Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self‐assembling peptide amphiphile promotes plasticity of serotonergic fibers following spinal cord injury

Injection into the injured spinal cord of peptide amphiphile (PA) molecules that self‐assemble and display the laminin epitope IKVAV at high density improved functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) in two different species, rat and mouse, and in two different injury models, contusion and compression. The improvement required the IKVAV epitope and was not observed with the injection of an amphiphile displaying a nonbioactive sequence. To explore the mechanisms underlying these improvements, the number of serotonergic fibers in the lesioned spinal cord was compared in animals receiving the IKVAV‐PA, a nonbioactive PA (PA control), or sham injection. Serotonergic fibers were distributed equally in all three groups rostral to the injury but showed a significantly higher density caudal to the injury site in the IKVAV PA‐injected group. Furthermore, this difference was not present in the subacute phase following injury but appeared in the chronically injured cord. The IKVAV PA‐injected groups also trended higher both in the total number neurons adjacent to the lesion and in the number of long propriospinal tract connections from the thoracic to the lumbar cord. IKVAV PA injection did not alter myelin thickness, total axon number caudal to the lesion, axon size distribution, or total axon area. Serotonin can promote stepping even in complete transection models, so the improved function produced by the IKVAV PA treatment may reflect the increased serotonergic innervation caudal to the lesion in addition to the previously demonstrated regeneration of motor and sensory axons through the lesion. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Economics Crisis and Response: Case Study of Malaysia's Responses to Asian Financial Crisis

Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia, Volume 11, No.1: 43-56 http://dx.doi. org/10.17477/jcea.2012. 11.1. 043 Economics Crisis and Response: Case Study of Malaysia’s Responses to Asian Financial Crisis Fumitaka Furuoka, Beatrice Lim, Catherine Jikunan and Lo May Chiun The paper chooses the “Asian Financial Crisis” as a case study to examine its impact on Malay-sian economy and describes how Malaysian government responded to the crisis. It also focuses on the Asian financial crisis’ impact on the employment of banking sector in Malaysia. In the finance, insurance, real estate and business service sector, a number of 6,596 workers were re-trenched. Banks were forced into mergers and acquisition as well as downsizing, trim lean, or-ganizational changes and introduction of new technologies. Excess workers were offered a “vol-untary separation scheme. ” These retrenched workers became the urban poor facing high cost of living and no opportunity for jobs as there is no safety net provided. 1. Introduction The economic meltdown began in Thailand in July 1997 and spread to other countries in the re-gion, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea. This phenomenon was later called the "contagion effect. " To improve economic foundations, Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea decided to ask for and received rescue packages from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, as IMF’s conditions were very strict, some experts doubted the validity of the IMF’s policies. Some economists, such as Jeffrey Sachs, criticised the IMF for making a wrong diagnosis and prescribing the wrong medicine to Asian countries. They believed that the IMF’s rescue packages were suitable for the countries whose problems were caused by the public sector’s debts and government’s overspending. Asian countries’ problems, quite on the contrary, stemmed from the private sector. These economists believe that the IMF's measures, such as the cut of public spending and tightening of credit, were the wrong measures for Asian economies. They thought that the IMF's policies pushed Asian countries into a deeper recession. In contrast, the Malaysian government decided not to borrow money from the IMF. Instead, the government imposed capital control in order to overcome financial problems that were caused by the “contagion effect” of the Asian economic crisis.
Cerebral oxygenation responses to standing in elderly patients with predominantly diastolic dysfunction

Patients with left ventricular dysfunction may have different orthostatic responses of blood pressure (BP) and cerebral oxygenation than healthy elderly subjects. We investigated orthostatic changes in systemic haemodynamic variables and cerebral oxygenation in 21 elderly patients with heart failure New York Heart Association class I–III in stable condition (age 70–83 years) after withdrawal of furosemide and captopril for 2 weeks, and in 18 healthy elderly subjects (age 70–84 years). Frontal cortical concentration changes of oxyhaemoglobin ([O2Hb]) and deoxyhaemoglobin ([HHb]) were continuously measured by near‐infrared spectrophotometry and BP changes by Finapres before and during 10 min of standing. Upon standing [O2Hb] reflecting blood flow, changed by −1·2 ± 0·9 μmol L−1 (mean ± SEM) in the patients, whereas it decreased by −4·5 ± 0·6 μmol L−1 (P<0·01) in the healthy subjects after standing (P<0·05 between groups). [HHb] reflecting the sum of cerebral blood flow, arterial oxygen saturation and cerebral oxygen uptake, increased by 1·5 ± 0·5 μmol L−1 (P<0·05) and 1·7 ± 0·6 μmol L−1 (P<0·05), respectively. Compared with healthy elderly subjects, elderly patients with left ventricular dysfunction showed smaller orthostatic [O2Hb] decreases (P<0·01), in relation to higher orthostatic BP rises (P<0·05). These findings indicate that BP changes and an altered cardiovascular balance may influence orthostatic cortical haemodynamic responses in elderly subjects.
Why Exchange Rate is Indeterminate in Open Macro Economic Models? : An Approach from General Equilibrium View Point (駒井亨教授定年御退職記念号)

Every economic models of exchange rate have failed to explain even the medium term exchange rate movements. They still have failed to outperform the naïve random walk model. This paper tries to clarify a part of the problem chiefly from accounting point of view. When the complete stock-flow accounting is incorporated, the two-country open economy Portfolio Balance Model has just two independent equations for asset market clearing. It can determine home and foreign interest rates but not the exchange rate. If asset market equilibria vary smoothly over time, the balance of payments equation in the Mundell–Fleming model is not independent and cannot set the exchange rate either, and “fundamentals-based” econometric models of the exchange rate would almost certainly fail. An alternative is a two-country IS/LM model with exchange rate dynamics added. Its dynamic properties under Uncovered Interest Rate Parity are briefly explored. However, this problem is much deeper and beyond the scope of this technical paper. The future direction of research is suggested in the last part of paper.
Modelling and identification of linear discrete systems using least squares method

In control applications, we often encounter systems that respond to the change of control signal in an undesirable way. To adjust system output, there arises the need to know system parameters, so the identification has to be performed. The aim of this paper is to compare upstanding identification error that is the consequence of dataset size, input signal type, and quantization error occurring in the signal. The experimental part of this paper presents the results measured on the real device and shows the identification results.
Meta-analysis of the effectiveness of chronic care management for diabetes: investigating heterogeneity in outcomes.

PURPOSE The study aims to support decision making on how best to redesign diabetes care by investigating three potential sources of heterogeneity in effectiveness across trials of diabetes care management. METHODS Medline, CINAHL and PsycInfo were searched for systematic reviews and empirical studies focusing on: (1) diabetes mellitus; (2) adult patients; and (3) interventions consisting of at least two components of the chronic care model (CCM). Systematic reviews were analysed descriptively; empirical studies were meta-analysed. Pooled effect measures were estimated using a meta-regression model that incorporated study quality, length of follow-up and number of intervention components as potential predictors of heterogeneity in effects. RESULTS Overall, reviews (n = 15) of diabetes care programmes report modest improvements in glycaemic control. Empirical studies (n = 61) show wide-ranging results on HbA1c, systolic blood pressure and guideline adherence. Differences between studies in methodological quality cannot explain this heterogeneity in effects. Variety in length of follow-up can explain (part of) the variability, yet not across all outcomes. Diversity in the number of included intervention components can explain 8-12% of the heterogeneity in effects on HbA1c and systolic blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS The outcomes of chronic care management for diabetes are generally positive, yet differ considerably across trials. The most promising results are attained in studies with limited follow-up (<1 year) and by programmes including more than two CCM components. These factors can, however, explain only part of the heterogeneity in effectiveness between studies. Other potential sources of heterogeneity should be investigated to ensure implementation of evidence-based improvements in diabetes care.
Modeling and control of a novel tilt — Roll rotor quadrotor UAV

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for military, scientific, and civilian sectors are increasing drastically in recent years. The quadrotor platform has been used for many applications and research studies, as well. One of the limiting factors that prevents further implementation of the quadrotor system into applications, is the way quadrotor moves. It needs to tilt along the desired direction of motion. By doing this it can have necessary acceleration towards that direction. But tilting has the undesired effect of moving the onboard cameras' direction of view. This becomes an issue for surveillance and other vision based tasks. This study presents the design and control of a novel quadrotor system. Unlike previous study that uses regular quadrotor, this study proposes an alternative propulsion system formed by tilting rotors. This design eliminates the need of tilting the airframe, and it suggests superior performance with respect to regular quadrotor design. The mathematical model of the tiltable-rotor type quadrotor and designed control algorithms are explained. Various simulations are developed on MATLAB, in which the proposed quadrotor aerial vehicle has been successfully controlled. Comparison of the proposed system to regular quadrotor suggests better performance.
Investigation of Circularly Polarized Patch Antenna With Chiral Metamaterial

In this letter, a circularly polarized (CP) patch antenna with chiral metamaterial (CM) is proposed. The proposed CP patch antenna is composed of a conventional linearly polarized (LP) patch antenna and a CM. When placing the CM in the presence of a conventional LP patch antenna, the antenna polarization can be changed to CP mode. The antenna performances have been investigated numerically and experimentally. A simple method for realizing CP antenna is provided by using CM in the present letter.
Angle and time of arrival statistics of rain fading effect for cellular system

OFDM systems require proper understanding temporal characteristics of the propagation channel to adaptively fix the Cyclic Prefix(CP). This paper presents a geometrical based single bounce model for outdoor Suburban microcell environment in which the multipath reflection is accounted, including the rain fading effect by uniform distribution of scatterers, the trees in elliptical region around the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx). Analytical expressions for the Angle of Arrival (AoA) and Time of Arrival (ToA) probability density functions (pdfs) have been derived for the proposed model. These expressions have been validated through simulation and the results are also compared with the practical data available in literature.
Added Value of Serum Hormone Measurements in Risk Prediction Models for Breast Cancer for Women Not Using Exogenous Hormones: Results from the EPIC Cohort

Purpose: Circulating hormone concentrations are associated with breast cancer risk, with well-established associations for postmenopausal women. Biomarkers may represent minimally invasive measures to improve risk prediction models. Experimental Design: We evaluated improvements in discrimination gained by adding serum biomarker concentrations to risk estimates derived from risk prediction models developed by Gail and colleagues and Pfeiffer and colleagues using a nested case–control study within the EPIC cohort, including 1,217 breast cancer cases and 1,976 matched controls. Participants were pre- or postmenopausal at blood collection. Circulating sex steroids, prolactin, insulin-like growth factor (IGF) I, IGF-binding protein 3, and sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) were evaluated using backward elimination separately in women pre- and postmenopausal at blood collection. Improvement in discrimination was evaluated as the change in concordance statistic (C-statistic) from a modified Gail or Pfeiffer risk score alone versus models, including the biomarkers and risk score. Internal validation with bootstrapping (1,000-fold) was used to adjust for overfitting. Results: Among women postmenopausal at blood collection, estradiol, testosterone, and SHBG were selected into the prediction models. For breast cancer overall, model discrimination after including biomarkers was 5.3 percentage points higher than the modified Gail model alone, and 3.4 percentage points higher than the Pfeiffer model alone, after accounting for overfitting. Discrimination was more markedly improved for estrogen receptor–positive disease (percentage point change in C-statistic: 7.2, Gail; 4.8, Pfeiffer). We observed no improvement in discrimination among women premenopausal at blood collection. Conclusions: Integration of hormone measurements in clinical risk prediction models may represent a strategy to improve breast cancer risk stratification. Clin Cancer Res; 23(15); 4181–9. ©2017 AACR.
Crystal structure of oxygen-evolving photosystem II from Thermosynechococcus vulcanus at 3.7-Å resolution

Photosystem II (PSII) is a multisubunit membrane protein complex performing light-induced electron transfer and water-splitting reactions, leading to the formation of molecular oxygen. The first crystal structure of PSII from a thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus was reported recently [Zouni, A. , Witt, H. T. , Kern, J., Fromme, P., Krauss, N. , Saenger, W. & Orth, P. (2001) Nature 409, 739–743)] at 3.8-Å resolution. To analyze the PSII structure in more detail, we have obtained the crystal structure of PSII from another thermophilic cyanobacterium, Thermosynechococcus vulcanus, at 3.7-Å resolution. The present structure was built on the basis of the sequences of PSII large subunits D1, D2, CP47, and CP43; extrinsic 33- and 12-kDa proteins and cytochrome c550; and several low molecular mass subunits, among which the structure of the 12-kDa protein was not reported previously. This yielded much information concerning the molecular interactions within this large protein complex. We also show the arrangement of chlorophylls and cofactors, including two β-carotenes recently identified in a region close to the reaction center, which provided important clues to the secondary electron transfer pathways around the reaction center. Furthermore, possible ligands for the Mn-cluster were determined. In particular, the C terminus of D1 polypeptide was shown to be connected to the Mn cluster directly. The structural information obtained here provides important insights into the mechanism of PSII reactions.
Regulation of Oxidative Stress Responses by Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated Is Required for T Cell Proliferation1

Mutations in the gene encoding ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) mutated (Atm) cause the disease A-T, characterized by immunodeficiency, the molecular basis of which is not known. Following stimulation through the TCR, Atm-deficient T cells and normal T cells in which Atm is inhibited undergo apoptosis rather than proliferation. Apoptosis is prevented by scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) during activation. Atm therefore plays a critical role in T cell proliferation by regulating responses to ROS generated following T cell activation. The inability of Atm-deficient T cells to control responses to ROS is therefore the molecular basis of immunodeficiency associated with A-T.
Changes in Postural Control during a 48-Hr. Sleep Deprivation Period

Sleep deprivation has detrimental effects on cognitive abilities; however, there has been limited investigation into the effects of sleep deprivation on postural control or influence of time of day on postural control measures. Therefore, we measured postural control on a force plate every 6 hr. in 24 subjects (11 women, 13 men; M age 20 ± 2.1 yr.; M height 1.68 ± 0.29 m; body mass 63.3 ± 28.7 kg) participating in a 48-hr. dance marathon. During the first 24-hr. period, postural control significantly worsened. Rather than a steady decrease in postural control, during the second day of the event a repeating oscillatory trend of fluctuations in postural control was observed for both days of the event. We hypothesize that the repeating oscillation of postural control followed a circadian rhythm pattern, suggesting that sleep deprivation for 48 hr. does not influence measures of postural control in a consistent manner. The apparent influence of time of day on postural control measures warrants consideration of this factor when conducting studies with repeated measures of postural control across different days.
Cross-talk between the calpain and caspase-3 proteolytic systems in the diaphragm during prolonged mechanical ventilation

Objective:Diaphragmatic weakness, due to both atrophy and contractile dysfunction, is a well-documented response following prolonged mechanical ventilation. Evidence indicates that activation of the proteases calpain and caspase-3 is essential for mechanical ventilation-induced diaphragmatic weakness to occur. We tested the hypothesis that a regulatory cross-talk exists between calpain and caspase-3 in the diaphragm during prolonged mechanical ventilation. To test this prediction, we determined whether selective pharmacological inhibition of calpain would prevent activation of caspase-3 and conversely whether selective inhibition of caspase-3 would abate calpain activation. Design:Animal study. Setting:University Research Laboratory. Subjects:Female Sprague-Dawley rats. Interventions:Animals were randomly divided into control or one of three 12-hr mechanical ventilation groups that were treated with/without a selective pharmacological protease inhibitor: 1) control, 2) mechanical ventilation, 3) mechanical ventilation with a selective caspase-3 inhibitor, and 4) mechanical ventilation with a selective calpain inhibitor. Measurements and Main Results:Compared to control, mechanical ventilation resulted in calpain and caspase-3 activation in the diaphragm accompanied by atrophy of type I, type IIa, and type IIx/IIb fibers. Independent inhibition of either calpain or caspase-3 prevented this mechanical ventilation-induced atrophy. Pharmacological inhibition of calpain prevented mechanical ventilation-induced activation of diaphragmatic caspase-3 and inhibition of caspase-3 prevented activation of diaphragmatic calpain. Furthermore, calpain inhibition also prevented the activation of caspase-9 and caspase-12, along with the cleavage of Bid to tBid, all upstream signals for caspase-3 activation. Lastly, caspase-3 inhibition prevented the mechanical ventilation-induced degradation of the endogenous calpain inhibitor, calpastatin. Conclusions:Collectively, these results indicate that mechanical ventilation-induced diaphragmatic atrophy is dependent on the activation of both calpain and caspase-3. Importantly, these findings provide the first experimental evidence in diaphragm muscle that calpain inhibition prevents the activation of caspase-3 and vice versa and caspase-3 inhibition prevents the activation of calpain. These findings support our hypothesis that a regulatory calpain/caspase-3 cross-talk exists whereby calpain can promote caspase-3 activation and active caspase-3 can enhance calpain activity in diaphragm muscle during prolonged mechanical ventilation.
The Use of Deltamethrin on Farm Animals

Ectoparasites reduce significantly animal production and welfare. They cause nuisance, anaemia, irritation and transfer of pathogens of important diseases, often leading to animal death. Examples of diseases with high mortality transmitted by arthropods include viral diseases, such as the Bluetongue disease, or parasitic diseases, such as piroplasmosis and filariosis. Biting midges of the Obsoletus species complex of the ceratopogonid genus Culi‐ coides were assumed to be the major vectors of bluetongue virus in northern and central Europe during the 2006 outbreak of bluetongue disease. Most recently, field specimens of the same group of species have also been shown to be infected with the newly emerged Schmallenberg virus in Europe, as other bloodsucking arthropods. Furthermore, ectoparasites may attack humans and threaten public health, such as diseases transmitted by mosquitoes or ticks.
Understanding Treatment Readiness in Recently Assessed, Pre-Treatment Substance Abusers

The goal of this study was to more fully understand readiness for treatment in a pre-treatment sample of 446 substance abusers. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to: (1) examine the relationships between readiness factors identified in the Pre-Treatment Readiness Scale; and (2) identify the effects of predisposing, illness, and inhibiting determinants on the factors. As with in-treatment samples, Problem Recognition was found to influence Treatment Readiness, although through a different intervening factor, Desire for Change rather than Desire for Help. A fourth factor, Treatment Reluctance, was also influenced by the Desire for Change factor. Fixed characteristics such as age and gender had minimal influences on readiness factors, as did inhibiting characteristics that reflected recent functioning. Illness characteristics including drug severity and perceived treatment barriers had a more robust influence on readiness factors. This study provides an increased understanding of readiness for treatment among pre-treatment substance abusers and also supported the construct validity of the Pre-Treatment Readiness Scale.
RelB is the NF-κB subunit downstream of NIK responsible for osteoclast differentiation

NF-κB inducing kinase (NIK) is required for osteoclastogenesis in response to pathologic stimuli, and its loss leads to functional blockade of both alternative and classical NF-κB caused by cytoplasmic retention by p100. We now show that deletion of p100 restores the capacity of NIK-deficient osteoclast (OC) precursors to differentiate and normalizes RelB and p65 signaling. Differentiation of NIK−/− precursors is also restored by overexpression of RelB, but not p65. Additionally, RelB−/− precursors fail to form OCs in culture, and this defect is rescued by re-expression of RelB, but not by overexpression of p65. To further support the role of RelB in OCs, we challenged RelB−/− mice with TNF-α in vivo and found a diminished osteoclastogenic response. We then examined tumor-induced osteolysis in both RelB−/− and NIK−/− mice by using the B16 melanoma model. Growth of tumor cells in the bone marrow was similar to WT controls, but the absence of either RelB or NIK completely blocked the tumor-induced loss of trabecular bone. Thus, the alternative NF-κB pathway, culminating in activation of RelB, has a key and specific role in the differentiation of OCs that cannot be compensated for by p65.