Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neoplastic and non‐neoplastic complications of solid organ transplantation in patients with preexisting monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance

Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) occurs in 3–7% of the elderly population, with higher prevalence in renal failure patients, and is associated with a 25‐fold increased lifetime risk for plasma cell myeloma (PCM), also known as multiple myeloma. Using the California State Inpatient, Emergency Department, and Ambulatory Surgery Databases components of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), we sought to determine whether patients with MGUS who undergo solid organ allograft (n = 22 062) are at increased adjusted relative risk (aRR) for hematologic malignancy and other complications. Among solid organ transplant patients, patients with preexisting MGUS had higher aRR of PCM (aRR 19.46; 95% CI 7.05, 53.73; p < 0.001), venous thromboembolic events (aRR 1.66; 95% CI 1.15, 2.41; p = 0.007), and infection (aRR 1.24; 95% CI 1.06, 1.45; p = 0.007). However, when comparing MGUS patients with and without solid organ transplant, there was decreased aRR for PCM with transplant (aRR 0.34; 95% CI 0.13, 0.88; p = 0.027), and increased venous thromboembolic events (aRR 2.33; 95% CI 1.58, 3.44; p < 0.001) and infectious risks (aRR 1.44; 95% CI 1.23, 1.70; p < 0.001). While MGUS increased the risk of PCM overall following solid organ transplantation, there was lower risk of PCM development compared to MGUS patients who did not receive a transplant. MGUS should not preclude solid organ transplant.
Drinking Patterns and Attitudes for Young People in Inner-Urban Melbourne and Outer-Urban Growth Areas: Differences and Similarities

Despite new patterns of socio-spatial polarisation, cities are generally treated as homogenous places in analyses of alcohol consumption. To inform local alcohol policy, we compared alcohol measures for young people in inner-urban Melbourne and outer-urban growth areas using data from the 2009 Victorian Youth Alcohol and Drug Survey. Young people in inner Melbourne reported more liberal attitudes to drinking than their peers in growth areas. Regular strength beer was more usually consumed in inner Melbourne against premixed spirits in growth areas, and drinking at licensed venues was more usual in inner Melbourne. Respondents below the legal drinking age of 18 in inner Melbourne were more likely to have purchased alcohol and to have consumed alcohol in a licensed premise during the past year. As findings were only slightly altered by adjusting for age, sex and socio-economic status, it is likely that these differences relate to local drinking cultures, alcohol outlet density and the range of leisure activities available for young adults. Measures to reduce heavy episodic drinking through restricting alcohol availability are relevant to both inner and growth area settings. Enforcement of provisions banning alcohol sales to minors is particularly indicated in inner Melbourne. Growth area responses might focus on cautious outlet density planning.
Part of the Climate: American Cubist Poetry

"Part of the Climate" convincingly redefines American modernist poetry in light of developments in modern painting, particularly cubism. The traditional separation of the verbal and visual arts is cast aside here, as Brogan encourages a re-evaluation of 'modernism' itself. Moreover, readers of modern poetry and literature will find this critical work doubly useful, since the author places the poetry of well-known modernists such as Pound, Eliot, and Williams alongside the harder-to-find work of important experimentalists such as Mina Loy, Louis Zukofsky, Gertrude Stein, and George Oppen. Jacqueline Vaught Brogan has assembled this much needed collection of experimental verse from the interwar years by going to the small magazines through which the poems reached their public. She not only shows how significantly many of these American poets of the early twentieth century were influenced by the aesthetic development of cubism in the visual arts but also argues that the cubist aesthetic, at least as it translated into the verbal domain, invariably involved political and ethical issues. The most important of these concerns was to extend the aesthetic revolution of cubism into a genuine 'revolution of the word. ' Brogan maintains, in fact, that the multiplicity inherent in cubism anticipates the deconstructive enterprise now seen in criticism itself. With this history of the cubist movement in American verse, she raises serious questions about the politics of canonization and asks us to consider the ethical responsibility of interpretation, both in the creative arts and in critical texts.
HIV among Female Sex Workers in Five Cities in Burkina Faso: A Cross-Sectional Baseline Survey to Inform HIV/AIDS Programs

Background Female sex workers (FSWs) are considered a vulnerable population for HIV infection and a priority for HIV/AIDS response programs. This study aimed to determine HIV prevalence among FSWs in five cities in Burkina Faso. Methods FSWs aged 18 and older were recruited using respondent driven sampling (RDS) in five cities (Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso, Koudougou, Ouahigouya, and Tenkodogo) in Burkina Faso from 2013 to 2014. HIV testing was performed using the HIV testing national algorithm. We conducted bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis to assess correlates of HIV in all cities combined (not RDS-adjusted). Results Among Ouagadougou, Koudougou, and Ouahigouya FSWs, RDS-adjusted HIV prevalence was 13.5% (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 9.6–18.7), 13.3% (95% CI: 7.6–22.4), and 13.0% (95% CI: 7.6–21.3), respectively, compared to 30.1% (95% CI: 25.5–35.1) among Bobo-Dioulasso FSWs. Factors associated with HIV infection were age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 7.84 95% CI: 3.78–16.20), being married or cohabitating (aOR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.31–4.49), and history of pregnancy (aOR = 5.24, 95% CI: 1.44–18.97). Conclusion These results highlight the need to strengthen HIV prevention among FSWs, through behavior change strategies, and improve access to sexual and reproductive health services.
Functional Characterization of Key Enzymes involved in l-Glutamate Synthesis and Degradation in the Thermotolerant and Methylotrophic Bacterium Bacillus methanolicus

ABSTRACT Bacillus methanolicus wild-type strain MGA3 secretes 59 g/liter−1 of l-glutamate in fed-batch methanol cultivations at 50°C. We recently sequenced the MGA3 genome, and we here characterize key enzymes involved in l-glutamate synthesis and degradation. One glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) that is encoded by yweB and two glutamate synthases (GOGATs) that are encoded by the gltAB operon and by gltA2 were found, in contrast to Bacillus subtilis, which has two different GDHs and only one GOGAT. B. methanolicus has a glutamine synthetase (GS) that is encoded by glnA and a 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (OGDH) that is encoded by the odhAB operon. The yweB, gltA, gltB, and gltA2 gene products were purified and characterized biochemically in vitro. YweB has a low Km value for ammonium (10 mM) and a high Km value for l-glutamate (250 mM), and the V max value is 7-fold higher for l-glutamate synthesis than for the degradation reaction. GltA and GltA2 displayed similar Km values (1 to 1.4 mM) and V max values (4 U/mg) for both l-glutamate and 2-oxoglutarate as the substrates, and GltB had no effect on the catalytic activities of these enzymes in vitro. Complementation assays indicated that GltA and not GltA2 is dependent on GltB for GOGAT activity in vivo. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the presence of two active GOGATs in a bacterium. In vivo experiments indicated that OGDH activity and, to some degree, GOGAT activity play important roles in regulating l-glutamate production in this organism.
Reputation and Survival: Learning in a Dynamic Signalling Model

We consider the impact of reputation on the survival of a monopolist selling single units in discrete time periods, whose quality is learned slowly. If the seller learns her own quality at the same rate as customers, a sufficiently bad run of luck could induce her to stop selling. When she knows her quality, a good seller never stops selling though at low reputations a bad seller does with some probability. Furthermore, a seller with positive, though imperfect, information sells for the same number of periods whether her information is private or public. We further consider the robustness of the central result when the seller's opportunities for strategic behaviour are limited. Copyright 2003, Wiley-Blackwell.
Political Stability and Democratic Governance. A Panel Data Analysis.

In the present paper we undertake to link democracy with a set of indicators for economic freedom and financial crises, using panel data analysis. The sample covers annually the period 2000-2012 for the EU, the USA and Japan. The results point out, that political stability is positively related to the set of economic freedom indicators and negatively to financial crises, because greater economic freedom influences positively investment and economic growth, while financial crises, which lead to austerity policies, which again lead to recession-depression, increases dissatisfaction of citizens with the working of democracy (Georgiou, 2011) and thus, to the rise of extremist parties. Our findings support the idea that democratic stability is linked to economic stability and growth and vice-versa.
Sizing up the Small Firm: UK and Australian Experience

M. H. ATKINS IS WITH THE DEPT. FOR Management Studies, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, andJ. F. Lowe is with the Bristol Business School, University of Western England, UK This paper reexamines the definition of a small firm. In the past both input and output criteria have been used in different industrial sectors, often without any formal justification except convenience. Other definitions have concentrated on structures or roles but instead a new model based on management processes related to the planning function is advocated. This new model is widely applicable and empirical results have been obtained from large-scale samples of firms in the United Kingdom and Australia. Logistic regression is used to identify the structural differences between firms in manufacturing and services.
Dwell time modulation restrictions do not necessarily improve treatment plan quality for prostate HDR brachytherapy

Inverse planning algorithms for dwell time optimisation in interstitial high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy may produce solutions with large dwell time variations within catheters, which may result in undesirable selective high-dose subvolumes. Extending the dwell time optimisation model with a dwell time modulation restriction (DTMR) that limits dwell time differences between neighboring dwell positions has been suggested to eliminate this problem. DTMRs may additionally reduce the sensitivity for uncertainties in dwell positions that inevitably result from catheter reconstruction errors and afterloader source positioning inaccuracies. This study quantifies the reduction of high-dose subvolumes and the robustness against these uncertainties by applying a DTMR to template-based prostate HDR brachytherapy implants. Three different DTMRs were consecutively applied to a linear dose-based penalty model (LD) and a dose-volume based model (LDV), both obtained from literature. The models were solved with DTMR levels ranging from no restriction to uniform dwell times within catheters in discrete steps. Uncertainties were simulated on clinical cases using in-house developed software, and dose-volume metrics were calculated in each simulation. For the assessment of high-dose subvolumes, the dose homogeneity index (DHI) and the contiguous dose volume histogram were analysed. Robustness was measured by the improvement of the lowest D90% of the planning target volume (PTV) observed in the simulations. For (LD), a DTMR yields an increase in DHI of approximately 30% and reduces the size of the largest high-dose volume by 2–5 cc. However, this comes at a cost of a reduction in D90% of the PTV of 10%, which often implies that it drops below the desired minimum of 100%. For (LDV), none of the DTMRs were able to improve high-dose volume measures. DTMRs were not capable of improving robustness of PTV D90% against uncertainty in dwell positions for both models.
IFN‐γ synergizes with LPS to induce nitric oxide biosynthesis through glycogen synthase kinase‐3‐inhibited IL‐10

Interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) plays a crucial role in innate immunity and inflammation. It causes the synergistic effect on endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐stimulated inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)/NO biosynthesis; however, the mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the effects of glycogen synthase kinase‐3 (GSK‐3)‐mediated inhibition of anti‐inflammatory interleukin‐10 (IL‐10). We found, in LPS‐stimulated macrophages, that IFN‐γ increased iNOS expression and NO production in a time‐dependent manner. In addition, ELISA analysis showed the upregulation of tumor necrosis factor‐α and regulated on activation, normal T expressed and secreted, and the downregulation of IL‐10. RT‐PCR further showed changes in the IL‐10 mRNA level as well. Treating cells with recombinant IL‐10 showed a decrease in IFN‐γ/LPS‐induced iNOS/NO biosynthesis, whereas anti‐IL‐10 neutralizing antibodies enhanced this effect, suggesting that IL‐10 acts in an anti‐inflammatory role. GSK‐3‐inhibitor treatment blocked IFN‐γ/LPS‐induced iNOS/NO biosynthesis but upregulated IL‐10 production. Inhibiting GSK‐3 using short‐interference RNA showed similar results. Additionally, treating cells with anti‐IL‐10 neutralizing antibodies blocked these effects. We further showed that inhibiting GSK‐3 increased phosphorylation of transcription factor cyclic AMP response element binding protein. Inhibiting protein tyrosine kinase Pyk2, an upstream regulator of GSK‐3β, caused inhibition on IFN‐γ/LPS‐induced GSK‐3β phosphorylation at tyrosine 216 and iNOS/NO biosynthesis. Taken together, these findings reveal the involvement of GSK‐3‐inhibited IL‐10 on the induction of iNOS/NO biosynthesis by IFN‐γ synergized with LPS. J. Cell. Biochem. 105: 746–755, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Productivity Effects on the Wage Premium of Mexican Maquiladoras

The wage premium between skilled and unskilled workers in Mexican maquiladoras has increased, from nearly 2 times in 1981 to nearly 4 or 5 times in 2006, depending on the sector. This increase favoring skilled workers is examined against relative labor supplies within a class of models estimated by dynamic panel methods. Adapting a conventional model of the skill premium to labor supply, we find strong productivity effects. Higher productivity at the maquiladora industry (assumed either exogenous or endogenous to the wage premium) or higher U.S. GDP per worker (exogenous to the industry) are shown to have positive effects on the wage premium. The elasticity of wages to relative labor supply is very stable, implying strong substitution of labor types. We find, however, evidence of structural breaks in the basic model around the start of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994 and 1995.
Thermally Induced Fiber Deformation Using High Frequency Magnetic Field

This paper presents a model to externally induce deformation of a fiber inside a human lung. The fiber contains ferromagnetic materials and has a cross-section of sub-micron size. The fiber heating is achieved by applying an external high frequency magnetic field to induce eddy currents in the ferromagnetic materials. Prediction of the thermal bending of the fiber requires multi-physics modeling. The electromagnetic energy deposition is calculated by constructing models using a finite element method. The deposited energy is coupled to a heat-transfer model to calculate the temperature rise. The distribution of temperature inside the fiber then allows prediction of fiber deformation. This is the first attempt to use thermal heating induced by a high frequency oscillatory magnetic field to cause deformation of a fiber.
Price Ceilings on Milk Production Quota Values: Future or Folly?

Since the inception of supply management in Canada during the 1970s, milk production quota has been used to regulate output and participation in the dairy industry. In recent years, milk quota values have increased dramatically, almost tripling in value since the mid 1980s. This led to the Dairy Farmers of Ontario intervening on the milk production quota exchange on two occasions: first, in November 2006 with a progressive transfer assessment and then in July 2009, replacing the former policy with a firm price ceiling—fixing the unit price of quota at $25,000. These policies represent a significant redistribution of economic benefits from milk producers selling their quota to those remaining in the industry. The objective of this study is to first explore the reasons for the increase in production quota values; and second, to assess the welfare and distributional effects of each of the two quota policy schemes. Our results suggest that the increase in quota values were driven by basic economic factors and that the efficiency losses from intervention in the quota exchange are nontrivial. We conclude by suggesting there are several alternative policy options that could minimize efficiency losses while moderating the escalation in quota values. Depuis la mise en place du systeme de gestion de l’offre au Canada dans les annees 1970, les quotas laitiers sont utilises pour regulariser la production et la participation dans l’industrie laitiere. Au cours des dernieres annees, la valeur des quotas laitiers a fait un bond considerable et a pratiquement triple depuis le milieu des annees 1980. Cette situation a amene la Dairy Farmers of Ontario a intervenir a deux reprises dans le systeme d’echange de quotas laitiers : en novembre 2006, en imposant l’etablissement d’un transfert progressif et en juillet 2009, en remplacant la politique precedente par l’etablissement d’un prix plafond ferme fixea 25 000 $. Ces politiques permettent une importante redistribution des avantages economiques lorsque des producteurs de lait vendent leurs quotas a des producteurs qui demeurent dans le secteur. La presente etude visait d’abord a examiner les raisons qui sous-tendent l’augmentation de la valeur des quotas de production et ensuite aevaluer le bien-etre et les effets distributifs de chaque plan de quotas. Les resultats de notre etude autorisent a penser que l’augmentation de la valeur des quotas a ete motivee par des facteurs economiques fondamentaux et que les pertes d’efficacite decoulant de l’intervention dans les echanges de quotas n’etaient pas sans importance. En conclusion, nous estimons qu’il existe plusieurs politiques de rechange qui pourraient minimiser les pertes d’efficacite tout en moderant l’escalade de la valeur des quotas.
Absent from Work? The Impact of Household and Work Conditions in Germany

Abstract This contribution investigates sickness absences of German men and women from a longitudinal perspective. The article tests hypotheses on household context and paid working conditions as determinants for men' and women' absences from employment. The empirical analysis is based on selected waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) between 1985 and 2001. The results of ordered probit estimations confirm that women' and men' sickness absences were related to both working conditions and household context. The findings thus indicate the potential empirical relevance of the “double burden” for German women and men. The stereotype of higher absences of women due to family obligations does not seem to fully represent the actual behavior of German employees, at least for the 1985–2001 period. However, the relative importance of specific working conditions and the relative importance of household structure versus amount of time spent in household production differed between men and women.
The firm, environmental management and environmental measures: Lessons from a survey of European manufacturing firms

This paper reports on the results of a survey of environmental management and technical measures amongst almost 2000 European firms. Logit analysis is undertaken to determine the effects of firm characteristics, commercial conditions, perceived environmental impacts, expected benefits and stakeholder pressures on the probability of having an environmental management system in place. Subsequently, determinants of the likelihood of undertaking environmental actions in five environmental areas are estimated. There is a positive effect of environmental management on the likelihood of undertaking technical measures to reduce environmental impacts in some (but not all) areas, as well as a positive role for integrated environmental management strategies.
Catabolism of Arylboronic Acids by Arthrobacter nicotinovorans Strain PBA

ABSTRACT Arthrobacter sp. strain PBA metabolized phenylboronic acid to phenol. The oxygen atom in phenol was shown to be derived from the atmosphere using 18O2. 1-Naphthalene-, 2-naphthalene-, 3-cyanophenyl-, 2,5-fluorophenyl-, and 3-thiophene-boronic acids were also transformed to monooxygenated products. The oxygen atom in the product was bonded to the ring carbon atom originally bearing the boronic acid substituent with all the substrates tested.
β-Subunit Binding Is Sufficient for Ligands to Open the Integrin αIIbβ3 Headpiece*

The platelet integrin αIIbβ3 binds to a KQAGDV motif at the fibrinogen γ-chain C terminus and to RGD motifs present in loops in many extracellular matrix proteins. These ligands bind in a groove between the integrin α and β-subunits; the basic Lys or Arg side chain hydrogen bonds to the αIIb-subunit, and the acidic Asp side chain coordinates to a metal ion held by the β3-subunit. Ligand binding induces headpiece opening, with conformational change in the β-subunit. During this opening, RGD slides in the ligand-binding pocket toward αIIb, with movement of the βI-domain β1-α1 loop toward αIIb, enabling formation of direct, charged hydrogen bonds between the Arg side chain and αIIb. Here we test whether ligand interactions with β3 suffice for stable ligand binding and headpiece opening. We find that the AGDV tetrapeptide from KQAGDV binds to the αIIbβ3 headpiece with affinity comparable with the RGDSP peptide from fibronectin. AGDV induced complete headpiece opening in solution as shown by increase in hydrodynamic radius. Soaking of AGDV into closed αIIbβ3 headpiece crystals induced intermediate states similarly to RGDSP. AGDV has very little contact with the α-subunit. Furthermore, as measured by epitope exposure, AGDV, like the fibrinogen γ C-terminal peptide and RGD, caused integrin extension on the cell surface. Thus, pushing by the β3-subunit on Asp is sufficient for headpiece opening and ligand sliding, and no pulling by the αIIb subunit on Arg is required.
Globalisation as commodification

While recognising that most pre-capitalist formations exhibited elements of commodity exchange, Marx argued that capitalism differentiates itself as a genuine commodity system by virtue of two interdependent processes having reached a critical stage of development: a 'stretching' of commodity relations to the point where production for the market displaces subsistence production as the primary form; and a 'deepening' of commodity relations such that these encompass not only goods and services but the capacities for producing them. This paper argues that globalisation can best be understood as the culminating stage of these stretching and deepening processes: the former in the sense that commodity relations now embrace the entire planet and the latter in the sense that they cover not merely goods, or the capacities for producing goods, but also every other type of capacity and every other type of outcome. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.