Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anti‐inflammatory effects of prostaglandin E2 in the central nervous system in response to brain injury and circulating lipopolysaccharide

Prostaglandin E2, a product of the cyclooxygenation of arachidonic acid released from membrane phospholipids, plays major roles in regulating brain injury and inflammation. Although prostaglandin E2 has frequently been considered as a possible inducer of brain damage and degeneration, it may exert beneficial effects in the CNS. Indeed, in spite of its classic role as a pro‐inflammatory molecule, several recent in vitro observations indicate that prostaglandin E2 can inhibit microglial activation. This study investigated the effect of central prostaglandin E2 injection on circulating lipopolysaccharide‐induced gene expression of different pro‐inflammatory molecules in both vascular and parenchymal elements of the brain. Localized, but strong, expression of tumor necrosis factor‐α and interleukin‐1β mRNA was found at the edge of the intracerebroventricular tract, which was largely prevented by the central prostaglandin E2 injection. Systemic lipopolysaccharide injection caused a profound transcriptional activation of cyclooxygenase‐2 and the inhibitory factor κBα (IκBα, index of NF‐κB activity) in the cerebral endothelium and tumor necrosis factor‐α in microglial cells across the brain parenchyma. Although exogenous prostaglandin E2 increased lipopolysaccharide‐induced NF‐κB activity and cyclooxygenase‐2 transcription in vascular‐associated elements, it significantly reduced microglial activation and tumor necrosis factor‐α expression in the brain parenchyma. These results indicate that prostaglandin E2 may play an important role in modulating the immune response occurring at the injured site and the pro‐inflammatory signaling events taking place in both vascular‐ and microglial‐associated elements of the CNS.
Health-related quality of life results in pathologic stage C prostate cancer from a Southwest Oncology Group trial comparing radical prostatectomy alone with radical prostatectomy plus radiation therapy.

PURPOSE To compare short- and long-term effects of adjuvant treatment versus observation after surgery on health-related quality of life (HRQL) of prostate cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS The Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) intergroup trial compared radical prostatectomy (RP) plus observation versus RP plus adjuvant radiation therapy (RT). Two-hundred seventeen of 425 therapeutic trial patients were eligible and registered to the HRQL study. Patients completed the SWOG Quality of Life Questionnaire (emotional, physical, social, and role function; general symptom status; treatment/disease-specific symptoms; and global HRQL [GHRQL]) at baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, and annually for 5 years. Prespecified outcomes were three genitourinary symptoms (bowel function tenderness, frequent urination, and erectile dysfunction [ED]) and measures of physical and emotional function. Adjustments were made for the baseline score. RESULTS Patients receiving adjuvant RT reported worse bowel function (through approximately 2 years) and worse urinary function. There were no statistically significant differences for ED. GHRQL was initially worse for the RP+RT arm but improved over time and was better at the end of the period than the GHRQL reported for RP alone (treatment arm x time interaction, P = .0004). Symptom distress was significantly worse for the RP+RT arm compared with the RP alone arm, but the treatment arms did not differ with respect to other general measures of HRQL. CONCLUSION The addition of RT to surgery resulted in more frequent urination, as well as early report of more bowel dysfunction, although bowel function differences disappeared over the 5-year period. The addition of RT did not negatively impact ED.
Desilencing Complexities: Addressing Categorization in Cross-Cultural Management with Intersectionality and Relationality

Abstract A central focus of cross-cultural management research is how individuals and organizations differ across national cultures and how that fundamentally shapes their thoughts and actions and serves as a unit of identification. In this article, we critically reconsider the essential categorical nature of culture, problematizing categorization and questioning national culture as the primary basis of differentiation. We draw on intersectionality, an approach that helps understand how multiple categories are experienced by the individual, and on relationality, an approach that conceptualizes people, organizations, and their actions within dynamic patterns of relations and cultural meanings. Both approaches challenge the primacy, unity, and separateness of any given category, the a priori determination of categories (and associated boundaries) in research, and the nature and stability of boundaries. Based on this we advance notions of boundary work and boundary shifting that help explore how today’s sociocultural groups and categories, and the boundaries that separate them, emerge and change. We conclude that, while the extant cross-cultural literature has come far in identifying differences, relationality and intersectionality can enable cross-cultural scholars to engage in research practice that better reflects the complexities of sociocultural life. We contribute to theory by suggesting why and how these two approaches can be used to explore complex cross-cultural management phenomena.
Tissue Engineering of a Bioartificial Pancreas: Modeling the Cell Environment and Device Function

Cell‐based implantable artificial tissues are most promising for the long‐term treatment of endocrine diseases, such as diabetes. One type of a bioartificial pancreas device consists of calcium alginate microbeads containing insulin‐secreting cells and is surrounded by a poly(L‐lysine) (PLL) membrane. The membrane is semipermeable, allowing cellular nutrients and metabolites to diffuse through but excluding the antibodies and cytotoxic cells of the host, thus immunoprotecting the cells. The device can be modeled by writing the equations for diffusion of nutrients and metabolites through the polymer and for consumption of the former and productionof the latter by the cells. In this paper, we describe the construction and analysis of such amodel for alginate/PLL microbeads with insulin‐secreting recombinant mouse pituitary AtT‐20 and mouse insulinoma βTC3 cells. Entrapped AtT‐20 cells are a simplified model system, whereas microbeads with βTC3 cells constitute a realistic artificial pancreatic device. Effective diffusivities of key compounds through the polymer with entrapped, inactivated AtT‐20 spheroids were measured first. The kinetics of glucose and oxygen consumption and insulin secretion weremodeled next, and the equations for diffusion and reaction were then combined to describe the entire system. The model was used to compute nutrient and metabolite concentration profiles inbeads and the bead secretory response for different bead sizes and cell loadings. The size andloading necessary for the cells to be well nourished and for the beads to be rapidly responsive to step‐ups and step‐downs of secretion stimuli were evaluated. It was shown that if the cells are hypersensitive to glucose, i. e. , they do not shut off secretion at the physiological glucose threshold but at a lower one, so are the microbeads. This work demonstrates the usefulness of mechanistic models with representative parameter values in optimizing the design of artificial tissues and in characterizing aspects of their behavior that are of importance for restoring in vivo function.
Pulmonary cryptococcosis in solid organ transplant recipients: clinical relevance of serum cryptococcal antigen.

BACKGROUND The role of serum cryptococcal antigen in the diagnosis and determinants of antigen positivity in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients with pulmonary cryptococcosis has not been fully defined. METHODS We conducted a prospective, multicenter study of SOT recipients with pulmonary cryptococcosis during 1999-2006. RESULTS Forty (83%) of 48 patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis tested positive for cryptococcal antigen. Patients with concomitant extrapulmonary disease were more likely to have a positive antigen test result (P=.018), and antigen titers were higher in patients with extrapulmonary disease (P=.003) or fungemia (P=.045). Patients with single nodules were less likely to have a positive antigen test result than were those with all other radiographic presentations (P=.053). Among patients with isolated pulmonary cryptococcosis, lung transplant recipients were less likely to have positive cryptococcal antigen test results than were recipients of other types of SOT (P=.003). In all, 38% of the patients were asymptomatic or had pulmonary cryptococcosis detected as an incidental finding. Nodular densities or mass lesions were more likely to present as asymptomatic or incidentally detected pulmonary cryptococcosis than as pleural effusions and infiltrates (P=.008). CONCLUSIONS A positive serum cryptococcal antigen test result in SOT recipients with pulmonary cryptococcosis appears to reflect extrapulmonary or more advanced radiographic disease.
UNTANGLING BINARIES: WHERE CANADA SITS IN THE “21st CENTURY DEBATE”

This article examines the extent to which the competencies of the 21st century learner are reflected in the learning outcomes within the English language arts curriculum standards documents for the Canadian provinces. Manifest summative content analysis was used to code learning outcomes in accordance with themes derived from the competencies of 21st century learners. For all provinces, there were few learning outcomes that required students to use digital resources to access information or create knowledge / solutions; there were no learning outcomes related to competencies in the context of core subjects or using social media to communicate and learn. Espoused learning pedagogies need to be galvanized into English language arts curriculum standards that are consistent with 21st century and digital literacy learning competencies. DENOUER LA PENSEE BINAIRE : A QUEL ENDROIT SE SITUE LE CANADA AU SEIN DU « DEBAT DU 21 e SIECLE » ? Cet article explore dans quelle mesure les objectifs d’apprentissage tels que listes dans les documents officiels des programmes des diverses provinces canadiennes refletent les competences de l’apprenant-type du 21 e siecle. Pour ce faire, une analyse formelle des contenus a ete effectuee, en codant les objectifs d’apprentissage selon des themes en lien avec les competences de l’apprenant du 21 e siecle. Au sein des provinces, peu d’objectifs d’apprentissage necessitent l’utilisation de ressources numeriques pour avoir acces a de l’information ou encore, pour creer du savoir / des solutions. De plus, il n’y a aucun objectif d’apprentissage en lien avec ces competences dans les matieres de base ou d’utilisation des medias sociaux pour communiquer et apprendre. Des approches pedagogiques coherentes avec les competences du 21 e siecle et la culture d’apprentissage numerique doivent etre insufflees dans les normes des programmes d’ English language arts .
Image Denoising via Clustering-Based Sparse Representation over Wiener and Gaussian Filters

In this paper, we present an adaptive denoising algorithm based on filter and sparse representation. It employs Wiener filter and Gaussian filter to extract high-frequency components on the noisy image, and simultaneously reduce the influence of noise for clustering. Image is denoised by solving a double-headed ℓ1-optimization problem with the regularization involving dictionary learning and structural clustering. By conducting denoising on several commonly used images, the new algorithm performs equivalent and sometimes surpassing recently published leading algorithms in terms of both PSNR and visual quality.
Unburden Renters by Making Landlords Pay the Commission? Evaluating a Policy Reform in Germany

When renting an apartment, often a commission is payable by the renter. In a perfect market, standard economic reasoning predicts the rental price for an apartment with a commission payable by the renter to be lower than the price for the same apartment without commission. We test this hypothesis against an alternative hypothesis based on insights from behavioral economics about mental accounting, inattention, and cognitive limitations. We apply a difference-in-differences strategy exploiting a law reform in Germany in June 2015 determining that a landlord is no longer allowed to make a renter pay the commission for a real estate agent the landlord ordered. Using a panel dataset we thus compare price changes (pre–post reform) of apartments without a commission prior to the reform with price changes of apartments with a commission prior to the reform. Based on our results we reject the standard reasoning hypothesis of differing prices; moreover, we cannot reject the behavioral hypothesis of equal prices.
Evaluating the bias of circRNA predictions from total RNA-Seq data

CircRNAs are a group of endogenous noncoding RNAs. The quickly developing high throughput RNA sequencing technologies along with novel bioinformatics approaches have enabled researchers to systematically identify circRNAs and their biological functions in cells. Deep sequencing of rRNA-depleted RNAs treated with RNase R, which digests linear RNAs and leaves circRNAs enriched, is an efficient way to identify circRNAs. However, very few of RNase R treated data are at hand but a large amount of total RNA-Seq data with no sequencing costs is available, for circRNA predictions. In this study, we systematically investigated the prediction bias from total RNA-Seq data as well as the influence of sequencing depth, sequencing quality and single-end or paired-end sequencing strategy on the predictions. We also identified circRNA properties that may contribute to the improved prediction performance. Our analysis shows that circRNA predictions from total RNA-Seq data gain ∼50% true positive. Sequencing error dramatically worsens the predictions, rather than single-end sequencing strategy or low sequencing depth. However, false positive can be carefully controlled by using data with good quality and narrowing down circRNAs guided by their properties.
Toxoplasma gondii Triggers Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88-Dependent IL-12 and Chemokine Ligand 2 (Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein 1) Responses Using Distinct Parasite Molecules and Host Receptors1

Toll-like receptors (TLR) that signal through the common adaptor molecule myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) are essential in proinflammatory cytokine responses to many microbial pathogens. In this study we report that Toxoplasma gondii triggers neutrophil IL-12 and chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2; monocyte chemoattractant protein 1) production in strict dependence upon functional MyD88. Nevertheless, the responses are distinct. Although we identify TLR2 as the receptor triggering CCL2 production, parasite-induced IL-12 release did not involve this TLR. The production of both IL-12 and CCL2 was increased after neutrophil activation with IFN-γ. However, the synergistic effect of IFN-γ on IL-12, but not CCL2, was dependent upon Stat1 signal transduction. Although IL-10 was a potent down-regulator of Toxoplasma-triggered neutrophil IL-12 release, the cytokine had no effect on parasite-induced CCL2 production. Soluble tachyzoite Ag fractionation demonstrated that CCL2- and IL-12 inducing activities are biochemically distinct. Importantly, Toxoplasma cyclophilin-18, a molecule previously shown to induce dendritic cell IL-12, was not involved in neutrophil IL-12 production. Our results show for the first time that T. gondii possesses multiple molecules triggering distinct MyD88-dependent signaling cascades, that these pathways are independently regulated, and that they lead to distinct profiles of cytokine production.
DIDO: Dynamic Pipelines for In-Memory Key-Value Stores on Coupled CPU-GPU Architectures

As an emerging hardware, the coupled CPU-GPU architecture integrates a CPU and a GPU into a single chip, where the two processors share the same memory space. This special property opens up new opportunities for building in-memory keyvalue store systems, as it eliminates the data transfer costs on PCI-e bus, and enables fine-grained cooperation between the CPU and the GPU. In this paper, we propose DIDO, an in-memory key-value store system with dynamic pipeline executions on the coupled CPU-GPU architecture, to address the limitations and drawbacks of state-of-the-art system designs. DIDO is capable of adapting to different workloads through dynamically adjusting the pipeline with fine-grained task assignment to the CPU and the GPU at runtime. By exploiting the hardware features of coupled CPU-GPU architectures, DIDO achieves this goal with a set of techniques, including dynamic pipeline partitioning, flexible index operation assignment, and work stealing. We develop a cost model guided adaption mechanism to determine the optimal pipeline configuration. Our experiments have shown the effectiveness of DIDO in significantly enhancing the system throughput for diverse workloads.
Differential hepatic gene expression in the broiler chicken in response to the combined stressors of food withdrawal, catching and transport at the end of production

Broiler (meat) chickens experience the combined acute stressors of food withdrawal, catching and transport (FCT) prior to slaughter as part of normal commercial practice at the end of their lives. This has associated physiological consequences, potentially affecting both welfare and meat quality, some of which are mediated through altered hepatic function. This study compared global hepatic gene expression between control birds and those exposed to commercial FCT using 20K chicken oligonucleotide microarrays. In response to FCT, 733 genes were differentially expressed of which 486 could be mapped onto the genome. The principal molecular and cellular functions thus affected by FCT involved lipid and carbohydrate metabolism with a suppression of mRNA expression for genes involved in lipogenesis, glycolysis and glycogenolysis and an induction of those involved in gluconeogenesis, fatty acid metabolism and ketone synthesis. There was also significant differential expression of genes associated with cellular control and immune function. These stressful events associated with FCT in commercial broiler chickens altered expression of hepatic genes associated with energy metabolism, with exhaustion of stored hepatic and pectoral muscle glycogen. A better understanding of FCT-induced stress through the use of gene expression arrays may in future inform husbandry practices, to improve both welfare and meat quality.
Helping or destroying? Generally Accepted Criticism of the International Monetary Fund and the Media problem-The case of Argentina and Croatia

This paper analyses the generally accepted criticism of the International Monetary Fund and its relations with the media. The latter is done in respect of the IMF cooperation with Argentina and Croatia. These two countries did not have exactly the same type of cooperation with the IMF but they are similar in the amount of criticism that the IMF got in both of the countries. At first, it is thought that the IMF undermined the Argentinean economy and, secondly, it is often blamed for the foreign debt and for foreign ownership of Croatian banks. Additionally, the IMF is often blamed to be the enforcer of the US foreign policy directing its help towards the countries allied with the United States and at the same time undermining the economies of the countries not being allied with the United States. Due to the impossibility of getting any comment from the IMF (after several months of attempting to do so) with an explanation to consult the website, this paper also analyses the IMF website and its communication with the media via its official website. The conclusion is that the IMF website is doubtful due to the impossibility of obtaining certain information and due to the unclear system of classifying the press releases and country information. Instead of having clear communication with the media, the IMF directs a journalist to the website where it seems that it ignores certain information and underlines the other making the work of trying to get a clear and full information really difficult and furthermore, making the criticism even more reliable and trustworthy.
Quantification of the Relationship between Bacterial Kinetics and Host Response for Monkeys Exposed to Aerosolized Francisella tularensis

ABSTRACT Francisella tularensis can be disseminated via aerosols, and once inhaled, only a few microorganisms may result in tularemia pneumonia. Effective responses to this threat depend on a thorough understanding of the disease development and pathogenesis. In this study, a class of time-dose-response models was expanded to describe quantitatively the relationship between the temporal probability distribution of the host response and the in vivo bacterial kinetics. An extensive literature search was conducted to locate both the dose-dependent survival data and the in vivo bacterial count data of monkeys exposed to aerosolized F. tularensis. One study reporting responses of monkeys to four different sizes of aerosol particles (2.1, 7.5, 12.5, and 24.0 μm) of the SCHU S4 strain and three studies involving five in vivo growth curves of various strains (SCHU S4, 425, and live vaccine strains) initially delivered to hosts in aerosol form (1 to 5 μm) were found. The candidate models exhibited statistically acceptable fits to the time- and dose-dependent host response and provided estimates for the bacterial growth distribution. The variation pattern of such estimates with aerosol size was found to be consistent with the reported pathophysiological and clinical observations. The predicted growth curve for 2.1-μm aerosolized bacteria was highly consistent with the available bacterial count data. This is the first instance in which the relationship between the in vivo growth of F. tularensis and the host response can be quantified by mechanistic mathematical models.
What do people at risk for Alzheimer disease think about surrogate consent for research?

The authors performed serial transcranial Doppler (TCD) and carbon dioxide reactivity (CO2R) testing in 20 aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients to determine whether impaired cerebrovascular reactivity was associated with symptomatic vasospasm. Symptomatic vasospasm occurred in 9 of 14 patients with abnormal CO2R and in none of 6 patients with preserved reactivity (p = 0.011). Abnormal CO2R preceded the onset of vasospasm in 7 of 9 patients. Abnormal standard TCD testing was not associated with vasospasm.
Hessian Calculation for Phylogenetic Likelihood based on the Pruning Algorithm and its Applications

Abstract We analytically derive the first and second derivatives of the likelihood in maximum likelihood methods for phylogeny. These results enable the Newton-Raphson method to be used for maximising likelihood, which is important because there is a need for faster methods for optimisation of parameters in maximum likelihood methods. Furthermore, the calculation of the Hessian matrix also opens up possibilities for standard likelihood theory to be applied, for inference in phylogeny and for model selection problems. Another application of the Hessian matrix is local influence analysis, which can be used for detecting a number of biologically interesting phenomena. The pruning algorithm has been used to speed up computation of likelihoods for a tree. We explain how it can be used to speed up the computation for the first and second derivatives of the likelihood with respect to branch lengths and other parameters. The results in this paper apply not only to bifurcating trees, but also to general multifurcating trees. We demonstrate the use of our Hessian calculation for the three applications listed above, and compare with existing methods for those applications.