Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bone marrow‐derived cells expressing Iba1 are constitutively present as resident tissue macrophages in the mouse cochlea

Immune‐mediated inner ear disorder has been well established as a clinical entity; however, the innate immune system of the inner ear is a poorly understood area of research with high clinical and immunological importance. Although the presence of resident tissue macrophages in the inner ear has been suggested, there has been some controversy. In this study, we analyzed the origin of cochlear resident macrophages and the contribution of hematopoietic bone marrow (BM) to the recruitment of macrophages in the cochlea. To visualize the localization of BM‐derived cells, BM chimeric mice were made by transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells, which were genetically labeled with enhanced green fluorescent protein, into lethally irradiated C57BL/6 mice. The distribution and characteristics of BM‐derived cells in the mouse cochlea were studied immunohistochemically. We successfully identified the constitutive presence of tissue resident macrophages in the spiral ligament and spiral ganglion that are derived from BM in larger numbers than previously reported. Moreover, cochlear resident macrophages gradually turn over for several months during steady‐state replacement by BM‐derived cells, and the number of cochlear macrophages immediately increased in response to local surgical stress. The present findings demonstrate the hematopoietic origin of cochlear resident and infiltrating macrophages. Our study provides a novel anatomical and immunological basis for the inner ear and indicates that the cochlear resident macrophages would be a therapeutic target in inner ear disorders. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
MODELING LAPSE RISK USING COINTEGRATION AND ERROR CORRECTION APPROACH

Policy lapse, in life insurance, is the ratio of the number of policies that default during a period to the average number of policies written within that period. It is a phenomenon that occurs during the activity of insurance operations and one that causes negative effects for those activities: deterioration of business or record insurance losses affecting functionality. Individually closed contracts in life and pensions industry are associated with several risks ranging from underwriting and financial risks to operational risks. This research focuses on one of these risks, more specifically the risk of termination of a policy by the policyholderthe 'lapse'risk. This study provided the Error Correction Model as a suitable choice given its key benefits; convenience in measuring the correction from disequilibrium from the previous years'periods and the ability to eliminate trends. The ECM analysis revealed a long run causality running from all the explanatory variables to the dependent variable. The findings also indicated that the GDP growth and stock market performance affect lapse behaviour in the short run. Impulse response analysis further found that the lapse rate responds far more strongly to the random shocks from the GDP growth than to the shocks from the stock market index. In other words, the GDP growth has a more significant economic impact upon the lapse rate than the stock market index and therefore the emergency fund hypothesis is more favored against the interest rate hypothesis in interpreting the lapse rate dynamics.
Effect of tibolone therapy on lipids and coagulation indices

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Plasma Free Fatty Acid Storage in Subcutaneous and Visceral Adipose Tissue in Postabsorptive Women

OBJECTIVE— We assessed the direct (VLDL-triglycerides [VLDL-TG] independent) storage of circulating free fatty acids (FFAs) in visceral and subcutaneous fat in postabsorptive women. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS— Twelve women (BMI 29.6 ± 6.6 kg/m2) received an identical, intravenous bolus dose of [1-14C]oleate followed by timed subcutaneous fat biopsies (abdominal and femoral) and then omental fat biopsy during tubal ligation surgery. Regional fat masses were assessed by combining dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and computed tomography scanning. Separately, we assessed the fraction of FFA tracer entering VLDL-TG over the time representing the delay in collecting omental fat. RESULTS— Site-specific fat specific activity (SA) (dpm/g lipid) decreased as a function of fat mass in both upper-body subcutaneous (UBSQ) and visceral fat depots. These patterns are consistent with dilution of a relatively fixed amount of FFA tracer within progressively greater amounts of fat. Interestingly, femoral SA did not vary as a function of lower-body subcutaneous (LBSQ) fat mass. [1-14C]oleate storage per million LBSQ adipocytes was positively associated with LBSQ fat mass, but no significant relationships were observed in UBSQ or visceral fat depot. The fraction of [1-14C]oleate stored in UBSQ, LBSQ, and visceral fat was 6.7 ± 3.2, 4.9 ± 3.4, and 1.0 ± 0.3%, respectively. Only ∼4% of the tracer traversed VLDL-TG over 9.5 h. CONCLUSIONS— The increase in FFA tracer storage per adipocyte as a function of LBSQ fat mass implies that LBSQ adipocytes, in contrast to UBSQ and omental adipocytes, store more FFA in women with greater adiposity. The direct FFA storage pathway might play a role in favoring lower-body fat accumulation in women.
Rational underdevelopment: regional economic disparities under the Heckscher-Ohlin Theorem

Abstract This paper analyzes how differences in regional development arise through technological variations and changes. Previous Ricardian-model-based considerations of this phenomenon, known as rational underdevelopment, have ignored migration, elasticities, multidimensional factors and inputs. This study thus re-examines rational underdevelopment in light of the Heckscher-Ohlin Theorem, considering two regions, with two sectors, in two periods. The regions have different factor and technology endowments. The first region has a technology sector, and the second is a technology laggard. Once a new technology that can potentially benefit both regions is introduced, the technology-endowed region offers financial transfers to the technologically lagging region. This equalizes regional incomes but also reduces the possibility that the laggard will adopt the new technology and decrease its developmental disadvantage. We also discuss the influence of mobile factors, which reduce regional inequality. The results show that rational underdevelopment extends beyond wage subsidies to mobile factors and capital. The analysis has implications for economic policies aimed at reducing inter-regional inequality.
Metodologia do VaR para empresas não financeiras

O objetivo do artigo e apresentar uma sugestao de metodologia para ser aplicada em empresas nao financeiras para o gerenciamento do risco financeiro a partir do conceito do Value At Risk e de instrumentos denominados perifericos (complementares) como; o Back Testing, o Stress Testing, RAROC (Risk Adjust Return on Capital), Delta VaR e o Component VaR. Para tanto, inicialmente apresenta-se uma breve contextualizacao internacional e nacional da evolucao dos estudos e regulamentacoes relacionados ao gerenciamento de risco, em seguida, conceitos do Value at Risk e de seus Perifericos, bem como, dos modelos de quantificacao do Value at Risk. Posteriormente demonstra-se a metodologia proposta com as aplicacoes teoricas nos fluxos de caixas da empresas nao financeiras, em servicos da divida e em estudos de viabilidade economico-financeira. Por derradeiro, ressalta-se as consideracoes acerca do gerenciamento de risco proposto e as relacoes com a geracao de valor para os acionistas.
Distributed scheduling of CDMA networks with minimal information

An algorithm which produces conflict-free communication schedules in mobility multihop radio networks is presented. These schedules are produced in a completely distributed manner. The algorithm is based on a globally known permutation on the nodes of the network. As a result the only knowledge needed on the part of individual nodes is the number of nodes in the network. This permutation guarantees that conflict-free schedules can be produced in a distributed manner. Two extensions to the basic permutation are discussed. The first enables neighboring nodes to enhance their communication schedules in a fast, robust, distributed manner. The second extension allows the algorithm to operate in the presence of secondary conflicts. >
Effect of drug substance particle size on the characteristics of granulation manufactured in a high-shear mixer

DPC 963 is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor with low aqueous solubility. The effect of DPC 963 drug substance particle size on the characteristics of granules manufactured by high-shear wet granulation was evaluated. The wet granulation process was used to manufacture a DPC 963 formulation with high drug loading. The formulation was manufactured using drug substance lots with different particle size distributions. Granulation particle size distribution, porosity, and compressibility were determined. A uniaxial compression test was also performed on moist compacts of the formulation prepared with different particle size distributions. Particle agglomeration behavior was affected by drug substance particle size. Granulation geometric mean diameter and fraction with particle size greater than 250 μm was inversely proportional to the drug substance particle size. Mercury intrusion porosimetry revealed higher pore volumes for the granules manufactured using the drug substance with the smaller particle size, suggesting lower tendency for granule densification than for that manufactured with the larger drug substance particle size. Granulation compressibility was also sensitive to changes in drug substance particle size. A decreased drug substance particle size led to increased granulation compressibility. Results from the uniaxial compression experiments suggested that the effect of particle size on granulation growth is the results of increased densification propensity, which in turn results from increased drug substance particle size.
Efficiency of Indian Public Sector Banks: An Application of DEA Approach

Since the early 1990s, banks in India have witnessed a series of reforms with a view to improving their efficiency. The reforms have given greater freedom to banks to manage both pricing and quality of resources. With the entry of private banks and liberal branching policy for foreign banks, public sector banks have to face more competition. Unless the efficiency of these banks improves, they may not be able to survive in the new challenging environment. This study assesses the pattern of changes in the efficiency of public sector banks for the period 2003-07, using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). It was observed that the efficiency of the banks had not increased over the study period. It was also found that a few banks were better prepared to fight competition as compared to their peers.
Climate and local abundance in freshwater fishes

Identifying factors regulating variation in numbers of individuals among populations across a species' distribution is a fundamental goal in ecology. A common prediction, often referred to as the abundant-centre hypothesis, suggests that abundance is highest near the centre of a species' range. However, because of the primary focus on the geographical position of a population, this framework provides little insight into the environmental factors regulating local abundance. While range-wide variation in population abundance associated with environmental conditions has been investigated in terrestrial species, the relationship between climate and local abundance in freshwater taxa across species' distributions is not well understood. We used GIS-based temperature and precipitation data to determine the relationships between climatic conditions and range-wide variation in local abundance for 19 species of North American freshwater fishes. Climate predicted a portion of the variation in local abundance among populations for 18 species. In addition, the relationship between climatic conditions and local abundance varied among species, which is expected as lineages partition the environment across geographical space. The influence of local habitat quality on species persistence is well documented; however, our results also indicate the importance of climate in regulating population sizes across a species geographical range, even in aquatic taxa.
Inhibition of telomerase in tumor cells by ribozyme targeting telomerase RNA component

Telomerase plays an important role in cell proliferation and carcinogenesis and is believed to be a good target for anti-cancer drugs. Elimination of template function of telomerase RNA may repress the telomerase activity. A hammer-headed ribozyme (telomerase ribozyme, teloRZ) directed against the RNA component of human telomerase (hTR) was designed and synthesized. TeloRZ showed a specific cleavage activity against the hTR. The cleavage efficacy reached 60%. A eukaryotic expression plasmid containing teloRZ gene was inducted into HeLa cells by lipofectamine, the telomerase activity in HeLa cells expressing teloRZ decreased to one eighth of that in the control cells. The doubling time increased significantly and the apoptosis ratio was elevated with increasing population doublings (PDS). After 19–20 PDS 95% cells were apoptotic. To further investigate the effect of teloRZ on tumor growth, the eukaryotic expression plasmid containing teloRZ was injected into transplanted tumor of nude mouse. The teloRZ effectively inhibited the telomerase activity in transplanted tumor, promoted apoptosis of the transplanted tumor cells, and decreased the tumor size significantly. These results indicate that teloRZ can effectively inhibit telomerase activity and growth of tumor cells, and suggest the potential use of this ribozyme in anti-cancer therapy.
Static data flow analysis and anomalies detection for BPEL

BPEL is a de-facto standard language for web service orchestration. Algorithms are presented for the data flow analysis in BPEL programs which use flow and links constructs to implement concurrency and synchronization. Recently a lot of algorithms have bean proposed to concurrent program for detecting the variables usage errors, but they are not applicable to BPEL program which has unique feature at syntax and semantic. So new algorithms are proposed to the data flow analysis and anomaly detection for BPEL. We mainly focus on the global program variable usage information, and the data dependency related information are also calculated which can be used to the analysis about the variable usage anomaly. By adapting this algorithm, a class of variable usage errors can be detected in BPEL program.
Influence of different end region cooling arrangements on end-winding heat transfer coefficients in electrical machines

In this paper the influence of the end-winding heat transfer on the thermal analysis of induction motors is presented. Experimental tests on two induction motor configurations - Open Drip Proof (ODP) and Total Enclosed Fan Cooled (TEFC) frames - are performed and the heat transfer coefficients are determined and validated in a lumped thermal analysis network. The cooling effect of the wafters present in the induction motor cage end-rings is also discussed.
Isolation of canine parvovirus from a cat manifesting clinical signs of feline panleukopenia

Twenty-seven feline parvovirus (FPV) isolates were recovered from cats clinically diagnosed with feline panleukopenia (FPL) for assessing antigenic and genomic properties of FPL viruses (FPLV) recently prevalent among cats in Japan. All isolates, with the exception of one novel isolate, FPV-314, possessed homologous properties, and their subgroups in FPVs were identified as FPLV. The FPV-314 isolate, which was from a 1.5-year-old cat which manifested clinical signs of FPL and died on the 13th day after the first medical examination, was finally identified as canine parvovirus (CPV) because it lacked a specific antigenic epitope commonly detected in FPLV and mink enteritis virus and because the nucleotide sequence of the capsid protein gene was almost identical to those of CPV-2a and -2b antigenic type strains recently prevalent among dogs in Japan. The present result together with our previous findings (M. Mochizuki, R. Harasawa, and H. Nakatani. Vet. Microbiol. 38:1-10, 1993) indicates the possibility that CPV and FPLV undergo mutual interspecies transmission between dogs and cats, and it is postulated that they may cause disease in some adventitious hosts.
Experimental analysis of double spiral resonator for wireless power transmission

We focused on a unique pattern of resonator, named double spiral resonator in WPT via resonance coupling, which is suitable for printing on ultra-thin and cheap substrates such as paper or film with ink-jet printing technology, concluding design trade-offs for the fabrication of double spiral resonator by investigating different structural parameters' effect on peak transmission efficiency. By conducting contrast experiments with other two patters of resonators, the fact that double spiral resonator ensured higher peak transmission efficiency in longer distance has been proved. Five structural parameters of double spiral resonator have been investigated on the effect of peak transmission efficiency. As well, equivalent circuit analysis on peak transmission efficiency has also been derived to inspect the theoretical explanation of the phenomenal parameters' effect on transmission efficiency.
Pleiotropic Actions of FGF23

Fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) is a bone-derived hormone, mainly produced by osteoblasts and osteocytes in response to increased extracellular phosphate and circulating vitamin D hormone. Endocrine FGF23 signaling requires co-expression of the ubiquitously expressed FGF receptor 1 (FGFR1) and the co-receptor α-Klotho (Klotho). In proximal renal tubules, FGF23 suppresses the membrane expression of the sodium–phosphate cotransporters Npt2a and Npt2c which mediate urinary reabsorption of filtered phosphate. In addition, FGF23 suppresses proximal tubular expression of 1α-hydroxylase, the key enzyme responsible for vitamin D hormone production. In distal renal tubules, FGF23 signaling activates with-no-lysine kinase 4, leading to increased renal tubular reabsorption of calcium and sodium. Therefore, FGF23 is not only a phosphaturic but also a calcium- and sodium-conserving hormone, a finding that may have important implications for the pathophysiology of chronic kidney disease. Besides these endocrine, Klotho-dependent functions of FGF23, FGF23 is also an auto-/paracrine suppressor of tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase transcription via Klotho-independent FGFR3 signaling, leading to local inhibition of mineralization through accumulation of pyrophosphate. In addition, FGF23 may target the heart via an FGFR4-mediated Klotho-independent signaling cascade. Taken together, there is emerging evidence that FGF23 is a pleiotropic hormone, linking bone with several other organ systems.
Non-contact ECG monitoring for automotive application

This work reports on a sensing technique suitable for non-contact ECG monitoring inside a running car. Specifically, the physical principles of operation and the specific boundary conditions regarding automotive integration is presented. To eliminate the need for additional cabling, a wireless communication module based on the Bluetooth standard was added and used to transmit and store data on a measurement PC for off-line analysis. Finally, some results obtained during test drives on German city roads and highways are discussed.
The apicoplast of Plasmodium falciparum is translationally active

Apicoplast, the plastid‐like organelle of apicomplexan parasites, has generated interest as a putative drug target. Although transcripts for genes encoded by the 35 kb circular plastid DNA have been detected, the actual presence of their protein products has only been postulated. We provide evidence for translation of the tufA gene encoded by the Plasmodium falciparum apicoplast genome. Translation elongation factor Tu (EF‐Tu), the product of tufA, was localized within the organelle. TufA was found to express maximally in the trophozoite stage of the intraerythrocytic cycle. Additionally, the drug thiostrepton that has a binding site in apicoplast LSU rRNA, reduced P. falciparum apicoplast EF‐Tu levels thus strengthening the view that translation in the apicoplast is the site of action of this drug.
Expansive Open‐Door Laminoplasty for Cervical Spinal Stenotic Myelopathy

Although the operative results have been improving since the air drill was introduced for cervical laminectomy instead of an ordinary rongeur, post-laminectomy complications, such as postoperative fragility of the cervical spine to acute neck trauma, posterior spur formation at the vertebral body, and malalignment of the lateral curvature have still remained as unsolved problems. In order to avoid these disadvantages, a new surgical technique called “expansive open-door laminoplasty” was devised by the author in 1977, which is relatively easier, safer, and better than the ordinary laminectomy from the standpoint of structural mechanics of the cervical spine. The operative procedure is described in detail. Operative results in the patients with cervical OPLL, spondylosis, and canal stenosis were satisfactory, and optimal widening of the AP diameter of the spinal canal is considered to be over 4 mm. From this procedure a bilateral, open-door laminoplasty has been devised for extensive exploration at the intradural space.