Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variable baseline gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase messenger RNA expression in peripheral mononuclear cells of cancer patients, and its induction by buthionine sulfoximine treatment.

The role of glutathione (GSH) in tumor cell resistance to alkylating agents and platinum compounds is suggested by a body of laboratory and clinical studies. The rate-limiting enzyme in GSH synthesis is gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS), the expression of which is proportional both to GSH content and to the level of resistance in ovarian cancer cell lines. The role of this enzyme in regulating GSH levels is unclear, however. Reversal of resistance is achieved in vitro and in vivo with the use of buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), a potent inhibitor of gamma-GCS. In the course of a Phase I clinical trial of BSO and melphalan, we have measured GSH and expression of gamma-GCS mRNA in peripheral mononuclear cells before and at intervals after the initiation of treatment with BSO. Mean baseline GSH content was 6.89 nmol/mg protein. Treatment with BSO (10.5 to 17 g/m2 i.v. every 12 h for six doses) resulted in a mean nadir GSH decline to 19% of control values, most commonly on day 3. Baseline expression of gamma-GCS mRNA was measured by a reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction-based method. When described relative to that of beta-actin, the expression of gamma-GCS varied over 3-fold among individuals. Following GSH depletion by BSO, the level of gamma-GCS mRNA rose successively on days 3 and 5 to reach a mean increase of 2-fold on day 8. Differences were observed among patients in their capacity to respond to GSH depletion by increasing gamma-GCS steady-state mRNA levels (1.4- to 3.1-fold). These results show that the expression of gamma-GCS is variable in the population and suggest that the cellular content of GSH may be involved in the regulation of its expression.
An Examination of Children's Active Play Imagery

ii CO-AUTHORSHIP STATEMENT . iii ACKNOWLEDGMENT. iv TABLE OF CONTENT . v LIST OF FIGURES . ix INTRODUCTION . ix STUDY 1 . ix LIST OF APPENDICES . x INTRODUCTION . 1 Imagery Research . 2 Self-Determination Theory . 3 Self-Determination Theory and Exercise . 4 Active Play Imagery . 5 Purpose of Dissertation . 6 References . 8 STUDY 1 . 13 Method . 16 Participants . 16 Measures . 16 Procedure . 17 Data Analyses . 17 Results . 19 Preliminary Analyses . 19 Descriptive Statistics . 19 Measurement Model . 19 The Hypothesized Model . 19
Histidine kinases mediate differentiation, stress response, and pathogenicity in Magnaporthe oryzae

The aim of this study is a functional characterization of 10 putative histidine kinases (HIKs)‐encoding genes in the phytopathogenic fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. Two HIKs were found to be required for pathogenicity in the fungus. It was found that the mutant strains ΔMohik5 and ΔMohik8 show abnormal conidial morphology and furthermore ΔMohik5 is unable to form appressoria. Both HIKs MoHik5p and MoHik8p appear to be essential for pathogenicity since the mutants fail to infect rice plants. MoSln1p and MoHik1p were previously reported to be components of the HOG pathway in M. oryzae. The ΔMosln1 mutant is more susceptible to salt stress compared to ΔMohik1, whereas ΔMohik1 appears to be stronger affected by osmotic or sugar stress. In contrast to yeast, the HOG signaling cascade in phytopathogenic fungi apparently comprises more elements. Furthermore, vegetative growth of the mutants ΔMohik5 and ΔMohik9 was found to be sensitive to hypoxia‐inducing NaNO2‐treatment. Additionally, it was monitored that NaNO2‐treatment resulted in MoHog1p phosphorylation. As a consequence we assume a first simplified model for hypoxia signaling in M. oryzae including the HOG pathway and the HIKs MoHik5p and MoHik9p.
Learning continuance of accounting information systems - an expectation-confirmation perspective

This study examines factors that contribute to the intention to study accounting information systems (AIS) after one's formal course training is over. A modified form of the expectation-confirmation theory (ECT) is applied, but deeper insights are uncovered after considering perceived AIS capabilities as a moderator. ECT's construct relationship is mostly confirmed, except that perceived usefulness is not statistically significant as a predictor for satisfaction. The main sources of motivation for the respondent group with less confidence in their own AIS capabilities are confirmation and usefulness. The group with much AIS confidence is motivated to continue their learning more by confirmation and satisfaction. Further academic and managerial implications are provided.
Gastroretentive Delivery Systems: Hollow Beads

The objective of this study was to develop a floatable multiparticulate system with potential for intragastric sustained drug delivery. Cross‐linked beads were made by using calcium and low methoxylated pectin (LMP), which is an anionic polysaccharide, and calcium, LMP, and sodium alginate. Beads were dried separately in an air convection type oven at 40°C for 6 hours and in a freeze dryer to evaluate the changes in bead characteristics due to process variability. Riboflavin (B‐2), tetracycline (TCN), and Methotrexate (MTX) were used as model drugs for encapsulation. Ionic and nonionic excipients were added to study their effects on the release profiles of the beads. The presence of noncross linking agents in low amounts (less than 2%) did not significantly interfere with release kinetics. For an amphoteric drug like TCN, which has pH dependent solubility, three different pHs (1.5, 5.0, and 8.0) of cross‐linking media were used to evaluate the effects of pH on the drug entrapment capacity of the beads. As anticipated, highest entrapment was possible when cross‐linking media pH coincided with least drug solubility. Evaluation of the drying process demonstrated that the freeze‐dried beads remained buoyant over 12 hours in United States Pharmacopeia (USP) hydrochloride buffer at pH 1.5, whereas the air‐dried beads remained submerged throughout the release study. Confocal laser microscopy revealed the presence of air‐filled hollow spaces inside the freeze dried beads, which was responsible for the flotation property of the beads. However, the release kinetics from freeze dried beads was independent of hydrodynamic conditions. Calcium‐pectinate‐alginate beads released their contents at much faster rates than did calcium‐pectinate beads (100% in 10 hours vs. 50% in 10 hours). It appears that the nature of cross‐linking, drying method, drug solubility, and production approach are all important and provide the opportunity and potential for development of a gastroretentive drug delivery system.
Asymptomatic Carotid Disease—A New Tool for Assessing Neurological Risk

Active carotid plaques are associated with atheroembolism and neurological events; its identification is crucial for stroke prevention. High‐definition ultrasound (HDU) can be used to recognize plaque structure in carotid bifurcation stenosis associated with plaque vulnerability and occurrence of brain ischemic events. A new computer‐assisted HDU method to study the echomorphology of the carotid plaque and to determine a risk score for developing appropriate symptoms is proposed in this study. Plaque echomorphology characteristics such as presence of ulceration at the plaque surface, juxta‐luminal location of echolucent areas, echoheterogeneity were obtained from B‐mode ultrasound scans using several image processing algorithms and were combined with measurement of severity of stenosis to obtain a clinical score—enhanced activity index (EAI)—which was correlated with the presence or absence of ipsilateral appropriate ischemic symptoms. An optimal cutoff value of EAI was determined to obtain the best separation between symptomatic (active) from asymptomatic (inactive) plaques and its diagnostic yield was compared to other 2 reference methods by means of receiver‐operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Classification performance was evaluated by leave‐one‐patient‐out cross‐validation applied to a cohort of 146 carotid plaques from 99 patients. The proposed method was benchmarked against (a) degree of stenosis criteria and (b) earlier proposed activity index (AI) and demonstrated that EAI yielded the highest accuracy up to an accuracy of 77% to predict asymptomatic plaques that developed symptoms in a prospective cross‐sectional study. Enhanced activity index is a noninvasive, easy to obtain parameter, which provided accurate estimation of neurological risk of carotid plaques.
Acute exposure to acid fog. Effects on mucociliary clearance.

Submicrometric sulfuric acid (H2SO4) aerosol can affect mucociliary clearance without eliciting irritative symptoms or changes in pulmonary function. The effect of larger fog droplets containing H2SO4 on mucociliary clearance is unknown. We quantified mucociliary clearance from the trachea (n = 4) and small airways (n = 7) of young healthy male adults after an acute exposure to H2SO4 fog (MMAD = 10.3 microns; pH = 2.0; liquid water content = 481 +/- 65 mg/m3; osmolarity = 30 mOsm). Acid fog (AF) or saline fog (SF) (10.9 microns; 492 +/- 116 mg/m3; 30 mOsm) was administered for 40 min of unencumbered breathing (no mouth-piece) at rest and for 20 min of exercise sufficient to produce oronasal breathing. Fog exposures were followed by a methacholine (MCh) challenge (a measure of airway reactivity) or inhalation of technetium-99M radioaerosol (MMAD = 3.4 microns) on 2 study days each. Changes in symptoms and forced ventilatory function were also assessed. Clearance was quantified from computer-assisted analyses of gamma camera images of the lower respiratory tract in terms of %removal/min of the radiolabel from the trachea 25 min after inhalation and from the outer zone of the right lung after 1.9 to 3 h. Symptoms, forced ventilatory function, and MCh response were unaffected by either fog. Tracheal clearance was more rapid in four of four subjects after AF (0.83 +/- 1.58% removal/min) compared with that after SF (-0.54 +/- 0.85% removal/min). Outer zone clearance was more rapid in six of seven subjects after AF (0.22 +/- 0.15% removal/min) compared with that after SF (0.01 +/- 0.09% removal/min). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
From Poverty to Prosperity: Intangible Assets, Hidden Liabilities and the Lasting Triumph over Scarcity

Acknowledgments Chapter 1: An Introduction to Economics 2.0 Chapter 2: Economics 2.0 in Practice Interview with Robert Fogel Interview with Robert Solow Chapter 3: From the Meadow to the Food Court Interview with Paul Romer Interview with Joel Mokyr Chapter 4: Bugs in the Software Layer Interview with Douglass North Interview with William Easterly Chapter 5: The Heart That Pumps Innovation Interview with Edmund Phelps Interview with Amar Bhide Chapter 6: Financial Intermediation Chapter 7: Adaptive Efficiency and the Role of Government Interview with William Lewis Chapter 8: Challenges for the Future Interview with William Baumol Notes Index
Evaluating cognitive architectures for intelligent and autonomous unmanned vehicles

Unmanned vehicles (air-, ground-, and sea-based), or mobile robots, have become increasingly important for both civilian and military applications and both intelligence and autonomy are important for these vehicles and their continued success. Many of these vehicles, however, currently require significant human supervision. For example, the Predator and GlobalHawk are essentially remotely piloted aircraft and the ground vehicles that completed the DARPA Grand Challenge displayed impressive autonomy, but had very little onboard intelligence. Under-water vehicles and mobile robots used for planetary explorations could also benefit from increased intelligence and autonomy due to the delays and limited bandwidth typical of communication with these robots. Using cognitive architectures in these systems presents an intriguing possibility for developing unmanned vehicles that can behave both intelligently and autonomously. It is extremely difficult, however, to compare the use of cognitive architectures for unmanned vehicles since the architectures have seldom been applied to the same problem or vehicle. Most of them are very difficult to use and different architectures may not be well suited to work on the same problems. This represents a significant barrier for someone who has limited experience with cognitive architectures and is interested in selecting an architecture to implement on an unmanned vehicle. We recently reviewed several possible software systems (Long et al. 2007) for unmanned vehicles. We have also recently documented our use of an intelligent controller in unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) (Sinsley et al. 2007, Miller et al. 2007).
Energy-efficient predictive control of centrifugal multi-pump stations

A novel head and pressure predictive control approach is offered for the centrifugal multi-pump stations equipped with variable speed drives and programmable logical controllers. The pre-defined tabularized data are used where the efficiency estimates for different number of pumps operated at various speeds are collected. Thanks to accounting the motor drive power losses, maximal system efficiency is obtained as the main outcome without equipment oversizing. The total head and pressure management strategy is proposed basing on both the analytical performance characteristics and the experimental efficiency distribution diagrams of a multi-pump station. Using this efficiency distribution, the efficiency map is proposed where the optimal numbers of pumps are recorded aiming to maintain the system performance in one of the best efficiency regions. An appropriate control algorithm is described. Finally, some experimental results validated the new control methodology are discussed.
Identification and characterization of NVP-BEZ235, a new orally available dual phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor with potent in vivo antitumor activity

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor (mTOR) pathway is often constitutively activated in human tumor cells, providing unique opportunities for anticancer therapeutic intervention. NVP-BEZ235 is an imidazo[4,5-c]quinoline derivative that inhibits PI3K and mTOR kinase activity by binding to the ATP-binding cleft of these enzymes. In cellular settings using human tumor cell lines, this molecule is able to effectively and specifically block the dysfunctional activation of the PI3K pathway, inducing G1 arrest. The cellular activity of NVP-BEZ235 translates well in in vivo models of human cancer. Thus, the compound was well tolerated, displayed disease stasis when administered orally, and enhanced the efficacy of other anticancer agents when used in in vivo combination studies. Ex vivo pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic analyses of tumor tissues showed a time-dependent correlation between compound concentration and PI3K/Akt pathway inhibition. Collectively, the preclinical data show that NVP-BEZ235 is a potent dual PI3K/mTOR modulator with favorable pharmaceutical properties. NVP-BEZ235 is currently in phase I clinical trials. [Mol Cancer Ther 2008;7(7):1–13 [Mol Cancer Ther 2008;7(7):1851–13]
Progestational Agents to Prevent Preterm Birth: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

OBJECTIVE: To perform an updated systematic review with meta-analysis to further elucidate the efficacy of progestational agents for the prevention of preterm births in patients at elevated risk. DATA SOURCES: Computerized databases, references in published studies, and textbook chapters in all languages were used to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the use of progestational agents for the prevention of preterm births in women at elevated risk. METHODS OF STUDY SELECTION: We identified RCTs that compared progestational agents with placebo for patients at risk for preterm birth and evaluated at least one of the following: delivery before 37 weeks of gestation, birth weight less than 2,500 g, threatened preterm labor, respiratory distress syndrome, and perinatal mortality. The primary outcomes assessed were preterm delivery and perinatal mortality. TABULATION, INTEGRATION, AND RESULTS: Ten studies met inclusion criteria for this review. For each study with binary outcomes, an odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was calculated for selected outcomes. Homogeneity was tested across the studies. Compared with women allocated to receive placebo, those who received progestational agents had lower rates of preterm delivery (26.2% versus 35.9%; OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.25–0.80). Similar results were noted when comparing patients who were specifically treated with 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate (29.3% versus 40.9%; OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.22–0.93). Additionally, subjects allocated to receive 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate had lower rates of birth weights less than 2,500 g (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.36–0.71). No differences in rates of hospital admissions for threatened preterm labor or perinatal mortality were noted for subjects receiving progestational agents in general or for those receiving only 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate specifically. CONCLUSION: The use of progestational agents and 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate reduced the incidence of preterm birth and low birth weight newborns.
Dynamic imaging of dendritic cell extension into the small bowel lumen in response to epithelial cell TLR engagement

Cells lining the gastrointestinal tract serve as both a barrier to and a pathway for infectious agent entry. Dendritic cells (DCs) present in the lamina propria under the columnar villus epithelium of the small bowel extend processes across this epithelium and capture bacteria, but previous studies provided limited information on the nature of the stimuli, receptors, and signaling events involved in promoting this phenomenon. Here, we use immunohistochemical as well as dynamic explant and intravital two-photon imaging to investigate this issue. Analysis of CD11c–enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) or major histocompatibility complex CII-EGFP mice revealed that the number of trans-epithelial DC extensions, many with an unusual “balloon” shape, varies along the length of the small bowel. High numbers of such extensions were found in the proximal jejunum, but only a few were present in the terminal ileum. The extensions in the terminal ileum markedly increased upon the introduction of invasive or noninvasive Salmonella organisms, and chimeric mouse studies revealed the key role of MyD88-dependent Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling by nonhematopoietic (epithelial) elements in the DC extension response. Collectively, these findings support a model in which epithelial cell TLR signaling upon exposure to microbial stimuli induces active DC sampling of the gut lumen at sites distant from organized lymphoid tissues.
Intimate Violence: Contemporary Treatment Innovations

Contents * About the Contributors * Preface * Introduction: Perspectives on the Treatment of Intimate Violence * THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO THE TREATMENT OF INTIMATE VIOLENCE PERPETRATORS * Treatment of Assaultiveness * Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with People in Abusive Relationships: Treatment Outcome * Shame in Male Spouse Abusers and Its Treatment in Group Therapy * Dialectical Behavior Therapy in the Treatment of Abusive Behavior * Treating Assaultive Men from and Attachment Perspective * Stopping Wife Abuse via Physical Aggression Couples Treatment * TREATMENT OF SPECIAL POPULATIONS * Treating the Lesbian Batterer: Theoretical and Clinical Considerations: A Contemporary Psychoanalytic Perspective * Beit Noam: Residential Program for Violent Men * Integrating Spirituality and Domestic Violence Treatment: Treatment of Aboriginal Men * Treatment of Partner Aggressive Women * SPECIAL ISSUES IN THE TREATMENT OF INTIMATE VIOLENCE PERPETRATORS * Legal and Ethical Issues in the Court-Mandated Treatment of Batterers * Voices from the Group: Domestic Violence Offenders' Experience of Intervention * Index * Reference Notes Included
Regulation of the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition by Claudin-3 and Claudin-4

The mechanisms that control intracellular adhesion are central to the process of invasion and metastasis. Claudin-3 (CLDN3) and claudin-4 (CLDN4) are major structural molecules of the tight junctions that link epithelial cells. Our prior work has demonstrated that knockdown of the expression of either CLDN3 or CLDN4 produces marked changes in the phenotype of ovarian carcinoma cells including increases in growth rate in vivo, migration, invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance, similar to those produced by the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). We postulated that these changes may result from the ability of CLDN3 or CLDN4 to suppress EMT. In this study we found that knockdown of either CLDN3 or CLDN4 increased cell size and resulted in flattened morphology. While knockdown of CLDN3 or CLDN4 did not alter the expression of vimentin, it significantly down-regulated the level of E-cadherin and up-regulated N-cadherin expression. Conversely, over-expression of CLDN3 or CLDN4 in a cell line that does not express endogenous CLDN3 or CLDN4 decreased N-cadherin expression. Re-expression of E-cadherin in the CLDN3 or CLDN4 knockdown cells reduced migration, invasion and tumor growth in vivo. Loss of either CLDN3 or CLDN4 resulted in activation of the PI3K pathway as evidenced by increased Akt phosphorylation, elevated cellular PIP3 content and PI3K activity as well as up-regulation of the mRNA and protein levels of the transcription factor Twist. Taken together, these findings suggest that CLDN3 and CLDN4 function to sustain an epithelial phenotype and that their loss promotes EMT.
Performance modelling and analysis of Deficit Round Robin scheduling scheme with self‐similar traffic

The provisioning of fairness to various network applications is an important Quality‐of‐Service demand and has thus become a challenging research issue in contemporary communication networks. Deficit Round Robin (DRR) is a promising fair scheduling mechanism owing to its low complexity and excellent ability of achieving a good degree of fairness in terms of throughput. On the other hand, self‐similar traffic was found to be pervasively present in communication networks and has great impact on the performance of scheduling systems. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has not been any analytical model reported in the open literature for the DRR mechanism in the presence of self‐similar traffic. To fill this gap, this paper analytically investigates the queueing performance of DRR and develops a new analytical model for deriving the upper and lower bounds of the queue length distributions of individual traffic flows in DRR scheduling systems subject to self‐similar traffic. Extensive comparison between simulation and analytical results validates the accuracy of the developed model. To demonstrate its applications, the analytical model is used to investigate the effects of packet size on the performance of the queueing system. The developed model is further applied to study the configuration of weights of individual traffic flows. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.