Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microsporidian Infection in a Free-Living Marine Nematode

ABSTRACT Microsporidia are unicellular fungi that are obligate endoparasites. Although nematodes are one of the most abundant and diverse animal groups, the only confirmed report of microsporidian infection was that of the “nematode killer” (Nematocida parisii). N. parisii was isolated from a wild Caenorhabditis sp. and causes an acute and lethal intestinal infection in a lab strain of Caenorhabditis elegans. We set out to characterize a microsporidian infection in a wild nematode to determine whether the infection pattern of N. parisii in the lab is typical of microsporidian infections in nematodes. We describe a novel microsporidian species named Sporanauta perivermis (marine spore of roundworms) and characterize its infection in its natural host, the free-living marine nematode Odontophora rectangula. S. perivermis is not closely related to N. parisii and differs strikingly in all aspects of infection. Examination by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that the infection was localized in the hypodermal and muscle tissues only and did not involve the intestines. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) confirmed infection in the muscle and hypodermis, and surprisingly, it also revealed that the parasite infects O. rectangula eggs, suggesting a vertical mode of transmission. Our observations highlight the importance of studying parasites in their natural hosts and indicate that not all nematode-infecting microsporidia are “nematode killers”; instead, microsporidiosis can be more versatile and chronic in the wild.
Ursolic acid enhances mouse liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy

Context: Ursolic acid is a pentacyclic triterpenoid which has hepatoprotective and antihepatotoxic activities. Objective: This study investigated whether ursolic acid is able to stimulate liver regeneration in partially hepatectomized mice. Materials and methods: Ursolic acid or the vehicle solution was orally administered to the experimental, sham-operated and vehicle-treated group mice for 7 days, positive control animal (mice) was treated with recombinant human hepatocyte growth factor (rhHGF), and then the 70% liver partial hepatectomy was performed. The liver mass recovery rate was estimated by measuring the ratios of mice liver weight to body weight. The liver cells undergoing DNA synthesis were identified by immunohistochemistry analysis using monoclonal anti-BrdU antibodies. The expression levels of cyclin D1, cyclin E and C/EBP proteins (C/EBPα and C/EBPβ) were detected by the Western blotting technique. Results: Our results showed administration of ursolic acid significantly increased the ratio of the liver to body weight and BrdU labeling index at 36 and 48 h after partial hepatectomy, and the potency of UA is similar to rhHGF treated positive control mice. In addition, ursolic acid treatment significantly increased cyclin D1, cyclin E and C/EBPβ protein expression levels at 36 h after liver PHx compared with the vehicle-treated control mice. Discussion and conclusion: All these results suggest that ursolic acid stimulates liver proliferation after partial hepatectomy, and this effect may be associated with the stimulation of C/EBPβ expression.
The Bank Lending Channel of Real Estate Prices

Real estate price shocks potentially have impacts on banks' balance sheets, their lending behavior, and eventually economic activities. We examine the existence of this bank lending channel in Japan during the 2007-2013 period covering the global financial crisis. In contrast with Gan (2007b) that assumes uniform real estate price shocks after the bubble period in Japan, we identify heterogenous real estate price shocks that each bank faces by summarizing the land prices of firms with which the bank has transaction relationships. For this purpose, we employ a comprehensive database on firm-bank relationships as well as information on land prices for more than 20 thousand locational points in Japan to find the following: First, a rise in land prices increases bank capital and total bank loans, which is consistent with the bank lending channel hypothesis. A rise in land prices also leads to a significant increase in real estate loans and loans backed by real estate collateral. Second, a rise in land prices leads to no significant increase in non-real estate loans, and a marginally significant decrease in loans without real estate collateral. This evidences weakly for the portfolio reallocation story between real estate and non-real estate loans but against the forbearance lending story.
Office-based Electromyography-guided Botulinum Toxin Injection to the Cricopharyngeus Muscle: Optimal Patient Selection and Technique

Objectives: This retrospective study was carried out to investigate the effectiveness and safety of office-based electromyography-guided injection of botulinum toxin in the cricopharyngeus muscle of patients who did not show upper esophageal sphincter passage in a swallowing study in spite of maximal swallowing rehabilitation. Methods: Thirty-six patients who showed no or limited ability to oral feed after maximum swallowing rehabilitation were enrolled. Video fluoroscopic swallowing study, flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, disability rating scale, penetration aspiration score, and National Institutes of Health swallowing safety scale were used in the evaluation of dysphagia. Results: Success was defined as nondependence on gastrostomy for patients who previously were dependent on gastrostomy and improvement in disability rating scale score after botulinum toxin injections. The total success rate was 63.9%. The complication rate was very low, with only 1 patient showing temporary unilateral vocal fold paralysis. Botulinum toxin injection was more effective in patients with cranial nerve IX or X palsy than in those without it (P = .006). Conclusions: This procedure can be a simple, safe, and effective tool in patients with cricopharyngeal dysfunction after swallowing rehabilitation, especially for cranial nerve IX or X palsy.
Experimental arthritis induced by intraarticular injection of allogenic cartilaginous particles into rabbit knees.

Human synovial fluid often contains small cartilaginous "wear particles. " Previous in vitro experiments have indicated the potential involvement of these particles in the pathophysiology of arthritis. To determine whether this potential is realized under the conditions existing within joints, standard suspensions of lapine articular cartilage were injected intraarticularly into the knee joints of rabbits. Thrice-weekly injections of 1 mg allogenic cartilage produced an inflammatory arthritis, accompanied by a marked cellular effusion, in all rabbits within 5 months. The synovium became hyperplastic, discolored, and infiltrated with mononuclear inflammatory cells. Embedded particles of the injected material were seen in histologic preparations of these synovia. Organ cultures of such synovia produced 4 to 5 times more collagenase, plasminogen activator, "Pz-peptidase," neutral and acid azocaseinase, and beta-glucuronidase than did cultures of synovia from control knees injected with saline. Furthermore, the articular cartilage of knees injected with cartilaginous particles showed elevated intrinsic collagenolytic activity. Histologic examination of the articular cartilage revealed an attendant loss of metachromasy, resulting in friability, pitting, and discoloring of the cartilage. Preliminary immunoassays failed to demonstrate a systemic immune response to the injected material.
Association of a high-molecular weight arginine-binding protein of Fusobacterium nucleatum ATCC 10953 with adhesion to secretory immunoglobulin A and coaggregation with Streptococcus cristatus.

INTRODUCTION Fusobacterium nucleatum coaggregates with a diverse range of bacterial species, and binds to host tissues and proteins such as immunoglobulin. These interactions may support the attachment of a variety of organisms to oral surfaces and can facilitate the invasion of soft tissues. We hypothesized that coaggregation with streptococci and immunoglobulin binding may occur by a common adhesin sensitive to l-arginine. METHODS Repeated mixing of F. nucleatum with non-immune secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) and recovery of non-agglutinating cells isolated a spontaneous mutant (isolate 21) of F. nucleatum that was defective in S-IgA binding. Wild-type and mutant F. nucleatum were compared by coaggregation and adhesion assays. RESULTS Isolate 21 exhibited significantly reduced S-IgA binding and coaggregation with oral streptococci but not with Porphyromonas gingivalis. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that the mutant was deficient compared to wild-type for a single protein of approximately 360 kilodaltons. The corresponding protein was isolated from wild-type F. nucleatum protein preparations by coprecipitation with arginine-agarose beads. This protein was able to bind both Streptococcus cristatus and S-IgA. Mass spectrometry analysis indicated that this protein was closely related to putative autotransporter proteins in other F. nucleatum strains and was a 100% match to the deduced amino acid sequence of a 10,638-base-pair open reading frame in the incomplete genome sequence of F. nucleatum ATCC 10,953. Peptides identified by MS-MS analysis spanned most of the predicted amino acid sequence, suggesting that the mature protein is not subject to postsecretory cleavage. CONCLUSION Coaggregation represents a novel function within the autotransporter class of proteins, which are often associated with virulence.
Heart Rate Variability: A Novel Modality for Diagnosing Neuropathic Pain after Spinal Cord Injury

Background: Heart rate variability (HRV), the physiological variance in the heart's R-R interval length, can be analyzed to produce various parameters reflective of one's autonomic balance. HRV analysis may be used to capture those autonomic aberrations associated with chronic neuropathic pain (NP) in spinal cord injury (SCI). This study assesses the capacity of HRV parameters to diagnose NP in an SCI cohort. Methods: An electrocardiogram (ECG) was collected at rest from able bodied participants (AB, n = 15), participants with SCI only (SCI-NP, n = 11), and those with SCI and NP (SCI+NP, n = 20). HRV parameters were analyzed using conventional time and frequency analysis. Results: At rest, there were no heart rate differences amongst groups. However, SCI+NP participants demonstrated lower overall HRV, as determined by the SDNN time domain parameter, compared to either AB (p < 0.01) or SCI-NP (p < 0.05) groups. Moreover, AB and SCI-NP participants were statistically comparable for all HRV time and frequency domain parameters. Additional analyses demonstrated no differences in HRV parameters between T4, above vs. T5, below SCI groups (for all parameters: p > 0.15) or between C8, above vs. T1, below SCI groups (p > 0.30). Conclusions: Participants with SCI and NP exhibit a lower overall HRV, which can be determined by HRV time domain parameter SDNN. HRV analysis is an innovative modality with the capacity for objective quantification of chronic NP in participants with SCI.
Neonatal Resuscitation Science, Education, and Practice: The Role of the Neonatal Resuscitation Program

For almost 25 years, the Neonatal Resuscitation Program of the American Academy of Pediatrics has provided educational tools that are used in the United States and throughout the world to teach neonatal resuscitation. Over that time period, the guidelines for resuscitation have been increasingly evidence-based and a formal system has been established to determine which steps should be updated on the basis of available information. The most recent update occurred in 2010. This article describes the evidence review process and the specific evidence that lead to a number of significant changes in practice that were included in the 2010 guidelines.
Pre-Sale Competition When Consumers Regret

This paper takes consumers anticipated regret into consideration in the pre-sale competition decision model, and analyzes the impact of anticipated regret on retailers’ pre-sale price and revenue in the pre-sale context where consumers have uncertain valuations and preference matching. The results show that, for retailers with higher probability of matching, it is expected that anticipated buying regret is harm to improve revenue, while anticipated waiting regret is beneficial. Conversely, for the retailer with lower possibility of matching, anticipated buying regret is beneficial to improve revenue, while waiting regret is not.
125-µm-cladding 8-core multi-core fiber realizing ultra-high-density cable suitable for O-band short-reach optical interconnects

A 125-μm-cladding 8-core fiber applicable to short-reach transmissions and compatible with conventional components is proposed. An ultra-high-density 12-MCF cable was fabricated with the proposed MCF, and error-free 8-SDM×4-WDM×25-Gb/s (800-Gb/s/fiber) transmission was demonstrated in O-band.
Is there a low-back cost to hip-centric exercise? Quantifying the lumbar spine joint compression and shear forces during movements used to overload the hips

Abstract The aim of this study was to quantify joint compression and shear forces at L4/L5 during exercises used to overload the hips. Nine men performed 36 “walking” trials using two modalities: (1) sled towing and (2) exercise bands placed around the ankles. Participants completed forward, backward, and lateral trials with bent and straight legs at three separate loads. Surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded bilaterally from eight torso and thigh sites, upper body and lumbar spine motion were quantified, and hand forces were measured. An EMG-driven musculoskeletal model was used to estimate the muscular contribution to joint compression and shear. Peak reaction, muscle and joint compression and shear forces, and peak gluteus medius and maximus activity were calculated. Significant differences were noted in each dependent measure; however, they were dependent on direction of travel, leg position, and load. The highest joint compression and shear forces for the sled and band conditions were 4378 N and 626 N, and 3306 N and 713 N, respectively. In general, increasing the band tension had little effect on all dependent measures, although a load-response was found during the sled conditions. Before using any exercise to improve hip function, the potential benefits should be weighed against “costs” to neighbouring joints.
Institutional Pressures and Organizational Identity: The Case of Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau in the GDR and Beyond, 1945–1996

This article explores the case of Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau (DWH)—a furniture and interior manufacturer founded in 1898—through state socialism after 1945 and reprivatization in the 1990s. Our analysis suggests that the firm's survival through multiple systemic disruptions was partly due to the preservation of a unique identity despite heavy institutional pressures for conformity. DWH adopted a “mixed conformity” strategy that attempted to pitch multiple concerns (cultural-aesthetic, ideological, economic) of political authorities against one another to buffer sociopolitical pressures, thus ultimately conforming to some (identity-consistent) demands, while violating other (identity-threatening) ones. This allowed DWH to successfully navigate tensions between sociopolitical expectations and the need to preserve a collective sense of distinctiveness and continuity over time.
Axonal Transport of Endogenous Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) and NGF Receptor in Experimental Diabetic Neuropathy

There is increasing evidence that deprivation of the retrogradely transported neurotrophic protein nerve growth factor (NGF) accounts for some functional deficits known to occur in experimental diabetic neuropathy. Here we have studied changes in the axonal transport of endogenous NGF, NGF receptor (NGFR), and NGFR saturation (NGF/NGFR ratio) in the rat sciatic nerve after 2 months of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes mellitus. Compared with vehicle-treated control rats (blood glucose: 6-12 mM), there was a very clear reduction in the retrograde transport of NGF by 50% (P < 0.001) in STZ-treated, diabetic animals (blood glucose: 33-62 mM). No significant reduction in NGF axonal transport was observed in a subpopulation of STZ-treated rats (poor responders) with nearly normal glucose levels (range: 9-12 mM). No change was observed in any group in the retrograde transport of NGFR. Compared with control rats, however, the apparent NGFR saturation was reduced by 45% (P < 0.002) in STZ diabetics, whereas no change in NGFR saturation was observed in the STZ-poor responders. Moreover, the NGFR saturation and amount of retrogradely transported NGF were negatively correlated to the individual glucose concentration in diabetics (r2 = 0.47 and 0.55, respectively; P < 0.0001). These findings indicate that, while NGFR expression is normal in the STZ-diabetic neuropathy model, the marked decrease in receptor saturation observed in diabetics may reflect low peripheral NGF levels, which in consequence leads to the apparent deprivation of neuronal NGF in diabetic rats.
Political Science and the Eurozone Crisis. A Review of Scientific Journal Articles 2004–15

We take a closer look at how political science engaged with Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) over a period of 12 years (2004–15). How intensively, and with what focus, have political science journals dealt with EMU? How has the scientific discourse on the topic changed with the outbreak of the global financial crisis, which led to a eurozone crisis? Our systematic, qualitative analysis of articles (N=161) dealing with EMU in selected peer‐reviewed political science journals yields a number of interesting findings. First, we observe marked differences between the pre‐ and post‐crisis period. Specifically, political science has increasingly taken up issues of financial regulation and questions of trust in a monetary union. Second, political scientists did not engage as much as expected with the democratic ramifications of the crisis management. Finally, different crisis narratives persist, and none have been completely refuted.
Performance modelling of fuel cell systems through Petri nets

This paper introduces a model based on the Petri net method for the performance evaluation of fuel cell systems during operation. The model simulates the operation of the fuel cell stack and its supporting systems by taking into account the causal relationships between the operation of the balance of plant and the fuel cell stack performance. Failures of the supporting system affect the operating parameters such as the stack temperature and humidity, the reactants' flow and pressure, and, in turn, the stack performance in terms of output voltage. Voltage degradation rates are needed in order to evaluate the system lifetime. The voltage degradation is related to the important operating parameters by means of empirical relationships. In order to demonstrate the capability of the model, numerical simulations are performed using data for voltage degradation rates collected from the literature. The voltage decay rate is modelled as a random variable within the aforementioned ranges. Time to failure and time to repair of components are generated from stochastic distributions. The use of a stochastic approach allows taking into account data uncertainty and variability. The modelling process produces distributions of the output parameters rather than point estimates delivered by alternative methods. This enables an appreciation of the best and worst possible output lifetime as well as the expected system performance. The model can be used to support the design, operation and maintenance of fuel cell systems.
The Impact of Mild Heat Stress During Prolonged Running On Gastrointestinal Integrity, Gastrointestinal Symptoms, Systemic Endotoxin and Cytokine Profiles

Abstract The study aimed to determine the effects of mild exertional heat stress on intestinal injury, permeability, gastrointestinal symptoms, and systemic endotoxin and cytokine responses. Ten endurance runners completed 2 h of running at 60% V̇O2max in warm (WARM: 30°C) and temperate (TEMP: 22°C) ambient conditions. Rectal temperature (Tre) and gastrointestinal symptoms were recorded every 10 min during exercise. Blood samples were collected pre- and post-exercise, and during recovery to determine plasma intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP) and cortisol concentrations, and systemic endotoxin and inflammatory cytokine profiles. Urinary lactulose:L-rhamnose ratio (L/R) was used to measure small intestine permeability. Compared with TEMP, WARM significantly increased Tre from 50 min onwards (38.1±0.3°C vs. 38.4±0.5°C, respectively; p<0.01), gastrointestinal symptoms (p=0.017), post-exercise plasma cortisol (26% vs. 59%, respectively; p<0.001) and I-FABP (127% vs. 184%, respectively; p<0.001) concentrations. Circulatory anti-endotoxin antibodies increased post-exercise (p<0.001) on WARM (20%) and TEMP (28%). No differences were observed for plasma endotoxin concentration (6% vs. 5% increase, respectively) or small intestine permeability (L/R 0.026±0.010 and 0.025±0.015, respectively). Both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines increased post-exercise, with inflammatory response cytokines TNF-α (p=0.015) and IL-8 (p=0.044), and compensatory anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 (p=0.065), and IL-1ra higher on WARM than TEMP. Findings suggest that exposure to warm ambient conditions during prolonged submaximal running induces transient intestinal epithelial injury, increases gastrointestinal symptoms, and promotes greater perturbations to the systemic cytokine profile compared to running in temperate conditions.
Comparison of EEG Background Frequency Analysis, Psychologic Test Scores, Short Test of Mental Status, and Quantitative SPECT in Dementia

Fourteen patients who had cognitive dysfunction were studied with quantitative electroencephalography (EEG), singlephoton emission computed tomography (SPECT), and several tests of intellectual and memory function, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), the Auditory Verbal Learning Test, and the Short Test of Mental Status, to determine whether EEG background frequency content correlates with degree of dementia and with regional uptake of radioisotope on SPECT. The factors from spectral analysis that correlated best with psychometric data were mean frequency in the 1.5– to 20-Hz range and percentage power in the 13- to 20-Hz band (positive correlation) or the 1.5- to 8-Hz band (negative correlation). The WAIS subtest scores that correlated most with the EEG data were performance IQ and perceptual organization. Correlations between percentage power and amplitude ratio in the EEG frequency bands and regional SPECT counts were found, but most were not statistically significant. (J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 1992;5:22–30).