Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of intermittent administration of human parathyroid hormone on bone mineral density and arthritis in rats with collagen-induced arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of intermittent administration of human parathyroid hormone (PTH) on bone mineral density (BMD) and arthritis in rats with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). METHODS Seven-month-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups: rats without CIA (control), rats with CIA treated with vehicle, rats with CIA treated with PTH for 4 weeks, and rats with CIA treated with PTH for 6 weeks. PTH (20 mug/kg) was injected subcutaneously 3 times per week. BMD in the proximal metaphysis and the diaphysis of the tibia was measured by peripheral quantitative computed tomography every 2 weeks until week 8. Eight weeks after initial sensitization, the animals were killed, and the BMD and mechanical properties of excised limbs were evaluated. Histomorphometric analysis of tibiae and histologic evaluation of arthritis were also performed. RESULTS In the PTH-treated rats with CIA, the incidence and severity of arthritis were macroscopically and histologically similar to the findings in the vehicle-treated rats with CIA. The decrease of BMD caused by CIA was suppressed by treatment with human PTH, in a manner that was dependent on the duration of administration. In the histomorphometric analysis, bone formation parameters were higher and bone resorption parameters were lower in the PTH-treated arthritic rats compared with vehicle-treated arthritic rats. Mechanical properties were also maintained in the PTH-treated rats. CONCLUSION Our findings indicate that, in an animal model of arthritis, intermittent PTH administration activates bone formation, resulting in increased BMD and preventing deterioration of mechanical properties. However, PTH has no effect on the arthritis itself.
Immunoarchitectural Patterns in Follicular Lymphoma: Efficacy of HGAL and LMO2 in the Detection of the Interfollicular and Diffuse Components

Follicular lymphoma (FL) can exhibit variant histologic patterns that can lead to confusion with other B-cell lymphomas and reactive conditions. Diagnostic markers such as CD10 and BCL2 may be difficult to interpret in variant FL patterns, and are often diminished or absent in the interfollicular and diffuse components. We evaluated 2 recently characterized germinal center B-cell markers, human germinal center associated lymphoma (HGAL), and LIM-only transcription factor 2 (LMO2), in 127 FL patient biopsies (94 nodal, 33 extranodal), and correlated the findings with histologic pattern, cellular composition, grade, and additional immunostains (CD20, CD3, CD21, CD10, BCL2, and BCL6). Architectural patterns included predominantly follicular (75%) and follicular and diffuse components (25%); 10 cases showed marginal zone differentiation and 3 were floral variants. Eighty-nine cases were low grade (38 grade 1; 51 grade 2) and 38 were grade 3 (29 grade 3A and 9 grade 3B). HGAL had the highest overall sensitivity of detecting FL and was superior in detecting the interfollicular and diffuse components compared with BCL2, LMO2, CD10, and BCL6. All 28 cases that lacked CD10, expressed HGAL, and the majority also expressed LMO2. Our results show that HGAL and LMO2 are sensitive markers for FL diagnosis. The addition of HGAL and LMO2 to the immunohistologic panel is beneficial in the work-up of nodal and extranodal B-cell lymphomas and the efficacy of HGAL in detecting the follicular, interfollicular and diffuse components of FL is of particular value in the setting of variant immunoarchitectural patterns.
On the noninvasive determination of material parameters from a knowledge of elastic displacements theory and numerical simulation

In this paper, we present a formulation and numerical simulation for the noninvasive determination of the material parameter ratios (i.e., the Lame parameters divided by density) of an isotropic, inhomogenous elastic medium subject to time harmonic vibration. Given a knowledge of the displacements throughout the medium, a novel implementation of a variational formulation is used to determine the ratios /spl lambda///spl rho/ and /spl mu///spl rho/. A theoretical formulation is presented and validated using numerical data obtained from a finite element method. The results indicate that the method may be applied locally within an inhomogenous medium, and that the corresponding material parameters can be recovered to a high degree of accuracy. In addition, the method does not appear to be subject to the typical wavelength constraints of previous methods.
Professed Factors Influencing Environmentally Sustainable Household Consumer Behavior: Bangladesh Perspective

Extreme Consumption of both goods and services has been increasing all over the world which is causing severe depletion of natural resources as well as damaging the environment rapidly (Chen and Chai, 2010). With the realization of such threat, most of the countries across the globe have begun to work on minimizing the harmful impact of business on society and the environment. The concept of sustainable development is the outcome of such concern regarding society and environment around the globe. It provides emphasis on the promotion of sustainability as well as advocates those forms of developments which cause the least negative impact on the society and environment (Joshi and Rahman, 2015).
Computer-assisted Intervention using Touch-screen Video Game Technology on Cognitive Function and Behavioural Symptoms for Community-dwelling Older Chinese Adults with Mild-to-Moderate Dementia - Preliminary Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: This study explored the potential benefits of a computer-assisted intervention using touch-screen videogame technology on cognitive function and behavioural symptoms in older adults with mild-tomoderate dementia. Methods: A randomized-controlled-trial is being conducted comparing a videogame training and a conventional cognitive training. Until January 2015, 32 community-dwelling older Chinese adults (mean age 83y, range 70-99y, 69% women) with mild-to-moderate dementia were randomly assigned to the videogame training (intervention group n=16) or the cognitive training (control group n=16). The intervention group performed a computer-assisted training encompassing 4 videogames using touch-screen interfaces for 30 minutes/session, 1-2 sessions/week for a total of 8 sessions; the control group performed a matched training encompassing 4 cognitive activities for same amount of time. Results: The intervention group demonstrated significant improvements in game performance, Montreal Cognitive Assessment language sub-score, Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) total and distress scores, while the control group showed improvement in activity performance and NPI distress score (all P<0.05). Compared to the control group, the intervention group had significantly improved Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory total score and verbally aggressive sub-score (both P<0.05). Conclusions: Touch-screen videogame training can alleviate behavioural symptoms in older adults with mild-to-moderate dementia. Its efficacy to improve cognitive and other related functions warrants further investigation.
CD3 components at the surface of pro‐T cells can mediate pre‐T cell development in vivo

Developmentally arrested pro‐T cells (CD4−8−, IL‐2R+, HSA++) of RAG‐1‐deficient mice appear to express low levels of CD3 molecules in the absence of T cell receptor (TcR) chains at their surface, while developmentally arrested pre‐T cells of TcRα‐deficient mice express low levels of a disulfide‐linked TcRβ chain in association with CD3 molecules.
Incorporation of Real Estate in Corporate Strategy - The Ghanaian experience (Part 1)

Any business enterprise ceteris paribus is in to make profit and minimise losses save a charity. Hence the activities and the management of the people are directed towards an end, towards certain goals (Mullin, 1999). However the organisation’s real estate decisions and would be plausible if such are geared towards supporting the overall business objectives of the organisation in question. In that regard, the objectives could be realised if conscious effort is made of how the real estate strategy support corporate strategy coupled with the sub-strategies for component elements of the organisation and then in turn how specific real estate operating decisions support the real estate strategy. Hence it is imperative that the organisations must ensure that its corporate business goals consciously align with its real state, construction and facilities programme. It is then that the above goals would be realised.
How Safe is Safe Enough? Improving Cybersecurity in Europe's Critical Infrastructure Under the NIS Directive

This paper examines the safeguarding and information obligations the NIS Directive imposes on operators of essential services and digital service providers. The Directive aims to ensure that such services are protected from disruption which could impact key economic and societal activities. Under the Directive, organisations need to take ‘appropriate and proportionate’ security measures. In this paper, we look at what this means in practice. We argue that organisations need to identify, assess, and address the cyber risks they face, so as to prevent and minimise service disruptions. Such risk management inevitably entails a level of subjective judgement and difficult trade-offs; leading to a persistent level of legal uncertainty. At the same time, organisations should be accorded significant discretion when translating the Directive’s high-level principles into practice. The regulator’s role is primarily that of ensuring that such discretion is exercised appropriately, including by providing guidance and monitoring compliance. We illustrate these points by looking at cyber risks in the air transport sector and, in particular, the compliance implications of using cloud services.
Vestibular exercises improve central vestibulospinal compensation after vestibular neuritis

Objective and Background: Animal experiments have shown that central vestibular compensation of unilateral peripheral vestibular lesions can be improved by vestibular exercises. There are, however, no equivalent clinical studies on the efficacy of such specific physiotherapy on acute unilateral vestibular lesions in humans. Design and Methods: To quantify the differential effects of specific vestibular exercised on central compensation in patients with an acute/subacute unilateral vestibular lesion (vestibular neuritis), we determined the time course of recovery of 1) the ocular torsion (OT) for the vestibulo-ocular system, 2) the subjective visual vertical (SVV) for perception, and 3) the total sway path (SP) values for postural control in 19 patients with and 20 patients without vestibular exercises. All patients had a persisting peripheral vestibular deficit for at least 30 days (statistical end point). Results: Although normalization of OT and SVV was similar in the control and physiotherapy groups, the total SP values on day 30 after symptom onset differed significantly: 3.2 ± 1.9 m/min in the physiotherapy group and 16.9 ± 6.1 m/min in the control group (ANOVA, p < 0.001). Conclusions: This prospective clinical study suggests that specific vestibular exercises improve vestibulospinal compensation in patients with acute peripheral vestibular lesions.
Stakeholder value appropriation: The case of labor in the worldwide mining industry

Research Summary: We evaluate how the value appropriated by employees varies in response to an exogenous shock to the price of the firm's product and how this variation depends on institutional and ownership structures. Institutional and ownership structures that favor employees can influence firms’ location decisions and shareholders’ incentives to invest. Using data from the main copper mines in the world, we show that the value appropriated by employees rises in response to an exogenous increase in the price of minerals. Our results indicate that the magnitude of the increment in the value captured by employees is larger in stated‐owned companies, when labor regulations promote productivity‐based payments, when wages are determined through a centralized bargaining process, and when regulations associated with hiring and firing are more flexible. Managerial Summary: We show how labor regulations and state ownership affect the value appropriated by employees when there are exogenous changes in the price of the firm's products. Since the value generated by a firm is distributed among different stakeholders, a higher appropriation of value by employees results in lower appropriation by another party. Therefore, by changing the distribution of value, managerial decisions about location and entry could be affected. For instance, shareholders of firms with positive future expectations about the prices of their products might prefer to enter markets in which salary negotiations are not centralized or where partnership with the local government is not mandatory. Overall, our analysis calls for the consideration of the external environment when evaluating value appropriation by different types of stakeholders.
Mechanism Underlying Replication Protein A Stimulation of DNA Ligase I*

Replication protein A (RPA) is a heterotrimeric single-stranded DNA-binding protein that participates in multiple DNA transactions that include replication and repair. Base excision repair is a central DNA repair pathway, responsible for the removal of damaged bases. We have shown previously that RPA was able to stimulate long patch base excision repair reconstituted in vitro. Herein we show that human RPA stimulates the activity of the base excision repair component human DNA ligase I by approximately 15-fold. Other analyzed single-stranded binding proteins would not substitute, attesting to the specificity of the stimulation. Conversely, RPA was unable to stimulate the functionally homologous ATP-dependent ligase from T4 bacteriophage. Kinetic analyses suggest that catalysis of ligation is enhanced by RPA, as a 4-fold increase in k cat is observed, whereasK m is not significantly changed. Substrate competition experiments further support the conclusion that RPA does not alter the specificity or rate of substrate binding by DNA ligase I. Additionally, RPA is unable to significantly enhance ligation on substrates containing an unannealed 3′-upstream primer terminus, suggesting that RPA does not stabilize the nick site to enhance ligase recognition. Furthermore when DNA ligase I is pre-bound to the substrate and limited to a single turnover, RPA is still able to stimulate ligation. Overall, the results support a mechanism of stimulation that involves increasing the rate of catalysis of ligation.
Differentiation stage-specific activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase isoforms in primary human erythroid cells

p38α, p38β, p38γ, and p38δ are four isoforms of p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase (MAPK) involved in multiple cellular functions such as cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and inflammation response. In the present study, we examined the mRNA expression pattern of each of the four isoforms during erythroid differentiation of primary erythroid progenitors. We show that p38α and p38γ transcripts are expressed in early hematopoietic progenitors as well as in late differentiating erythroblasts, whereas p38δ mRNA is only expressed and active during the terminal phase of erythroid differentiation. On the other hand, p38β is minimally expressed in early CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors but not expressed in lineage-committed erythroid progenitors. We also determined the phosphorylation/activation of p38α, MAPK kinase 3/6, and MAPKAP-2 in response to erythropoietin and stem cell factor. We found that phosphorylation of p38α, MAPK kinase kinase 3/6 and MAPKAP-2 occurs only upon growth factor withdrawal in primary erythroid progenitors. Moreover, our data indicate that activation of p38α does not induce apoptosis or promote proliferation of erythroid progenitors. On the other hand, under steady-state culture conditions, both p38α and p38δ isoforms are increasingly phosphorylated activated in the terminal phase of differentiation. This increased phosphorylation/activity was accompanied by up-regulation of heat shock protein 27 phosphorylation. Finally, we demonstrate that tumor necrosis factor α, an inflammatory cytokine that is modulated by p38α, is expressed by differentiating erythroblasts and inhibition of p38α or tumor necrosis factor α results in reduction in differentiation. Taken together, our data demonstrate that both p38α and δ isoforms function to promote the late-stage differentiation of primary erythroid progenitors and are likely to be involved in functions related to erythrocyte membrane remodeling and enucleation.
Detection of Category Breaches in E-Mail Threads Using RSS Data Feeds

The use of a single personal e-mail address, by users of both private and business communication, is becoming more and more common. Sometimes private e-mails are sent to business contacts by mistake, and vice versa; the process of separating and distributing such e-mails often creates problems. Again, often e-mail threads are focused on specific categories, which can be used for recognising changes in the content. For example, business contacts usually exchange project details in their e-mail messages, but not private information. In this thesis, we will consider different approaches towards categorising e-mails and present a way to use the categorisation for monitoring outgoing e-mail traffic. The goal is to enhance the security of e-mail communication. As a proof-of-concept, we carried out an extension for Mozilla Thunderbird, which categorises outbound e-mails and warns the user if it detects a change in the category. The individual categories are recognised with the help of speech models, based on RSS data feeds. The use of language models and the modular design also has interesting applications for future development within this field.
An Advanced Contingency Selection Algorithm

This paper reports on the development of an advanced contingency selection algorithm giving superior results compared to earlier techniques. Problems inherent in the earlier algorithm resulted in occasional misranked contingency cases. The new algorithm gives results which are essentially equivalent to a ranking based on the results of a DC load flow of each case, only at a fraction of the calculation time. A complete derivation, test results and applications are given in the paper.
Factors Affecting on Customer Loyalty in Hotels service in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam

Vietnam is a country that is rich and diverse in tourism resource at many different regions. Along with the transformation of the economy into the service sector under the guideline of the Government, researches in this field on customer loyalty, which reveal important reasons for going back to use service from customers should be done at different areas. The paper’s purposes are to systematize the theoretical basis on customers’ loyalty, from those determine the factors affecting the customer’s loyalty using hotel services in Thanh Hoa province, where has full of potentials for developing tourism industry of the country. By using qualitative and quantitative research, relations and level of impact between influencial factors have been illustrated, which are sources of basic orientation for improving the quality of hotel services, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in hotels at Thanh Hoa. Specifically, the results showed that Tangible and Intangible elements, Perceived Value, Brand Image, Customer Relationship Management, Satisfaction and customers’ demographic profile both have a positive impact on Customer Loyalty, of which satisfaction has strongest effect, followed by Intangible and Tagible elements, Brand Image, Perceived Value, and finally CRM.
Lysozyme in abnormal dermal elastic fibers of cutaneous aging, solar elastosis and pseudoxanthoma elasticum

Staining of elastic fibres with antilysozyme antibodies has been noted previously. In this study, we examined the staining pattern of dermal elastic fibres in aging, solar elastosis, and lesional skin of pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) using an antibody to lysozyme and the indirect‐peroxidase technique. To assess the effects of aging, sun‐protected skin (buttock) from a younger and an older group of patients was used. Sun damage was studied in skin specimens from varying sun‐exposed body regions (trunk; head and neck). No staining was seen in sun‐protected skin from younger individuals, whereas sun‐protected skin from older persons had scattered positive fibres. Solar elastotic material was intensely positive and the number of positive fibres appeared to correlate with the amount of sun damage. Abnormal elastic fibres in PXE also stained positively, but less intensely, than fibres in solar elastosis. This study shows that changes in the elastic fibres due to degenerative processes or genetic factors results in altered antigenic expression of the fibres. This may be an epiphenomenon secondary to changes in proteoglyeans, which are known to occur with solar elastosis and PXE, or may represent an adaptive phenomenon to maintain the elastic properties of the altered fibres or to decrease their antigenicity.
Enhanced Flooding Algorithms Introducing the Concept of Biotic Growth

A flooding algorithm is an indispensable and fundamental network control mechanism for achieving some tasks, such notifying all nodes of some information, transferring data with high reliability, getting some information from all nodes, or to reserve a route by flooding the messages in the network. In particular, the flooding algorithm is greatly effective in the heterogeneous and dynamic network environment such as so-called ubiquitous networks, whose topology is indefinite or changes dynamically and whose nodal function may be simple and less intelligent. Actually, it is applied to grasp the network topology in a sensor network or an ad-hoc network, or to retrieve content information by mobile agent systems. A flooding algorithm has the advantages of robustness and optimality by parallel processing of messages. However, the flooding mechanism has a fundamental disadvantages: it causes the message congestion in the network, and eventually increases the processing time until the flooding control is finished. In this paper, we propose and evaluate methods for producing a more efficient flooding algorithm by adopting the growth processes of primitive creatures, such as molds or microbes.