Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Economics of Heritage

Based on the assumption that without understanding institutions, economists cannot make satisfactory policy prescriptions, this book draws some insightful conclusions on the strengths and limitations of applied economics in the field of heritage. Sicily provides an interesting and unique backdrop against which the study is set, demonstrating the economic complexities of heritage and the range of economic tools and concepts which can be employed to analyse it.
Long-term respiratory outcome of babies born prematurely

Chronic respiratory morbidity is a common adverse outcome of premature birth, particularly in infants who develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Prematurely born infants who had BPD may require supplementary oxygen at home for many months, but few remain oxygen dependent beyond 2 years of age. Readmission to hospital is common, particularly for those who had BPD, but only in the first 2 years after birth. The readmissions are usually for respiratory problems, particularly respiratory syncytial virus lower respiratory infections. Recurrent respiratory symptoms requiring treatment are common, particularly in those who had BPD, even at school age and in adolescence. Affected children have evidence of airways obstruction. Pulmonary function does improve with age, but children with BPD may have ongoing airflow limitation. Computed tomography of the chest gives helpful information at follow up of patients with ongoing respiratory problems who had BPD.
Cutting Edge: Expression of XCR1 Defines Mouse Lymphoid-Tissue Resident and Migratory Dendritic Cells of the CD8α+ Type

Subsets of dendritic cells (DCs) have been described according to their functions and anatomical locations. Conventional DC subsets are defined by reciprocal expression of CD11b and CD8α in lymphoid tissues (LT), and of CD11b and CD103 in non-LT (NLT). Spleen CD8α+ and dermal CD103+ DCs share a high efficiency for Ag cross-presentation and a developmental dependency on specific transcription factors. However, it is not known whether all NLT-derived CD103+ DCs and LT-resident CD8α+ DCs are similar despite their different anatomical locations. XCR1 was previously described as exclusively expressed on mouse spleen CD8α+ DCs and human blood BDCA3+ DCs. In this article, we showed that LT-resident CD8α+ DCs and NLT-derived CD103+ DCs specifically express XCR1 and are characterized by a unique transcriptional fingerprint, irrespective of their tissue of origin. Therefore, CD8α+ DCs and CD103+ DCs belong to a common DC subset which is unequivocally identified by XCR1 expression throughout the body.
Bringing Interprofessional Case-Based Learning into the Classroom for Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology Students

ABSTRACT Instructors are increasingly integrating interprofessional education (IPE) activities into academic programs to address curricular demands. IPE aims to increase the quality of collaborative services provided to patients. This article describes a case-based IPE activity designed for occupational therapy and speech-language pathology graduate students. This activity was designed as a small-scale integration of IPE to compliment large scale, multi-discipline learning activities. Students from two courses participated in an IPE activity that included one online and one in-class activity. The purpose of the activity was for students to gain knowledge of their respective roles in augmentative and alternative communication services. Students perceived increased knowledge and skills following this activity. Despite the somewhat small scale of this educational intervention, the instructors viewed the activity a valuable addition to their courses.
Profiling of Genetic Variations in Inflammation Pathway Genes in Relation to Bladder Cancer Predisposition

Purpose: Compelling evidence has indicated that inflammation plays an important role in cancer development. We sought to test the hypothesis that common sequence variants in the inflammation pathway modulate bladder cancer risk. Experimental Design: We genotyped 59 potentially functional single nucleotide polymorphisms from 35 candidate inflammation genes in a case-control study including 635 Caucasian bladder cancer patients and 635 matched controls. Results: The most significant finding was in the 3′-untranslated region of PTGS2 (exon10+837T>C, rs5275), which was associated with a significantly reduced risk (odds ratio, 0.68; 95% confidence interval, 0.54-0.87; P = 0.002) and remained significant after multiple comparison adjustment. Consistently, the most common PTGS2 haplotype containing the common allele of exon10+837T>C was associated with a significantly increased risk (odds ratio, 1.27; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.52; P = 0.008). In contrast, the haplotypes containing at least one variant allele of exon10+837T>C were all associated with a decreased risk. In a combined analysis to assess the cumulative effects of inflammation single nucleotide polymorphisms on bladder cancer risk, we found that in the anti-inflammation pathway, but not in the proinflammation pathway, when compared with individuals with a few adverse alleles, individuals with more adverse alleles had a significantly increased risk in a dose-dependent manner (Ptrend = 0.012). To further elucidate the functional mechanism of these associations, we redefined the adverse alleles based on literature-reported functional results and found that individuals with a higher number of inflammation-enhancing alleles in the anti-inflammation pathway exhibited a greater bladder cancer risk. Conclusions: Our results strongly suggest that common variants in inflammation genes affect bladder cancer susceptibility individually and jointly.
Long‐Term in Vitro Function of Adult Hepatocytes in a Collagen Sandwich Configuration

In an effort to reconstruct the cellular polarity normally found in the liver, adult rat hepatocytes were sandwiched between two layers of hydrated rat tail tendon collagen matrix. Functionally, sandwiched hepatocytes maintained the secretion of albumin, transferrin, fibrinogen, bile acids, and urea for at least 6 weeks, whereas cells cultured on a single layer of collagen gel ceased such secretion in 1–2 weeks. After 1 week of culture on a single layer of collagen gel, hepatocytes could still recover these lost functions when a second layer of collagen gel was applied. The exact nature of the substrate for constructing the sandwich system appeared to be unimportant as long as it allowed cellular attachment. Hepatocytes cultured in the sandwich system appeared to maintain a distribution of actin filaments similar to the in vivo state, whereas cells cultured on a single layer of collagen gel showed abnormal formation of stress fibers. These studies suggest that simple manipulations of the configuration of extracellular elements can dramatically alter the behavior of cultured hepatocytes.
Decreased fragile histidine triad gene protein expression is associated with worse prognosis in oral squamous carcinoma.

CONTEXT Fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene is thought to be a tumor suppressor; abnormalities in expression have been reported in a variety of neoplasms. OBJECTIVE To determine whether abnormalities of FHIT protein expression or loss of heterozygosity in the FHIT gene were correlated with survival or other clinical parameters in patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma. DESIGN Fifty-three patients with initial surgical treatment of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma were followed a minimum of 5 years or until death. The FHIT protein expression was studied by immunohistochemistry in all patients, and a subset of 20 patients was studied for allelic loss of heterozygosity and microsatellite instability using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue. RESULTS Sixty-one percent of patients whose tumors had reduced FHIT expression were dead of disease, and 37% of patients whose tumors exhibited preserved FHIT expression were dead of disease at 5-year follow-up. Log-rank analysis showed that patients retaining FHIT expression had a longer overall survival (P = .03) and disease-free survival (P = .01). The FHIT expression was not correlated with node status or clinical stage. Loss of heterozygosity was seen in 10 (50%) of 20 tumors, low levels of microsatellite instability in 4 (20%) of 20 tumors, and high levels of microsatellite instability in 1 (5%) of 20 tumors tested. CONCLUSIONS The FHIT gene was associated with a worse survival outcome when its expression was reduced in patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma. Loss of heterozygosity in the gene was common, but no correlation with protein expression was found. Neither loss of heterozygosity nor microsatellite instability was found to correlate with survival. Because genomic alterations involving loss of heterozygosity of the FHIT gene were not associated with protein expression in these tumors, the presence or absence of FHIT expression may be controlled by other factors.
Development and application of a multiple typing system for Clostridium difficile

A combination of bacteriocin, bacteriophage, and plasmid typing techniques was used to differentiate strains of Clostridium difficile. A typing set of 20 bacteriocin-producing strains was established after 400 isolates of C. difficile were screened for the ability to produce bacteriocin. These strains were used to type a collection of 114 isolates of C. difficile. Forty-six (40%) of the 114 isolates were typeable, and 31 typing patterns were distinguishable. Plasmid typing of the same 114 isolates of C. difficile showed that 67 (59%) of the isolates carried up to four plasmids ranging from 7 to 60 kb in size, although most strains contained only one or two plasmids. Twenty different plasmid typing patterns were observed among the isolates. A combination of bacteriocin and plasmid typing provided 77% typeability. Fifteen (13%) of the 114 strains were typeable with five bacteriophages isolated in our laboratory, but the increase in typeability of strains over that obtainable by plasmid and bacteriocin typing was only 1.8%. Isolates that were nontypeable by bacteriocins, plasmids, or phages could be divided into two groups on the basis of positive or negative cytotoxin production. This further division of strains would increase the typeability potential by 7%; i.e., the ability to differentiate strains would rise from 77 to 84%, or perhaps 86%, if phage typing were included. We conclude that more than one of the techniques reported in this paper must be used to achieve an acceptable level of typeability of this species.
Comparative analysis of nonvolatile and volatile metabolites in Lichtheimia ramosa cultivated in different growth media

Lichtheimia ramosa is one of the predominant filamentous fungi in Korean traditional nuruk. The nonvolatile and volatile metabolites of L. ramosa cultivated in three growth media: complete medium (CM), potato dextrose broth (PDB), and sabouraud dextrose broth (SDB), were investigated and compared. Among nonvolatile metabolites, serine, lysine, and ornithine increased in CM and PDB cultivated with L. ramosa during the exponential phase. In addition, glucose level increased in CM whereas decreased in PDB and SDB. The major volatile metabolites in the extract samples were acetic acid, ethanol, 3-methyl-2-buten-1-ol, 2-phenylethanol, ethylacetate, 2-furaldehyde, 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furaldehyde, 2,3-dihydro-3,5,-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one, and α-humulene. In particular, the levels of volatile metabolites related to makgeolli (e.g., acetic acid, ethanol, and ethyl acetate) were highest in extracts cultivated in CM. On the other hand, the level of 2-phenylethanol was relatively higher in PDB and SDB, possibly due to there being more phenylalanine present in the biomass sample in media.
Determinants of quality and efficiency performance in service operations

Purpose – Using arguments from the knowledge-based view and resource-based view of the firm, the purpose of this paper is to propose that external knowledge (as measured by a firm’s customer orientation) and internal knowledge management (through human capital development techniques of job-related training and enhancing employee capability) together contribute to successful service delivery systems. Design/methodology/approach – The hypothesized model is tested on a large sample of 249 Chinese service firms using structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression analyses. Findings – The results indicate that the knowledge management factors of customer orientation, employee capability and job-related training had a varying influence on quality and efficiency dimensions of service system performance. Also, internal knowledge facets of employee capability and job-related training had complementary effects in inducing improved performance on both quality and efficiency. Research limitations/implicatio.
A qualitative study on the development process of elite Chinese coaches

This study examined the process and characteristics of career development among elite Chinese coaches and constructed a grounded theory on the factors that contributing to the development of a successful career in the Chinese context. In the current study, there was a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with seventeen elite Chinese coaches of a variety of sports. The data analysis was conducted by several coding procedures geared toward theory development with assistance of Nvivo. Finally, nine categories and a paradigm model was emerged from the data. The findings will provide a holistic framework for a better understanding of coach development process and valuable information for coach career development in Chinese societies.
Detection of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (Bb12) in the Intestine after Feeding of Sows and Their Piglets

ABSTRACT A real-time PCR method has been developed to distinguish Bifidobacterium animalis subspecies in the gastrointestinal tracts of pigs. Identification of a highly conserved single-copy tuf gene encoding the elongation factor Tu involved in bacterial protein biosynthesis was used as a marker to differentiate homologous Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (strain Bb12) from Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. animalis, as well as Bifidobacterium suis, Bifidobacterium breve, Bifidobacterium longum, several species of Lactobacillus, and Enterococcus faecium. Real-time PCR detection of serially diluted DNA extracted from a pure culture of Bb12 was linear for bacterial numbers ranging from 10 to 10,000 tuf gene copies per PCR (r2 = 0.99). Relative differences in Bb12 bacterial numbers in pigs fed daily with Bb12 were determined after detection of Bb12 tuf gene copies in DNA extracted from the intestinal contents. Piglets treated with Bb12 immediately after birth maintained a high level of Bb12 in their large intestines with continuous daily administration of Bb12. Piglets born to Bb12-treated sows during the last third of their gestation and also treated with Bb12 at birth (T/T group) had a higher number of Bb12 organisms per gram of intestinal contents compared to placebo-treated piglets born to placebo-treated sows (C/C group), Bb12-treated sows (T/C group), or piglets born to placebo sows but treated with Bb12 immediately after birth (C/T group). In addition, there was a significant increase in gene expression for Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) in piglets from the T/T group, with no change in TLR2 and TLR4. These findings suggest that the tuf gene represents a specific and functional marker for detecting Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis strain Bb12 within the microbiota of the intestine.
Progress toward the Development of a NEAT Protein Vaccine for Anthrax Disease

ABSTRACT Bacillus anthracis is a sporulating Gram-positive bacterium that is the causative agent of anthrax and a potential weapon of bioterrorism. The U.S.-licensed anthrax vaccine is made from an incompletely characterized culture supernatant of a nonencapsulated, toxigenic strain (anthrax vaccine absorbed [AVA]) whose primary protective component is thought to be protective antigen (PA). AVA is effective in protecting animals and elicits toxin-neutralizing antibodies in humans, but enthusiasm is dampened by its undefined composition, multishot regimen, recommended boosters, and potential for adverse reactions. Improving next-generation anthrax vaccines is important to safeguard citizens and the military. Here, we report that vaccination with recombinant forms of a conserved domain (near-iron transporter [NEAT]), common in Gram-positive pathogens, elicits protection in a murine model of B. anthracis infection. Protection was observed with both Freund's and alum adjuvants, given subcutaneously and intramuscularly, respectively, with a mixed composite of NEATs. Protection correlated with an antibody response against the NEAT domains and a decrease in the numbers of bacteria in major organs. Anti-NEAT antibodies promote opsonophagocytosis of bacilli by alveolar macrophages. To guide the development of inactive and safe NEAT antigens, we also report the crystal structure of one of the NEAT domains (Hal) and identify critical residues mediating its heme-binding and acquisition activity. These results indicate that we should consider NEAT proteins in the development of an improved antianthrax vaccine.
Naringenin and quercetin inhibit the instigating effects of diethylnitrosamine/acetylaminofluorene on cardiac dysfunction, oxidative stress and inflammation

This study aims to scrutinize the mitigating effects of naringenin and quercetin on diethylnitrosamine (DEN)/ acetylaminofluorene (AAF)-induced cardiotoxicity in Wistar rats. Wistar rats that received intraperitoneal injection of DEN at 150 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) twice/week for two weeks followed by oral administration of AAF at 20 mg/kg b.w. four times/week for three weeks were orally treated with naringenin and quercetin at dose of 10 mg/kg b.w. every other day for five months. The treatment of DEN/AAF-administrated rats with naringenin and quercetin significantly decreased the elevated cardiac serum CK-MB, AST and LDH activities and effectively ameliorate the deleterious histological alterations induced by DEN/AAF-administration including (oedema, necrosis and inflammatory cells infiltration, congestion & dilation of myocardial blood vessels and haemorrhage). The raised heart lipid peroxidation was significantly declined while the reduced GSH content and activities of GST, SOD and GPx were significantly elevated in DEN/AAF treated with naringenin and quercetin. Moreover, the lowered serum IL-4 level was increased and the elevated serum IL-1β level was decreased due to treatment of DEN/AAF-administrated rats with naringenin and quercetin. Collectively, it can be recommended that naringenin and quercetin successfully amended the DEN/AAF-induced cardiotoxicity by modulating oxidative stress and inflammation.
Phosphorylation of an acidic mol. wt. 80 000 cellular protein in a cell‐free system and intact Swiss 3T3 cells: a specific marker of protein kinase C activity.

Activation of the endogenous Ca2+‐activated phospholipid‐dependent protein kinase (protein kinase C) by Ca2+, phosphatidylserine (PS) and phorbol dibutyrate (PBt2) in detergent‐solubilized extracts of Swiss 3T3 cells resulted in a very rapid increase (detectable within seconds) in the phosphorylation of an 80 000 mol. wt. protein (termed 80 K). Neither cyclic AMP nor Ca2+ had any effect on 80 K phosphorylation. The 80 K phosphoproteins generated after activation of protein kinase C, both in cell‐free conditions and in intact fibroblasts, are identical as judged by one and two‐dimensional polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis and peptide mapping. Prolonged treatment of cells with phorbol esters causes a selective decrease in protein kinase C activity and prevents the stimulation of 80 K phosphorylation in intact fibroblasts. We now show that extracts from PBt2‐treated cultures fail to stimulate 80 K phosphorylation after the addition of the protein kinase C activators. This effect was due to the lack of protein kinase C activity since the addition of exogenous protein kinase C from mouse brain stimulated 80 K phosphorylation in both control and PBt2‐treated preparations. The 80 K phosphoprotein generated by activation of endogenous and exogenous protein kinase C yielded similar phosphopeptide fragments after peptide mapping by limited proteolysis. We conclude that the detection of changes in the phosphorylation of 80 K provides a useful approach to ascertain which extracellular ligands activate protein kinase C in intact cells.
Expression of the sonic hedgehog gene in human embryos with neural tube defects.

BACKGROUND To estimate the rate of malformations observed during early human development, a series of 38,913 first-trimester abortions were studied. Neural tube defects (NTD) were found in 57 cases. METHODS A histological study of serial sections performed in 25 embryos revealed a spectrum of axial structure abnormalities. Expression of the SHH gene was studied by in situ hybridization in one case of CRS and in two cases of SB. RESULTS A cervical notochord duplication was always found in craniorachischisis (CRS, n = 8), but not in spina bifida (SB, n = 10) or diplomyelia (split cord malformation, n = 3). In the embryo with CRS, expression of SHH was found in both domains, corresponding to the duplicated part of the notochord, whereas a single signal was observed in the nonduplicated part. This expression was associated at the cervical level of the open neural tube with a broad SHH expression domain and with two or even three domains in its lumbar region, suggesting multiple functional floor plates. Similarly, in two embryos with SB, two domains of SHH expression were found in the ventral neural tube. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that notochord splitting in the cervical region might be involved in the pathogenesis of CRS. Interestingly, similar notochord abnormality and altered expression of the shh gene are observed in Lp mice with NTD. This suggests that the Lp gene could be a candidate gene for human CRS. Further studies are needed to establish the primary event responsible for the notochord splitting and for the abnormal expression of the SHH gene in the floor plate in embryos with CRS and SB.
Distributed versus cluster-based cooperative linear networks: A range extension study in Suzuki fading environments

This paper studies two topologies for cooperative multi-hop linear networks; a distributed equi-distant node topology and a co-located group of nodes topology such that both topologies operate under composite shadowing-fading environment. The transmission from one hop to another in both topologies is modeled as a Markov process where the underlying channel model is drawn from a Suzuki distribution. The distribution of the sum of multiple Suzuki random variables (RVs) is obtained by a moment generating function (MGF)-based approximation technique. It is shown that the coverage of both topologies is different contingent upon the severity of shadowing and the transmit power of the radios. The optimal level of cooperation between nodes is shown to have a dependency on the path loss exponent such that a large number of cooperators is optimal for a small path loss exponent and vice versa for obtaining the maximum range of the network. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to validate the analytical model.
Elevated Myostatin Levels in Patients with Liver Disease: A Potential Contributor to Skeletal Muscle Wasting

Loss of skeletal muscle mass is a poorly understood complication of end-stage liver disease (ESLD). Based on recent stem cell literature, we hypothesized that the potent negative regulator of muscle mass, myostatin, could play a role in the muscle loss associated with ESLD. In this preliminary investigation, we measured myostatin levels in patients undergoing liver transplant evaluation, using a novel enzyme-linked immunosensitivity assay. Myostatin levels were significantly elevated in patients with ESLD compared with healthy controls. These data suggest that myostatin deserves further investigation as a target for therapies designed to preserve muscle mass in patients with ESLD.