Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biochemical and immunological investigations on hypothyroidism in dogs.

Circulating antibody titers (1:20 to 1:2560) against thyroglobulin were demonstrated in 48% of pet dogs with hypothyroidism by the chromic chloride passive hemagglutination test. Four of six dogs with acanthosis nigricans (1:20) and one of six male dogs with hyperestrogenism (1:40) had low titers of antibody against thyroglobulin whereas clinically normal pet dogs and dogs with other selected endocrinopathies (hypoadrenocorticism, cortisol-excess, diabetes mellitus) or obesity were consistently negative. Circulating immune complexes evaluated by the mastocytoma cell-assay were present in the sera of 20% of pet dogs with hypothyroidism but were absent in clinically normal dogs. Although variations in dose significantly altered the quantitative response of the thyroid gland to thyrotropin the qualitative pattern of response was similar for T3 but not T4 in clinically normal laboratory beagles. The peak increases for serum triiodothyronine and thyroxine were observed either at eight (0.1 and 0.2 I.U bTSH/5 lbs) or 12 (1.0 I.U. bTYSH/5 lbs) hours postthyrotropin. Dogs with naturally occurring hypothyroidism had a decreased serum T3 and T4 at baseline and eight hours postthyrotropin (1.0 I.U. bTSH/5 lbs) compared to clinically normal pet dogs, laboratory beagles and dogs with other clinical endocrinopathies. The consistent lack of a significant increase of serum T3 and T4 in response to thyrotropin was necessary for the separation of certain hypothyroid from euthyroid pet dogs in which the baseline level of thyroid hormones were equivocal.
Does CEO overconfidence influence tax planning? Evidence from Tunisian context

The corporate decision-making process varies across firms because of the differences of their characteristics, particularly their chief executive officers (CEO) profiles. We predict that CEO personality traits impact tax planning. We shed light on one dimension of the CEO behaviour, such as overconfidence. This article aims to examine whether CEO overconfidence influences corporate tax planning. Using a sample of 28 Tunisian listed firms during 2001-2011, we find robust evidence of a positive relationship between CEO overconfidence and the propensities to minimise corporate taxes. Our findings add to the recent literature on overconfidence and complement their findings. The present study contributes to previous works by providing the first empirical evidence on the effect of CEO overconfidence on corporate tax policy in Tunisia.
Criticism from Below: The Supreme Court’s Decision to Revisit Cases

The Supreme Court sometimes chooses to use its limited time to revisit earlier decisions. In doing so, the justices signal the importance of reasserting, correcting, or reconsidering their arguments. We find that the likelihood of the Supreme Court revisiting a case in a given year increases significantly as the number of circuit courts critical of that opinion increases. These results suggest that an acknowledgment of the important role of the circuit courts influences the decision to revisit cases. Even if the Court merely clarifies or reinforces earlier opinions, criticism in the circuits prompts the Court to take some action. Though the Supreme Court’s word is final, barring a constitutional amendment or legislative override in nonconstitutional cases, the mechanism of criticism in the circuits allows reconsideration of many issues already decided by the Court and sheds light on the importance of institutional structures to the maintenance of the rule of law.
A Comparative Analysis of Public Private Wages in Somalia: An Evaluation of Wage Differentials

This paper aims to comparatively analyze public private wage differentials in Mogadishu, Somalia. The secondary data used in this study is derived mainly from documents analysis such as national wage and salary structure for public servants and the payroll data of some selected private companies and of both and nonprofit organizations in Mogadishu, Somalia. The study is particularly significant because it is the first of its kind in Somalia aimed at analyzing and comparing wages between public and private sector in Somalia. The finding of the analysis indicates earning gap exist between public, not for profit organization and that of private sector and specifically the earning gap is significant among employees working in not for profit organizations and those in private sector. Furthermore, the study also shows the existence of wage differentials within each sector itself. Finally, the study suggests some policy recommendations that are useful in solving the wage differentials.
Income mobility and the Arab spring: the case of Egypt and Jordan

ABSTRACT Arab Spring has swept Middle East and North Africa. Although the reasons behind this revolutionary albeit mostly unfruitful social phenomenon is unknown, economic reasons such as income inequality and lack of income mobility have been mentioned. Using an approach that is free of measurement error and attrition biases, this study estimates income mobility in a country that went through Arab Spring, Egypt, and compares that with a similar country that did not experience it, Jordan. The results show that unconditional and conditional income mobility were substantially smaller in Egypt than Jordan. This has implications for the policy-makers not just in the Middle East but the world.
Intracellular Itinerary of Internalised β‐Secretase, BACE1, and Its Potential Impact on β‐Amyloid Peptide Biogenesis

β‐Secretase (BACE1) cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) represents the initial step in the formation of the Alzheimer's disease associated amyloidogenic Aβ peptide. Substantive evidence indicates that APP processing by BACE1 is dependent on intracellular sorting of this enzyme. Nonetheless, knowledge of the intracellular trafficking pathway of internalised BACE1 remains in doubt. Here we show that cell surface BACE1 is rapidly internalised by the AP2/clathrin dependent pathway in transfected cells and traffics to early endosomes and Rab11‐positive, juxtanuclear recycling endosomes, with very little transported to the TGN as has been previously suggested. Moreover, BACE1 is predominantly localised to the early and recycling endosome compartments in different cell types, including neuronal cells. In contrast, the majority of internalised wild‐type APP traffics to late endosomes/lysosomes. To explore the relevance of the itinerary of BACE1 on APP processing, we generated a BACE1 chimera containing the cytoplasmic tail of TGN38 (BACE/TGN38), which cycles between the cell surface and TGN in an AP2‐dependent manner. Wild‐type BACE1 is less efficient in Aβ production than the BACE/TGN38 chimera, highlighting the relevance of the itinerary of BACE1 on APP processing. Overall the data suggests that internalised BACE1 and APP diverge at early endosomes and that Aβ biogenesis is regulated in part by the recycling itinerary of BACE1.
[The Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG)--a tool for the risk assessment of violent offenders].

OBJECTIVE Most instruments used for assessing the recidivism risk of an offender with a violent or sex offense have been developed and validated in North America. METHODS The aim of this study is to discuss the state of validation for the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG)--an instrument for assessing the recidivism risk of violent offenders. A systematic literature research forms the basis for the processing of the literature. In a second section, a scientific translation of the instrument to German, including the scoring rules, is presented. RESULTS Normally, while examining the validity of the VRAG, there is a focus on the discriminatory power (displayed using the so-called Area Under the Curve [AUC]). These examinations showed a satisfactory to good discriminatory power (AUC: 0.70-- 0.86). A standardization of this instrument for populations in Europe respectively the German-speaking area has not yet taken place. Only few studies have verified whether North American standard values are also valid for Europe. The few studies on this subject question the generalizability of these standard values to other countries. CONCLUSIONS The VRAG can be considered a valid measure for the assessment of recidivism risk in Germany and in Switzerland, although so far, standardization has been dispensed with. The application of the VRAG can provide indications for the evaluation of recidivism risk and be integrated into an individual case-oriented assessment.
A Comprehensive Genetic Study of Streptococcal Immunoglobulin A1 Proteases: Evidence for Recombination within and between Species

ABSTRACT An analysis of 13 immunoglobulin A1 (IgA1) protease genes (iga) of strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae,Streptococcus oralis, Streptococcus mitis, andStreptococcus sanguis was carried out to obtain information on the structure, polymorphism, and phylogeny of this specific protease, which enables bacteria to evade functions of the predominant Ig isotype on mucosal surfaces. The analysis included cloning and sequencing of iga genes from S. oralisand S. mitis biovar 1, sequencing of an additional seveniga genes from S. sanguis biovars 1 through 4, and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses of iga genes of another 10 strains of S. mitisbiovar 1 and 6 strains of S. oralis. All 13 genes sequenced had the potential of encoding proteins with molecular masses of approximately 200 kDa containing the sequence motif HEMTH and an E residue 20 amino acids downstream, which are characteristic of Zn metalloproteinases. In addition, all had a typical gram-positive cell wall anchor motif, LPNTG, which, in contrast to such motifs in other known streptococcal and staphylococcal proteins, was located in their N-terminal parts. Repeat structures showing variation in number and sequence were present in all strains and may be of relevance to the immunogenicities of the enzymes. Protease activities in cultures of the streptococcal strains were associated with species of different molecular masses ranging from 130 to 200 kDa, suggesting posttranslational processing possibly as a result of autoproteolysis at post-proline peptide bonds in the N-terminal parts of the molecules. Comparison of deduced amino acid sequences revealed a 94% similarity between S. oralis and S. mitis IgA1 proteases and a 75 to 79% similarity between IgA1 proteases of these species and those of S. pneumoniae and S. sanguis, respectively. Combined with the results of RFLP analyses using different iga gene fragments as probes, the results of nucleotide sequence comparisons provide evidence of horizontal transfer of iga gene sequences among individual strains of S. sanguis as well as among S. mitis and the two speciesS. pneumoniae and S. oralis. Whileiga genes of S. sanguis and S. oralis were highly homogeneous, the genes of S. pneumoniae and S. mitis showed extensive polymorphism reflected in different degrees of antigenic diversity.
Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of visna virus polypeptides isolated by agarose gel chromatography

The proteins of visna are separated into nine major peaks by agarose gel chromatography in 6 M guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl). The polypeptides in eack peak were isolated by acid precipitation and analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The patterns of SDS-PAGE show that the excluded material from the GuHCl column contains an aggregate of 10 non-glycosylated polypeptides. It is shown that this aggregate represents virus substructures that are not completely solubilized by GuHCl. Two glycoproteins, gp175 and gp115, were isolated from the column eluate. The major glycoprotein gp115 was coeluted with P90, P68, and P61 in GuHCl 4. Each of the four major peaks (GuHCl 5 to 8) contains more than one nonglycosylated polypeptide. However, a small polypeptide, P12, can be isolated in a homogeneous form in the last peak, GuHCl 9. Analysis of the virus proteins (100 microgram) by SDS-PAGE shows that 20 radioactive bands can be recognized. During fractionation of the protein on agarose gel columns followed by analysis with SDS-PAGE, a number of minor polypeptides that were not detected before became clearly recognizable. Thus, the combined use of column chromatography and SDS-PAGE shows that visna virus is composed of 25 proteins.
Fabrication and characterization of the ZnO-based Memristor

This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of ZnO-based Memristor devices with Platinum (Pt) electrodes. Properties of ZnO/ZnO<sub>x</sub> strongly depends upon the sputtering conditions and heat treatment (annealing) done by rapid thermal process (RTP). Annealing creates the vacancies which provide hysteresis or in other words memory in I-V characteristics of the device. Experimental results show high current density 0. 015μA/μm<sup>2</sup> and R<sub>off</sub>/R<sub>on</sub> ratio of 2.5 is achieved with Pt electrode. This paper also presents C-V behaviour of the fabricated Memristor without annealing and with annealing. Maximum value of the capacitance is 5.7×10<sup>-8</sup> F/cm<sup>2</sup> obtained at 0V without annealing. With annealed Memristor, the maximum capacitance 2.3×10<sup>-7</sup> F/cm<sup>2</sup> is obtain at 0V.
Phytochemical, antioxidant and protective effect of cactus cladodes extract against lithium-induced liver injury in rats

Abstract Context: Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. (Castaceae) (cactus) is used in Tunisian medicine for the treatment of various diseases. Objective: This study determines phytochemical composition of cactus cladode extract (CCE). It also investigates antioxidant activity and hepatoprotective potential of CCE against lithium carbonate (Li2CO3)-induced liver injury in rats. Materials and methods: Twenty-four Wistar male rats were divided into four groups of six each: a control group given distilled water (0.5 mL/100 g b.w.; i.p.), a group injected with Li2CO3 (25 mg/kg b.w.; i.p.; corresponding to 30% of the LD50) twice daily for 30 days, a group receiving only CCE at 100 mg/kg of b.w. for 60 days and then injected with distilled water during the last 30 days of CCE treatment, and a group receiving CCE and then injected with Li2CO3 during the last 30 days of CCE treatment. The bioactive components containing the CCE were identified using chemical assays. Results: Treatment with Li2CO3 caused a significant change of some haematological parameters including red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), haemoglobin content (Hb), haematocrit (Ht) and mean corpuscular volume (VCM) compared to the control group. Moreover, significant increases in the levels of glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides and of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities were observed in the blood of Li2CO3-treated rats. Furthermore, exposure to Li2CO3 significantly increased the LPO level and decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities in the hepatic tissues. Conclusion: CCE possesses a significant hepatoprotective effect.
Critical roles of hMAGEA2 in induced pluripotent stem cell pluripotency, proliferation, and differentiation

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are important for clinical application and stem cell research. Although human melanoma‐associated antigen A2 (hMAGEA2) expression is known to affect differentiation in embryonic stem cells, its specific role in iPS cells remains unclear. To evaluate the function of hMAGEA2 and its characteristics in iPS cells, we produced hMAGEA2‐overexpressing iPS cells from hMAGEA2‐overexpressing transgenic mice. Although the iPS cells with overexpressed hMAGEA2 did not differ in morphology, their pluripotency, and self‐renewal related genes (Nanog, Oct3/4, Sox2, and Stat3), expression level was significantly upregulated. Moreover, hMAGEA2 contributed to the promotion of cell cycle progression, thereby accelerating cell proliferation. Through embryoid body formation in vitro and teratoma formation in vivo, we demonstrated that hMAGEA2 critically decreases the differentiation ability of iPS cells. These data indicate that hMAGEA2 intensifies the self‐renewal, pluripotency, and degree of proliferation of iPS cells, while significantly repressing their differentiation efficiency. Therefore, our findings prove that hMAGEA2 plays key roles in iPS cells.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ISOMETRIC MAXIMUM STRENGTH AND PEAK RATE‐OF‐FORCE DEVELOPMENT IN SPRINT CYCLING

This study was designed to investigate the relationship of whole-body maximum strength to variables potentially associated with track sprint-cycling success. These variables included body composition, power measures, coach's rank, and sprint-cycling times. The study was carried out in 2 parts. The first part (n = 30) served as a pilot for the second part (n = 20). Subjects for both parts ranged from international-caliber sprint cyclists to local-level cyclists. Maximum strength was measured using an isometric midthigh pull (IPF). Explosive strength was measured as the peak rate-of-force development (IPRFD) from the isometric force-time curve. Peak power was estimated from countermovement (CMJPP) and static vertical jumps (SJPP) and measured by modified Wingate tests. Athletes were ranked by the U.S. national cycling coach (part 1). Sprint times (from a standing start) were measured using timing gates placed at 25, 82.5, 165, 247.5, and 330 m of an outdoor velodrome (part 2). Maximum strength (both absolute and body-mass corrected) and explosive strength were shown to be strongly correlated with jump and Wingate power. Additionally, maximum strength was strongly correlated with both coach's rank (parts 1 and 2) and sprint cycling times (part 2). The results suggest that larger, stronger sprint cyclists have an advantage in producing power and are generally faster sprint cyclists.
Oznakowanie produktów żywnościowych a zrównoważona konsumpcja

The manifestation of sustainable consumption on the food market is the consumer is choice of products originating from fair trade and/or organic farming. This paper presents the level of knowledge of Fairtrade signs and organic food logo of the EU. The author describes the importance of these signs by purchasing decisions and the relationship between these factors and the declared level ofknowledge about fair trade. In November 2013 research was conducted by the Department of Marketing Strategies at the Poznan University of Economics and Polish Scientifi c Association of Marketing (PNTM). We interviewed 444 people responsible for food shopping in their households. There were structured interviews in 3 Polish cities: Poznan, Szczecin and Lublin. The results confi rm low awareness of Polish consumers in respect of Fairtrade determinations and slightly higher in the case of organic products. Information regarding the origin of the product (fair trade or organic) is not important to consumers when choosing food products. With increasing knowledge on products originating from fair trade derives knowledge of both organic foods and Fairtrade signs, but not the impact of these markings on consumers’ purchasing decisions. Still, people who attach importance to this type of information are niche on the Polish market.
Analysis of milk yield and composition for dairy heifers limit-fed lower forage diets during the rearing period 1

Methods to improve feed efficiency in dairy heifers have been studied that employ limit feeding and high concentrate or highly digestible diet ingredients. To date, the published studies have used differing daily gains, diet components, and management systems. All of these studies have had limited numbers of animals, which limits the power of each study by itself. The objective of this analysis was to evaluate, using all available studies, the overall effect of limit feeding dairy heifers during the rearing phase on milk production and composition during the first lactation. To accomplish this objective, responses from published experiments were analyzed using random effects meta-analytic procedures. The results of this analysis confirmed the results of the individual experiments in that no significant differences were found in lactation performance between the limitfed, lower forage diets and the higher forage control diets. Heterogeneity of results between experiments was low to moderate for the response variables evaluated, indicating that the results were reasonably consistent among the trials. Limit feeding of higher concentrate diets represents a viable alternative to traditional high forage heifer feeding systems when environmental or economic conditions favor these systems.
A phase I/II trial of a WT1 (Wilms' tumor gene) peptide vaccine in patients with solid malignancy: safety assessment based on the phase I data.

OBJECTIVE We conducted a phase I study to investigate the safety of a weekly WT1 tumor vaccine therapy in patients with solid tumors that had been refractory to all other anti-cancer therapies. METHODS Skin-test-negative patients were intradermally injected weekly for 12 weeks with 3.0 mg of an HLA-A*2402-restricted modified 9-mer WT1 peptide emulsified in Montanide ISA51 adjuvant. We estimated the Bayesian posterior probability of the occurrence of grade 3 or 4 toxicity when receiving the weekly WT1 vaccination. This analysis provided the basis for making a decision to terminate the phase I study and switch to phase II. Moreover, we performed an exploratory assessment of the anti-tumor effects of WT1 treatment. RESULTS Ten patients received 114 vaccinations with WT1 on a weekly schedule. No grade 3 or 4 toxicities were observed. Based on the Bayesian approach, it was highly likely that the probability of grade 3 or 4 toxicity was below 20% (the posterior probability = 0.914). Fifteen grade 2 and two grade 1 toxicities were observed; all of these incidents, however, were determined by the Independent Data and Safety Monitoring Committee to be unrelated to the WT1 treatment. One patient exhibited a partial response; five additional patients had stable disease while receiving weekly WT1 treatment. CONCLUSION This paper confirms that the potential toxicities of the treatment schedule of weekly WT1 vaccination are acceptable and suggested a potential anti-tumor effect. Consequently, we validated the decision to continue to the phase II trial.
Basigin (CD147) Is the Target for Organomercurial Inhibition of Monocarboxylate Transporter Isoforms 1 and 4

Translocation of monocarboxylate transporters MCT1 and MCT4 to the plasma membrane requires CD147 (basigin) with which they remain tightly associated. However, the importance of CD147 for MCT activity is unclear. MCT1 and MCT4 are both inhibited by the cell-impermeant organomercurial reagent p-chloromercuribenzene sulfonate (pCMBS). Here we demonstrate by site-directed mutagenesis that removal of all accessible cysteine residues on MCT4 does not prevent this inhibition. pCMBS treatment of cells abolished co-immunoprecipitation of MCT1 and MCT4 with CD147 and enhanced labeling of CD147 with a biotinylated-thiol reagent. This suggested that CD147 might be the target of pCMBS, and further evidence for this was obtained by treatment of cells with the bifunctional organomercurial reagent fluorescein dimercury acetate that caused oligomerization of CD147. Site-directed mutagenesis of CD147 implicated the disulfide bridge in the Ig-like C2 domain of CD147 as the target of pCMBS attack. MCT2, which is pCMBS-insensitive, was found to co-immunoprecipitate with gp70 rather than CD147. The interaction between gp70 and MCT2 was confirmed using fluorescence resonance energy transfer between the cyan fluorescent protein- and yellow fluorescent protein-tagged MCT2 and gp70. pCMBS strongly inhibited lactate transport into rabbit erythrocytes, where MCT1 interacts with CD147, but not into rat erythrocytes where it interacts with gp70. These data imply that inhibition of MCT1 and MCT4 activity by pCMBS is mediated through its binding to CD147, whereas MCT2, which associates with gp70, is insensitive to pCMBS. We conclude that ancillary proteins are required to maintain the catalytic activity of MCTs as well as for their translocation to the plasma membrane.