Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metformin, at Concentrations Corresponding to the Treatment of Diabetes, Potentiates the Cytotoxic Effects of Carboplatin in Cultures of Ovarian Cancer Cells

The use of the type 2 diabetics drug metformin has been correlated with enhanced progression-free survival in ovarian cancer. The literature has speculated that this enhancement is due to the high concentration of metformin directly causing cancer cell death. However, this explanation does not fit with clinical data reporting that the women exposed to constant micromolar concentrations of metformin, as present in the treatment of diabetes, respond better to chemotherapy. Herein, our aim was to examine whether micromolar concentrations of metformin alone could bring about cancer cell death and whether micromolar metformin could increase the cytotoxic effect of commonly used chemotherapies in A2780 and SKOV3 cell lines and primary cultured cancer cells isolated from the peritoneal fluid of patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Our results in cell lines demonstrate that no significant loss of viability or change in cell cycle was observed with micromolar metformin alone; however, we observed cytotoxicity with micromolar metformin in combination with chemotherapy at concentrations where the chemotherapy alone produced no loss in viability. We demonstrate that previous exposure and maintenance of metformin in conjunction with carboplatin produces a synergistic enhancement in cytotoxicity of A2780 and SKOV3 cells (55% and 43%, respectively). Furthermore, in 5 (44%) of the 11 ovarian cancer primary cultures, micromolar metformin improved the cytotoxic response to carboplatin but not paclitaxel or doxorubicin. In conclusion, we present data that support the need for a clinical study to evaluate the adjuvant maintenance or prescription of currently approved doses of metformin during the chemotherapeutic treatment of ovarian cancer.
The countercyclical role of Italian local banks during the financial crisis

ABSTRACT The article analyses the role of local banks in Italy during the 2008–2009 crisis from the perspective of the relationship lending model. During the crisis, the risk of cascading failures of financial organizations has dramatically increased, thus causing a return of attention to local banking as a possible source of countercyclical behaviours in the financial markets thanks to their ability to establish fiduciary long-term relationships with small businesses. The purpose of this article is to test this hypothesis and to disentangle the response of local banks during the financial turmoil according to their governance structure and location. Our results show that non-independent local banks and, to a limited extent, cooperative banks located in the rural area actually played a significant countercyclical role across the crisis. Policy implications suggest that prudential supervision should rethink the indicators of systemic risk in order to differentiate banks according to their capability of mitigating it.
The role of perceived threat in the survival processing memory advantage

Information that is processed in relation to survival tends to promote superior recall relative to other elaborate encoding manipulations (e.g., Nairne, Thompson, & Pandeirada, 2007). The current research examines whether perceived threat plays a role in the survival processing memory advantage. In the current experiment survival processing was manipulated such that participants were presented with an ancestral (grasslands) or modern (city) context, and either a low, medium, or high threat level. The results revealed a strong survival processing advantage, with the magnitude of the advantage related to level of perceived threat. The findings as a whole suggest that perceived threat contributes to the recall advantage.
The influence of feeding crimped kernel maize silage on growth performance and intestinal colonization with Campylobacter jejuni of broilers

ABSTRACT An infection trial and a production trial over 35 days were conducted in parallel to study the influence of feeding crimped kernel maize silage (CKMS) on the intestinal Campylobacter jejuni colonization and broiler performance, respectively. The CKMS was used at dietary inclusion levels of 15% and 30% in maize-based diets. Broilers were orally inoculated with 2 × 105 log cfu/ml C. jejuni on day 14. Four birds from each pen were randomly selected and killed by cervical dislocation on days 3, 6, 9, 14 and 21 post infection and intestinal contents from ileum, caeca and rectum as well as liver samples were taken. Body weight and feed consumption of broilers were registered on days 13, 22 and 35. On day 35, litter dry matter (DM) was measured and the condition of the foot pads was evaluated. There was no significant effect of CKMS on the colonization of C. jejuni. Body weight of the broilers supplemented with 15% CKMS was comparable with the control maize-based feed, whereas addition of 30% CKMS reduced broiler body weight (P < 0.001). However, DM intake and feed conversion ratio were the same in all three dietary treatments. Furthermore, the foot pad condition of broilers significantly improved with the inclusion of CKMS on broiler diets as a result of a higher DM content in the litter material. It is concluded that CKMS did not influence intestinal Campylobacter colonization, but improved the foot pad health of broilers.
From Peer Pressure to Biased Norms

This paper studies a coordination game between a continuum of players with heterogeneous tastes who perceive peer pressure when behaving differently from each other. It characterizes the conditions under which a social norm--a mode of behavior followed by many--exists in equilibrium and the patterns of norm compliance. The emergent norm may be biased compared to the average taste in society, yet endogenously upheld by the population. Strikingly, a biased norm will, under some circumstances, be more sustainable than a non-biased norm, which may explain the bias of various social and religious norms.
Association Between Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Vitamin D Deficiency: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background:Vitamin D plays a role in several immune-mediated diseases, but its association with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association between IBD and vitamin D deficiency. Methods:We searched electronic databases from inception to December 2014 for observational studies reporting the presence of vitamin D deficiency (defined as serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol [25(OH)D] level of ⩽20 ng/mL) in IBD patients and having a control group without IBD. Odds ratios (ORs) were combined using a random-effects model. Meta-regression was performed using latitude as a moderator. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa scale. Results:Out of 816 citations, 14 eligible studies were identified, comprising 1891 participants (938 IBD cases and 953 controls). Meta-analysis showed that patients with IBD had 64% higher odds of vitamin D deficiency when compared with controls (OR = 1.64; 95% confidence interval, 1.30–2.08; I2 = 7%; P < 0.0001). Patients with ulcerative colitis had more than double the odds of vitamin D deficiency when compared with normal controls (OR = 2.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.18–4.41; I2 = 41%; P = 0.01). Latitude did not influence the association between IBD and vitamin D deficiency (P = 0.34). Generalizability of our results might be limited as we summarized unadjusted ORs, because of nonavailability of adjusted ORs in individual studies. Conclusions:IBD is significantly associated with having higher odds of vitamin D deficiency. Well-designed randomized controlled trials and longitudinal studies are needed to further explain the role of vitamin D in IBD pathogenesis and its therapy.
Interprofessional education in community-based Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and treatment

Abstract As the population ages and understanding of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) improves, the number of older adults diagnosed and treated for AD and related dementias is projected to increase. Dementia diagnosis, treatment and patient and family education are complex processes best done through collaboration among healthcare professions. The educational program described in this article aimed to create an interprofessional team approach to the diagnosis and treatment of dementia involving medical and family nurse practitioner students. A two-group treatment/control pretest posttest design was used to measure changes in knowledge, attitudes and appreciation for an interprofessional team approach to patient care. Findings from this interprofessional program demonstrated that nurse practitioner students gained higher levels of knowledge regarding AD, and medical students gained more positive attitudes toward these patients and their caregivers. Comments from students indicated that both medical and nursing students found the experience valuable. Understanding the roles that various providers play will help healthcare professional meet the challenge of caring for the increasing number of patients with memory loss and for their families.
Concurrent quantification of multiple nanoparticle bound states.

PURPOSE The binding of nanoparticles to in vivo targets impacts their use for medical imaging, therapy, and the study of diseases and disease biomarkers. Though an array of techniques can detect binding in vitro, the search for a robust in vivo method continues. The spectral response of magnetic nanoparticles can be influenced by a variety of changes in their physical environment including viscosity and binding. Here, the authors show that nanoparticles in these different environmental states produce spectral responses, which are sufficiently unique to allow for simultaneous quantification of the proportion of nanoparticles within each state. METHODS The authors measured the response to restricted Brownian motion using an array of magnetic nanoparticle designs. With a chosen optimal particle type, the authors prepared particle samples in three distinct environmental states. Various combinations of particles within these three states were measured concurrently and the authors attempted to solve for the quantity of particles within each physical state. RESULTS The authors found the spectral response of the nanoparticles to be sufficiently unique to allow for accurate quantification of up to three bound states with errors on the order of 1.5%. Furthermore, the authors discuss numerous paths for translating these measurements to in vivo applications. CONCLUSIONS Multiple nanoparticle environmental states can be concurrently quantified using the spectral response of the particles. Such an ability, if translated to the in vivo realm, could provide valuable information about the fate of nanoparticles in vivo or improve the efficacy of nanoparticle based treatments.
Detection of repetitive patterns in near regular texture images

Detection of repetitive patterns in texture images is a longstanding problem in texture analysis. In the textile industry, this is particularly useful in isolating repeats in woven fabric designs. Based on repetitive patterns, textile designers can identify and classify complex textures. In this paper, we propose a new method for detecting, locating, and grouping the repetitive patterns, particularly for near regular textures (NRT) based on a mid-level patch descriptor. A NRT is parameterized as a vector-valued function representing a texton unit together with a set of geometric transformations. We perform shape alignment by image congealing and correlation matching. Our experiments demonstrate that our patch-based method significantly improves the performance and the versatility of repetitive pattern detection in NRT images.
Upregulation of skeletal muscle inflammatory genes links inflammation with insulin resistance in women with the metabolic syndrome

• What is the central question of this study? There is a close relationship between insulin resistance and inflammation, but it is largely unknown how these processes are linked in skeletal muscle tissue. • What is the main finding and its importance? Gene expression microarray analysis identified three inflammatory genes the expression level of which was highly correlated with insulin resistance in women with the metabolic syndrome. This suggests an important role for these genes in the development of skeletal muscle insulin resistance.
Interference cancellation in two-path successive relay system with network coding

This paper proposes a novel interference cancellation algorithm for the two-path succussive relay system using network coding. The two-path succussive relay scheme was proposed recently to achieve full date rate transmission with half-duplex relays. Due to the simultaneous data transmission at the relay and source nodes, the two-path relay suffers from the so-called inter-relay interference (IRI) which may significantly degrade the system performance. In this paper, we propose to use the network coding to remove the IRI such that the interference is first encoded with the network coding at the relay nodes and later removed at the destination. The network coding has low complexity and can well suppress the IRI. Numerical simulations show that the proposed algorithm has better performance than existing approaches.
The effects of exchange rate changes on Sub-Saharan Africa trade

This study investigates the impact of exchange rate changes on imports, exports and trade balance in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The results indicate that there is a positive relationship between exchange rate changes and imports, albeit the degree of responsiveness was extremely low. These were inconsistent with economic theory and can be attributed to the fact that many African countries largely depend on imports, and tend to be invariant to exchange rate changes. Hence, a depreciation of their exchange rates may have little or no effects on imports. The study recommends that SSA authorities draw up strategies and programs that will make the economies less reliant on imports. The significant negative relationship found between exchange rate changes and exports suggests that the policy of exchange rate depreciation may not have the desired effects of boosting exports. The study found no significant relationship between exchange rate changes and trade balance.
Toward an integrative perspective on learning in innovation initiatives: the case of the Dutch greenhouse sector.

It is widely acknowledged that innovation goes hand in hand with learning. However, theories in the realm of sustainability sciences mostly concentrate on diversity and learning outcomes, whereas theories from the educational sciences mostly focus on learning as interaction. In this contribution, we aim to benefit from an integration of these perspectives in order to better understand how different interaction patterns contribute to learning. We studied an initiative of greenhouse growers that moved towards more client-oriented business models by innovating their value chains, while at the same time increasing their societal acceptability (societally responsible innovation). As action researchers we collected extensive transcripts of meetings, interviews, and various other documents. Transcripts were segmented into qualitatively different interaction episodes. Next, we used an open coding strategy to identify different patterns of interaction. Then we coded which episodes resulted in a learning outcome. Preliminary analysis suggests that seemingly "negative" attack-and-defend patterns of interaction certainly can result in substantial results, while seemingly "positive" synthetic interaction patterns, where participants strive to build on each other, can result in rather bland interaction without substantial outcomes.
Dynamic transition of scientific teams based on time slicing

Based on dynamic research perspectives of time slicing, this paper shows an endeavor on mining dynamic features of the scientific teams. Traditionally the static method of network structure analysis can successfully be used to analyze the distribution of network resource structure. But it cannot be used to explore the dynamic features of research groups, because of its lacks on the influence of some variables in research activities. These variables include researchers, research hotspots and research funds, etc. which are all in varying state due to the changing world. This paper proposes a new approach to analyze the dynamic characteristics of scientific teams, by using time slicing incorporated with traditional static method. KP(core members Keep-Rate) is used as an index of the dynamic transitions of scientific teams in two sequential time slices, and an algorithm is proposed to identify the successor team(s).
Antennal-Lobe Organization in Desert Ants of the Genus Cataglyphis

Desert ants of the genus Cataglyphis possess remarkable visual navigation capabilities. Although Cataglyphis species lack a trail pheromone system, Cataglyphis fortis employs olfactory cues for detecting nest and food sites. To investigate potential adaptations in primary olfactory centers of the brain of C. fortis, we analyzed olfactory glomeruli (odor processing units) in their antennal lobes and compared them to glomeruli in different Cataglyphis species. Using confocal imaging and 3D reconstruction, we analyzed the number, size and spatial arrangement of olfactory glomeruli in C. fortis, C.albicans, C.bicolor, C.rubra, and C.noda. Workers of all Cataglyphis species have smaller numbers of glomeruli (198–249) compared to those previously found in olfactory-guided ants. Analyses in 2 species of Formica – a genus closely related to Cataglyphis – revealed substantially higher numbers of olfactory glomeruli (c. 370), which is likely to reflect the importance of olfaction in these wood ant species. Comparisons between Cataglyphis species revealed 2 special features in C. fortis. First, with c. 198 C. fortis has the lowest number of glomeruli compared to all other species. Second, a conspicuously enlarged glomerulus is located close to the antennal nerve entrance. Males of C. fortis possess a significantly smaller number of glomeruli (c. 150) compared to female workers and queens. A prominent male-specific macroglomerulus likely to be involved in sex pheromone communication occupies a position different from that of the enlarged glomerulus in females. The behavioral significance of the enlarged glomerulus in female workers remains elusive. The fact that C. fortis inhabits microhabitats (salt pans) that are avoided by all other Cataglyphis species suggests that extreme ecological conditions may not only have resulted in adaptations of visual capabilities, but also in specializations of the olfactory system.
Modeling and Simulations of Ferroresonance by Using BDF/NDF Numerical Methods

The predictive power of transient ferroresonance simulations depends mainly on the accuracy and fidelity of the power transformer model used for simulating complete systems involving all relevant network components. This paper considers three ways of transformer iron-core modeling relevant for ferroresonance simulations that are presented in detail. The presented transformer models are suitable for the state-space form of differential equation systems that describe the ferroresonance effect. Before solving the obtained differential equation systems, their numerical eigenvalues were analyzed in detail. This eigenvalue analysis has revealed a very stiff nature of the obtained equation systems. The obtained equation systems are solved by using a A- and L-stable numerical differentiation formulas (NDF) numerical technique, with the aim of suppressing undesired numerical oscillations. The obtained numerical results are verified by comparison against the available experimental results. The presented analysis shows that the suggested transformer model based on a hysteretic core inductor provides the most accurate results in terms of voltage and current waveforms and their peak values during the steady-state and transient ferroresonance. The analyzed transformer core models can be implemented in the existing Electromagnetic Transients Program-type simulation tools by using a combination of the trapezoidal and proposed NDF2 method.
Values that Fathers Communicate to Sons about Sex, Sexuality, Relationships, and Marriage

ABSTRACT African American males between ages 13 and 24 are disproportionately affected by unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and HIV/AIDS; indeed, they account for 50% of HIV infections among all youth. Clear communication between parents and their youth about sex is associated with higher rates of sexual abstinence, condom use, and intent to delay initiation of sexual intercourse, which can prevent STIs and unintended pregnancy. However, barriers exist for parents to educate their youth about sexual health. The purpose of this article is to explore the values fathers communicate to their sons to prevent their risky sexual behaviors that lead to STIs, HIV, and adolescent parenthood. This was a qualitative study conducted from May and June 2015. African American fathers (N = 29) who had sons, ages 10 to 15 years, participated in five focus groups across metropolitan and rural North Carolina communities in barbershops. A qualitative content analysis revealed four themes regarding areas that fathers imparted their values onto their sons to protect them from sexual health risks: (a) sex, (b) sexuality, (c) relationships, and (d) marriage. The findings have implications for social work and public health practice.
Electronic integration of prerequisite course content.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effect of electronic integration of embedded prerequisite information (EPI) on student learning. DESIGN Specific prerequisite information presented in a Chemical Basis of Drug Action course and important to understanding new topics presented in subsequent courses was identified and embedded in online course materials using pop-ups and hyperlinks. Students were encouraged to review the EPI. ASSESSMENT There was no significant difference (P<0.05) between student performance on examination 3, which covered embedded information, and student performance on examination 1 which did not. Employing the Likert scale, a cumulative average of 75% and 87% of the campus and distance students rated the impact of EPI slightly positive to positive, respectively. CONCLUSION Although student performance did not improve with the introduction of EPI, both campus and distance students viewed the EPI positively.