Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of monocytes/macrophages on the early osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs

Heterotypic cell interactions are essential for the homeostasis of bone tissue, in particular the widely studied interaction between osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Closely related with osteoclasts are monocytes/macrophages. These have been shown to produce osteogenic factors, e.g. BMP‐2, which plays a key role in bone metabolism. However, the mechanisms through which monocytes/macrophages interact with osteoblasts are still elusive. The aim of this work was to assess the influence of human peripheral blood monocytes/macrophages over the early osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) in the presence of dexamethasone‐supplemented medium. The co‐cultures were performed using porous transwells that allowed the interaction between both cell types through the production of paracrine factors. The potential effect of BMP‐2 produced by monocytes/macrophages was addressed by adding an anti‐BMP‐2 antibody to the co‐cultures. hBMSCs cultured in the presence of monocytes/macrophages had a higher proliferation rate than hBMSCs monocultures. The quantification of early osteogenic marker alkaline phosphatase (ALP) revealed higher activity of this enzyme in cells in the co‐culture throughout the time of culture. Both of these effects were inhibited by adding an anti‐BMP‐2 antibody to the cultures. Moreover, qRT–PCR for osteocalcin and osteopontin transcripts showed overexpression of both markers. Once again, the effect of monocytes/macrophages over hBMSC osteogenic differentiation was completely inhibited in the co‐cultures by blocking BMP‐2. The present report confirmed that monocytes/macrophages produce BMP‐2, which promotes osteogenic differentiation and proliferation of hBMSCs cumulatively to dexamethasone‐supplemented medium. This potentially implies that monocyte/macrophages play a stronger role in bone homeostasis than so far supposed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sorting through Affirmative Action: Three Field Experiments in Colombia

The use of affirmative action policies to promote female employment remains debated. Do affirmative action policies attract female applicants, and does that come at the expense of deterring highly qualified male applicants? In three field experiments in Colombia, we compare job seekers who are informed of affirmative action selection criteria before they apply with those who are told after applying. We find that the gains in attracting female applicants far outweigh the losses in male applicants. Moreover, our results indicate that affirmative action does not decrease the quality of the top 15th percentile of the pool of applicants.
Leadership behaviour of secondary school principals: what do principals and teachers say.

The purpose of the study was to further explore and confirm the findings of a previous study (Barnett, McCormick and Conners, 2000) which suggested that transformational leadership behaviours of school principals in New South Wales secondary school were associated with school learning culture. Four principals and eleven classroom teachers from four schools the principals of which had been identified, through the previous study as displaying transformational leadership, participated in the study. A qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews was used to collect data. Analysis identified patterns and themes that described leadership behaviours of the principals.
Technological advances in Universal Neonatal Hearing Screening (UNHS)

Abstract This paper presents a review of the major technological contributions in the field of universal neonatal hearing screening, during the last decade. Dedicated sections include references to the following : 1) the role of automated auditory brainstem responses (AABR) in screening; 2) the potential role of Auditory Steady State responses (ASSR) as a substitute of AABR; 3) the assessment of hearing threshold via recordings of distortion product otoacoustic emissions and the limitations of the clinical protocols to a hearing level < than 35dB HL; 4) the integration of multiple assessment protocols in one portable device, to be used in the intervention part of the hearing screening programme.
The implementation of TETRA using GNU Radio and USRP

TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) is a digital trunking communication standard which is recommended by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) and has been widely used in the world. It has been used in many areas such as underground, fire protection, police system. SDR (Software Defined Radio) is a technology which just changes the software without changing the hardware to implement different communication systems. The combination of GNU Radio and USRP is such a high speed, cost effective SDR platform. GNU Radio is an open source software project which can support SDR. And USRP (Universal Software Radio Peripheral) is the hardware which is the most important hardware partner of GNU Radio. This paper focuses on using GNU Radio and USRP to implement the pi/4 DQPSK modulation and demodulation technology, the main modulation method in TETRA I. Besides, transmit and receive the modulated signal in the real wireless channel.
A meta-analysis of the non-monetary effects of employee health management programs.

This study was undertaken to review the literature on employee health management programs (EHMPs). We explored the history and characteristics of systematic organizational efforts to improve workforce health and well-being. We believe that a historical perspective provides some insight into the economic, political, and social factors that have influenced the trend toward organizationally sanctioned health-promotion efforts. Further, we investigated the likely effects of these programs on valued-behavioral organizational outcomes such as employee performance, employee satisfaction, absenteeism, and voluntary turnover. Our findings show that voluntary general-focus programs are unrelated to job performance, and voluntary programs are negatively related to absenteeism, but effects on absenteeism wane when the program is not voluntary. Moreover, EHMPs are minimally related to job satisfaction and slightly related to turnover. These results, examining behavioral outcomes of EHMPs, question the ability of EHMPs to provide desired behavioral changes in employees, changes that organizations seek to maximize such as increased performance. Are EHMPs more than just socially acceptable programs that help individuals with health problems? © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effects of infusion of human parathyroid hormone‐related protein‐(1–40) in nude mice: Histomorphometric and biochemical investigations

Female nude mice were infused with 5.0, 3.0, or 1.0 μg/day of synthetic human parathyroid hormone‐related protein (PTHrP) or control diluent with subcutaneous Alzet miniosmotic pumps for 7 days. Serum calcium was increased (p < 0.01) on days 3 (13.9 mg/dl), 5 (13.6 mg/dl), and 7 (12.9 mg/dl) in mice infused with PTHrP at 5.0 μg/day compared with control nude mice (8.8 mg/dl). Serum calcium was significantly increased to a lesser degree in mice infused with 1.0 μg/day PTHrP (day 3) or 3.0 μg/day (days 3 and 7). Serum phosphorus was decreased (p < 0.01) in all three groups of mice infused with PTHrP (4.6 mg/dl, 5.0 μg/day; 6.7 mg/dl, 3.0 μg/day; and 6.4 mg/dl, 1.0 μg/day) compared with controls (8.5 mg/dl). Serum 1,25‐dihydroxycholecalciferol was increased (2.4‐fold) in mice infused with PTHrP (5.0 and 3.0 μg/day). The urinary calcium‐creatinine ratio (0.74 compared with 0.034 in controls) was increased (p < 0.03) in mice infused with PTHrP (5.0 μg/day), but the urinary phosphorus‐creatinine ratio was not different from that in controls. The urinary cAMP‐creatinine ratio was increased (1.6‐fold) in mice infused with PTHrP (5.0 μg/day). Static bone histomorphometry revealed increased (p < 0.01) trabecular bone area, osteoblast perimeter, osteoid perimeter, osteoid width, wall width, osteoclast area, number of osteoclasts, and osteoclast perimeter in trabecular bone of lumbar vertebrae from mice infused with PTHrP. Dynamic bone histomorphometry demonstrated increased (p < 0.01) double‐labeled perimeter, mineralizing perimeter, and bone formation rate. The results of this study indicated that PTHrP increased serum calcium and 1,25‐dihydroxy‐cholecalciferol, decreased serum phosphorus, increased urinary excretion of calcium, phosphorus, and cAMP, and increased both bone resorption and formation in nude mice. PTHrP mimics the action of native PTH in vivo and is likely to be an important protein in the pathogenesis of humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy.
Embodied-Technical Change of Farm Tractors in U.S. Agricultural Productivity Analysis: What Does the Hedonic Price Tell Us?

This study employs new data and a hedonic function to estimate the quality-adjusted price and quantity for farm tractors over the 1950-2011 period. The estimated hedonic prices for tractors are lower than the BLS’ tractor price index in most time periods. The lower prices result in a higher estimate of the tractor stock and service flow, which reflects an increase in embodied technical change of farm tractors. After replacing the BLS deflator of tractor investment with these hedonic estimates, average annual TFP growth dropped by 0.13 percentage points over the 1991-2011 period compared with the current USDA’s productivity estimate. These changes can be attributed to the contribution from embodied technical change in farm tractors over this period. The findings show the potential importance of input quality adjustment and can help to explain the sources of productivity growth.
Commitment and Volunteer-Related Outcomes Among Private Club Board and Committee Member Volunteer Leaders

This study examined the direct and indirect factors influencing volunteer leaders’ future intentions to continue to serve as board and committee members in private clubs. The proposed model was tested with a sample of 457 board and committee members, using mainly a Web survey. Findings showed that the volunteer leaders’ affective commitment had a direct and positive influence on both their volunteer dedication and involvement, whereas their normative commitment had a direct and positive influence only on their volunteer dedication. Both volunteer dedication and involvement were found to be important, direct factors for volunteer leaders’ future volunteer intentions to continue to serve as board and committee members in private clubs.
Out of sight, out of mind: How Latino segregation affects political participation and policy outcomes

Title of Document: OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND: HOW LATINO SEGREGATION AFFECTS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND POLICY OUTCOMES Shanna Helena Pearson-Merkowitz, Doctor of Philosophy, 2009 Directed By: Professor Karen Kaufmann, Department of Government and Politics This dissertation evaluates the intersection of place and politics as it pertains to the effect of residential segregation on the civic engagement and political power of Latino Americans. Famously described by W.E. B. Du Bo is as the problem of the 20 century, racial segregation persists in the United States, and while residential segregation has declined marginally for African Americans over the past 15 years, it has increased significantly for Latinos during this same period. Using a variety of data sets and methodological approaches, I investigate the socio-political consequences of this growing residential divide. I argue that segregation not only precludes socioeconomic mobility for Latinos, it also decreases their likelihood of civic engagement and political participation. Latinos who live in residential isolation are more likely to be economically marginalized and less politically powerful than their less segregated counterparts. Further, the marginalization of the Latino community has political consequences. Segregation concentrates Latinos into political jurisdictions where they must compete for resources with more politically powerful groups. As a result, their neighborhoods and needs are ignored by politicians and bureaucrats. To correct their under-representation in the political arena, participation among Latinos is essential. The findings of this dissertation call into question the stability of democracy if Latinos do not start participating at a higher rate, with the fate of the nation resting in part on the political and social mobility of its largest and fastest growing minority group. OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND: HOW LATINO SEGREGATION AFFECTS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND POLICY OUTCOMES .
Trophic activity of a naturally occurring truncated isoform of the P2X7 receptor

P2X7 is the largest member of the P2X subfamily of purinergic receptors. A typical feature is the carboxyl tail, which allows formation of a large pore. Recently a naturally occurring truncated P2X7 splice variant, isoform B (P2X7B), has been identified. Here we show that P2X7B expression in HEK293 cells, a cell type lacking endogenous P2X receptors, mediated ATP‐stimulated channel activity but not plasma membrane permeabilization, raised endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ content, activated the transcription factor NFATc1, increased the cellular ATP content, and stimulated growth. In addition, P2X7B‐transfected HEK293 cells (HEK293‐P2X7B), like most tumor cells, showed strong soft agarinfiltrating ability. When coexpressed with full‐length P2X7 (P2X7A), P2X7B coassembled with P2X7A into a heterotrimer and potentiated all known responses mediated by this latter receptor. P2X7B mRNA was found to be widely distributed in human tissues, especially in the immune and nervous systems, and to a much higher level than P2X7A. Finally, P2X7B expression was increased on mitogenic stimulation of peripheral blood lymphocyte. Altogether, these data show that P2X7B is widely expressed in several human tissues, modulates P2X7A functions, participates in the control of cell growth, and may help understand the role of the P2X7 receptor in the control of normal and cancer cell proliferation. —Adinolfi, E. , Cirillo, M. , Woltersdorf, R. , Falzoni, S. , Chiozzi, P., Pellegatti, P., Callegari, M. G. , Sandonà, D. , Markwardt, F. , Schmalzing, G. , Di Virgilio, F. Trophic activity of a naturally occurring truncated isoform of the P2X7 receptor. FASEB J. 24, 3393–3404 (2010). www.fasebj. org
Global analysis of urban surface water supply vulnerability

This study presents a global analysis of urban water supply vulnerability in 71 surface-water supplied cities, with populations exceeding 750 000 and lacking source water diversity. Vulnerability represents the failure of an urban supply-basin to simultaneously meet demands from human, environmental and agricultural users. We assess a baseline (2010) condition and a future scenario (2040) that considers increased demand from urban population growth and projected agricultural demand. We do not account for climate change, which can potentially exacerbate or reduce urban supply vulnerability. In 2010, 35% of large cities are vulnerable as they compete with agricultural users. By 2040, without additional measures 45% of cities are vulnerable due to increased agricultural and urban demands. Of the vulnerable cities in 2040, the majority are river-supplied with mean flows so low (1200 liters per person per day, l/p/d) that the cities experience ‘chronic water scarcity’ (1370 l/p/d). Reservoirs supply the majority of cities facing individual future threats, revealing that constructed storage potentially provides tenuous water security. In 2040, of the 32 vulnerable cities, 14 would reduce their vulnerability via reallocating water by reducing environmental flows, and 16 would similarly benefit by transferring water from irrigated agriculture. Approximately half remain vulnerable under either potential remedy.
Valuation implications of capital structure: a contextual approach

In this paper, the Ohlson (1995) valuation model is used to analyse the informative value of firm capital structure, decomposing the book value of equity in its two main components (i.e., total assets and liabilities) in order to test whether investors price them in a different way. We adopt a contextual approach and analyse the value relevance of debt taking into account the signalling and ‘optimal’ financial structure theories as well as the relationship between the cost of debt and return on investment. The sample used comprises all the non-financial Spanish firms listed in the Madrid Stock Exchange during the period 1991–7. Our results seem to support the ‘optimal’ capital structure theory since departures of the debt-to-equity ratio from its ‘optimal’ (or target) level are negatively perceived by the market. The debt valuation parameter is higher (lower) for those firms with a cost of debt above (below) return on investment. In addition, and consistent with the signalling theory, debt seems to be a positive signal for firms facing good prospects. This effect is strongly significant for those cases in which return on investment exceeds the cost of debt.
Factor Price Equalization and the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem

It is important at the outset to remove an ambiguity in the statement just made. It is one thing to say that, given any initial equilibrium position, there exists a one-to-one association between commodities and factors such that a change in any commodity price will lead to a more than proportionate change (in the same direction) in the corresponding factor price. It is quite another thing to state that it is possible to find a one-to-one association between goods and factors in advance such that, starting from any equilibrium, a change in any commodity price will lead to a more than proportionate change in the price of the already specified factor. The first may be called the local version of the Stolper-Samuelson theorem, and the second the global version. Another distinction must be made. In the case of two factors and two commodities (the only case treated rigorously by Stolper and Samuelson), it turns out that if, as a result of an increase in the price of a good, one of the factor prices rises more than proportionately, then the other factor price must actually fall. In generalizing the theory to more than two commodities and two factors, it no longer holds that a more than proportionate increase in one factor price entails a fall in all the remaining factor prices. The case in which this does occur will be referred to as the strong form of the StolperSamuelson theorem, whereas the more general case will be called the weak form. We shall explore the various ways in which the theory first set forth by Stolper and Samuelson may be extended to n goods and factors. The main conclusions can be summarized as follows (the wording is necessarily vague, inasmuch as it constitutes a translation of mathematical conditions): (1) The Stolper-Samuelson theorem (strong, as well as weak form) is true locally (almost everywhere) for n 2, and globally whenever reversal of factor intensity is ruled out, as is, by now, quite well known. However, it is no longer true for n > 2, even under conditions which guarantee full factor price equalization. (2) Under certain special conditions, the weak form of
Automatic speech recognition performance for training on noised speech

Performances of some training techniques of automatic speech recognition system are compared in this paper. Speech recognition accuracy was used as measure of performance. Different kinds of outdoor and indoor noise were used for studying. It is shown the superiority of training on noised speech methods over the competitive technique of training on clear speech. It has been found that training by means of noised speech allows reach high, abut 95…97%, recognition accuracy for about 5…10 dB signal-to-noise ratio. At the same time, training by means of clean speech allows reach the same accuracy for about 20…25 dB.
The 14,000-molecular-weight antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is related to the alpha-crystallin family of low-molecular-weight heat shock proteins

Eight monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against the 14,000-molecular-weight (14K) antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis reacted specifically with mycobacteria of the M. tuberculosis complex. The nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding the 14K antigen was determined by using recombinant DNA clones isolated from lambda gt11 and cosmid libraries of the M. tuberculosis genome. The DNA sequence of the 14K protein gene coded for a polypeptide of 144 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 16,277 Da. The 14K antigen has a marked homology with proteins belonging to the alpha-crystallin family of low-molecular-weight heat shock proteins, which includes the 18K antigen of M. leprae. The eight MAbs recognized at least four distinct epitopes localized within the following three regions of the 14K protein: amino acids 10 to 92 (MAbs F67-8 and F67-16), amino acids 41 to 92 (F159-1 and F159-11), and amino acids 41 to 144 (F23-41, F24-2, F23-49, and TB68).
A comparative histochemical and immunohistochemical study of aminergic, cholinergic and peptidergic innervation in rat, hamster, guinea pig, dog and human livers.

AIMS/BACKGROUND The mammalian liver receives both sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves that contain aminergic, cholinergic and peptidergic components. The intrahepatic distribution of nerve fibers are highly species-dependent; and also, even within one species, there are notable variations. To reveal the pattern and type of hepatic innervation in different species, we examined the distribution and density of these nerve fibers. METHODS The livers of rats, golden hamsters, guinea pigs, dogs and humans were used. Aminergic and peptidergic nerve fibers were identified by immunohistochemistry for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), neuropeptide Y (NPY), substance P (SP), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), and galanin (GAL), and cholinergic fibers were identified by the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) neurohistochemistry method. RESULTS AChE-, TH-, NPY-, CGRP-, VIP-, and SP-positive nerves were observed in the connective tissue of the portal region, and they were in close contact with hepatic arteries, portal veins and bile ducts in all five species. Within the parenchyma of guinea pig, dog and human livers, TH-, NPY- and SP-positive fibers were observed, but no AChE- and CGRP-positive fibers were observed. In rat and hamster livers, no parenchymal nerve fibers could be demonstrated, but CGRP-, NPY- and SP-positive fibers were observed in the border of periportal areas. The density of CGRP-positive nerve fibers were slightly higher around bile ducts than around hepatic arteries and portal veins. GAL-positive fibers were not detected in any animal. CONCLUSIONS These data indicate that there were differences in the patterns of hepatic innervation among rats, golden hamsters, guinea pigs, dogs and humans. The data also show that: 1) in rat and hamster livers, hepatic functions may be regulated by both sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves in the portal region; 2) in guinea pig, dog and human livers they may be regulated by these fibers both in the interlobular region (parasympathetic and sympathetic systems) and in the intraparenchymal region (sympathetic system); and thus, 3) in the latter three species, hepatocytes and sinusoidal cells may be innervated by sympathetic nerves.