Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased expression of IGF‐binding protein‐5 in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) fibroblasts correlates with the fibroblast‐induced downregulation of DMD myoblast growth: An in vitro analysis

In DMD the progressive loss of muscle ability and concomitant increasing fibrosis might originate from, besides other causes, the fibroblast paracrine inhibition of satellite cell “growth. ” In this study we report that in myoblast/fibroblast coculture experiments, the presence of DMD fibroblasts negatively interfered with DMD myoblast growth to an extent directly proportional to the percentage of DMD fibroblasts present in the mixed‐cell cultures. Moreover, the observation that media conditioned with proliferating DMD fibroblasts inhibited the growth of DMD myoblasts more seriously than did control fibroblast‐conditioned media suggested a paracrine effect by diffusible factors. IGF‐binding proteins could act as such diffusible factors; in fact, IGFBP‐5 transcript increased threefold in DMD fibroblasts proliferating in DMD muscle extracts, whereas IGFBP‐3 mRNA decreased. In addition, high levels of IGFBP‐5 protein were detected in DMD fibroblast‐conditioned media. In neutralizing IGFBP‐5 in DMD fibroblast‐conditioned media by means of specific antibodies, or inhibiting IGFBP‐5 gene expression in DMD fibroblasts by means of oligo antisense, the fibroblast‐conditioned media lost inhibitory power over DMD myoblast proliferation. J. Cell. Physiol. 185:143–153, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Measuring the foundations of school readiness: Introducing a new questionnaire for teachers - The Brief Early Skills and Support Index (BESSI).

BACKGROUND Early work on school readiness focused on academic skills. Recent research highlights the value of also including both children's social and behavioural competencies and family support. AIMS Reflecting this broader approach, this study aimed to develop a new and brief questionnaire for teachers: The Brief Early Skills and Support Index (BESSI). SAMPLE The main sample, recruited from the north-west of England, included 1,456 children (49% male), aged 2.5 to 5.5 years. A second sample consisting of 258 children (44% male) aged 3 to 5.5 years was recruited to assess the test-retest reliability of the BESSI across a 1-month interval. METHODS Following development and pilot work with early years teachers, a streamlined (30 items) version of the BESSI was sent to 98 teachers and nursery staff, who rated the children in their class. RESULTS The best-fitting model included four latent factors: Three child factors (Behavioural Adjustment, Language and Cognition, and Daily Living Skills) and one Family Support factor. The three child factors exhibited measurement invariance across gender. All four factors showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Structural equation modelling showed that (1) boys had more problems than girls on all three child factors; (2) older children showed better Language and Cognition and Daily Living Skills than younger children; and (3) children eligible for free school meals (an index of financial hardship) had more problems on all four latent factors. Family Support latent scores predicted all three child latent factors and accounted for their correlation with financial hardship. CONCLUSIONS The BESSI is a promising brief teacher-report screening tool that appears suitable for children aged 2.5 to 5.5 and provides a broader perspective upon school readiness than previous measures.
Rhizobial 16S rRNA and dnaK Genes: Mosaicism and the Uncertain Phylogenetic Placement of Rhizobium galegae

ABSTRACT The phylogenetic relatedness among 12 agriculturally important species in the order Rhizobiales was estimated by comparative 16S rRNA and dnaK sequence analyses. Two groups of related species were identified by neighbor-joining and maximum-parsimony analysis. One group consisted of Mesorhizobium loti and Mesorhizobium ciceri, and the other group consisted of Agrobacterium rhizogenes, Rhizobium tropici, Rhizobium etli, and Rhizobium leguminosarum. Although bootstrap support for the placement of the remaining six species varied, A. tumefaciens, Agrobacterium rubi, and Agrobacterium vitis were consistently associated in the same subcluster. The three other species included Rhizobium galegae, Sinorhizobium meliloti, and Brucella ovis. Among these, the placement of R. galegae was the least consistent, in that it was placed flanking the A. rhizogenes-Rhizobium cluster in the dnaK nucleotide sequence trees, while it was placed with the other three Agrobacterium species in the 16S rRNA and the DnaK amino acid trees. In an effort to explain the inconsistent placement of R. galegae, we examined polymorphic site distribution patterns among the various species. Localized runs of nucleotide sequence similarity were evident between R. galegae and certain other species, suggesting that the R. galegae genes are chimeric. These results provide a tenable explanation for the weak statistical support often associated with the phylogenetic placement of R. galegae, and they also illustrate a potential pitfall in the use of partial sequences for species identification.
Review: Novel insights on diagnosis, cause and treatment of diabetic neuropathy: focus on painful diabetic neuropathy

Diabetic neuropathy is common, under or misdiagnosed, and causes substantial morbidity with increased mortality. Defining and developing sensitive diagnostic tests for diabetic neuropathy is not only key to implementing earlier interventions but also to ensure that the most appropriate endpoints are employed in clinical intervention trials. This is critical as many potentially effective therapies may never progress to the clinic, not due to a lack of therapeutic effect, but because the endpoints were not sufficiently sensitive or robust to identify benefit. Apart from improving glycaemic control, there is no licensed treatment for diabetic neuropathy, however, a number of pathogenetic pathways remain under active study. Painful diabetic neuropathy is a cause of considerable morbidity and whilst many pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions are currently used, only two are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. We address the important issue of the ‘placebo effect’ and also consider potential new pharmacological therapies as well as nonpharmacological interventions in the treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy.
THE EFFECT OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH OF NIGERIA

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has become the most important source of external resource flows to developing and underdeveloped countries over the years and has shown a significant part of capital formation and accumulation in these countries, though their share in the global distribution of FDI continued to remain small or even declining. The role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been widely acknowledged as a growth-deriving factor in the developing countries. This study was prompted to investigate empirically the effect of Foreign Direct Investment on economic growth of Nigeria between the periods of 1985-2016. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method of data analysis was adopted, because of Best Linear Unbiased Estimator (BLUE) properties. The data used were sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, Vol. 26 2016. The variables were on: Agricultural FDI, Petroleum FDI and Real Gross Domestic Product. The study employed Unit Root Test, to determine the stationarity of the variables, co-integration approach to determine the long-run equilibrium relationship of the model, Granger Causality test to determine the direction of the variables, Stability Test was also performed and Error Correction Model to correct the error of the model. Granger Causality Test was conducted to determine the direction of the variables whether uni or bidirectional relationship. From the model, it was discovered that Agricultural FDI is positive and statistically significant, while Petroleum FDI is positive and statistically significant in Nigeria. The study recommends that high technological tools are requiring in agricultural sector in order to compete favourably with foreign counterpart. Government should also monitor the activities of foreign investors and as well crest enabling environment via security to attract foreign investors in Nigeria.
Causal Relationship of Histone Modifications and Gene Expression Indicated by Variable Bayeasian Network Methods

Due to involvement in changing of chromatin structure, histone modifications are very important in regulation for gene expression. Some attempts have been done to resolve the relationship among histone modifications and gene expression. In this study, four types of Bayeasian network methods, Maximum weight spanning tree (MWST), K2, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) and greedy-search(GS), are used to study causal relationships. On a same dataset, the four methods resulted in different characteristics in causal relationships. MWST and MCMC were fast, but they did not give complete results, and MCMC were not stable. The initial networks had an influence on K2 and GS. In our test, GS could find some relationships that is supported by experiments.
The stability and fate of a spliced intron from vertebrate cells.

Introns constitute most of the length of typical pre-mRNAs in vertebrate cells. Thus, the turnover rate of introns may significantly influence the availability of ribonucleotides and splicing factors for further rounds of transcription and RNA splicing, respectively. Given the importance of intron turnover, it is surprising that there have been no reports on the half-life of introns from higher eukaryotic cells. Here, we determined the stability of IVS1Cbeta1, the first intron from the constant region of the mouse T-cell receptor-beta, (TCR-beta) gene. Using a tetracycline (tet)-regulated promoter, we demonstrate that spliced IVS1Cbeta1 and its pre-mRNA had half-lives of 6.0+/-1.4 min and 3.7+/-1.0 min, respectively. We also examined the half-lives of these transcripts by using actinomycin D (Act.D). Act.D significantly stabilized IVS1Cbeta1 and its pre-mRNA, suggesting that Act.D not only blocks transcription but exerts rapid and direct posttranscriptional effects in the nucleus. We observed that in vivo spliced IVS1Cbeta1 accumulated predominantly as lariat molecules that use a consensus branchpoint nucleotide. The accumulation of IVS1Cbeta1 as a lariat did not result from an intrinsic inability to be debranched, as it could be debranched in vitro, albeit somewhat less efficiently than an adenovirus intron. Subcellular-fractionation and sucrose-gradient analyses showed that most spliced IVS1Cbeta1 lariats cofractionated with pre-mRNA, but not always with mRNA in the nucleus. Some IVS1Cbeta1 also appeared to be selectively exported to the cytoplasm, whereas TCR-beta pre-mRNA remained in the nucleus. This study constitutes the first detailed analysis of the stability and fate of a spliced nuclear intron in vivo.
Neuropeptide expression in rat paraventricular hypothalamic neurons that project to the spinal cord

The paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVH) exerts many of its regulatory functions through projections to spinal cord neurons that control autonomic and sensory functions. By using in situ hybridization histochemistry in combination with retrograde tract tracing, we analyzed the peptide expression among neurons in the rat PVH that send axons to the spinal cord. Projection neurons were labeled by immunohistochemical detection of retrogradely transported cholera toxin subunit B, and radiolabeled long riboprobes were used to identify neurons containing dynorphin, enkephalin, or oxytocin mRNA. Of the spinally projecting neurons in the PVH, approximately 40% expressed dynorphin mRNA, 40% expressed oxytocin mRNA, and 20% expressed enkephalin mRNA. Taken together with our previous findings on the distribution of vasopressin‐expressing neurons in the PVH (Hallbeck and Blomqvist [1999] J. Comp. Neurol. 411:201–211), the results demonstrated that the different PVH subdivisions display distinct peptide expression patterns among the spinal cord–projecting neurons. Thus, the lateral parvocellular subdivision contained large numbers of spinal cord–projecting neurons that express any of the four investigated peptides, whereas the ventral part of the medial parvocellular subdivision displayed a strong preponderance for dynorphin‐ and vasopressin‐expressing cells. The dorsal parvocellular subdivision almost exclusively contained dynorphin‐ and oxytocin‐expressing spinal cord–projecting neurons. This parcellation of the peptide‐expressing neurons suggested a functional diversity among the spinal cord–projecting subdivisions of the PVH that provide an anatomic basis for its various and distinct influences on autonomic and sensory processing at the spinal level. J. Comp. Neurol. 433:222–238, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Kapitał intelektualny jako kluczowy czynnik przewagi konkurencyjnej – wyzwania dla modeli zarządzania współczesnymi przedsiębiorstwami

Streszczenie: Współcześnie pozycja konkurencyjna przedsiębiorstwa jest w coraz większym stopniu pochodną kreatywności i innowacyjności jego kapitału intelektualnego (KI), który staje się mnożnikiem zgromadzonego kapitału ekonomicznego. Celem opracowania jest próba wskazania rekomendacji dla zmian w modelach zarządzania współczesnymi przedsiębiorstwami, adekwatnych do wzrostu roli kapitału intelektualnego jako czynnika przewagi konkurencyjnej – na podstawie badań pilotażowych obejmujących analizę modeli rozwojowych światowych liderów sektorów: elektronicznego, motoryzacyjnego, farmaceutycznego, petrochemicznego (klasyfikowanych w World Investment Report 2000-2015). W artykule przedstawiono dylematy teoretyczne dotyczące definiowania elementów KI oraz odwołano się do kwestii wpływu rosnącego znaczenia KI jako czynnika przewagi konkurencyjnej na zmiany w systemie organizacyjno-zarządczym przedsiębiorstwa. Dokonano przeglądu modeli zarządzania, dedykowanych firmom starającym się dostosować do nowych wyzwań, a następnie zestawiono je z wynikami badań pilotażowych. Podkreślono, że kluczowa dla kreacji przewagi konkurencyjnej staje się znajomość subkategorii budujących KI danej firmy oraz sukcesywne uwzględnianie ich w modelu zarządzania.
Contradiction resolution and its application to self-organizing maps

In this paper, we propose a new type of information-theoretic method called “contradiction resolution. ” Neurons are supposed to be evaluated by two different ways. First, the neurons must evaluate themselves for themselves, namely, self-evaluation. On the other hand, neurons must be evaluated by their neighboring neurons, namely, outer-evaluation. In a society of neurons, contradiction between self and outer-evaluation must be reduced as much as possible. We apply the method to self-organizing maps. Our method modifies the cooperation of neurons in such a way that difference between self and outer-evaluation is reduced. We applied the method with self-organizing maps to the visualization of dollar-yen exchange rates. Our method could produce explicit class structure in which the dollar-yen rates were divided into three specific periods and an additional one with the highest and lowest peaks.
E‐participation Opportunities and the Ambiguous Role of Corruption: A Model of Municipal Responsiveness to Sociopolitical Factors

Municipalities ostensibly scale the ladder of e‐participation improvement to gain legitimacy. However, research has not yet addressed how e‐participation initiatives are affected by serious legitimacy concerns such as corruption. One municipal response to corruption is to use e‐participation offerings as a remedial effort to gain citizen trust, but window‐dressing strategies might also be used. In this article, the authors attempt to make sense of this ambiguity by hypothesizing that the effects of perceived corruption on e‐participation offerings depend on the type of e‐participation as well as the level of local social capital and local public accountability demand. Analysis of data from 104 municipal websites in South Africa between 2013 and 2017 reveals support for two moderation mechanisms: (1) a positive remedial response to corruption in the presence of strong social capital and (2) a negative avoidance response.
Hydrogen sulfide ameliorates cardiovascular dysfunction induced by cecal ligation and puncture in rats

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is an endogenously produced gaseous messenger that participates in regulation of cardiovascular functions. This study evaluates the possible protective effect of H2S in cardiovascular dysfunction induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) in rats. After 24 h of induction of CLP, heart rate (HR), mortality, cardiac and inflammation biomarkers (creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) isozyme, cardiac troponin I (cTnI), C-reactive protein (CRP), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)), in vitro vascular reactivity, histopathological examination, and oxidative biomarkers (malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD)) were determined. CLP induced elevations in HR, mortality, serum CK-MB, cTnI, CRP, and LDH, in addition to impaired aortic contraction to potassium chloride and phenylephrine and relaxation to acetylcholine without affecting sodium nitroprusside responses. Moreover, CLP increased cardiac and aortic MDA and decreased SOD, without affecting GSH and caused a marked subserosal and interstitial inflammation in endocardium. Sodium hydrosulfide, but not the irreversible inhibitor of H2S synthesis dl-propargyl glycine, protected against CLP-induced changes in HR, mortality, cardiac and inflammatory biomarkers, oxidative stress, and myocardium histopathological changes without affecting vascular dysfunction. Our results confirm that H2S can attenuate CLP-induced cardiac, but not vascular, dysfunction possibly through its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.
Cognitive dysfunction associates with white matter hyperintensities and subcortical atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging of the elderly diabetes mellitus Japanese elderly diabetes intervention trial (J‐EDIT)

Type 2 diabetes is associated with cognitive dysfunction and increases the risk of dementia in the elderly. The aim of this study was to explore, by means of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, possible relationships among clinical profiles of diabetes, cognitive function, white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and subcortical brain atrophy.
Foundations of Weighted Utilitarianism

We provide a microfoundation for a weighted utilitarian social welfare function that reflects common moral intuitions about interpersonal comparisons of utilities. If utility is only ordinal, interpersonal comparisons are meaningless. Nonetheless, economics often adopts utilitarian welfare functions, assuming that comparable utility functions can be calibrated using information beyond consumer choice data. We show that consumer choice data alone are sufficient. As suggested by Edgeworth (1881), just noticeable differences provide a common unit of measure for interpersonal comparisons of utility differences. We prove that a simple monotonicity axiom implies a weighted utilitarian aggregation of preferences, with weights proportional to individual jnd's.
Total Hip Arthroplasty with Use of Second-Generation Cementing Techniques. An Eighteen-Year-Average Follow-up Study*

In this report, we present the results of a further follow-up of a series of 140 consecutive patients (161 hips) who had had a primary total hip arthroplasty with insertion of a bead-blasted monoblock femoral component with use of so-called second-generation cementing techniques. The average age of the patients at the time of the arthroplasty was sixty-one years (range, twenty-one to eighty-five years). Sixty-seven patients (seventy-seven hips) died less than seventeen years after the index operation. The remaining seventy-three patients (eighty-four hips) were followed for an average of eighteen years (range, seventeen to twenty years). No patient was lost to follow-up. In the entire group of 161 hips, over the twenty-year span of the study, eight femoral components (5 percent) and twenty-eight acetabular components (17 percent) had been revised because of aseptic loosening. Of the seventy-seven hips in the sixty-seven patients who died, four had been revised because of aseptic loosening of the acetabular component only; one, because of aseptic loosening of the femoral component only; and one, because of aseptic loosening of both components. Of the eighty-four hips in the seventy-three patients who were alive at least seventeen years after the index arthroplasty, twenty-four hips (29 percent) in twenty-one patients had had revision of one or both components for any reason. Twenty-three acetabular components (27 percent) and six femoral components (7 percent) had been revised because of aseptic loosening. An additional two hips (2 percent) in two patients were loose according to radiographic criteria but had not been revised. Of the sixty-five all-polyethylene acetabular components that had been inserted with cement and were in patients who were alive at least seventeen years postoperatively, fifteen (23 percent) had been revised because of aseptic loosening. An additional seventeen cups (26 percent) were loose according to radiographic criteria. Thus, a total of thirty-two cups (49 percent) had been revised because of loosening or were loose but had not been revised at the time of the latest follow-up. The femoral components that had been inserted with use of second-generation cementing techniques fared better than did the acetabular components that had been inserted with these techniques during the same time-period. We found that assessment of all postoperative radiographs rather than only those that had been made immediately postoperatively increased the accuracy of the grading of the cement around the femoral component. Subsequent radiographs frequently had been made at different projections, which revealed new findings, consisting primarily of previously undetected voids, areas of thin cement, and defects in the cement mantle. Thus, we now use all available radiographs to determine the grade of the cement.
The Influence of Context on Pain Practices in the NICU: Perceptions of Health Care Professionals

In this qualitative descriptive study, we explored health care professionals’ perceptions of the influence of context (i.e., organizational culture, structure, resources, capabilities/competencies, and politics) on evidence-based pain practices. A total of 16 focus groups with 147 health care professionals were conducted in three neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in central and eastern Canada. Three overarching themes emerged from the data, which captured influences on optimal pain practices in the NICU, including (a) a culture of collaboration and support for evidence-based practice, (b) threats to autonomous decision making, and (c) complexities in care delivery. These results were consistent with theoretical conceptualizations of how context influences practice, as well as recent empirical research findings. This study supports the importance of context in shaping evidence-based practices by health care professionals in the management of pain in the NICU.