-induced activation of Akt, but not ERK1/2, in a human lung epithelial cell culture system recapitulating airway goblet cell hyperplasia. Taken together, CNL is suggested to have therapeutic effects on airway remodeling in allergic asthma by targeting goblet cell hyperplasia. These findings raise the potential of ceramide-based therapies for airway diseases, such as asthma.
Effects of regional brain volumes on cognition in sickle cell anemia: A developmental perspective

Background and objectives Cognitive difficulties in people with sickle cell anemia (SCA) are related to lower processing speed index (PSI) and working memory index (WMI). However, risk factors are poorly understood so preventative strategies have not been explored. Brain volumes, specifically white matter volumes (WMV) which increases through early adulthood, have been associated with better cognition in healthy typically developing individuals. In patients with SCA, the reduced WMV and total subcortical volumes noted could explain cognitive deficits. We therefore examined developmental trajectories for regional brain volumes and cognitive endpoints in patients with SCA. Methods Data from two cohorts, the Sleep and Asthma Cohort and Prevention of Morbidity in SCA, were available. MRI data included T1-weighted axial images, pre-processed before regional volumes were extracted using Free-surfer. PSI and WMI from the Weschler scales of intelligence were used to test neurocognitive performance. Hemoglobin, oxygen saturation, hydroxyurea treatment and socioeconomic status from education deciles were available. Results One hundred and twenty nine patients (66 male) and 50 controls (21 male) aged 8–64 years were included. Brain volumes did not significantly differ between patients and controls. Compared with controls, PSI and WMI were significantly lower in patients with SCA, predicted by increasing age and male sex, with lower hemoglobin in the model for PSI but no effect of hydroxyurea treatment. In male patients with SCA only, WMV, age and socioeconomic status predicted PSI, while total subcortical volumes predicted WMI. Age positively and significantly predicted WMV in the whole group (patients + controls). There was a trend for age to negatively predict PSI in the whole group. For total subcortical volume and WMI, age predicted decrease only in the patient group. Developmental trajectory analysis revealed that PSI only was significantly delayed in patients at 8 years of age; the rate of development for the cognitive and brain volume data did not differ significantly from controls. Discussion Increasing age and male sex negatively impact cognition in SCA, with processing speed, also predicted by hemoglobin, delayed by mid childhood. Associations with brain volumes were seen in males with SCA. Brain endpoints, calibrated against large control datasets, should be considered for randomized treatment trials.
MoS2 Nanosheets Decorated with Fe3O4 Nanoparticles for Highly Efficient Solar Steam Generation and Water Treatment

The shortage of water resources has always been one of the most difficult problems that perplexes humanity. Solar steam generation (SSG) has been a new non-polluting and low-cost water purification method in recent years. However, the high cost of traditional photothermal conversion materials and the low efficiency of photothermal conversion has restricted the large-scale application of SSG technology. In this work, composite materials with Fe3O4 nanospheres attached to MoS2 nanosheets were synthesized, which increased the absorbance and specific surface area of the composite materials, reduced the sunlight reflection, and increased the photothermal conversion efficiency. During the experiment, the composite material was evenly coated on cotton. The strong water absorption of cotton ensured that the water could be transported sufficiently to the surface for evaporation. Under one sun irradiation intensity, the evaporation rate of the sample synthesized in this work reached 1.42 kg m−2 h−1; the evaporation efficiency is 89.18%. In addition, the surface temperature of the sample can reach 41.6 °C, which has far exceeded most photothermal conversion materials. Furthermore, the use of this composite material as an SSG device for seawater desalination and sewage purification can remove more than 98% of salt ions in seawater, and the removal rate of heavy metal ions in sewage is close to 100%, with a good seawater desalination capacity and sewage purification capacity. This work provides a new idea for the application of composite materials in the field of seawater desalination and sewage purification.
Analysis of pregnancy outcomes in patients with recurrent implantation failure complicated with chronic endometritis

Chronic endometritis (CE) has been considered to reduce uterine receptivity and negatively affect reproductive outcomes for in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) patients, especially for people undergoing recurrent implantation failure (RIF). To investigate the effects of antibiotic and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy on pregnancy outcomes following frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) in RIF patients with CE, endometrial specimens of 327 patients with RIF obtained by endometrial scratching during mid-luteal phase were immunostained by multiple myeloma oncogene-1 (Mum-1)/syndecan-1 (CD138). RIF patients with CE were given antibiotics and PRP treatment. According to the Mum-1+/CD138+ plasmacytes after treatment, patients were divided into persistent weak positive CE (+) group, CE (−) group and non-CE group. FET was performed and the basic characteristics and pregnancy outcomes of patients in three groups were compared. Among 327 RIF patients, 117 patients were complicated with CE, the prevalence was 35.78%. The prevalence of strong positive was 27.22% and that of weak positive was 8.56%. 70.94% patients with CE converted to negative after treatment. There was no significant difference in the basic characteristics, including age, BMI, AMH, AFC, infertility years, infertility types, number of previous transplant cycles, endometrial thickness on transplantation day and number of transplanted embryos (p > 0.05); The positive rate of hCG, clinical pregnancy rate and implantation rate in CE (−) group were significantly increased compared with the weak CE (+) group and non-CE group (p < .01), and the live birth rate also improved (p < .05). Whereas, the rate of early abortion in CE (−) group was 12.70%, which was higher than that in weak CE (+) group and non-CE group (p < .05). After multivariate analysis, number of previous failed cycles and CE remained independent factors associated with live birth rate, while only CE remained to be the independent factor of clinical pregnancy rate. It is recommended to perform CE-related examination for patients with RIF. Antibiotic and PRP treatment can significantly improve pregnancy outcomes of patients with CE negative conversion in FET cycle.
Pilot Study to Estimate Dietary Fiber Intake in Adults Residing in Chile

Dietary fiber has been associated with health benefits; therefore, the availability of validated tools to assess food consumption associated with high-fiber foods would allow the quantification of the intake of this functional nutrient, the identification of risk groups and target populations, and the development of public policies and/or programs aimed at improving the health of the population. In this study, a fiber intake short food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was translated into Spanish, and its content validity was determined by a group of experts, to subsequently conduct a pilot test including 198 subjects aged 36 ± 12.5 years, residing in Chile (46 men and 150 women), with the purpose of quantifying dietary fiber intake. The global assessment of the FFQ revealed a validity coefficient of 0.98 ± 0.02; after the application of the pilot, the mean dietary fiber intake in adult Chilean residents was 12.3 g per day, with similar results to those found in the National Food Consumption Survey 2010 (12.5 g per day in men, and 11.5 g in women). The FFQ is a quick and valid tool to classify people on the basis of their habitual dietary fiber intake.
Enhanced Activity of Alkali-Treated ZSM-5 Zeolite-Supported Pt-Co Catalyst for Selective Hydrogenation of Cinnamaldehyde

A bimetallic Pt8Co1 supported on alkali-treated ZSM-5 zeolite (ZSM-5-AT) was prepared through the impregnation method. The structure and surface properties of the catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2-sorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as well as temperature-programmed desorption of NH3 (NH3-TPD) and temperature-programmed reduction of H2 (H2-TPR). The TEM images present that the bimetallic Pt8Co1 nanoparticles with a mean particle size of 4–6 nm were uniformly dispersed on the alkali-treated ZSM-5 zeolite. The bimetallic Pt8Co1/ZSM-5-AT catalyst exhibited an extraordinary COL selectivity of 65% at a >99% CAL conversion efficiency, which showed a much higher catalytic performance (including the activity and selectivity) than the monometallic Pt/ZSM-5-AT and Co/ZSM-5-AT catalysts in the selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde (CAL) to cinnamyl alcohol (COL) using hydrogen as reducing agent. The high catalytic activity of the bimetallic catalyst was attributed to the higher electron density of Pt species and more acidic sites of the alkali-treated ZSM-5 zeolite support. The recovery test showed no obvious loss of its initial activity of the Pt8Co1/ZSM-5-AT catalyst for five times.
General-purpose simulator for leaky surface acoustic wave devices based on coupling-of-modes theory

The paper describes the development of a general-purpose simulator for high performance leaky surface acoustic wave (LSAW) devices. The derivation of the coupling-of-modes (COM) parameters for the simulator is based on a method developed originally for surface transverse wave devices: the method can skillfully takes the effect of back-scattered bulk acoustic waves into consideration. All the COM parameters for the analysis are determined as a function of electrode thickness, and the simulation itself is carried out in exactly the same may with the conventional COM analysis. A ladder-type LSAW filter on 36/spl deg/YX-LiTaO/sub 3/ and an interdigitated-interdigital transducer type filter employing longitudinal-type LSAWs on (011)-Li/sub 2/B/sub 4/O/sub 7/ are analysed, which concludes how effectively the developed simulator is applicable to assessing LSAW device performances, present simulator is demonstrated.
Antioxidative and Cytoprotective Efficacy of Ethanolic Extracted Cranberry Pomace against Salmonella Enteritidis Infection in Chicken Liver Cells

Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis is a globally significant zoonotic foodborne pathogen. Chicken liver is a vital organ that has been recently implicated in several reported human salmonellosis outbreaks in the U.S. One promising strategy for reducing Salmonella in chickens could be through supplementation with natural antimicrobial additives. Ethanolic extracted cranberry pomace (CPOH) is an excellent source of bioactive polyphenolic compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. However, the protective effect of CPOH against S. Enteritidis-induced chicken hepatic cell damage remains unclear. In this study, we used a chicken hepatoma cell (LMH) infection model to investigate the protective effects and potential mechanisms of CPOH. CPOH increased the viability of S. Enteritidis-infected LMH cells. Furthermore, CPOH reduced the adhesion and invasion of S. Enteritidis to LMH cells. CPOH downregulated the expression of Rho GTPase genes that are essential for Salmonella’s entry into LMH cells. Additionally, the expression of antioxidant regulatory genes, such as Nrf2, HO-1, Txn, and Gclc, was increased. Our data show that CPOH effectively protected LMH cells from cell damage through the inhibition of S. Enteritidis adhesion and invasion, as well as the induction of the expression of master antioxidant genes. These findings offer opportunities to develop sustainable, safe, and economic strategies to reduce the colonization and pathogenesis of Salmonella.
Biological Correlates of Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG): A Literature Review

Since the beginning of medical science, much research have focused on the psychopathological effects of traumatic experiences. Despite in past centuries the scientific literature on mental health has been mainly focused on the harmful effects of traumatic occurrences, more recently the idea of “post-traumatic growth” emerged, on the basis of a growing interest in the characteristics of resilience and possible positive consequences of trauma. In this framework, increasing attention is now being paid to the psychological meaning of PTG, with a consistent number of psychopathological and epidemiological studies on this subject, but limited literature focused on neurobiological correlates or eventual biomarkers of this condition. The present work aimed to summarize and review the available evidence on neurobiological correlates of PTG and their psychological and clinical meaning. Results highlighted a variety of biochemical and neurobiological differences between PTG and non-PTG individuals, partially corroborating findings from earlier research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, although promising, findings in this field are still too limited and additional studies on the neurobiological correlates of traumatic experiences are needed in order to gain a better understanding of the subject.
Vibrations of Air-Columns Excited by Heat Supply (1st Report)

The phenomenon of "Singing Flame" or "Gauze Tone" is the vibration of an air-column in a tube excited by heat supply. As the temperature of the airflow changes at the hot heater in adverse phase to the air velocity variation, there occurs some phase lag in the airflow when passing through the heater. Then, according as the phase of the velocity variation at the heater is by a quarter period before or after the phase of the pressure variation, the vibration is encouraged or discouraged. The characteristic that according to its position the heater can be an exciting source or a damping source to the vibration, is thus explained.
How Product Quality, Price and Service Quality Impact Customer Satisfaction? Case Study at Son Hajisony Meatball

Customer satisfaction is assessed after transaction or as a result of a comparison between what is felt and what is hoped. Customer satisfaction can thus be used to evaluate a company's future prospects based on how well or poorly it is currently performing. The effect of product quality, price, and service quality perspectives on customer satisfaction at Bakso Son Hajisony during the COVID-19 pandemic will be studied in this study. The results of the descriptive verification approach were examined using the ex post facto methodology and surveys in this study. 75 respondents were used to test the hypotheses using simple linear regression and multiple linear regression. Product quality, price and service quality all have significant effect on customer satisfaction according to the data.
« Réexplorer la langue de la traduction : une approche par corpus »

L'approche basee sur le corpus requiert le developpement d'une methodologie coherente pour l'identification des caracteristiques propres a la langue de la traduction. En plus de corroborer l'hypothese du "troisieme code", cette methodologie servira a comprendre les contraintes, les pressions et les motivations qui influencent specifiquement l'acte traductionnel et sous-ten- dent cette forme unique de communication.
An Empirical Investigation of Implicit Contracts

In CEO incentive contracts, discretion (or subjectivity) by the board of directors is often present in one form or another. What is unclear, however, is whether this behavior reflects rent extraction or optimal contacting. I argue that discretion can improve incentive contracting by addressing two important considerations: (1) risk reduction and (2) congruity improvement. I distinguish between discretion being applied in bonus contracts solely based on earnings (implicit earnings-based contracts) and discretion being applied in bonus contracts based on multiple measures (implicit multi-measure contracts). I argue that, in an earnings-based contract, the benefit of discretion is its ability to reduce risk by subjectively adjusting for uncontrollable factors and this benefit is more likely to be exploited the greater the noise in accounting earnings. In a multi-measure contract, the benefit of discretion is its ability to reduce noncongruity by subjectively weighting these measures ex-post and this benefit is more likely to be exploited the greater the difficulty of predicting the optimal course of action ex-ante. I therefore expect that, conditional on the use of only accounting information (accounting and nonaccounting information), the use of implicit contracts is positively associated with accounting noise (environmental unpredictability). Finally, I expect that the ability to exploit the benefits of discretion depends on the monitoring intensity of the board. The empirical results based on incentive contract data for 424 CEOs of U.S. public firms are consistent with my expectations and show that the use of discretion is driven by optimal contracting considerations. 1 This chapter is based on a working paper co-authored with Frank Moers.
Comparing Group Means: T-tests and One-way ANOVA Using Stata, SAS, R, and SPSS

The t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) compare group means. The mean of a variable to be compared should be substantively interpretable. A t-test may examine gender differences in average salary or racial (white versus black) differences in average annual income. The lefthand side (LHS) variable to be tested should be interval or ratio, whereas the right-hand side (RHS) variable should be binary (categorical).
Myelinating Glia: Potential Therapeutic Targets in Polyglutamine Spinocerebellar Ataxias

Human studies, in combination with animal and cellular models, support glial cells as both major contributors to neurodegenerative diseases and promising therapeutic targets. Among glial cells, oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells are the myelinating glial cells of the central and peripheral nervous system, respectively. In this review, we discuss the contributions of these central and peripheral myelinating glia to the pathomechanisms of polyglutamine (polyQ) spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) types 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 17. First, we highlight the function of oligodendrocytes in healthy conditions and how they are disrupted in polyQ SCA patients and diseased model systems. We then cover the role of Schwann cells in peripheral nerve function and repair as well as their possible role in peripheral neuropathy in polyQ SCAs. Finally, we discuss potential polyQ SCA therapeutic interventions in myelinating glial.
Notes on a Functional Equation Related to Invariant Curves

Existence and uniqueness of C 1 solutions for an iterative functional equation related to invariant curves were given by Ng and Zhang [C.T. Ng, Weinian Zhang (1997) "Invariant curves for planar mappings". J. Difference Equations Appl. 3: 147-168]. In this paper efforts are made to study C 0 solutions for the equation under weaker conditions. Not only existence and uniqueness are discussed but also continuous dependence and symmetry are considered. New examples are given to correct an error by Ng and Zhang [C.T. Ng, Weinian Zhang (1997) "Invariant curves for planar mappings". J. Difference Equations Appl. 3: 147-168]. By virtue of symmetry, some obtained results are generalized to R N .