Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Growth Retardation in Children with Chronic Renal Failure

Growth retardation is a major obstacle to full rehabilitation of children with chronic renal failure (CRF). Several factors have been identified as contributors to impaired linear growth and they include protein and calorie malnutrition, metabolic acidosis, growth hormone resistance, anemia, and renal osteodystrophy. Although therapeutic interventions such as the use of recombinant human growth hormone, recombinant human erythropoietin, and calcitriol have made substantial contributions, the optimal therapeutic strategy remains to be defined. Indeed, growth failure persists in a substantial proportion of children with renal failure and those treated with maintenance dialysis. In addition, the increasing prevalence of adynamic lesions of renal osteodystrophy and its effect on growth have raised concern about the continued generalized use of calcitriol in children with CRF. Recent studies have shown the critical roles of parathyroid hormone–related protein (PTHrP) and the PTH/PTHrP receptor in the regulation of endochondral bone formation. The PTH/PTHrP receptor mRNA expression has been shown to be down‐regulated in kidney and growth plate cartilage of animals with renal failure. Differences in the severity of secondary hyperparathyroidism influence not only growth plate morphology but also the expression of selected markers of chondrocyte proliferation and differentiation in these animals. Such findings suggest potential molecular mechanisms by which cartilage and bone development may be disrupted in children with CRF, thereby contributing to diminished linear growth.
EFFECTS OF DEVELOPMENTAL PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL ON WORK PERFORMANCE

Developmental performance appraisal pays especial attention to employee's appraisal reactions. In this appraisal, positive reaction and positive feelings towards appraisal approach is an indication of performance appraisal success. This performance appraisal consists of goal setting and feedback activities. In Developmental goal setting and feedback, employees recognize them as clear, relevant and understanding activities. The aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between developmental performance appraisal and work performance and the influence of affective commitment, intrinsic motivation and autonomy orientation to this relationship. The research was conducted in a regional manufacturing firm in Iran and data was collected by utilization of a standard questionnaire. Before distribution of the questionnaire, appropriate techniques were used to assure acceptable reliability and validity of the instrument. Results from survey showed that the relationship between developmental performance appraisal and work performance was mediated by employees’ intrinsic motivation, and strongly moderated by their autonomy orientation. For employees with a weak autonomy orientation, the relationship was positive, but for those with a strong autonomy orientation, the relationship was negative.
Tick-Borne Transmission of Murine Gammaherpesvirus 68

Herpesviruses are a large group of DNA viruses infecting mainly vertebrates. Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) is often used as a model in studies of the pathogenesis of clinically important human gammaherpesviruses such as Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. This rodent virus appears to be geographically widespread; however, its natural transmission cycle is unknown. Following detection of MHV68 in field-collected ticks, including isolation of the virus from tick salivary glands and ovaries, we investigated whether MHV68 is a tick-borne virus. Uninfected Ixodes ricinus ticks were shown to acquire the virus by feeding on experimentally infected laboratory mice. The virus survived tick molting, and the molted ticks transmitted the virus to uninfected laboratory mice on which they subsequently fed. MHV68 was isolated from the tick salivary glands, consistent with transmission via tick saliva. The virus survived in ticks without loss of infectivity for at least 120 days, and subsequently was transmitted vertically from one tick generation to the next, surviving more than 500 days. Furthermore, the F1 generation (derived from F0 infected females) transmitted MHV68 to uninfected mice on which they fed, with MHV68 M3 gene transcripts detected in blood, lung, and spleen tissue of mice on which F1 nymphs and F1 adults engorged. These experimental data fulfill the transmission criteria that define an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus), the largest biological group of viruses. Currently, African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the only DNA virus recognized as an arbovirus. Like ASFV, MHV68 showed evidence of pathogenesis in ticks. Previous studies have reported MHV68 in free-living ticks and in mammals commonly infested with I. ricinus, and neutralizing antibodies to MHV68 have been detected in large mammals (e.g., deer) including humans. Further studies are needed to determine if these reports are the result of tick-borne transmission of MHV68 in nature, and whether humans are at risk of infection.
Modulation of virus-induced innate immunity and type 1 diabetes by IL-1 blockade

We used the LEW1.WR1 model of Kilham rat virus (KRV)-induced type 1 diabetes (T1D) to test the hypothesis that blocking IL-1 pathways early in the course of the disease can modulate virus-induced innate immunity and prevent disease progression. Administering KRV plus IL-1 receptor antagonist (Anakinra) for 14 d prevented insulitis and T1D. Anakinra reversed the KRV-induced systemic inflammation evidenced by the accumulation of T cells in the spleen and pancreatic lymph nodes on d 5 post-infection. Blocking IL-1 modulated the level of IRF-7 and IL-6 gene expression in the spleen and the p40 subunit of IL-12 and IL-23 in the serum. Anakinra did not interfere with the ability of LEW1.WR1 rats to clear the virus from the spleen, pancreatic lymph nodes or serum. Consistent with these data, normal levels of KRV-specific adaptive immune responses were detected in in the spleen and peripheral blood of the treated animals. Finally, blocking IL-1 pathways reversed the KRV-induced modulation of gut bacterial communities. The data may imply that IL-1 pathways are directly linked with early mechanisms whereby KRV infection leads to islet destruction, raising the hypothesis that blocking IL-1 pathways early in the course of the disease could be a useful therapeutic approach for disease prevention.
Anti‐CD36 autoantibodies in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and other thrombotic disorders: identification of an 85 kD form of CD36 as a target antigen

The presence of anti‐CD36 antibodies in plasma of patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), and heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia without/with thrombosis (HIT/HITT) has been examined by immunoblots, and a monoclonal antibody capture assay, the platelet‐associated IgG characterization assay (PAICA). Results with PAICA showed that 73% (8/11) of patients with TTP were positive, and 71% (10/14) by immunoblots. With ITP, 20% (6/30) were positive by PAICA and 19% (3/16) by immunoblots; HIT, 30% (3/10) were positive by PAICA and 60% (6/10) by immunoblot; HITT, 50% (2/4) by PAICA and 100% (4/4) by immunoblot. Purification of CD36 by fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) from Triton X‐100 extracts of normal platelet membranes resulted in the isolation of two different forms: the classic 88 kD form, and a second, lighter 85 kD form. Our data indicated that the patients' plasma autoantibodies reacted strongly with the 85 kD form. Conventional monoclonal and polyclonal antisera produced to the 88 kD form reacted strongly with the 88 kD form but weakly with the 85 kD form. These results confirm the possible importance of anti‐CD36 antibodies in the pathophysiology of TTP and other thrombocytopenias and demonstrate the presence of a previously unrecognized target antigen for these antibodies.
HSPB1, HSPB6, HSPB7 and HSPB8 Protect against RhoA GTPase-Induced Remodeling in Tachypaced Atrial Myocytes

Background We previously demonstrated the small heat shock protein, HSPB1, to prevent tachycardia remodeling in in vitro and in vivo models for Atrial Fibrillation (AF). To gain insight into its mechanism of action, we examined the protective effect of all 10 members of the HSPB family on tachycardia remodeling. Furthermore, modulating effects of HSPB on RhoA GTPase activity and F-actin stress fiber formation were examined, as this pathway was found of prime importance in tachycardia remodeling events and the initiation of AF. Methods and Results Tachypacing (4 Hz) of HL-1 atrial myocytes significantly and progressively reduced the amplitude of Ca2+ transients (CaT). In addition to HSPB1, also overexpression of HSPB6, HSPB7 and HSPB8 protected against tachypacing-induced CaT reduction. The protective effect was independent of HSPB1. Moreover, tachypacing induced RhoA GTPase activity and caused F-actin stress fiber formation. The ROCK inhibitor Y27632 significantly prevented tachypacing-induced F-actin formation and CaT reductions, showing that RhoA activation is required for remodeling. Although all protective HSPB members prevented the formation of F-actin stress fibers, their mode of action differs. Whilst HSPB1, HSPB6 and HSPB7 acted via direct prevention of F-actin formation, HSPB8-protection was mediated via inhibition of RhoA GTPase activity. Conclusion Overexpression of HSPB1, as well as HSPB6, HSPB7 and HSPB8 independently protect against tachycardia remodeling by attenuation of the RhoA GTPase pathway at different levels. The cardioprotective role for multiple HSPB members indicate a possible therapeutic benefit of compounds able to boost the expression of single or multiple members of the HSPB family.
Semantic browsing of sound databases without keywords

In this paper, we study the relevance of a semantic organization of sounds to ease the browsing of a sound database. For such a task, semantic access to data is traditionally implemented by a keyword selection process. However, various limitations of written language, such as word polysemy, ambiguities, or translation issues, may bias the browsing process. We present and study the efficiency of two sound presentation strategies that organize sounds spatially so as to reflect an underlying semantic hierarchy. For the sake of comparison, we also consider a display whose spatial organization is based on acoustic cues. Those three displays are evaluated in terms of search speed in a crowdsourcing experiment. Results demonstrate the usefulness of using an implicit semantic organization to display sounds, both in terms of search speed and of efficiency of learning. Audio content management and display, Semantic sound data mining 0 Introduction With the growing capability of recording and storage devices, the problem of indexing large databases of audio has recently been the object of much attention [17]. Most of that effort is dedicated to the automatic inference of indexing metadata from the actual audio recording [18, 16]; in contrast, the ability to browse such databases in an effective manner has been less considered. Most media assets management are based on keyword-driven queries. The user enters a word which best characterizes the desired item, and the interface presents him with items related to this word. The effectiveness of this principle is primarily based on the typological structure and nomenclature of the database. However, for databases and more specifically for databases of sounds, several issues arise: 1. Sounds, as many others things, can be described in many ways. Sound may be designated by their sources (a car door), as well as by the action of those sources (the slamming of a car door) or their environments (slamming a car door in a garage) [7, 10, 2]. Designing an effective keyword-based search system requires an accurate description of each sound, which has to be tunable to the sound representation of each user. 2. Pre-defined verbal descriptions of the sounds made available to the users may potentially bias their browsing and final selection. 3. Localization of the query interface is made difficult as the translation of some words referring to qualitative aspects of the sound, such as its ambience, is notoriously ambiguous and subject to cultural specificities. 4. Unless considerable time and resources are invested into developing a multilingual interface, any system based on verbal descriptions can only be used with reduced performance by non-native speakers of the chosen language.
Translational Research for Injectable Tissue-Engineered Bone Regeneration Using Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Platelet-Rich Plasma: From Basic Research to Clinical Case Study

Translational research involves application of basic scientific discoveries into clinically germane findings and, simultaneously, the generation of scientific questions based on clinical observations. At first, as basic research we investigated tissue-engineered bone regeneration using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in a dog mandible model. We also confirmed the correlation between osseointegration in dental implants and the injectable bone. Bone defects made with a trephine bar were implanted with graft materials as follows: PRP, dog MSCs (dMSCs) and PRP, autogenous particulate cancellous bone and marrow (PCBM), and control (defect only). Two months later, dental implants were installed. According to the histological and histomorphometric observations at 2 months after implants, the amount of bone–implant contact at the bone–implant interface was significantly different between the PRP, PCBM, dMSCs/PRP, native bone, and control groups. Significant differences were also found between the dMSCs/PRP, native bone, and control groups in bone density. These findings indicate that the use of a mixture of dMSCs/PRP will provide good results in implant treatment compared with that achieved by autogenous PCBM. We then applied this injectable tissue-engineered bone to onlay plasty in the posterior maxilla or mandible in three human patients. Injectable tissue-engineered bone was grafted and, simultaneously, 2–3 threaded titanium implants were inserted into the defect area. The results of this investigation indicated that injectable tissue-engineered bone used for the plasty area with simultaneous implant placement provided stable and predictable results in terms of implant success. We regenerated bone with minimal invasiveness and good plasticity, which could provide a clinical alternative to autogenous bone grafts. This might be a good case of translational research from basic research to clinical application.
Structural Alterations in Subcutaneous Small Arteries of Normotensive and Hypertensive Patients With Non–Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Background — It is not presently known whether non–insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is associated with the presence of structural alterations in small arteries or whether the combination of hypertension and NIDDM may have an additive effect on endothelial dysfunction. Therefore, we investigated subcutaneous small arteries in 12 normotensive subjects (NT group), 18 patients with essential hypertension (EH group), 13 patients with NIDDM, and 11 patients with NIDDM and EH (NIDDM+EH group). Methods and Results — Subcutaneous small arteries were evaluated by a micromyographic technique. The internal diameter, the media-to-lumen ratio, remodeling and growth indices, and the collagen-to-elastin ratio were calculated. Concentration-response curves to acetylcholine, bradykinin, the endothelium-independent vasodilator sodium nitroprusside, and endothelin-1 were performed. The media-to-lumen ratio was higher in the EH, NIDDM, and NIDDM+EH groups compared with the NT group. EH patients showed the presence of eutrophic remodeling, whereas NIDDM and NIDDM+EH patients showed 40% to 46% cell growth. The collagen-to-elastin ratio was significantly increased in the EH and NIDDM+EH groups compared with the NT group. The vasodilatation to acetylcholine and bradykinin was similarly reduced in EH, NIDDM, and NIDDM+EH groups compared with the NT group. The contractile responses to endothelin-1 were similarly reduced in EH, NIDDM, and NIDDM+EH patients. Conclusions — Our data suggest that the effects of NIDDM and EH on small artery morphology are quantitatively similar but qualitatively different and that the presence of hypertension in diabetic patients has little additive effect on small artery morphology and none on endothelial dysfunction.
Beliefs about Inequality and Perceptions of Distributive Justice

This paper addresses a number of theoretical and empirical issues derived from distributive justice theory regarding the social psychological process of justice evaluation. Building upon current theory and research, justice evaluation is conceived as a comparison of the rewards one receives with rewards s/he expects. Using data from a 1979 Indianapolis area survey, we examine beliefs about inequality and their role in subjective perceptions of distributive justice. We examine the extent to which "what is" affects perceptions of "what ought to be" using collective beliefs about distribution practices, that is, the extent to which persons perceive departures from justice in terms of existential standards. We find that it is possible to abstract, with a high degree of distinctiveness, a set of aggregate principles representing existential notions about the ways in which individual characteristics are related to household income. We find that this approach to the measurement of reference standards for the evaluation of income receipts has some empirical validity, in that it predicts perceptions of overvs. under-reward, but such an approach to measuring departures from justice does not produce meaningful variation in measures of satisfaction and acceptance of income.
A Comparative Study on Perception of Teachers on the Use of Computers in Elementary Schools of Turkey and

The purpose of this survey study was to investigate the perceptions of teachers on the usage of computers in elementary schools of two countries (Turkey and TRNC). The data for this study was collected through a survey from the teachers in Erzurum and Lefkoşa (Nicosia). A total of 250 elementary school teachers from the schools of two cities participated in the research. The survey results indicated that teachers in both countries had a positive attitude toward the use of computers in schools. They commonly thought that computers may develop student motivation, skills, interest and achievement if they were used effectively. They also think that the future will be based on the knowledge of information technology. Turkish Cypriot teachers use computers mostly for correspondences, preparing exam questions and course materials. On the other hand Turkish teachers mainly used computers for preparing course materials, exam questions, calculating student grades and lesson plans. As Turkish teachers used computers more, Turkish Cypriot teachers used computers longer than Turkish teachers. Both groups of teachers generally considered that inservice training use of computers were not effective.
Patterns of Lynx Predation at the Interface between Protected Areas and Multi-Use Landscapes in Central Europe

In Central Europe, protected areas are too small to ensure survival of populations of large carnivores. In the surrounding areas, these species are often persecuted due to competition with game hunters. Therefore, understanding how predation intensity varies spatio-temporally across areas with different levels of protection is fundamental. We investigated the predation patterns of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) on roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) in both protected areas and multi-use landscapes of the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem. Based on 359 roe and red deer killed by 10 GPS-collared lynx, we calculated the species-specific annual kill rates and tested for effects of season and lynx age, sex and reproductive status. Because roe and red deer in the study area concentrate in unprotected lowlands during winter, we modeled spatial distribution of kills separately for summer and winter and calculated-the probability of a deer killed by lynx and-the expected number of kills for areas with different levels of protection. Significantly more roe deer (46.05–74.71/year/individual lynx) were killed than red deer (1.57–9.63/year/individual lynx), more deer were killed in winter than in summer, and lynx family groups had higher annual kill rates than adult male, single adult female and subadult female lynx. In winter the probability of a deer killed and the expected number of kills were higher outside the most protected part of the study area than inside; in summer, this probability did not differ between areas, and the expected number of kills was slightly larger inside than outside the most protected part of the study area. This indicates that the intensity of lynx predation in the unprotected part of the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem increases in winter, thus mitigation of conflicts in these areas should be included as a priority in the lynx conservation strategy.
The Effectiveness of Social Media Use in Japanese Firms

Large numbers of firms use social media for various business activities. Japanese firms, however, still lag behind. This paper aims to clarify how social media becomes effective for business activities among Japanese firms. For this purpose, the followings are addressed: (i) whether social media use is useful for company activities; (ii) what kinds of business activities are affected by using social media; and (iii) how social media improves the final outcomes of firms. This study uses the data of business activities and social media conducted in 2014. Probit and Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis are employed. The former enables to clarify the relationships between the effects of social media and its various use. The latter can clarify the relationships among the effects of social media use to business activities. In SEM, a model is examined by taking final outcomes effected by social media as an explained variable, while explanatory variables are first and intermediate effects of social media. The results indicate social media has effective for business activities and the first effects such as "awareness of consumer needs" affect the intermediate effects such as "joint development with opinion leaders" and finally sales as one of final outcomes are improved for example. This study may help to promote social media use in Japanese firms.
Sparsity-information-aided least mean squares method for sparse channel estimation

A novel least mean squares (LMS) method that exploits sparsity level information for sparse channel estimation is presented and studied in this paper. This method utilizes the channel sparsity level information by incorporating a penalty term into the cost function and has better performance than the compared methods which do not take into account the sparsity level information. The convergence analysis of the proposed method is provided. Both the transient and the steady-state advantages of the proposed method are confirmed numerically. Simulation results indicate that the sparsity-information-aided LMS method has faster convergence and higher accuracy than the compared approaches when the channel sparsity level information is known.