Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do Enclaves Help or Hinder the American Dream?

Abstract: A sizable proportion of United States Hispanics live in segregated communities. The rising Hispanic population in the United States and the negative association of enclave-residence with earnings have given rise to the concern that a large part of the current and future labor force, native and immigrant Hispanics, may struggle to improve social mobility and integration into the mainstream United States population. However, the causal effect of enclave-residence on earnings of Hispanics in the United States remains an open question given that previous studies have not addressed the non-random distribution of individuals into and out of enclaves. Using a longitudinal data set I address the non-random location decision of individuals to identify a causal link between enclave-residence and earnings of Hispanics. I find a much larger negative impact of enclave-residence on earnings than previous studies. However, the results also show that enclave-residence is associated with longer durations of employment. Second generation immigrant Hispanics appear to be immune from the wage penalty that is associated with enclaves.
Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Polymorphisms in Ulcerative Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer

OBJECTIVESUlcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by chronic recurrent mucosal inflammation. Genetic studies in UC have indicated linkage to chromosome 6 in the region of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) gene, a potent proinflammatory cytokine. TNF-α production is influenced by multiple factors including the type of immune cell and its level of activation. However, several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the promoter region of TNF-α have been correlated with either increased or decreased production, indicating that regulation of TNF-α is in part genetic. Because UC patients are at increased risk for developing colorectal cancer (CRC), we investigated if there was an association between SNPs in the promoter of the TNF-α gene and UC-CRC.METHODSDNA was extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue from 114 UC-CRC cases and 114 UC-no CRC controls. Controls were frequency matched on duration and extent of colitis, age, ethnicity, and gender. All 228 tissue samples were analyzed for five TNF-α promoter polymorphisms (−238[G→A], −308[G→A], −857[C→T], −863[C→A], and −1031[T→C]) using PCR and sequencing.RESULTSThe −308(G→A) SNP was significantly associated with UC-CRC cases at both the allele and genotype level (P < 0.0001). No other SNPs were significantly associated with UC-CRC.CONCLUSIONWe report a novel finding of a strong association between the −308(G→A) SNP and UC-CRC. Complete elucidation of the mechanism of UC-CRC carcinogenesis will require investigation of other genes involved in modulating inflammation, but our results suggest that some UC patients may have additional genetic predispositions toward developing UC-CRC.
Non-invasive imaging of glycoprotein VI binding to injured arterial lesions

Summary Glycoprotein VI (GPVI) is the major platelet collagen receptor and plays a critical role in the process of thrombosis at sites of atherosclerotic lesions. This study evaluates the feasibility of radiolabeled soluble GPVI to identify injured arterial lesions. Radiolabeling was carried out using the iodogen method and resulted in the radioiodinated GPVI in radiochemical yields between 97–100%. The biodistribution of [125I]GPVI was determined in normal mice and demonstrated a blood clearance halftime of approximately 5.5 hours. Vascular lesions were induced in the carotid artery in wild type and ApoE -/- mice. Immediately after injury radioiodinated GPVI was injected intravenously. Binding of [123I]GPVI to carotid lesions was assessed by szinti-graphic in vivo imaging. Carotid arteries were explanted for ex vivo autoradiography and histological characterization of the lesion. In vivo and ex vivo imaging revealed substantial accumulation of radioiodinated GPVI in the injured artery wall, with a ratio of lesion to control vessel of 3:1 and 7:1, respectively. Because GPVI is the critical collagen receptor that mediates platelet adhesion to vascular lesions, soluble radiolabeled GPVI may be an agent for non-invasive imaging of thrombogenic thus, vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques.
State-Dependent Cross-Brain Information Flow in Borderline Personality Disorder

Importance Although borderline personality disorder (BPD)—one of the most common, burdensome, and costly psychiatric conditions—is characterized by repeated interpersonal conflict and instable relationships, the neurobiological mechanism of social interactive deficits remains poorly understood. Objective To apply recent advancements in the investigation of 2-person human social interaction to investigate interaction difficulties among people with BPD. Design, Setting, and Participants Cross-brain information flow in BPD was examined from May 25, 2012, to December 4, 2015, in pairs of participants studied in 2 linked functional magnetic resonance imaging scanners in a university setting. Participants performed a joint attention task. Each pair included a healthy control individual (HC) and either a patient currently fulfilling DSM-IV criteria for BPD (cBPD) (n = 23), a patient in remission for 2 years or more (rBPD) (n = 17), or a second HC (n = 20). Groups were matched for age and educational level. Main Outcomes and Measures A measure of cross-brain neural coupling was computed following previously published work to indicate synchronized flow between right temporoparietal junction networks (previously shown to host neural coupling abilities in health). This measure is derived from an independent component analysis contrasting the time courses of components between pairs of truly interacting participants compared with bootstrapped control pairs. Results In the sample including 23 women with cBPD (mean [SD] age, 26.8 [5.7] years), 17 women with rBPD (mean [SD] age, 28.5 [4.3] years), and 80 HCs (mean [SD] age, 24.0 [3.4] years]) investigated as dyads, neural coupling was found to be associated with disorder state (&eegr;2 = 0.17; P = .007): while HC-HC pairs showed synchronized neural responses, cBPD-HC pairs exhibited significantly lower neural coupling just above permutation-based data levels (&eegr;2 = 0.16; P = .009). No difference was found between neural coupling in rBPD-HC and HC-HC pairs. The neural coupling in patients was significantly associated with childhood adversity (T = 2.3; P = .03). Conclusions and Relevance This study provides a neural correlate for a core diagnostic and clinical feature of BPD. Results indicate that hyperscanning may deliver state-associated biomarkers for clinical social neuroscience. In addition, at least some neural deficits of BPD may be more reversible than is currently assumed for personality disorders.
Widely Conserved Recombination Patterns among Single-Stranded DNA Viruses

ABSTRACT The combinatorial nature of genetic recombination can potentially provide organisms with immediate access to many more positions in sequence space than can be reached by mutation alone. Recombination features particularly prominently in the evolution of a diverse range of viruses. Despite rapid progress having been made in the characterization of discrete recombination events for many species, little is currently known about either gross patterns of recombination across related virus families or the underlying processes that determine genome-wide recombination breakpoint distributions observable in nature. It has been hypothesized that the networks of coevolved molecular interactions that define the epistatic architectures of virus genomes might be damaged by recombination and therefore that selection strongly influences observable recombination patterns. For recombinants to thrive in nature, it is probably important that the portions of their genomes that they have inherited from different parents work well together. Here we describe a comparative analysis of recombination breakpoint distributions within the genomes of diverse single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) virus families. We show that whereas nonrandom breakpoint distributions in ssDNA virus genomes are partially attributable to mechanistic aspects of the recombination process, there is also a significant tendency for recombination breakpoints to fall either outside or on the peripheries of genes. In particular, we found significantly fewer recombination breakpoints within structural protein genes than within other gene types. Collectively, these results imply that natural selection acting against viruses expressing recombinant proteins is a major determinant of nonrandom recombination breakpoint distributions observable in most ssDNA virus families.
Immediate neurocognitive effects of methylphenidate on learning-impaired survivors of childhood cancer.

PURPOSE To test if methylphenidate (MPH) has an objective beneficial effect on immediate performance on tests of neurocognitive functions among learning-impaired survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and malignant brain tumors (BT). PATIENTS AND METHODS From July 1, 1997 through December 31, 1998, 104 long-term survivors of childhood ALL or a malignant BT completed neurocognitive screening for learning impairments and concurrent problems with sustained attention. Eligibility criteria for the MPH trial included an estimated intelligence quotient greater than 50, academic achievement in the 16(th) percentile or lower for age in reading, math, or spelling, and an ability to sustain attention on a computerized version of the Conners' Continuous Performance Test (CPT) in the 16(th) percentile or lower for age and sex. Of the 104, 32 (BT, n = 25; ALL, n = 7) were eligible on the basis of these a priori criteria for a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of MPH. The patients ingested a placebo (lactose) or MPH (0.6 mg/kg; 20 mg maximum) and repeated selected portions of the screening battery 90 minutes later. RESULTS Compared to the 17 patients randomized to the placebo group, the 15 patients randomized to the MPH group had a significantly greater improvement on the CPT for sustained attention (errors of omission, P =.015) and overall index (P =.008) but not for errors of commission (indicative of impulsiveness) nor reaction times. A trend for greater improvement in the MPH group on a measure of verbal memory failed to reach statistical significance. No trend was observed for MPH effectiveness in improving learning of a word association task. No significant side effects from MPH were observed. CONCLUSION MPH resulted in a statistically significant improvement on measures of attention abilities that cannot be explained by placebo or practice effects.
Traumatic brain injury, psychiatric diagnoses, and suicide risk among Veterans seeking services related to homelessness

ABSTRACT Objectives: To explore the differences in negative psychiatric outcomes (i.e. type and number of psychiatric diagnoses, suicide risk) among Veterans with and without a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) seeking homeless services. Methods: Observational design with data collected at one time-point. Veterans seeking homeless services from two Veteran Affairs (VA) Medical Centres completed study measures (n = 309; 282 with a history of TBI and 27 without a history of TBI). Veterans participated in structured clinical interviews regarding psychiatric and TBI histories. Results: Those with a history of TBI met the criteria for significantly more psychiatric diagnoses (p = 0.0003), and were more likely to be at risk for suicide (p = 0.007) than those without a history of TBI. Conclusions: Even among the high-risk cohort of homeless Veterans, those with a history of TBI were found to be at even greater risk for negative psychiatric outcomes. Further research is required to determine if and how the history of TBI contributes to the inability to maintain stable housing. Moreover, the findings highlight both the importance of assessing for history of TBI among this cohort, and educating providers regarding how to address the needs related to injury sequelae.
Differential effects of imatinib on PDGF‐induced proliferation and PDGF receptor signaling in human arterial and venous smooth muscle cells

Platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF) has been implicated in smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation, a key event in the development of myointimal hyperplasia in vascular grafts. Recent evidence suggests that the PDGF receptor (PDGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor, imatinib, can prevent arterial proliferative diseases. Because hyperplasia is far more common at the venous anastomosis than the arterial anastomosis in vascular grafts, we investigated whether imatinib also inhibited venous SMC (VSMC) proliferation, and examined possible differences in its mechanism of action between VSMC and arterial SMC (ASMC). Human ASMC and VSMC were stimulated with PDGF‐AB, in the presence or absence of imatinib (0.1–10 µM). Proliferation was assayed using the 5‐bromo‐2′‐deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation assay, while PDGFR, Akt and ERK1/2‐mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways were investigated by immunoblotting. The proliferative response to PDGF at 50 and 100 ng/ml was 32 and 43% greater, respectively, in VSMC than in ASMC. Similarly, PDGF‐stimulated proliferation was more sensitive to inhibition by imatinib in VSMC than ASMC (IC50 = 0.05 µM vs. 0.4 µM; P < 0.01). Imatinib also more effectively inhibited PDGF‐induced phosphorylation of PDGFRβ and Akt in VSMC, compared to ASMC. These data highlight inherent pharmacodynamic differences between VSMC and ASMC in receptor and cell signaling functions and suggest that imatinib therapy may be useful for the prevention of venous stenosis in vascular grafts. J. Cell. Biochem. 99: 1553–1563, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Differential impact of emotional task relevance on three indices of prioritised processing for fearful and angry facial expressions

ABSTRACT It is commonly assumed that threatening expressions are perceptually prioritised, possessing the ability to automatically capture and hold attention. Recent evidence suggests that this prioritisation depends on the task relevance of emotion in the case of attention holding and for fearful expressions. Using a hybrid attentional blink (AB) and repetition blindness (RB) paradigm we investigated whether task relevance also impacts on prioritisation through attention capture and perceptual salience, and if these effects generalise to angry expressions. Participants judged either the emotion (relevant condition) or gender (irrelevant condition) of two target facial stimuli (fearful, angry or neutral) imbedded in a stream of distractors. Attention holding and capturing was operationalised as modulation of AB deficits by first target (T1) and second target (T2) expression. Perceptual salience was operationalised as RB modulation. When emotion was task-relevant (Experiment 1; N = 29) fearful expressions captured and held attention, and were more perceptually salient than neutral expressions. Angry expressions captured attention, but were less perceptually salient and capable of holding attention than fearful and neutral expressions. When emotion was task-irrelevant (Experiment 2; N = 30), only fearful attention capture and perceptual salience effects remained significant. Our findings highlight the importance for threat-prioritisation research to heed both the type of threat and prioritisation investigated.
Economic complexity and jobs: an empirical analysis

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the impact of economic complexity on the labour market using annual data on OECD countries for the period 1985–2008 and averaged data over the period 1990–2010 for 70 developed and developing countries with a large number of controls. We show that moving to higher levels of economic sophistication of exported goods leads to less unemployment and more employment, revealing that economic complexity does not induce job loss. Our findings remain robust across alternative econometric specifications. Furthermore, we place the spotlight on the link between products' embodied knowledge (sophistication) and labour market outcomes at the micro-level. We build a product-level index that attaches a product to the average level of unemployment (or employment) in the countries that export it. With this index, we illustrate how the development of sophisticated products is associated with changes in the labour market and show that the economic sophistication of exported goods captures information about the economy's job creation and destruction.
Dishwashing Practice and Effectiveness (Swab-rinse Test) in a Large City as Revealed by a Survey of 1,000 Restaurants.

TECHNIC A total of 1,005 restaurants were studied and 3,657 swab samples of utensils were secured in the years 1944 and 1945. This was prior to the present clean-up program of the Health Department. The first 196 restaurants examined were chosen by locality or to check a given type of establishment or process. The remainder were chosen by selection of every 20th card from an alphabetical card index file of approximately 20,000 restaurants in New York City. Dishwashing efficiency was determined by means of the swab-rinse test. The technic of swabbing of utensils followed the procedure recommended by the U. S. Public Health Service. ' The
Enalapril treatment increases cardiac performance and energy reserve via the creatine kinase reaction in myocardium of Syrian myopathic hamsters with advanced heart failure.

BACKGROUND Converting enzyme inhibitor treatment of congestive heart failure slows progression to failure and reduces mortality rate. It is known whether these benefits are due solely to improved hemodynamics or also to improved myocyte energetics. This study examines the effect of enalapril treatment on both isovolumic contractile performance and its biochemical correlate, flux through the creatine kinase (CK) system, in an animal model of severely failing myocardium. METHODS AND RESULTS Seven-month-old Syrian cardiomyopathic (TO-2 strain) and normal golden Syrian (FIB strain) hamsters were each randomly assigned to one of three groups supplied daily with either no, low (25 mg/kg body wt), or high (100 mg/kg body wt) doses of enalapril for 12 to 14 weeks. At 10 months of age, all substrates and products and flux through the CK reaction were measured in isolated perfused hearts by 31P magnetization transfer and chemical assay. Compared with normal hamsters, the myopathic hamsters exhibited significantly lower body weights and higher biventricular heart weights, which were partially reversed by drug treatment. The Langendorff-perfused hearts showed decreased isovolumic contractile performance with identical load conditions. This was partially reversed by drug treatment. In the failing hearts, the following substrate and product concentrations and enzyme activities were decreased compared with nonfailing hearts but were unchanged by drug treatment: ATP (-28%), phosphocreatine (-48%), free creatine (-64%), ADP (-51%), and CK (-34%, primarily MM isoenzyme). Flux through the CK reaction for the untreated cardiomyopathic hamster hearts was decreased by 67%, and this decrease was almost completely reversed by enalapril treatment. The increased CK flux is due to an increase in the rate constant for the reaction, since substrate concentrations are unchanged, and is not predicted by the rate equation. In enalapril-treated failing hearts, phosphoryl transfer via the CK reaction increased with contractile performance. This was not observed in the nonfailing hearts, in which energy reserve is adequate to support changes in contractile performance. CONCLUSIONS Decreased flux through CK reaction leads to decreased capacity for ATP synthesis and may contribute to decreased contractile performance in cardiomyopathic hamster hearts. Enalapril treatment results in increased phosphoryl transfer through the CK reaction in failing myocardium, and this increase is coupled to improved cardiac performance. Decreased CK flux in failing hearts is due to a combination of decreased Vmax and lower guanidino pool; this mechanism fails to explain changes in CK flux in enalapril-treated failing hearts.
Iron uptake and translocation by tomato plants as influenced by root temperature and manganese nutrition.

The uptake of iron (Fe) by VF-36 tomato plants as influenced by root temperature and manganese (Mn) nutrition was studied. Following a 1-week pretreatment period of various levels of Fe and Mn in the nutrient solution in a controlled temperature room, the uptake of (59)Fe from ferric ethylenediamine di(O-hydroxyphenylacetate) (FeEDDHA) at 1 mumole per liter was studied for periods of 1 to 5 days.Both Fe uptake and translocation were enhanced by increases in root temperature. Varied levels of Fe in the pretreatment period led to increased levels of Fe in the plant, which subsequently depressed further accumulation of (59)Fe. The effect of increased root temperature on (59)Fe uptake and translocation was decreased by increases in the level of Fe in the pretreatment cultures. As Mn in the nutrient solution was increased, (59)Fe uptake and translocation were increased to a point and then decreased.The degree of Fe saturation of the plant appeared to be a primary factor in regulating Fe uptake and translocation in the plant. As the Fe saturation of the plant decreased, the uptake of Fe in response to metabolic processes of the plant increased, as evidenced by increased response of absorption to root temperature.
Lymphocyte subsets and viral load in male AIDS patients with major depression: Naturalistic study

Abstract This study investigated the relationships between lymphocyte subsets and viral load in AIDS patients with and without major depression. During a 7‐year period, a total of 60 male hospitalized AIDS patients were recruited in this study. The diagnosis of major depression in patients was made by the same psychiatrist according to the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders criteria. All patients had data for CD4, CD8 and CD4/CD8, and only 42 patients had viral load data. Of 60 AIDS patients, 32 patients had received highly active antiretroviral therapy and received subsequent assessment of lymphocyte cell counts 1 month later. Using ancova with age adjustment, the authors found that patients with major depression (n = 22) had significantly lower CD8 cell counts than patients without major depression (n = 38). However, CD4 cell counts and CD4/CD8 ratios were not significantly different between these two groups. In addition, there was no significant difference in viral load between patients with major depression (n = 16) and patients without major depression (n = 26). Of 32 patients received highly active antiretroviral therapy, 14 patients with an antidepressant (e.g. fluoxetine 20 mg/day) had significantly decreased CD4 and not CD8 cell counts and significantly reduced CD4/CD8 ratios during a period of 1 month. In conclusion, these results suggest that AIDS patients with major depression had significantly lower CD8 cell counts and might have a more severe inflammation/immunity reaction than patients without major depression.
Tell Me the Gossip

We investigate the self-evaluative function of competence-related gossip for individuals who receive it. Using the Self-Concept Enhancing Tactician (SCENT) model, we propose that individuals use evaluative information about others (i.e., gossip) to improve, promote, and protect themselves. Results of a critical incident study and an experimental study showed that positive gossip had higher self-improvement value than negative gossip, whereas negative gossip had higher self-promotion value and raised higher self-protection concerns than positive gossip. Self-promotion mediated the relationship between gossip valence and pride, while self-protection mediated the relationship between gossip valence and fear, although the latter mediated relationship emerged for receivers with mastery goals rather than performance goals. These results suggest that gossip serves self-evaluative functions for gossip receivers and triggers self-conscious emotions.