Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cytotoxic Activity and Antioxidant Capacity of Purified Lichen Metabolites: An In Vitro Study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of six lichen metabolites (diffractaic acid, lobaric acid, usnic acid, vicanicin, variolaric acid, protolichesterinic acid) on proliferation, viability and reactive oxygen species (ROS) level towards three human cancer cell lines, MCF‐7 (breast adenocarcinoma), HeLa (cervix adenocarcinoma) and HCT‐116 (colon carcinoma). Cells were treated with different concentrations (2.5–100 μM) of these compounds for 48 h. In this comparative study, our lichen metabolites showed various cytotoxic effects in a concentration‐dependent manner, and usnic acid was the most potent cytotoxic agent, while variolaric acid did not inhibit the proliferation of any of the three cell lines used. All tested lichen compounds did not exhibit free radical scavenging activity using the 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The lichen metabolites did not significantly increase the intracellular ROS level and did not prevent oxidative injury induced by t‐butylhydroperoxide in HeLa cells. To better clarify the mechanism(s) of cytotoxic effect induced by protolichesterinic acid in HeLa cells, we investigated apoptotic markers such as condensation and fragmentation of nuclear chromatin and activation of caspase‐3, 8 and 9. Our results revealed that the antiproliferative activity of 40 μM protolichesterinic acid in HeLa cells is related to its ability to induce programmed cell death involving caspase‐3, 8 and 9 activation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An Efficient Periodic Broadcasting Scheme for Mobile Video-on-Demand System

In this paper, we propose a new periodic broadcasting scheme, called Regular/Sub-channel Staggered Broadcasting, for mobile VOD system. The proposed scheme improves the existing Staggered Broadcasting scheme by partitioning the network channels into regular and sub-channels for reducing the service latency of mobile users as well as minimizing the server bandwidth requirement
Global Style Investing

Value-tilted global equity portfolios that are either region-neutral or industry-neutral have particular risk and return properties relative to the world index. Over 1993-2005, a global country-neutral value-tilted investment strategy earned a premium of about 1.5% per year over the world return: this comes as a result of bearing some systematic cyclical risk that is highly correlated with the performance of particular industries and also with growth-like factors. A global industry-neutral value-tilted investment strategy offers a similar return payoff but with less volatility; this return premium does not appear to be associated with any of the systematic risk factors considered, so an industry-neutral strategy seems to be the more appropriate for capturing the global value premium. Index vendors might consider constructing benchmarks that reflect this investment style.
Genetic and acquired factors influencing the effectiveness and toxicity of drug therapy in osteoporosis

ABSTRACT Introduction: Osteoporosis is a highly prevalent skeletal disorder characterized by compromised bone strength, usually related to decreased bone mass and microstructural alterations of bone tissue, predisposing a person to an increased risk of fracture. As other prevalent disorders, osteoporosis is the result of a complex interplay of genetic and acquired factors. Areas covered: We provide an update of recent studies aimed at identifying the clinical and genetic factors that influence the response to drugs used to treat osteoporosis, as well as those determining the risk of two intriguing adverse effects of antiresorptives: osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) and atypical femoral fractures (AFF). Expert opinion: Several clinical factors have been suggested to increase the risk of a poor drug response, such as advanced age and frailty. Candidate gene studies suggest that some common polymorphisms of the Wnt pathway and farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FDPS), the target enzyme for bisphosphonates, also influence the response to antiresorptives. However, they await for replication in large independent cohorts of patients. Similarly, some genetic and acquired factors may influence the risk of ONJ and AFF. Preliminary data suggest that the risk of suffering these adverse effects may have a polygenic basis.
Integrating Soft Factors into the Assessment of Cooperative Relationships between Firms: Accounting for Reputation and Ethical Values

Alliances and other forms of cooperation between firms often promise great benefits, for example, by the exchange of knowledge or co-specialization of resources. At the same time, the necessary actions to realize these benefits can augment vulnerability to opportunistic behaviour of partners. In addition to formal contracts to mitigate the resulting behavioural uncertainties, often, mechanisms, such as reputation or ethical values, are suggested as important supplements. However, when it comes to assessment of a specific cooperation opportunity, it is difficult to account systematically for the economic consequences of these ‘softer factors’. Therefore, this paper aims to surpass mere financial analysis of chance and risk and to integrate systematically both reputation and ethical values into an economic assessment of cooperative relationships. For this purpose, we develop a theoretical framework that is based on a simple-decision model to account for reputation and ethical values of potential partners as drivers of behavioural uncertainty reduction. We also discuss how this framework can be used to assess cooperative relationships and illustrate these ideas with reference to the inter-organizational accounting practices of a large drugstore chain and its suppliers.
Transient Elastography and Controlled Attenuation Parameter for Diagnosing Liver Fibrosis and Steatosis in Ontario: An Economic Analysis.

BACKGROUND Liver fibrosis is characterized by a buildup of connective tissue due to chronic liver damage. Steatosis is the collection of excessive amounts of fat inside liver cells. Liver biopsy remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis and steatosis, but its use as a diagnostic tool is limited by its invasive nature and high cost. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the cost-effectiveness and budget impact of transient elastography (TE) with and without controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis or steatosis in patients with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, alcoholic liver disease, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. DATA SOURCES An economic literature search was performed using computerized databases. For primary economic and budget impact analyses, we obtained data from various sources, such as the Health Quality Ontario evidence-based analysis, published literature, and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. REVIEW METHODS A systematic review of existing TE cost-effectiveness studies was conducted, and a primary economic evaluation was undertaken from the perspective of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Decision analytic models were used to compare short-term costs and outcomes of TE compared to liver biopsy. Outcomes were expressed as incremental cost per correctly diagnosed cases gained. A budget impact analysis was also conducted. RESULTS We included 10 relevant studies that evaluated the cost-effectiveness of TE compared to other noninvasive tests and to liver biopsy; no cost-effectiveness studies of TE with CAP were identified. All studies showed that TE was less expensive but associated with a decrease in the number of correctly diagnosed cases. TE also improved quality-adjusted life-years in patients with hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Our primary economic analysis suggested that TE led to cost savings but was less effective than liver biopsy in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis. TE became more economically attractive with a higher degree of liver fibrosis. TE with CAP was also less expensive and less accurate than liver biopsy. LIMITATIONS The model did not take into account long-term costs and consequences associated with TE and liver biopsy and did not include costs to patients and their families, or patient preferences related to diagnostic information. CONCLUSIONS TE showed potential cost savings compared to liver biopsy. Further investigation is needed to determine the long-term impacts of TE on morbidity and mortality in Canada and the optimal diagnostic modality for liver fibrosis and steatosis.
Small molecule modulation of Smoothened activity

Smoothened (Smo), a distant relative of G protein-coupled receptors, mediates Hedgehog (Hh) signaling during embryonic development and can initiate or transmit ligand-independent pathway activation in tumorigenesis. Although the cellular mechanisms that regulate Smo function remain unclear, the direct inhibition of Smo by cyclopamine, a plant-derived steroidal alkaloid, suggests that endogenous small molecules may be involved. Here we demonstrate that SAG, a chlorobenzothiophene-containing Hh pathway agonist, binds to the Smo heptahelical bundle in a manner that antagonizes cyclopamine action. In addition, we have identified four small molecules that directly inhibit Smo activity but are structurally distinct from cyclopamine. Functional and biochemical studies of these compounds provide evidence for the small molecule modulation of Smo through multiple mechanisms and yield insights into the physiological regulation of Smo activity. The mechanistic differences between the Smo antagonists may be useful in the therapeutic manipulation of Hh signaling.
Self-Assembled Gold Nano-Ripple Formation by Gas Cluster Ion Beam Bombardment

In this study, we used a 30 keV argon cluster ion beam bombardment to investigate the dynamic processes during nano-ripple formation on gold surfaces. Atomic force microscope analysis shows that the gold surface has maximum roughness at an incident angle of 60° from the surface normal; moreover, at this angle, and for an applied fluence of 3 × 1016 clusters/cm2, the aspect ratio of the nano-ripple pattern is in the range of ~50%. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry analysis reveals a formation of a surface gradient due to prolonged gas cluster ion bombardment, although the surface roughness remains consistent throughout the bombarded surface area. As a result, significant mass redistribution is triggered by gas cluster ion beam bombardment at room temperature. Where mass redistribution is responsible for nano-ripple formation, the surface erosion process refines the formed nano-ripple structures.
Chairmen, Presidents, and Princesses: The Navajo Nation, Gender, and the Politics of Tradition

In 1998, when LeNora Fulton announced her candidacy for the president of the Navajo Nation, she faced criticism from Navajo/Diné men and women who argued that Navajo women should not be leaders because it would lead to chaos in society, as a traditional narrative stipulated.1 Navajo women have been discouraged from full political participation in the Navajo Nation government even as they exert considerable infl uence within their families and in local community politics. At the same time, women are most visible in the Navajo government as Miss Navajo Nation, the offi cial representative and ambassador of the Navajo Nation. What does it mean to valorize Navajo women as princesses and beauty queens who represent ideal Navajo womanhood? How are women signifi ers of culture and tradition in the construction of the Navajo Nation and, at the same time, denied full political participation in the Navajo government? How has the establishment of a modern Navajo government shifted traditional gender roles in ways that have been detrimental to Navajo women? This study examines the intersection of the Navajo nation and gender by considering women’s presence in the governmental structure and how Navajo leaders, who are primarily men, reproduce Navajo nationalist ideology to re inscribe gender roles based on Western concepts even as they claim that they operate under traditional Navajo philosophy. As feminist scholars note, the idea of nation relies on the language of family and casts women as the mothers and the culture
[Validation of the Brazilian version of the generic six-dimensional short form quality of life questionnaire (SF-6D Brazil)].

OBJECTIVE This study seeks to present the translation and validation of the SF-6D in the Brazilian context, based on the model and the version developed in the United Kingdom in 2002. METHODS An observational and transversal study. The tools for assessing quality of life were applied, namely HAQ, SF-36, EQ-5D and SF-6D (2002 version). Descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients were used for data analysis. RESULTS 200 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, with a mean age of 49.22 years, 11.16 years of disease and mean HAQ 1.02 were studied. Preferences measured by the SF-6D, the EQ-5D and the techniques of EVA, TTO and SG were found to correlate among themselves, with Pearson coefficients from 0.19 to 0.66 (p <0.01). CONCLUSION The SF-6D Brazil questionnaire represents a valid option for assessing preferences on economic analysis conducted in Brazil.
CORRESPONDENCE: HOW WE DO IT: The internal mammary artery perforator pedicled island flap for reconstruction of the lower head and neck and supraclavicular region: how we do it

1 Bhattacharyya N. (2004) Clinical outcomes after revision endoscopic sinus surgery. Arch. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 130, 975–978 2 Young J., Frenkiel S. , Tewfik M. et al. (2007) Long-term outcome analysis of endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic Rhinosinusitis. Am. J. Rhinol. 21, 743–747 3 Poetker D.M. & Smith T.L. (2007) Adult chronic rhinosinusitis: surgical outcomes and the role of endoscopic sinus surgery. Curr. Opin. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 15, 6–9 4 Lund V.J. & Scadding G.K. (1991) Immunologic aspects of chronic sinusitis. J. Otolaryngol. 20, 379–381 5 Ferguson B.J., Otto B.A. & Pant H. (2009) When surgery, antibiotics, and steroids fail to resolve chronic rhinosinusitis. Immunol. Allergy Clin. North Am. 29, 719–732 6 Palmer J.N. & Kennedy D.W. (2003) Medical management in functional endoscopic sinus surgery failures. Curr. Opin. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 11, 6–12 7 Desrosiers M.Y. & Salas-Prato M. (2001) Treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis refractory to other treatments with topical antibiotic therapy delivered by means of a large-particle nebulizer: results of a controlled trial. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 125, 265–269 8 Lund V.J. & Kennedy D.W. (1997) Staging for rhinosinusitis. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 117, S35–S40 9 Vauhgan W.C. & Calvalho G. (2002) Use of nebulized antibiotics for acute infections in chronic sinusitis. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 127, 558–568
Performance measurement systems for knowledge management in high technology industries: a balanced scorecard framework

Effectively implementing Knowledge Management (KM) is a strategic process and requires a balanced performance measurement system in high technology industries. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a comprehensive performance measurement model that aligns measurements with a firm's strategy and organises measurements into four perspectives, namely, financial, customer, internal business process and learning and growth. By analysing the data collected from high technology firms in Taiwan, this paper analyses the relative weights placed on the four perspectives of measurements in a BSC framework for KM. In such a performance measurement system for high technology industries, the performance measurements related to the internal business process perspective obtain the highest weight. This result suggests that measuring the performance of the internal business process perspective is more important than that of three other perspectives for high-tech firms. This paper provides evidence showing that high technology firms having a clear description of KM strategy, and linking rewards to KM are more likely to pay attention to measurement performance for KM, especially, the performance measurements related to the customer and internal business process perspectives.
A Receive Antenna Selection for MIMO-OFDM System

The combination of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technologies gives wireless communications systems the advantages of lower bit error rate (BER) and higher data rate in frequency-selective fading environments. However, the main drawback of the MIMO-OFDM systems is the increase of complexity, and thus cost. In this paper, we propose an antenna selection method for a MIMO-OFDM receiver. The proposed method selects a proper combination of polarization antenna elements at receive antenna branches to achieve lower BER performance. Using the channel impulse responses measured in an indoor environment, numerical results show that the proposed selection method works effectively for the realistic channel and promises a great deal of decrease in computational complexity
Dynamics of the Dictyostelium Arp2/3 complex in endocytosis, cytokinesis, and chemotaxis.

The Arp2/3 complex is a ubiquitous and important regulator of the actin cytoskeleton. Here we identify this complex from Dictyostelium and investigate its dynamics in live cells. The predicted sequences of the subunits show a strong homology to the members of the mammalian complex, with the larger subunits generally better conserved than the smaller ones. In the highly motile cells of Dictyostelium, the Arp2/3 complex is rapidly re-distributed to the cytoskeleton in response to external stimuli. Fusions of Arp3 and p41-Arc with GFP reveal that in phagocytosis, macropinocytosis, and chemotaxis the complex is recruited within seconds to sites where actin polymerization is induced. In contrast, there is little or no localization to the cleavage furrow during cytokinesis. Rather the Arp2/3 complex is enriched in ruffles at the polar regions of mitotic cells, which suggests a role in actin polymerization in these ruffles.
Towards the establishment of an agile method for OERs development and delivery

Open Educational Resources (OERs) have been emerged as an important mechanism for democratization of access to education. In fact, the free and open distribution of these resources contributes with the dissemination of knowledge and facilitates the access to information, benefiting the society as a whole. Similar to software, the development of OERs requires the application of appropriate methods and practices to ensure the productivity and quality of the resulting products. Agile methods seem to be an interesting approach in this perspective. However, initiatives to foster the development and delivery of quality and reliable OERs, according to agile principles and with reduced costs, are still incipient. In our work we discuss the establishment of an agile method for the development and delivery of OERs. The proposed method is based on the main characteristics, practices and principles of well-known agile methods for software. To illustrate our ideas, the method is discussed in terms of its application in the development of an OER in the FLOSS (Free / Libre and Open Source Software) domain.
Proteolytic Processing of Human Zona Pellucida Proteins1

Abstract Formation of the egg's extracellular matrix, the zona pellucida, is critical for fertilization and development of growing embryos. Zona pellucida glycoproteins, ZP1, ZP2, and ZP3, are secreted to form an insoluble extracellular matrix surrounding mammalian eggs. All cloned mammalian zona pellucida sequences contain a furin consensus cleavage site, RXK/RR, upstream of a putative transmembrane domain, which suggests processing by an endoprotease of the furin-proprotein-convertase family. Recombinant expression of human (h) ZP1, ZP2, and ZP3 produces glycoproteins that are secreted and have migration patterns in SDS-PAGE identical to those of native human zona pellucida proteins. Because a C-terminal epitope tag that is present in the cell-associated zona proteins is, however, absent from the secreted zona proteins, secreted recombinant zona pellucida proteins lack their C-terminal regions. Three different strategies were used to explore processing events in the C-terminal region: site-directed mutagenesis of the furin cleavage site, treatment with a competitive inhibitor of all furin family members, and interference with Golgi modifications by Brefeldin A. All treatments altered the SDS-PAGE migration of recombinant hZP3, concordant with cleavage by a furin family member and Golgi glycosylation of secreted hZP3. Furthermore, cleavage of cell-associated hZP3 by exogenous furin converts the migration of cell-associated hZP3 to that of secreted hZP3. To determine whether a similar cleavage pattern exists in zona pellucida proteins that are assembled in the zona matrix, “hZP3 rescue” mouse zonae pellucidae were employed. Immunoblotting experiments revealed that hZP3, assembled and functional in the “hZP3 rescue” mouse zona pellucida, lacks the furin cleavage site, supporting the hypothesis that formation of the zona pellucida matrix involves regulated proteolysis by a member of the furin convertase family.
Online-offline channel conflict: a game-theoretic model with application to the automobile industry

In this paper, we examine cases where internet channels are of lower cost than traditional channels. Under this assumption, we show that the introduction of the internet channel increases profits for the manufacturer. However, if the internet channel is so efficient as to drive the traditional channel out of the market altogether, it is in the interest of the manufacturer to discriminate its wholesale price by charging a lower wholesale price for the traditional channel. This form of subsidy will keep the traditional channel competitive vis-a-vis the internet channel and ensure that there is fair competition at the retail level.
The Decline in Male Employment in Australia: A Cohort Analysis

We investigate the nature and sources of the decline in the level of employment of working age males in Australia in recent decades, drawing on both Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force survey data and census data. Alternative measures of the male employment rate are considered before settling on two complementary measures: the full-time employment rate and the full-time equivalent employment rate. The latter measure weights part-time jobs according to the fraction of a full-time job they represent. We then go on to estimate models of the determinants of these two employment rates using data from the population censuses conducted between 1971 and 2001. We construct a pseudo panel by ‘stacking’ the seven census data sets (Deaton 1997, Kapteyn et al 2005). This facilitates the tracing of birth cohorts over time, in turn making it possible to control for cohort unobserved heterogeneity that may bias cross-sectional estimates of effects of other characteristics, in particular age and year/time period. We produce evidence that a number of factors have contributed to the decline in male employment, including growth in educational enrolment and attainment, the decline in couple households with dependent children, growth in income taxes and welfare replacement rates, growth in labour productivity and changes in the structure of labour demand away from traditionally male-dominated industries. Significantly, we find that, all else (observable) constant, more recent birth cohorts have higher employment rates than earlier birth cohorts.