Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of exercise training on leptin levels in obese males

Pasman, W. J., M. S. Westerterp-Plantenga, and W. H. M. Saris. The effect of exercise training on leptin levels in obese males. Am. J. Physiol. 274 (Endocrinol. Metab. 37): E280–E286, 1998. —The effect of endurance training on plasma leptin levels was investigated in 15 obese male subjects (age 37.3 6 5.2 yr, body weight 96.5 6 13.6 kg, and body mass index 29.8 6 3.0 kg/m2) in a weight loss and exercise program. After 4 mo of treatment consisting of a very low energy diet (VLED) and endurance exercise training (3–4 times weekly, 1 h sessions, moderate intensity), two groups were formed. One group continued the exercise sessions (trained subjects, n 5 7) and the other group stopped with the exercise program (control, n 5 8). Measurements of anthropometry, aerobic power, and fasted blood samples were executed at fixed time points (0, 2, 4, 10, and 16 mo). With partial regression analysis, keeping the changes in insulin and body fat percentage constant, it was shown that the number of hours of exercise training was significantly correlated with changes in leptin levels, during the 16-mo period (r 5 0.56, P , 0.05). Changes in insulin levels were significantly related to the changes in leptin levels (r 5 0.47, P , 0.05), which were less for changes in body fat percentage (r 5 0.42, P 5 0.07). During the VLED, the change in insulin concentration affected leptin levels significantly (r 5 0.79) but changes in body fat percentage were not noted. It is concluded that endurance exercise training decreased plasma leptin levels independently of changes in plasma insulin levels and body fat percentage.
The Relationship between Family Firms and Corporate Governance

This paper contributes to the agency theory literature by identifying relations between family control and corporate governance structure. Emerging literature supports the notion that family control creates strong incentives that have potentially competing influences on the manner in, and extent to, which internal corporate governance mechanisms are utilized. A sample of 100 listed companies (evenly divided between family and nonfamily firms) is used to test the hypotheses that corporate governance structures are different between family and nonfamily firms; and that family firms adopt optimal corporate governance structures. This research finds evidence that suggests that family firms utilize substantially different corporate governance structures from nonfamily firms and that these differences lead to performance differentials. Indeed, results suggest that family control creates, rather than negates, agency costs and future research may be well rewarded by pursuing this latter notion further.
Therapeutic options for functional mitral regurgitation in chronic heart failure

ABSTRACT Introduction: Mitral regurgitation is a common finding in patients with chronic heart failure and is associated with a progressive worsening of symptoms, reduced survival and increased cost of care. However, the use of mitral valve surgery for these patients remains controversial and has not been shown to improve survival. Consequently, research has been increasingly directed towards the nonsurgical management of this important co-morbidity of heart failure. Areas covered: The present review will describe the relevance of mitral regurgitation in people with chronic heart failure, the current options for percutaneous treatment and the evidence base for each of these. Expert commentary: Although at present there are few solid data to guide heart teams in deciding what degree of mitral regurgitation to treat, in which patients, and with what, this situation is likely to change over the next two years with the release of the first large randomised trials of percutaneous interventions.
Strontium isotopes reveal distant sources of architectural timber in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

Between A.D. 900 and 1150, more than 200,000 conifer trees were used to build the prehistoric great houses of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, in what is now a treeless landscape. More than one-fifth of these timbers were spruce (Picea) or fir (Abies) that were hand-carried from isolated mountaintops 75–100 km away. Because strontium from local dust, water, and underlying bedrock is incorporated by trees, specific logging sites can be identified by comparing 87Sr/86Sr ratios in construction beams from different ruins and building periods to ratios in living trees from the surrounding mountains. 87Sr/86Sr ratios show that the beams came from both the Chuska and San Mateo (Mount Taylor) mountains, but not from the San Pedro Mountains, which are equally close. Incorporation of logs from two sources in the same room, great house, and year suggest stockpiling and intercommunity collaboration at Chaco Canyon. The use of trees from both the Chuska and San Mateo mountains, but not from the San Pedro Mountains, as early as A.D. 974 suggests that selection of timber sources was driven more by regional socioeconomic ties than by a simple model of resource depletion with distance and time.
Diversification Decisions in Family-Controlled Firms

This study examines diversification decisions of family firms and suggests that on average family firms diversify less both domestically and internationally than non-family firms. When they do diversify, family firms tend to opt for domestic rather than international diversification, and those that go the latter route prefer to choose regions that are ‘culturally close’. Lastly, we find that family firms are more willing to diversify as business risk increases. The hypotheses are tested using a sample of 360 firms, 160 of them being family-controlled and the rest (200) non-family-controlled.
The WTO Agenda for the New Millennium

This paper examines the main challenges confronting the World Trade Organization (WTO) and assesses the WTO's potential to address each of these issues in the near term. The immediate challenges include completing the integration of agriculture and textiles and clothing into the mainstream of the GATT, and improving rules for liberalizing trade in services. But many new issues have arisen during the 1990s. The paper assesses both the opportunities available to meet those challenges and the prospects for success in further market liberalization via a new round of multilateral trade negotiations. It concludes by drawing out implications of these developments for Australia. Copyright 1999 by The Economic Society of Australia.
Fusion Framework for Emotional Electrocardiogram and Galvanic Skin Response Recognition: Applying Wavelet Transform

Introduction To extract and combine information from different modalities, fusion techniques are commonly applied to promote system performance. In this study, we aimed to examine the effectiveness of fusion techniques in emotion recognition. Materials and Methods Electrocardiogram (ECG) and galvanic skin responses (GSR) of 11 healthy female students (mean age: 22.73±1.68 years) were collected while the subjects were listening to emotional music clips. For multi-resolution analysis of signals, wavelet transform (Coiflets 5 at level 14) was used. Moreover, a novel feature-level fusion method was employed, in which low-frequency sub-band coefficients of GSR signals and high-frequency sub-band coefficients of ECG signals were fused to reconstruct a new feature. To reduce the dimensionality of the feature vector, the absolute value of some statistical indices was calculated and considered as input of PNN classifier. To describe emotions, two-dimensional models (four quadrants of valence and arousal dimensions), valence-based emotional states, and emotional arousal were applied. Results The highest recognition rates were obtained from sigma=0.01. Mean classification rate of 100% was achieved through applying the proposed fusion methodology. However, the accuracy rates of 97.90% and 97.20% were attained for GSR and ECG signals, respectively. Conclusion Compared to the previously published articles in the field of emotion recognition using musical stimuli, promising results were obtained through application of the proposed methodology.
Reciprocal influences among adrenocortical activation, psychosocial processes, and the behavioral adjustment of clinic-referred children.

The reciprocal effects among cognitive-behavioral, environmental, and biological influences on clinic-referred children's (N = 64; 34 boys; M age 12.71 years) short-term psychological and psychiatric adjustment were studied. At clinic intake and 6 months later, standardized measures of adjustment and control-related beliefs were assessed. Before and after conflict-oriented parent-child interaction tasks the children's saliva was sampled. Adrenocortical responses (i.e., increases in salivary cortisol) to the social conflict task predicted children's internalizing problem behaviors and anxiety disorders at follow-up. Consistently high adrenocortical reactivity at intake and follow-up was associated with deflated social competence over the 6-month period. Also, specific patterns of discontinuity in children's internalizing behavior problems predicted individual differences in their subsequent adrenocortical responsiveness. Specifically, rising behavior problem levels across time predicted higher and declining behavior problem levels predicted lower adrenocortical reactivity at follow-up. Findings are among the first to suggest links among internalizing behavior problems, adrenocortical responsiveness to social challenge, and clinic-referred children's short-term cognitive-behavioral and emotional adjustment.
The effect of a symptom related “gating policy” on ANCA requests in routine clinical practice

Background: Most positive antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) results are associated with non-vasculitic conditions, and guidelines have been proposed for the judicious use of this test. The outcome of applying similar guidelines in a routine laboratory is reported. Methods: All immunology requests (6500) over six months were selected, and those requesting ANCA were studied for the appropriateness of the clinical data supporting the request, the presence of ANCA in those samples tested, and the final diagnosis. Antibodies were detected by indirect immunofluorescence. Results: ANCA testing was requested in 287 samples. Application of a “gating policy”, which refuses analysis on requests that are not supported by clinical data suggestive of systemic vasculitis, made clinicians more selective about the patients for whom they requested ANCA testing. The percentage of “appropriate” screens for systemic vasculitis was relatively high (212 of 287 requests: 72.5%). Only one of the remainder, for whom ANCA testing was initially refused, developed an ANCA related systemic vasculitis in the two years after the study, but the delay in reporting her positive ANCA was only two days. Most of the samples tested were negative (155 of 212), but most (42 of 57) of the patients with positive ANCA results were found to have a systemic vasculitis. Conclusions: A gating policy to select requests supported by clinical data suggestive of systemic vasculitis makes ANCA testing more clinically relevant and cost effective. Studies where guidelines can be proposed and their effects measured are important in the light of clinical governance and evidence based medicine.
Relevant macroeconomics for developing countries: a contribution to pluralist macroeconomics

This paper presents a proposal for teaching an introductory course in macroeconomics focused on understanding developing countries, with pedagogical suggestions as well as course content based on the author's teaching. The paper develops a pluralist and heterodox of the economy that students can use in order to understand the world in which they live.
Recent insights into the mechanism of transfusion-related acute lung injury

Purpose of reviewThis review summarizes the recent clinical and experimental literature on the pathogenesis of transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI), with a focus on mechanistic aspects. Recent findingsMechanisms by which leukocyte antibodies induce TRALI have been unraveled, including a multistep cascade for HLA class II-induced TRALI. Significant advances have also been made in the field of recipient-related factors that contribute to the development of TRALI, both in clinical and animal studies. In contrast, TRALI associated with the transfusion of blood components that do not contain antibodies is an emerging problem, especially because the relevance of mechanisms proposed earlier is questioned by the recent findings. New mechanisms need yet to be defined. The diversity of newly described factors contributing to TRALI demonstrates that a two-hit model falls too short to explain this complex syndrome and rather supports the previously proposed threshold model of TRALI. SummaryActivated neutrophils are central in the pathophysiology of TRALI as their interaction with the lung endothelium causes capillary leak and pulmonary edema. Typically, numerous factors must act together in order to overcome a critical activation threshold of the neutrophil. At least one of these factors originates from a transfused blood component.
Neuroligin 3 is a vertebrate gliotactin expressed in the olfactory ensheathing glia, a growth‐promoting class of macroglia

The molecular mechanisms that drive glia–glial interactions and glia–neuronal interactions during the development of the nervous system are poorly understood. A number of membrane‐bound cell adhesion molecules have been shown to play a role, although the precise nature of their involvement is unknown. One class of molecules with cell adhesive properties used in the nervous system is the serine‐esterase‐like family of transmembrane proteins. A member of this class, a glia‐specific protein called gliotactin, has been shown to be necessary for the development of the glial sheath in the peripheral nervous system of Drosophila melanogaster. Gliotactin is essential for the development of septate junctions in the glial sheath of individual and neighboring glia. Mutations that remove this protein result in paralysis and eventually death due to a breakdown in the glial‐based blood–nerve barrier. To study the role of gliotactin during vertebrate nervous system development, we have isolated a potential vertebrate gliotactin homologue from mice and rat and found that it corresponds to neuroligin 3. Using a combination of RT‐PCR and immunohistochemistry, we have found that neuroligin 3 is expressed during the development of the nervous system in many classes of glia. In particular neuroligin 3 is expressed in the olfactory ensheathing glia, retinal astrocytes, Schwann cells, and spinal cord astrocytes in the developing embryo. This expression is developmentally controlled such that in postnatal and adult stages, neuroligin 3 continues to be expressed at high levels in the olfactory ensheathing glia, a highly plastic class of glia that retain many of their developmental characteristics throughout life. GLIA 34:151–164, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
EGFRvIII–Stat5 Signaling Enhances Glioblastoma Cell Migration and Survival

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common brain malignancies in adults. Most GBM patients succumb to the disease less than 1 year after diagnosis due to the highly invasive nature of the tumor, which prevents complete surgical resection and gives rise to tumor recurrence. The invasive phenotype also confers radioresistant and chemoresistant properties to the tumor cells; therefore, there is a critical need to develop new therapeutics that target drivers of GBM invasion. Amplification of EGFR is observed in over 50% of GBM tumors, of which half concurrently overexpress the variant EGFRvIII, and expression of both receptors confers a worse prognosis. EGFR and EGFRvIII cooperate to promote tumor progression and invasion, in part, through activation of the Stat signaling pathway. Here, it is reported that EGFRvIII activates Stat5 and GBM invasion by inducing the expression of a previously established mediator of glioma cell invasion and survival: fibroblast growth factor-inducible 14 (Fn14). EGFRvIII-mediated induction of Fn14 expression is Stat5 dependent and requires activation of Src, whereas EGFR regulation of Fn14 is dependent upon Src–MEK/ERK–Stat3 activation. Notably, treatment of EGFRvIII-expressing GBM cells with the FDA-approved Stat5 inhibitor pimozide blocked Stat5 phosphorylation, Fn14 expression, and cell migration and survival. Because EGFR inhibitors display limited therapeutic efficacy in GBM patients, the EGFRvIII–Stat5–Fn14 signaling pathway represents a node of vulnerability in the invasive GBM cell populations. Implications: Targeting critical effectors in the EGFRvIII–Stat5–Fn14 pathway may limit GBM tumor dispersion, mitigate therapeutic resistance, and increase survival. Mol Cancer Res; 16(7); 1185–95. ©2018 AACR.
Use of routine clinical preventive services among daily smokers, non-daily smokers, former smokers, and never-smokers.

INTRODUCTION Studies examining differences in clinical preventive services between smokers and nonsmokers have yielded mixed results. While some have noted reduced rates of certain preventive services among smokers relative to nonsmokers, others have reported no differences based on smoking status. These inconsistencies may be due, at least in part, to the way in which smoking status was measured. The present investigation examined variability in utilization of six common preventive services including immunization (influenza and pneumococcal) and cancer screening (breast, cervical, colorectal, and prostate) using more specific categories of smoking history and status. METHODS Data from the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were used to estimate rates of preventive services among U.S. adults. Use of vaccination and cancer screening services across four categories of smoking status (never-smoker, daily smoker, non-daily smoker, and former smoker) were examined using multivariable logistic regression analyses adjusting for sociodemographics and health care access. RESULTS Relative to never-smokers, daily smokers had significantly reduced rates of all services with the exception of pneumococcal vaccination. Although non-daily smokers were similar to never-smokers on most outcomes, they demonstrated lower rates of mammography but were more likely to have received a recent Papanicolaou test. Except for mammography, the odds of using preventive services were 15%-47% higher among former relative to never-smokers. CONCLUSIONS Despite increased risk for respiratory disease and cancer, daily smokers are less likely to receive influenza vaccination and cancer screening. Smokers should be considered an at-risk group to be aggressively targeted for routine preventive clinical services.
Effects of Color as an Executional Cue in Advertising: They're in the Shade

In designing print ads, one of the decisions the advertiser must make is which colors to use as executional cues in the ad. Typically, color decisions are based on intuition and anecdotal evidence. To provide guidelines for these decisions, this research proposes and tests a conceptual framework linking the hue, chroma, and value of the colors in an ad to consumers' feelings and attitudes. In an experimental study, the three dimensions of color used in an ad are manipulated using a between-subjects design. The results support the hypotheses that ads containing colors with a higher level of value lead to greater liking for the ad, and this effect is mediated by the greater feelings of relaxation elicited by the higher value color. Feelings play an equally important role in the effect of chroma. Consistent with the hypotheses, higher levels of chroma elicit greater feelings of excitement, which in turn increase ad likeability. A follow-up study found that although managers often select higher value and higher chroma colors, in a large number of cases they do not. The findings of both studies are integrated in our discussion of the importance of value and chroma in increasing the range of options available to a manager faced with the selection of colors in an ad.
Assessing wildlife and environmental values in cost-benefit analysis

A critique is presented of attempts to assess environmental, particularly wildlife, values in most cost-benefit analyses. Among the deficiencies cited are (1) incomplete specification of all the values at risk, (2) inconsistent quantitative and qualitative measurement of the values considered, (3) a bias toward assigning greater importance to values measured in quantitative terms, especially in dollars, and (4) a lack of standardization of the values considered or the measurement procedures employed. The well-known Tellico dam/snail darter controversy is described as illustrative of these difficulties. Finally, an alternative approach is offered which identifies a range of values that should be considered in most cost-benefit assessments, and calls for their quantitative measurement. 11 references, 2 figures, 2 tables.
Teaching Sustainability Leaders in Systems Thinking

The increasingly required responsibility of enterprises for the environment and society creates new challenges for leaders. They need to be able to deal with multidimensional, complex systems, with different time horizons, ambiguities, and competing stakeholder-interests. In order to convey these competences, new methods are needed in management education. Systemic Constellations is a method that has been used in management consulting to learn about complex systems and to develop problem solutions. It allows cognitive, emotional, and affective learning to occur simultaneously, thus training leaders to grasp the whole complexity of Sustainable Development and CSR, giving them the opportunity to make better and more responsible decisions. At the Vienna University of Economics and Business different forms of constellation work were tested and judged according to their usefulness to teach sustainability competences in graduate and post-graduate education.
αβ T‐cell receptors with a central CDR3 cysteine are enriched in CD8αα intraepithelial lymphocytes and their thymic precursors

The thymus plays a crucial role in immune tolerance by exposing developing T cells (thymocytes) to a myriad of self‐antigens. Strong T‐cell receptor (TCR) engagement induces tolerance in self‐reactive thymocytes by stimulating apoptosis or selection into specialized T‐cell lineages, including intestinal TCRαβ+ CD8αα+ intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL). TCR‐intrinsic amino acid motifs that can be used to predict whether a TCR will be strongly self‐reactive remain elusive. Here, a novel TCR sequence alignment approach revealed that T‐cell lineages in C57BL/6 mice had divergent usage of cysteine within two positions of the amino acid at the apex of the complementarity‐determining region 3 (CDR3) of the TCRα or TCRβ chain. Compared to pre‐selection thymocytes, central CDR3 cysteine usage was increased in IEL and Type A IEL precursors (IELp) and markedly decreased in Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (T‐reg) and naïve T cells. These findings reveal a TCR‐intrinsic motif that distinguishes Type A IELp and IEL from T‐reg and naïve T cells.