Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Direct involvement of trabecular meshwork in the regulation of aqueous humor outflow

Our new hypothesis for the regulation of aqueous humor outflow suggests that the trabecular meshwork is not a passive filter but an active contractile element contributing to the ciliary muscle traction affecting it. The trabecular meshwork contains contractile smooth-muscle-specific α-actin filaments, and its cells exhibit electrical properties typical for smooth muscle cells. Contractility measurements performed for the first time in isolated trabecular meshwork enable a functional comparison with ciliary muscle. Pharmacologic outflow regulation has been determined in isolated perfused anterior segments with intact trabecular meshwork and total absence of ciliary muscle. Substances that contracted isolated trabecular meshwork (eg, pilocarpine) decreased the outflow rate, whereas relaxants (eg, low-dose epinephrine) increased it. The concept of a functional antagonism between the trabecular meshwork and the ciliary muscle has to be considered.
Impaired functioning of immune defenses to infection in premature and term infants and their implications for vaccination

Newborn infants, particularly those born prematurely are at increased risk of infections, including vaccine preventable ones, resulting in an increased morbidity and mortality risk. Defects associated with higher mortality may involve external barriers and the innate and adaptive systems. The available evidence suggests a complex situation that ranges from pathogen/ immunogen non-responsiveness to fully mature adult-equivalent functionality depending on both host and vaccine characteristics. This review considers potential qualitative and quantitative differences with respect to immune defences between premature/ term infants and adults and evaluates implications of such differences for immunisation outcomes.
Alu-mediated inactivation of the human CMP- N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase gene

Inactivation of the CMP-N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase gene has provided an example of human-specific genomic mutation that results in a widespread biochemical difference between human and nonhuman primates. We have found that, although a region containing a 92-bp exon and an AluSq element in the hydroxylase gene is intact in all nonhuman primates examined, the same region in the human genome is replaced by an AluY element that was disseminated at least one million years ago. We propose a mechanistic model for this Alu-mediated replacement event, which deleted the 92-bp exon and thus inactivated the human hydroxylase gene. It is suggested that Alu elements have played potentially important roles in genotypic and phenotypic evolution in the hominid lineage.
Adenovirus E1A proteins stimulate inositol phospholipid metabolism in PC12 cells

To study the influence of nuclear oncogenes on inositol phospholipid metabolism, we examined the various parameters of inositol phospholipid metabolism in PC12 cells expressing adenovirus type 12 or adenovirus type 5 E1A. Although the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate content was increased only slightly, the diacylglycerol content was 2.4-fold higher in E1A-expressing PC12 cells. Furthermore, we found that the activity of phospholipase C, one of the key enzymes in inositol phospholipid metabolism, was increased at least five- to eightfold. Diacylglycerol kinase activity in the membrane fraction was 10 to 15% of that in parental PC12 cells. Overall protein kinase C activities in E1A-expressing PC12 cells were decreased, but the activity of membrane-bound protein kinase C was significantly increased. These observations clearly indicate that inositol phospholipid metabolism is stimulated in cells producing E1A and suggest that nuclear oncogene E1A has the ability to stimulate inositol phospholipid metabolism.
Making an impression: force-controlled pen input for handheld devices

The properties of force-based input on a handheld device were examined. Twenty-one participants used force input to set 10 different target levels representing consecutive force ranges (0 to 4N) with visual feedback (digits or bar graphs) or no feedback. Both accuracy and speed were greater with analog feedback (bar graph). Statistical comparisons of adjacent targets/digits indicated that subjects differentiated roughly seven input levels within the set of ten force ranges actually used. Time taken to input the target force increased significantly with the size of the target force, suggesting that smaller force ranges should be considered in future implementations of force input. The results are discussed in terms of the design of appropriate feedback for force input.
Predicting Potential Postdischarge Adverse Drug Events and 30-Day Unplanned Hospital Readmissions From Medication Regimen Complexity

Objectives To determine whether medication regimen complexity (MRC) could predict likelihood for occurrence of potential adverse drug events (ADEs), unplanned 30-day hospital readmission, or 30-day emergency department use in patients transitioning from hospital to home care. Methods Hospital discharge medication lists and medication lists constructed during visits to patients’ homes were analyzed for 213 participants. MRC was quantified with the Medication Regimen Complexity Index (MRCI). The potential for ADEs was based on medication discrepancies detected between the discharge and patient reported home medication lists. Unplanned acute care utilization in the 30 days after index hospitalization was tracked. Logistic regression analyses were used to approximate the odds for an ADE and postdischarge acute care utilization from MRCI scores. Results Home medication lists were less complex than hospital discharge medication lists. High home medication list MRCI scores increased the odds more than 4-fold for a potential ADE (P < 0.001). High discharge medication list MRCI scores increased the odds more than 5-fold for an unplanned 30-day hospital readmission (P = 0.026). High regimen complexity did not significantly elevate odds for emergency department use. Conclusions MRC was predictive of patients’ potential for ADEs and unplanned hospital readmission. MRC may be useful in identifying patients that would benefit from additional transitional care interventions. Results indicate that simplifying medication regimens may favorably impact postdischarge outcomes.
Familial nasopharyngeal carcinoma in patients who are not Chinese

Background. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignancy that is prominent in Cantonese Chinese people. It is presumed to result from an interaction of genetic and environmental factors, including the Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV). In an attempt to further clarify the pathogenesis of this disease, an evaluation of NPC occurring in racial/ethnic groups not considered susceptible to this disease could he informative.
Amending access to information legislation : legal and political issues

This paper is about efforts to amend the legal framework for the right to information, with a particular focus on access to information (ATI) laws. It looks at the main substantive issues such reform attempts have targeted and what legal forms they may take. It also examines the role different actors - civil society, the media, oversight bodies, parliaments, and political leaders - can play in helping support the adoption of reforms that promote openness and defeat those that erect barriers. The paper is an initial attempt to examine this issue, based on the growing body of experience globally in this area. The rapid growth in the number of ATI laws globally means that, at any given time, a significant number of serious attempts to secure amendments are in progress. When an ATI law has been adopted, a number of different actions affect the exercise of the right to information. This paper is divided into two main parts. The first part provides an overview of some of the reform initiatives that have been achieved or attempted in countries around the world - law reform, constitutional reform, and reform of secondary legislation and with an analysis of their key thematic focuses and some legal process issues. The second part provides an assessment of the role of different players in these reform initiatives - players such as civil society, oversight bodies, parliaments, and political champions - with a particular focus on factors that promote the success of positive reforms. In general, an amendment that enhances transparency is described as a positive amendment, and an amendment that increases secrecy or creates obstacles to access is described as a negative amendment.
Stretching to Learn : Ambiguous Evidence and Variability in Preschoolers ’ Exploratory Play

Children seem to learn about the causal structure of the world even in the absence of formal training. One possibility is that children can learn causal relationships from evidence generated in the course of their spontaneous, exploratory play. In this study, we looked at whether the pattern of children’s free play with a toy is affected by the quality of evidence they observe. When children received fully disambiguating evidence about the causal structure of a toy, their free play was largely restricted to the most convenient, effective actions. However, when children saw confounded evidence about the toy, their pattern of free play was more variable and exploratory. These results suggest that children’s exploratory play can provide evidence to support causal
Purification and properties of Klebsiella pneumoniae heat-stable enterotoxin

The enterotoxic material in cell-free growth preparations of Klebsiella pneumoniae serotype 5 was purified by sequential ultrafiltration and gel filtration (GF) procedures and the fractions were assayed for enterotoxic activity by determining their ability to induce in vivo net water secretion in the rat jejunum. Whole-cell lysates were inactive. Anaerobic broth culture conditions yielded a 10-fold increase in toxin production over aerobic conditions. Enterotoxic activity was absent in the UM-10 retentate of the broth filtrate but present in both the retentate and filtrate of the UM-2 membrane. GF of the two UM-2 ultrafiltration fractions through a Sephadex G-25 column yielded an active eluate, whose potency was increased by 10- or 200-fold, in or adjacent to the void volume. When subsequently passed through a G-50 column, these pools eluted at a Kav of between 0.4 and 0.6 and were further increased in potency by two- or fivefold. A second equally potent fraction was also recovered in the void volume of the G-50 eluate of the UM-2 filtrate; this may represent a polymer. Progressive purification by GF was associated with an increased protein and decreased carbohydrate content of the most active fractions. The most active G-50 eluate of the UM-2 retentate had a minimal effective enterotoxic dose of 5 mug/ml and that of the filtrate was less than 0.1 mug/ml. Heating the active GF eluates to 100 C for 30 min did not abolish enterotoxic activity and lowering the pH to 1 or incubation with either Pronase or trypsin had no effect on activity. These observations indicate that K. pneumoniae heat-stable enterotoxin is probably a single toxin with an apparent molecular weight in the range of 5,000. The elution characteristics during GF as well as the chemical composition of the most purified enterotoxin fractions indicate that the toxin is not associated with endotoxin.
Clinical Features and Efficacy of Escitalopram Treatment for Geriatric Depression

This study investigated the psychological characteristics and clinical features of 55 patients with geriatric depression, and evaluated the efficacy and safety of escitalopram in the treatment of geriatric depression, in a randomized controlled trial. Fifty-five patients with geriatric depression were randomly assigned to receive 8 weeks of escitalopram 10 mg, daily, orally (n = 29) or placebo (n = 26). At baseline, these patients had significantly higher neuroticism and psychoticism scores on the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire - Adult scale than Chinese population norms. General Severity Index scores and the mean values of the nine subscales of the Symptom Checklist-90- Revised scale were also significantly higher in these patients than in Chinese population norms. The response rate to escitalopram after 8 weeks' treatment was 74.1% (20/27 patients). Adverse reactions included nausea, dry mouth and dizziness. In conclusion, depressed geriatric patients were found to have abnormal personality traits, and escitalopram was efficacious and had a good safety profile in the treatment of geriatric depression.
Effect of short-term ornithine alpha-ketoglutarate pretreatment on intestinal ischemia-reperfusion in rats.

PURPOSE To investigate the effects of preventive enteral administration of ornithine alpha-ketoglutarate (OKG) in an ischemia-reperfusion rat model. METHODS Sixty rats were randomized into five groups (G1-G5, n = 12). Each group was divided into two subgroups (n = 6) and treated with calcium carbonate (CaCa) or OKG by gavage. Thirty minutes later, the animals were anesthetized with xylazine 15mg + ketamine 1mg ip and subjected to laparotomy. G1-G3 rats served as controls. Rats in groups G4 and G5 were subjected to ischemia for 30 minutes. Ischemia was achieved by clamping the small intestine and its mesentery, delimiting a segment of bowel 5 cm long and 5 cm apart from the ileocecal valve. In addition, G5 rats underwent reperfusion for 30 minutes. Blood samples were collected at the end of the laparotomy (G1), after 30 minutes (G2, G4) and 60 minutes (G3, G5) to determine concentrations of metabolites (pyruvate, lactate), creatine phosphokinase (CPK), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and glutathione (GSH). RESULTS There was a significant decrease in tissue pyruvate and lactate and plasma CPK levels in OKG-treated rats at the end of reperfusion period. GSH levels did not change significantly in ischemia and reperfusion groups. However, TBARS levels increased significantly (p<0.05) in tissue samples in OKG-treated rats subjected to ischemia for 30 minutes. CONCLUSION Short-term pretreatment with OKG before induction of I/R decreases tissue damage, increases pyruvate utilization for energy production in the Krebs cycle and does not attenuate the oxidative stress in this animal model.
The relationship between the variance of inflation and the variance of output under different types of monetary policy

When the central bank minimizes a quadratic loss function depending upon the inflation gap and the output gap, a negative association between the variance of inflation and the variance of output emerges. The variance of output will be higher the greater is the preference of the central bank for stabilizing inflation. The use of certain ad-hoc interest rate rules analyzed in the literature may break the described negative relation. Central banks could reduce both variances. Data mainly from the US suggests that central banks use adhoc interest rate rules more than the minimization of the quadratic loss function.
Reconstruction of atomistic structures from coarse-grained models for protein-DNA complexes

While coarse-grained (CG) simulations have widely been used to accelerate structure sampling of large biomolecular complexes, they are unavoidably less accurate and thus the reconstruction of all-atom (AA) structures and the subsequent refinement is of desire. In this study we developed an efficient method to reconstruct AA structures from sampled CG protein-DNA complex models, which attempts to model protein-DNA interface accurately. First we developed a method to reconstruct atomic details of DNA structures from a 3-site per nucleotide CG model which uses a DNA fragment library. Next, for the protein-DNA interface, we referred to the sidechain orientations in the known structure of the target interface when available. The other parts are modeled by existing tools. We confirmed the accuracy of the protocol in various aspects including the structure deviation in the self-reproduction, the base pair reproducibility, atomic contacts at the protein-DNA interface, and feasibility of the posterior AA simulations.
Public-private sector earnings differentials in a transition economy

The aim of this thesis is to analyse how economic transition affected earnings differentials in Eastern European economies. In particular, as the public sector was the sole employer in the pre-transition period, the analysis of public sector pay setting is crucial to understanding how privatisation affected the labour market during the transition. The central idea of the first essay is to develop a theoretical model that explains the pay setting behaviour of the employer in the public sector. We argue that changes in wage differentials unrelated to productivity differentials may arise from changes in the degree of public sector market power during the transition. The second essay estimates public-private sector pay differentials across the entire pay distribution in Serbia from 1995 until 2008 for men and women separately. It demonstrates the importance of a proper measurement of pay to account for differences in the structure of total remuneration between sectors. The economic transition is found adversely to affect public sector pay gap relative to private sector pay at the beginning but public sector wages increase faster than private sector wages in later stages. The essay adopts a number of statistical procedures including a quantile regression approach. The estimates show more negative or less positive (depending on the time interval) public-private sector earnings differentials among high earners than among low earners. The third essay estimates public-private sector pay differentials across the entire pay distribution in Hungary from 1992 until 2003 for men and women separately. The results show an increasing public sector pay 'penalty' at all the percentiles of pay distribution during first years of transition and a decline later on. However, the pay differential is found to vary across the earnings distribution significantly. Particularly, the essay provides striking evidence of public sector pay compression during transition. Whereas the public-private sector pay gap for workers below the median was rather small, the gap was substantial for workers at and above the median over the whole period considered. The three essays are preceded by an overview of the theoretical and empirical literature on public-private sector pay differentials in i) developed market economies and ii) transition economies of Eastern Europe.
When the State Isn't There: A Historical Case Study of Innovation in the Face of State Budget Cuts

In the United States, as state support for higher education continues to decline, student affairs practitioners must grapple with the fallout of large budget cuts - or worse -programme elimination. Diversity programmes and initiatives are particularly vulnerable to budget shortfalls in state and institutional funding. Drawing from innovation theory, this historical qualitative case study provides a snapshot of one programme’s struggle to survive in 2002, amidst a contentious political climate for race-conscious admissions and programming. Lessons gleaned from one senior-level Vice-President of Student Affairs for Multicultural Affairs and Director of Multicultural Affairs who oversaw a hallmark diversity programme facing drastic state budget cuts will be highlighted. The results demonstrate the ways in which changing socio-political climate and policies can initiate new opportunities for student affairs practitioners by providing a detailed example of how programme administrators can adjust to crisis and engage in innovation. The data is relevant to diversity higher education researchers and administrators who are interested in programme sustainability. Implications for future practices and research related to Multicultural Affairs Administrators who manage diversity programmes will also be provided.
Unravelling Group Dynamics in Institutional Learning Processes

To create sustainable rural areas, farming and non-farming stakeholders must learn to work together better. In this paper, the authors contribute to the discussion of innovation platforms as drivers of institutional change by taking a closer look at the group dynamics of emerging social bodies in innovation projects, focusing on the joint creation of institutions in the process of learning to work together. Three examples of institutional learning are discussed. The authors show that ‘institutional voids' are important in facilitating institutional learning at multi-actor interfaces. They also show how different team roles, such as those of collaborative leaders and brokers, emerge and are assigned tasks, and how they can be identified. The paper concludes with reflections on the implications of the findings for innovation processes.
Activation of Drosophila Toll During Fungal Infection by a Blood Serine Protease

Drosophila host defense to fungal and Gram-positive bacterial infection is mediated by the Spaetzle/Toll/cactusgene cassette. It has been proposed that Toll does not function as a pattern recognition receptor per se but is activated through a cleaved form of the cytokine Spaetzle. The upstream events linking infection to the cleavage of Spaetzle have long remained elusive. Here we report the identification of a central component of the fungal activation of Toll. We show that ethylmethane sulfonate–induced mutations in thepersephone gene, which encodes a previously unknown serine protease, block induction of the Toll pathway by fungi and resistance to this type of infection.
The Impact of the Internet on Information Sources Portfolios

Abstract This paper contributes to the study of information sourcing behaviour of travellers and, in particular, considers the impact of the WWW on the composition of information sources. The case under study in this paper is the Swiss travelling population, whose consumption behaviour can be characterised as mature. Methodologically, a combined two-step market segmentation is applied, with Step 1 consisting of an a priori segmentation between subjects, assigning either low or high importance to the WWW as a source of information (hence forming two groups), and Step 2 consisting of an a posteriori data-driven segmentation on the basis of all other sources of information within each of the above groups. The information about the clusters is enhanced by a number of profile variables, both with regard to travel situations as well as socio-demographic issues. The results reveal an alignment with earlier studies' findings: that travellers who assign a high importance to the WWW as a source of information tend to be younger and better educated, and they hold either good or very good professional positions or are currently undergoing training of some kind. However, the WWW turns out to be a complementary, rather than a substitutive, source of information; but this depends on the travel situation, such as when it is planned some time in advance, or when people prefer hotel-type accommodation. Printed brochures in combination with the WWW are quite important to people who have longer planning horizons, with more than one quarter of people using them, and when they plan a stay longer than one week. There is also a strong association between the WWW, travel guidebooks and information provided at the destination.