Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of computerized neuropsychological tests (CANTAB) to assess cognitive effects of antihypertensive drugs in the elderly. Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery.

OBJECTIVE To establish reliability and ease of use of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) in assessing changes in cognitive function induced by antihypertensive drugs. DESIGN AND METHODS Standard neuropsychological testing was combined with CANTAB in a double-blind 18-week cross-over study in elderly hypertensives taking perindopril or hydrochlorothiazide/triamterene (HT). Cognitive effects were assessed by employing tests of attention, visuospatial and verbal memory, learning, reasoning, planning, problem solving, speed and coordination. Affect was assessed using two different depression-rating scales. RESULTS Perindopril and the diuretic had no adverse effects on the various aspects of cognitive function. Mood, as assessed by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory, was improved on Perindopril, and the error rate in the motor screening test was lower. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring showed both drugs achieved effective 24-h control. CONCLUSIONS The ease of use and the ability to adjust the level of testing to the requirements of individual patients, together with the reliability of longitudinal test/re-test results, indicates that CANTAB is an important addition to the methods available to quantitate adverse central nervous system drug effects. The other purpose of the study was to assess any adverse cognitive effects of perindopril against a drug HT believed to have no adverse central nervous system effects. In this context, perindopril was free of adverse effects in all the objective tests employed. In addition, there was a benefit seen in two independent assessments of depression (the Hamilton and the Beck rating scales).
Novel alternative therapy for spinal tuberculosis during surgery: reconstructing with anti-tuberculosis bioactivity implants

Accompanied with the worsening of the pulmonary tuberculosis bacterium (TB) epidemic, the incidence of spinal TB has increased in recent years. Spinal reconstruction and stabilisation, and bone defect repair play a crucial role in the surgical treatment of spinal TB. Unfortunately, the existing materials have not completely met the requirements for spinal TB reconstruction due to their diverse deficiencies. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel reconstructing implants. Poly-DL-lactide (PDLLA) and nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) are two promising drug delivery systems (DDS) and materials for bone repair, which could help us to overcome the difficulties in spinal TB reconstruction in the future. In this article, we discuss the properties of PDLLA and nHA, two potential drug delivering and bone repair materials for spinal TB reconstruction. We also presented two alternatives for spinal TB in future. Two strategies have the potential for treating spinal TB in the future. One such strategy consists of mixing anti-TB drugs, PDLLA with nHA to fabricate a novel three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffold via 3D printing (3DP) technology. Another is preparing a novel titanium mesh implant coated with drugs/PDLLA/nHA composites by solvent evaporation and low-temperature drying technology. These two hypotheses have recently been tested in a laboratory setting by our team.
NEK7 is essential for centriole duplication and centrosomal accumulation of pericentriolar material proteins in interphase cells

The centrosomes in dividing cells follow a series of cyclical events of duplication and separation, which are tightly linked to the cell cycle. Serine/threonine-protein kinase NEK7 (NEK7) is a centrosomal kinase that is required for proper spindle formation during mitosis. In this study, we observed that centriole duplication was inhibited in NEK7-depleted cells. Ectopic expression of centrosome-directed NEK7 led to the formation of extra centrioles in a kinase-activity-dependent manner. We also observed extra centriole formation in centrosome-directed NEK6-expressing cells, suggesting that NEK6 and NEK7 might share biological activities that induce centriole duplication. The centrosomal pericentriolar material (PCM) proteins were significantly reduced in NEK7-depleted cells. The PCM proteins in NEK7-depleted cells did not accumulate at the centrosomes, even if the cells exited mitosis and progressed to the G2 phase. These results revealed that NEK7 is essential for PCM accumulation in a cell cycle stage-specific manner. Furthermore, HeLa cells depleted of NEK7 during S phase retained a higher quantity of PCM proteins and exhibited a less severe mitotic phenotype. On the basis of these results, we propose that NEK7 is involved in the recruitment of PCM proteins, which are necessary for both centriole duplication and spindle pole formation. Our study revealed that NEK7 activity is required for centrosome cycle progression not only at M phase, but also at G1 phase.
IgG Antibodies to Endothelial Protein C Receptor-Binding Cysteine-Rich Interdomain Region Domains of Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocyte Membrane Protein 1 Are Acquired Early in Life in Individuals Exposed to Malaria

ABSTRACT Severe malaria syndromes are precipitated by Plasmodium falciparum parasites binding to endothelial receptors on the vascular lining. This binding is mediated by members of the highly variant P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) family. We have previously identified a subset of PfEMP1 proteins associated with severe malaria and found that the receptor for these PfEMP1 variants is endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR). The binding is mediated through the amino-terminal cysteine-rich interdomain region (CIDR) of the subtypes α1. 1 and α1. 4 to α1. 8. In this study, we investigated the acquisition of anti-CIDR antibodies using plasma samples collected in four study villages with different malaria transmission intensities in northeastern Tanzania during a period with a decline in malaria transmission. We show that individuals exposed to high levels of malaria transmission acquire antibodies to EPCR-binding CIDR domains early in life and that these antibodies are acquired more rapidly than antibodies to other CIDR domains. The rate by which antibodies to EPCR-binding CIDR domains are acquired in populations in areas where malaria is endemic is determined by the malaria transmission intensity, and on a population level, the antibodies are rapidly lost if transmission is interrupted. This indicates that sustained exposure is required to maintain the production of the antibodies.
Gender Differences in Musculotendinous Stiffness and Range of Motion After an Acute Bout of Stretching

Hoge, KM, Ryan, ED, Costa, PB, Herda, TJ, Walter, AA, Stout, JR, and Cramer, JT. Gender differences in musculotendinous stiffness and range of motion after an acute bout of stretching. J Strength Cond Res 24(10): 2618-2626, 2010-The purpose of the present study was to examine musculotendinous stiffness (MTS) and ankle joint range of motion (ROM) in men and women after an acute bout of passive stretching. Thirteen men (mean ± SD age = 21 ± 2 years; body mass = 79 ± 15 kg; and height = 177 ± 7 cm) and 19 women (21 ± 3 years; 61 ± 9 kg; 165 ± 8 cm) completed stretch tolerance tests to determine MTS and ROM before and after a stretching protocol that consisted of 9 repetitions of passive, constant-torque stretching. The women were all tested during menses. Each repetition was held for 135 seconds. The results indicated that ROM increased after the stretching for the women (means ± SD pre to post: 109.39° ± 10.16° to 116.63° ± 9.63°; p ≤ 0.05) but not for the men (111.79° ± 6.84° to 113.93° ± 8.15°; p > 0.05). There were no stretching-induced changes in MTS (women's pre to postchange in MTS: −0.35 ± 0.38; men's MTS: +0.17 ± 0.40; p > 0.05), but MTS was higher for the men than for the women (MTS: 1.34 ± 0.41 vs. 0.97 ± 0.38; p ≤ 0.05). electromyographic amplitude for the soleus and medial gastrocnemius during the stretching tests was unchanged from pre to poststretching (p > 0.05); however, it increased with joint angle during the passive movements (p ≤ 0.05). Passively stretching the calf muscles increased stretch tolerance in women but not in men. But the stretching may not have affected the viscoelastic properties of the muscles. Practitioners may want to consider the possible gender differences in passive stretching responses and that increases in ROM may not always reflect decreases in MTS.
Increased Stimulus Expectancy Triggers Low-frequency Phase Reset during Restricted Vigilance

Temporal cues can be used to selectively attend to relevant information during abundant sensory stimulation. However, such cues differ vastly in the accuracy of their temporal estimates, ranging from very predictable to very unpredictable. When cues are strongly predictable, attention may facilitate selective processing by aligning relevant incoming information to high neuronal excitability phases of ongoing low-frequency oscillations. However, top–down effects on ongoing oscillations when temporal cues have some predictability, but also contain temporal uncertainties, are unknown. Here, we experimentally created such a situation of mixed predictability and uncertainty: A target could occur within a limited time window after cue but was always unpredictable in exact timing. Crucially to assess top–down effects in such a mixed situation, we manipulated target probability. High target likelihood, compared with low likelihood, enhanced delta oscillations more strongly as measured by evoked power and intertrial coherence. Moreover, delta phase modulated detection rates for probable targets. The delta frequency range corresponds with half-a-period to the target occurrence window and therefore suggests that low-frequency phase reset is engaged to produce a long window of high excitability when event timing is uncertain within a restricted temporal window.
Report of the Committee on Hodgkin's Disease Staging Procedures.

staging designations are to have usefulness and meaning for the care of the patient, for prognostic purposes, and for comparative clinical investigations. There have been numerous procedures and tests developed, studied, and proposed for these purposes. In consideration of current available evidence and data, the Committee recognizes those procedures which it considers necessary for all previously untreated patients with Hodgkin's disease, those procedures which it considers
Novel algorithm for the hemiplegic gait evaluation using a single 3-axis accelerometer

This paper suggests the novel algorithm for the estimating gait parameters of the hemiplegic patients using a 3-axis accelerometer. The signal processing for algorithm consists of a bandpass filter and a least square acceleration filter. To evaluate the performance of the algorithm, the correlation coefficients of the stride and the step time between the 3-axis accelerometer and the Vicon motion analysis system are compared. In consequence, correlation coefficient ranged from 0.90 to 0.99 for patients and ranged from 0.92 to 0.99 for normal subjects. The results showed that the novel algorithm is very useful for estimating not only hemiplegic gait but also normal gait.
Inflation and Economic Growth: A Comparative Empirical Analysis Between Cameroon and the Ivory Coast

Inflation is the main concern of developing Countries and particularly in Ivory Coast, a leading West Africa French speaking Country. The objective of this study is to make a comparative analysis of the effect of inflation on growth between Cameroon, a French speaking Central Africa Country where inflation is not a big concern and Ivory Coast. Using the Least Squares methodology, we find that inflation has no effect on economic growth in Cameroon during the study period. However, it has a negative and significant effect on economic growth in Ivory Coast. Also, the analysis of the causal relationship between inflation and economic growth using the Toda -Yamamoto framework and the Vector Autoregressive model show that there is a unidirectional causality from inflation to economic growth in Ivory Coast, while there is no causality between these variables in Cameroon.
Release of Ciprofloxacin from Chondroitin 6-Sulfate-Graft-Poloxamer Hydrogel In Vitro for Ophthalmic Drug Delivery

The system was designed to use Poloxamer as a vehicle for ophthalmic drug delivery using in situ gel formation property. To enhance the wound healing and cell adhesion as well as transparency of Poloxamer hydrogel, chondroitin 6-sulfate (C6S) was introduced into Poloxamer. For this purpose, mono amine-terminated Poloxamer (MATP), which was end-capped with ethylene amine group only in one side of terminal hydroxyl groups of Poloxamer, was synthesized. Subsequently, C6S-graft-Poloxamer copolymer (C6S-g-Poloxamer) was prepared by reaction between the amine groups of MATP and carboxyl groups of C6S in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carboimide (EDC). The coupling of MATP with C6S was clarified by 1H-NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy. The gelation temperature of graft copolymers was determined by measuring the temperature at which immobility of the meniscus in each solution was first noted. Release behavior of ciprofloxacin from C6S-g-Poloxamer hydrogel in vitro was investigated as a function of C6S content in the graft copolymer by a spectrophotometric assay at 287 nm using an UV spectrophotometer. Differences in the adhesion and morphology of human lens cell between Poloxamer- and C6S-g-Poloxamer-coated surfaces were also investigated. The gelation temperatures of C6S-g-Poloxamer copolymers were lowered with increasing of the concentration of the copolymer and decreasing of C6S content. The release of ciprofloxacin from the graft copolymer was sustained compared with Poloxamer itself and decreased with increasing the content of C6S in the copolymer due to the in situ gel formation of the copolymer and viscous properties of C6S. Human lens cells (B3) adhered to C6S-g-Poloxamer-coated surface were observed as transformed shapes after 2 days. The bioadhesive and thermally gelling of these graft copolymers will be expected to be an excellent drug carrier for the prolonged delivery to surface of the eye.
Banking crises and politics: a long run perspective

Are the policy responses to the financial crises of 2007-9 and the political events that followed them exceptional? We show that over the course of nearly 150 years, severe banking crises have become increasingly consequential for policy and politics in democracies. First, governments have come much more likely over time to opt for extensive bailouts and other policies aimed at wealth protection during crises. Second, the inclination of voters to punish governments that are in office when crises occur has also increased sharply over time. We argue that the main cause of these developments is the rise of ‘great expectations’ among large segments of society in modern democracies regarding the protection of wealth in the post-1945 era, especially since the 1970s. From this time, severe banking crises returned as an important threat to this wealth, resulting in rising ‘mass pressure from below’ on governments to provide costly bailouts and with increasingly powerful political effects.
Single‐step Strep‐tag® purification for the isolation and identification of protein complexes from mammalian cells

Identification of protein complexes is the key to understanding cellular functions. In this study, we present a novel method for the identification of multiprotein complexes from mammalian cells. By using the Strep‐tag affinity chromatography method, enabling fast and simple one‐step purification, coupled with competitive elution under physiological conditions, we successfully purified a PP2A holoenzyme protein complex from a cultured mammalian cancer cell line. We identified, by mass spectrometry, both known and novel interacting proteins for PP2A, and demonstrate that the purified PP2A complex is functional. The benefits and potential applications of the Strep‐tag method for protein complex purification are discussed.
Delineating CSR and social change: Querying corporations as actors for social good

This article seeks to delineate the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social change and asks the important question of whether and how corporations may serve as agents of social change. Dimensions of the business–society relationship are explored to further distinguish CSR from other types of corporate social initiatives and critically examine what types of corporate social initiatives can effectively and ethically serve as vehicles for social change. Based on this exploration, the article advances a descriptive model of business–society relationships and their capacity for creating and promoting social change. A case evaluation of Coca-Cola’s ‘3Ws’ social initiatives – related to well-being, water, and women’s empowerment – is then used to highlight and contextualize the model.
Ageing and ankle pulse pressure.

BACKGROUND Pulse pressure (PP) is a marker of arterial stiffness. Ageing of the arterial system is accompanied by atherosclerosis of coronary arteries and atherosclerosis of popliteal artery. However, severe impairment of the brachial artery is rare. This study investigates whether there is any significant inter-limb (brachial/ankle) PP difference. METHODS Blood pressure was measured in a group of young and a group of old non-smoking men; all were free from medication and disease with a mean age of 22 +/- 1.3 and 59 +/- 2 years respectively. The blood pressure was taken while they were in a supine position on three separate occasions. Lower limb pressure was measured by placing the cuff on the calf muscle. For auscultation of Korotkoff sounds the stethoscope was placed on the posterior surface of the internal malleolus. The mean of the second and third readings were rounded off and used for analysis. RESULTS Significant differences were found between brachial and ankle PP in both groups (p < 0.01). The ratio of brachial PP to ankle PP in the young men was greater than 1. In the old men it was less than 0.15. There was no significant difference between the brachial PP in the two groups, but on both sides the ankle PP was significantly greater in the old men (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS With the ageing of the arterial system, raised PP is more prominent in the lower limb (e.g. ankle). Cuff measurement of blood pressure at this site may be a useful index of peripheral PP changes with ageing.
Hydroxymatairesinol and Its Mammalian Metabolite Enterolactone Reduce the Growth and Metastasis of Subcutaneous AH109A Hepatomas in Rats

Abstract: Both epidemiological and experimental evidence is accumulating to show that a lignan-rich diet may reduce the risk of human breast cancer. Possible anti-cancer effects of dietary lignans on hepatomas or hepatoma cells have not been the topic of earlier studies. In the present study, we examined the effect of 7-hydroxymatairesinol (HMR) and its mammalian metabolite, enterolactone (ENL), on AH109A hepatoma cell proliferation and invasion in vitro. HMR and ENL inhibited the proliferation and invasion of AH109A hepatoma cells in vitro. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) of hepatoma cell proliferation was lower for ENL (10 μ M) than HMR (> 200 μ M). Likewise, IC 50 of hepatoma cell invasion was lower for ENL (9 μ M) than HMR (144 μ M). ENL suppressed hepatoma cell proliferation by accumulating cells in G 1 phase and elongating doubling time of these cells, and by increasing the rate of apoptosis. Subsequently, we investigated in vivo the effect of dietary HMR and ENL on growth and metastasis of AH109A hepatomas in rats. Both of these compounds reduced the growth and metastasis of solid AH109A hepatomas in rats. These in vitro and in vivo findings suggest that HMR has inhibitory activities on tumor growth and metastasis in the hepatoma-bearing rats, and that this anti-tumor effect is mediated at least partially by ENL, a metabolite of HMR.
Gender Stereotyping in Academia: Evidence from Economics Job Market Rumors Forum

This paper examines whether people in academia portray and judge women and men differently in everyday "conversations" that take place online. I combine methods from text mining, machine learning and econometrics to study the existence and extent of gender stereotyping on the Economics Job Market Rumors forum. I first design a propensity score model to infer the gender a post mainly refers to from text, and simultaneously identify the individual words with the strongest association with gender. The words selected provide a direct look into the gender stereotyped language on this forum. Through a topic analysis of the posts, I find that when women are under discussion, the discourse tends to become significantly less academic or professionally oriented, and more about personal information and physical appearance. Moreover, a panel data analysis reveals the state dependence between the content of posts within a thread. In particular, once women are mentioned in a thread, the topic is likely to shift from academic to personal. Finally, I restrict the analysis to discussions about specific economists, and find that high-profile female economists tend to receive more attention on EJMR than their male counterparts.
Influence of blood flow and millimeter wave exposure on skin temperature in different thermal models

Recently we showed that the Pennes bioheat transfer equation was not adequate to quantify mm wave heating of the skin at high blood flow rates. To do so, it is necessary to incorporate an “effective” thermal conductivity to obtain a hybrid bioheat equation (HBHE). The main aim of this study was to determine the relationship between non‐specific tissue blood flow in a homogeneous unilayer model and dermal blood flow in multilayer models providing that the skin surface temperatures before and following mm wave exposure were the same. This knowledge could be used to develop multilayer models based on the fitting parameters obtained with the homogeneous tissue models. We tested four tissue models consisting of 1–4 layers and applied the one‐dimensional steady‐state HBHE. To understand the role of the epidermis in skin models we added to the one‐ and three‐layer models an external thin epidermal layer with no blood flow. Only the combination of models containing the epidermal layer was appropriate for determination of the relationship between non‐specific tissue and dermal blood flows giving the same skin surface temperatures. In this case we obtained a linear relationship between non‐specific tissue and dermal blood flows. The presence of the fat layer resulted in the appearance of a significant temperature gradient between the dermis and muscle layer which increased with the fat layer thickness. Bioelectromagnetics 30:52–58, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.