Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recombinant Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor 121 Attenuates Hypertension and Improves Kidney Damage in a Rat Model of Preeclampsia

Inhibitors of angiogenic factors are known to be upregulated, and their levels increase in the maternal circulation before the onset of preeclampsia. We reproduced a previously characterized model of preeclampsia by adenoviral overexpression of the soluble vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor sFlt-1 (also referred to as sVEGFR-1) in pregnant and nonpregnant Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were treated with VEGF121 at 0, 100, 200, or 400 &mgr;g/kg once or twice daily (n=8 per group; 64 total) and compared with normal control animals (n=4 per group) by examination of systolic blood pressure, urinary albumin and creatinine, renal histopathology, and glomerular gene expression profiling. sFlt-1 expression induced hypertension with proteinuria and glomerular endotheliosis and significant changes in gene expression. VEGF121 treatment alleviated these symptoms and reversed 125 of 268 sFlt-1–induced changes in gene expression. VEGF121 had beneficial effects in this rat model of preeclampsia without apparent harm to the fetus. Further study of VEGF121 as a potential therapeutic agent for preeclampsia is warranted.
Product Attribute-Based Voter Segmentation and Resource Advantage Theory

Political parties have long since targeted the marginal constituency and floating voters using demographic segmentation approaches and the use of market segmentation techniques in general election campaigns is now well-documented (see Johnson 1971; Ahmed and Jackson 1979; Yorke and Meehan 1986; Baines et al. 2003). The actual practice of segmentation as undertaken by political parties and its relation to theory is less well-considered. This paper represents a serious attempt to outline how political parties targeted a priori segments of the electorate including gender, age and lifecycle in the 2005 British General Election when they should have been adopting a product attributed-based approach. Selected MORI surveys from April 2005 were analysed, using logistic regression to indicate the most important factors in determining how Britons vote. Principal components analysis provides an indication of how the three main British political parties are perceived. The paper discusses, using resource-advantage theory (Hunt 1995; Hunt and Arnett 2004) how political parties might use their party and leader image, and policies to build their popularity in an election campaign.
Impact of the "Diabetes Interactive Diary" telemedicine system on metabolic control, risk of hypoglycemia, and quality of life: a randomized clinical trial in type 1 diabetes.

BACKGROUND Telemedicine systems based on mobile phones represent new promising educational tools. The "Diabetes Interactive Diary" (DID) is a carbohydrate/bolus calculator promoting the patient-physician communication via short message service. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of the DID versus usual care on metabolic control, hypoglycemia, and quality of life. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with type 1 diabetes on a basal:bolus regimen with insulin glargine and insulin glulisine, not previously educated on carbohydrate (CHO) counting, were randomized to DID (Group A; n=63) or traditional education (Group B; n=64). Generalized hierarchical linear regression models for repeated measures were applied to compare changes between groups. Incidence of hypoglycemia was compared using Poisson regression models. RESULTS Of 127 patients (age, 36.9±10.5 years; diabetes duration, 16.3±9.3 years), 15 (11.8%) dropped out. After 6 months, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels decreased by -0.49±0.11 in Group A and -0.48±0.11 in Group B (P=0.73). Group A showed a 86% lower risk of grade 2 hypoglycemia than Group B. Compared with usual care, DID improved the "perceived frequency of hyperglycemic episodes" scale of the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire and the "social relations" and the "fear of hypoglycemia" dimensions of the Diabetes Specific Quality of Life Scale. Results obtained with DID markedly differ among patients and centers. CONCLUSIONS DID is no more effective than traditional CHO counting education in reducing HbA1c levels. DID reduces the risk of moderate/severe hypoglycemia and improves quality of life. A better understanding of patients' and healthcare professionals' attitudes associated with an effective care supported by technology is essential to avoid waste of resources.
SDGR: An SDN-Based Geographic Routing Protocol for VANET

Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) is a new technology that integrates the potentials of next generation wireless networks into vehicles. The design of routing protocols in VANETs is crucial in supporting the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Typical geographic routings only use local information to make routing decisions which may lead to local maximum and sparse connectivity problems. This paper proposes a novel SDN-based geographic routing (SDGR) protocol for VANET, based on node location, vehicles density and digital map. Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is used to decouple the network management from data transferring. In SDGR, the central controller gathers information of vehicles and provides a global view to compute the optimal routing paths. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme performs much better than related routing protocols in terms of both packet delivery ratio and delivery delay time.
Psychrotrophic bacteria and milk and dairy products quality

The characteristics of microbial populations in raw milk at the time of processing has a significant influence on shelf life, organoleptic quality, spoilage and yields of the raw milk, processed milk as well as on the other dairy products. Unfortunately, cold and extended storage of raw milk, as a common practice in dairy sector today, favour the growth of psychrotrophic bacteria. Therefore, their count in the cooled milk is more than the ideal limit of 10% of the initial raw milk microbial population. Psychrotrophic bacteria are generally able to form extracellular or intracellular termoresistant enzymes (proteases, lipases and phospholipases) which can cause spoilage of milk and dairy product. In addition, besides exhibiting spoilage features, some species belonging to the psychrotrophs are considered as opportunistic pathogenic bacteria that carry inherent resistance to antibiotics and/or to produce toxins. In sense of quality, psychrotrophic bacteria have become major problem for today’s dairy industry as leading causes of spoilage and significant economic losses. This review focuses on the impact of psychrotrophs on quality problems associated with raw milk as well as on the final dairy products. In addition, the most common species and means of controlling strategies were also discussed
Novel use of waste keratin and cotton linter fibers for prototype tissue papers and their evaluation

Corporate environmental sustainability calls for sustainable product manufacturing with less creation of waste material or increased reuse of waste materials. One example is the use of keratin fiber from the poultry industry and cotton linter from the textile industry for paper and tissue manufacturing. In this paper, the feasibility of using these waste fibers to make paper was demonstrated in handsheets. The properties of these handsheets were compared to the properties of handsheets made with standard bleached eucalyptus tropical hardwood fibers. A blend of cotton linter and keratin fibers at 80/20 and 60/40 ratios showed a 59% and 73% improvement in sheet bulk, respectively, compared to eucalyptus handsheets. Similarly, air permeability of the cotton / keratin fiber handsheets improved 414% and 336%, respectively, versus the eucalyptus. However, the tensile index of the cotton and keratin fiber blends was lower than the eucalyptus sheets. There was no remarkable difference in water absorbency up to 20% keratin fiber. Above 20% of keratin fibers the water absorbency started to decrease, which is likely attributable to the hydrophobic nature of the protein-based keratin fiber.
Vaginal examination vs. cervical length – which is superior in predicting preterm birth?

Abstract Objective: To compare the predictive value of preterm birth (PTB) by transvaginal sonographic cervical length (CL) measurement to digital examination of the cervix (Bishop score – BS), in patients with premature contractions (PC) and intact membranes. Design: A retrospective case-control study. Setting: Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba, Israel. Population: Women at 24–34 weeks of gestation who were hospitalized with PC and intact membranes. Methods: All patients underwent CL and BS measurements upon admission. Power analysis revealed that 375 patients were needed to show a significant difference between the two methods for predicting PTB. Each one served as her own control. Main outcome measures: PTB<37 and<34 weeks. Results: Receiver-operator characteristic curve (ROC) and logistic regression analyses indicated a correlation between both shortened CL and increased BS to PTB (P<0.001). Neither test offered an advantage in predicting PTB. Areas under the curve for BS and CL ROC were similar for PTB before 37 weeks gestation (0.611 vs. 0.640, P=0.28). For nulliparous women, CL predicted PTB better that BS (0.642 vs. 0.724, P=0.03). For singleton and multiple pregnancy pregnancies, BS and CL did not differ significantly in predicting PTB (P=0.9, P=0.2, respectively). For nulliparous with multiple pregnancy, the BS and CL ROC curves differ nearly significantly (0.554 vs. 0.709, P=0.07), with better predictive ability for CL. Conclusions: CL and BS have similar value in predicting PTB in patients with PC. For nulliparous women, CL is superior over the BS.
Differences in signal transduction pathways by which platelet‐derived and fibroblast growth factors activate extracellular signal‐regulated kinase in differentiating oligodendrocytes

Treatment of cultured rat oligodendroglial progenitors with either platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF) or fibroblast growth factor‐2 (FGF‐2) activated extracellular signal regulated kinase 2 (ERK2). Activation was transient in response to PDGF, whereas it was greater and more prolonged in response to FGF‐2. ERK2 activation by PDGF was preceded by a very rapid, robust and transient tyrosine phosphorylation of the PDGF receptor. Although there was consistently more activation of ERK2 in response to FGF‐2 than to PDGF, immunostaining of FGF receptors 1 (FGFR1) and 2 (FGFR2) and their tyrosine phosphorylation in progenitors was very weak, and both receptors were up‐regulated during differentiation to oligodendrocytes. Tyrosine phosphorylation of the FGF receptors was maximal from 15 to 60 min of treatment and was sustained for many hours. Binding of radioiodinated FGF‐2 to FGFR1 was predominant in progenitors, whereas binding to FGFR2 was predominant in oligodendrocytes. ERK2 activation by PDGF was more sensitive to inhibition of tyrosine kinases, whereas ERK2 activation by FGF‐2 was relatively more sensitive to inhibitors of protein kinase C. These differences in signal transduction pathways probably contribute to the different cellular responses of oligodendroglial lineage cells to PDGF and FGF‐2, respectively.
The Effects of Technology on Reading Performance in the Middle-School Grades: A Meta-Analysis With Recommendations for Policy.

1 Background for the Meta-Analysis.2 The Evolving Relationship Between Literacy and Technology . 2 Concerns About Literacy, Technology, and Adolescents.5 The Context for the Synthesis.6 Method . 7 Inclusion Criteria . 7 Location and Selection of Publications.7 The Filtering Process for the Selection of the Target Articles.8 Statistical Treatment . 10 Results and Discussion . 13 Descriptive Results . 13 Analysis of Effect Sizes . 13 Examining Simple Effects Within Categories . 16 Summary of Results.18 Suggestions for Policy and Practice.20 Recommendations for Practice . 20 Recommendations for Future Research . 21 References.25
Delayless harmonic detection based on DSP with high-accuracy for active power filter

This paper presents a delayless harmonic detection system based on DSP with high-accuracy for active power filter. Modified structure adopting new signal-flow is introduced, which can effectively integrate analog control and digital control. Phase-shift compensating strategy is introduced into the synchronous-reference-frame based detection algorithm to overcome time-delay induced by digital control. Some design issues such as evaluation of time delay and digital phase shift is discussed. Furthermore, to guarantee satisfactory detecting performance, low sampling rate based low pass filter design helps to realize accurate fundamental current extraction overcoming the limitation of certain DSP resource. Experimental results verify the excellent performance of the presented harmonic detection system.
Prevalence of human metapneumovirus among hospitalized children younger than 1 year in Catalonia, Spain

Human metapneumovirus was discovered recently respiratory virus implicated in both upper and lower respiratory tract infection. In children, the clinical symptoms of human metapneumovirus are similar to those produced by respiratory syncytial virus, ranging from mild to severe diseases such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia. The aim of the present study was to describe the prevalence of human metapneumovirus and other common respiratory viruses among admitted to hospital infants. From January 2006 to June 2006, 99 nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected from hospitalized children younger than 12 months in order to study respiratory viruses. Human metapneumovirus detection was performed by cell culture and two RT‐PCR targeting on polymerase and fusion genes. The latter gene was used for phylogenetic analysis. In 67/99 children (67%) at least one viral pathogen was identified, the viruses detected most frequently were respiratory syncytial virus (35%), human metapneumovirus (25%) and rhinovirus (19%). The results obtained in this study, show that: (1) human metapneumovirus is one of the most important viruses among children less than 12 months; (2) children infected with human metapneumovirus were significantly older than those infected by respiratory syncytial virus; (3) human metapneumovirus was associated more frequently with pneumonia whereas respiratory syncytial virus was only detected in patients with bronchiolitis; (4) there was a clear epidemiological succession pattern with only a small overlap among the viruses detected most frequently; (5) all human metapneumovirus samples were clustered within sublineage A2. J. Med. Virol. 80:1452–1460, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The sensitivity of 18‐fluorodopa positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) as the most important movement disorder is characterized by a progressive loss of nigral dopamine neurons and a subsequent degeneration within several other transmitter systems. Functional brain imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) and the radiotracer 18‐fluorodopa (FDOPA) is capable to quantify the deficiency of dopamine synthesis and storage within pre‐synaptic striatal nerve terminals. Therefore, FDOPA‐PET allows the diagnosis of PD in early disease stages and the differentiation of clinically unclear cases from other movement disorders, e.g. essential tremor. Additionally, FDOPA‐PET imaging permits the follow‐up of disease progression, the assessment of medical and surgical PD therapy strategies with possible neuroprotective properties and the detection of pre‐clinical disease in subjects at risk for the disorder. The classical domain of morphological magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the differentiation of symptomatic Parkinsonism from PD. However, recent advances in MRI data acquisition and analysis techniques demonstrated MRI to be also a valuable tool for detection of nigral pathology in PD and for differentiation of neurodegenerative disorders with atypical Parkinsonism.
Basis path test suite and testing process for WS-BPEL

Web services technology offers a WS-BPEL language for business process execution. The building block of WS-BPEL is those Web services components that collaborate to realize a certain function of the business process. Applications can now be built more easily by composing existing Web services into workflows; each workflow itself is also considered a composite Web service. As with other programs, basis path testing can be conducted on WS-BPEL processes in order to verify the execution of every node of the workflow. This paper discusses the generation of the test suite for basis path testing of WS-BPEL and an accompanying tool that can be used by service testers. The test suite consists of test cases, stubs of the constituent services in the workflow, and auxiliary state services that assist in the test; these are deployed when running a test on a particular WS-BPEL. The paper presents also a testing process for service testers. A business process of a market place is discussed as a case study.
Wage Bargaining, Central Bank Independence, and the Real Effects of Money

The effects of financial capital mobility on monetary policy autonomy are relatively well understood, but the importance of particular monetary regimes in distinct national-institutional settings is not. This article is a theoretical and empirical exploration of the effects of monetary policy regimes on unemployment in different national wage-bargaining settings. Based on a rational expectations, two-stage game of the interaction between the wage behavior of labor unions and the monetary policies of governments, I argue that monetary policies have real (employment) effects in all but the most decentralized bargaining systems. Specifically, in intermediately centralized bargaining systems a credible government commitment to a nonaccommodating monetary policy rule will deter militant wage behavior with salutary effects on unemployment. In highly centralized systems, by contrast, restrictive monetary policies will clash with unions' pursuit of wage-distributive goals and produce inferior employment performance. Only in highly fragmented bargaining systems is money “neutral” in the sense that employment performance is unaffected by monetary regimes. The model has clear consequences for the optimal design of central banks and collective bargaining arrangements and suggests new ways to study institutional change (hereunder the causal effect of increasingly globalized capital markets). The argument is supported by pooled time-series data for fifteen OECD countries over a twenty-one-year period.
Looking Inside the Dream Team: Probing Into the Contributions of Tacit Knowledge as an Organizational Resource

Despite growing evidence that suggests that tacit knowledge can serve as a critical resource, there has been little effort to understand how such a form of personalized knowledge can provide strong advantages to an entire group or organization. In this paper, we develop four different categories of tacit knowledge that are derived from the basic tenants of the resource-based framework. More specifically, we distinguish between the discrete and linked forms of productive tacit knowledge that is possessed by individuals and administrative tacit knowledge that is held by managers within an organization. Next, we evaluate the role of each of these four different forms of tacit knowledge by focusing on the contribution of players and managers of professional sports teams. Our analysis of a large sample of Major League Baseball teams from 1985 to 2001 provides significant support for the importance of each of these categories of tacit knowledge for the performance of an organization.
The Public Pension System of Romania between Crisis and Reforms. The Case of Special Pensions System

The public pension systems have real difficulties, at the international level. The public authorities take different measures to reform the system, the multi-pillar system being considered as a “miraculous” solution. The incidence of the political factor is significant for the particular reforms and the social inequities will remain, no matter the specific efforts, as long as the interests of the financial institutions and the political factor stay strongly interconnected. Special pensions raise political and academic debates, mainly for the sums received by their beneficiaries. In this study we analyse the actual stage for the specific reforms and the degree of social inequity for the special pension case.
Functional Cooperation between Interleukin-17 and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Is Mediated by CCAAT/Enhancer-binding Protein Family Members*

Interleukin (IL)-17 is a recently described cytokine involved in the amplification of inflammatory responses and pathologies. A hallmark feature of IL-17 is its ability to induce expression of other cytokines and chemokines. In addition, IL-17 potently synergizes with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) to up-regulate expression of many target genes, particularly IL-6. Despite the many observations of IL-17 signaling synergy observed to date, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that underlie this phenomenon. In the osteoblastic cell line MC-3T3, we have found that IL-17 and TNFα exhibit potent synergy in mediating IL-6 secretion. Here, we show that at least part of the functional cooperation between IL-17 and TNFα occurs at the level of IL-6 gene transcription. Both the NF-κB and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP; NF-IL6) sites in the IL-6 promoter are important for cooperative gene expression, but NF-κB does not appear to be the direct target of the combined signal. Microarray analysis using the Affymetrix mouse MG-U74v2 chip identified C/EBPδ as another gene target of combined IL-17- and TNFα-induced signaling. Because C/EBP family members are known to control IL-6, we examined whether enhanced C/EBPδ expression is involved in the cooperative up-regulation of IL-6 by IL-17 and TNFα. Accordingly, we show that C/EBPδ (or the related transcription factor C/EBPβ) is essential for expression of IL-6. Moreover, overexpression of C/EBPδ (and, to a lesser extent, C/EBPβ) could substitute for the IL-17 signal at the level of IL-6 transcription. Thus, C/EBP family members, particularly C/EBPδ, appear to be important for the functional cooperation between IL-17 and TNFα.
Eusociality and the success of the termites: insights from a supertree of dictyopteran families

Sociality in insects may negatively impact on species richness. We tested whether termites have experienced shifts in diversification rates through time. Supertree methods were used to synthesize family‐level relationships within termites, cockroaches and mantids. A deep positive shift in diversification rate is found within termites, but not in the cockroaches from which they evolved. The shift is responsible for most of their extant species richness suggesting that eusociality is not necessarily detrimental to species richness, and may sometimes have a positive effect. Mechanistic studies of speciation and extinction in eusocial insects are advocated.
Workplace Visits Versus Case Studies in Undergraduate Occupational Medicine Teaching

Objective: To examine the effectiveness and acceptability of two active approaches in teaching occupational medicine to undergraduate medical students. Methods: Two training formats were compared: in 2007, fourth year students were sent on a workplace visit, and the next-year group discussed real life case studies. Students’ perceptions were obtained by assessment questionnaire. Results: In both the groups, all learning objectives were equally achieved with one exception. Awareness of risk factors and preventive measures was significantly higher in the group with workplace visits. However, students rated the case scenarios as more relevant. Conclusions: Until now, many training methods have not been fully investigated. Our study demonstrates that depending on the interest, experiences, and resources of teachers, students, and universities, both worksite visits and case studies can be effectively applied in teaching occupational medicine.