Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Abnormal Fatty Acid Pattern in Intestinal Mucosa of Children With Celiac Disease Is Not Reflected in Serum Phospholipids

Objective: Celiac disease (CD) is characterized by chronic inflammation of the small intestinal mucosa with disturbed epithelial transport. The fatty acid (FA) composition of intestinal membranes is important for epithelial function, and disturbances may contribute to the pathophysiology of the disease. We aimed to evaluate whether the intestinal mucosal FA status was reflected in serum phospholipids of patients with CD. Patients and Methods: Samples were obtained from 7 pediatric patients with active CD showing mucosal atrophy, 6 pediatric patients with CD in remission, and 11 control pediatric patients with morphologically healthy intestinal mucosa. Small intestinal biopsies were obtained using a Watson biopsy capsule under fluoroscopic control. Blood samples were collected on the same morning after an overnight fast. Tissue phospholipids were isolated by high-performance liquid chromatography, and FAs were analyzed by capillary gas-liquid chromatography. Results: Serum phospholipid FA showed marginal differences between the patients with CD and the controls. Significant differences were observed in mucosa with active CD compared with controls. Linoleic acid (18:2n-6) level was decreased, whereas those of its derivatives were elevated, indicating increased transformation of n-6 FA. Mead acid (20:3n-9) level was increased, with an increased ratio of Mead acid to arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) levels, suggesting essential fatty acid deficiency. The n-3 FA levels were not significantly changed. During remission, the FA pattern of the intestinal mucosa was mainly similar to that in controls. Conclusions: The FA abnormality of intestinal mucosa in patients with active CD was not reflected in serum values. Altered FA content may contribute to the pathophysiology of the disease because FAs are important for enzymes and for the transport and receptor functions of epithelial membranes.
Meditation and the Brain: Attention, Control and Emotion**

Meditation has been for long time avoided as a scientific theme because of its complexity and its religious connotations. Fortunately, in the last years, it has increasingly been studied within different neuroscientific experimental protocols. Attention and concentration are surely among the most important topics in these experiments. Notwithstanding this, inhibition of emotions and discursive thoughts are equally important to understand what is at stake during those types of mental processes. I philosophically and technically analyse and compare results from neuroimaging studies, produced by leading authorities on the theme, dealing with two types of meditation: "one-pointed concentration" and "compassion meditation". Analysing "one-pointed concentration", I show the differences between novice and expert meditation practitioners in terms of brain activity and connectivity, considering the relationship among increased attention and concentration and decreased activity in areas related to discursive thought and emotion. Analysing "compassion meditation", I show the importance of the limbic circuitry in emotion sharing. I follow the same strategy of comparing novice and expert meditation practitioners. The conclusion establishes a common structure to those different ways of dealing with emotion during meditation.
RETAILERS IN CONTROL: THE IMPACT OF RETAIL TRADE CONCENTRATION

Increasing trade concentration in retail fields, particularly in consumer products, poses several problems for manufacturers. Among the greatest are (1) increasing retailer control of the marketplace, (2) more intense competition among sellers, (3) lack of brand availability in some markets, (4) increasingly larger promotion budgets required of manufacturers, and (5) changes in sales force personnel and activities. Some of the suggested changes in the marketing mix are (1) market investigation, (2) new distribution systems, (3) revised promotional efforts, and (4) production differentiation.
Load balancing among internet gateways in ad hoc networks

Since Internet gateways route all packets to and from the Internet, they are likely to become the traffic bottleneck between Ad Hoc networks and the Internet. Although multiple Internet gateways can be used to distribute the traffic load, the possibility of congestion in some Internet gateway still exists in case of uneven traffic distribution if the default Internet gateway selection scheme based on hop-distance is used. In this paper, we propose a load-based Internet gateway selection scheme to distribute the traffic load over multiple Internet gateways. The proposed Internet gateway selection scheme is applied during the on-demand route discovery and the Mobile IP agent discovery procedure. To allow mobile nodes to select less congested Internet gateway as their default Internet gateway, the proxy route reply and solicited agent advertisement messages are adaptively delayed according to Internet gateway's load.
A study for proposal of use of regulatory T cells as a prognostic marker and establishing an optimal threshold level for their expression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Abstract Although regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been extensively studied in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, there is no uniform guideline or consensus regarding their use as a prognostic marker. This study describes the methodology used to develop an optimal threshold level for Tregs in these patients. Treg levels were assessed in the peripheral blood of 130 patients and 150 controls. Treg frequencies were linked to established prognostic markers as well as overall survival and time to first treatment. The cut-offs for Treg positivity were assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. A cut-off of 5.7% for Treg cell percentage and of 35 cells/μL for absolute Treg cell count were determined as optimal in patients with CLL along with a median Treg percentage of 15.5% used to separate patients with low- and high-risk disease. The experiments presented here will possibly aid in the use of Treg frequencies as a potential prognostic marker in CLL.
DDB2 decides cell fate following DNA damage

The xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group E (XP-E) gene product damaged-DNA binding protein 2 (DDB2) plays important roles in nucleotide excision repair (NER). Previously, we showed that DDB2 participates in NER by regulating the level of p21Waf1/Cip1. Here we show that the p21Waf1/Cip1 -regulatory function of DDB2 plays a central role in defining the response (apoptosis or arrest) to DNA damage. The DDB2-deficient cells are resistant to apoptosis in response to a variety of DNA-damaging agents, despite activation of p53 and the pro-apoptotic genes. Instead, these cells undergo cell cycle arrest. Also, the DDB2-deficient cells are resistant to E2F1-induced apoptosis. The resistance to apoptosis of the DDB2-deficient cells is caused by an increased accumulation of p21Waf1/Cip1 after DNA damage. We provide evidence that DDB2 targets p21Waf1/Cip1 for proteolysis. The resistance to apoptosis in DDB2-deficient cells also involves Mdm2 in a manner that is distinct from the p53-regulatory activity of Mdm2. Our results provide evidence for a new regulatory loop involving the NER protein DDB2, Mdm2, and p21Waf1/Cip1 that is critical in deciding cell fate (apoptosis or arrest) upon DNA damage.
An assessment of direct farm‐to‐table food marketing in the USA

The authors examine issues related to farm‐to‐table direct marketing. We consider motivations and drawbacks associated with participating in farm‐to‐table from both the consumer and farmer perspectives. While we find a significant amount of advocacy for the restoration of nostalgic methods of food distribution that remove all intermediaries from direct farmer‐consumer interaction, we conclude that farm‐to‐table direct marketing plays, and is likely to continue to play, a very minor role in US food distribution.
The marketing directions of two fashion retailers

Topshop and Gap are important fashion retail brands targeting young style‐conscious UK consumers. However, business performance differs widely with Topshop enjoying record sales whilst Gap has recorded losses at a five year high. This paper investigated these variations in performance from a strategic and holistic view of retailer brand image, and the adoption of quality marketing orientation. Answers were sought using key image attributes as a vehicle to understanding customers’ perceptions of the retailers under study. Survey data were collected from a sample of 300 typical customers who were set the task of ranking image attributes. Factor analysis of customer responses indicated that Gap customers were offered lifestyles in advertising that were out‐of‐step with the merchandise on the shelves. This reflected a failure on the part of retail management to satisfy the target market. Topshop customers displayed high levels of confidence in the merchandise proposition but stressed the importance of atmosphere and sales staff in overall assessments. This finding reinforces the view that sustainable retailer positioning pivots on a range of marketing activities as well as matching fashion consumers to styles. The research concludes with implications for strategic retail marketing, theory and practice.
Informed Trading Behavior of Institutions and Individuals around Earnings Announcements

This study constructs the institutional- and individual-based probability of informed trading (PIN) by adjusting Easley, Hvidkjaer and O’Hara (2002) and investigates the impact of the informed trading behaviors of institutions and individuals on the post-announcement drift around the earnings announcement. The differences between this study and the previous literatures lie in that the investor types of informed traders are distinguished as institutions and individuals. Besides, the trading date effect is considered to examine the informed trading behaviors. The findings show that the informed trading behaviors of institutions and individuals can be distinguished. If there are informed traders involves in the stocks, the cumulative abnormal returns after the earnings announcement may be higher than the other stocks with no informed traders. Some individuals may possess relevant information that may prompt them to trade prior to or after the earnings announcement. The findings of the study may contribute to the government regulations and portfolio selections.
Effects of Physical Training on the Metabolism of Skeletal Muscle

With moderate training (30-60 min daily at 70–80% of VO2 max, 3–5 times weekly), the trained muscles display a 40–50% increase in the content of mitochondrial oxidative enzymes. Concomitantly, the total number of muscle capillaries may increase by 50%, whereas the content of glycolytic enzymes is not, or only marginally, affected. The oxidative enzyme increase, which occurs over 6–8 wk, is lost in 4–6 wk if training is stopped. This loss occurs faster than the decrease in muscle capillarization and in the whole-body VO2 max. Trained muscles of athletes have 3–4 times higher oxidative enzyme levels and two- to threefold more capillaries per muscle fiber than untrained muscle. Extensive endurance training results in an enhanced percentage of slow-twitch fibers, but the time course of this change is not known. More extensive changes are observed in chronically stimulated rabbit muscle. In this case, enzymes of oxidation display large increases (6- to 12-fold), whereas there is a decrease of 70–90% in enzymes of glycolysis, glycogenolysis, gluconeogenesis, and high-energy phosphate transfer. There is a normal training response in mitochondrial enzyme activities in individuals with insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetes, but the ability to form new skeletal muscle capillaries in response to physical training may be deficient in insulin-dependent diabetes. Training-induced changes in the metabolic character of skeletal muscle leads to an increased reliance on fat metabolism during exercise, with a lowered blood lactate concentration and a sparing of muscle glycogen.
Major determinants affecting the autonomy of multi national corporation subsidiaries in China

In recent years, studies of multi-national corporations (MNC) have shifted their focus from the perspective of the MNC itself to the perspective of transnational networks, which has resulted in greater recognition of the role and function of MNC subsidiaries. China’s membership of World Trade Organization has offered more opportunities for MNC in China with the consequence that many of their subsidiaries have become international players where subsidiary autonomy is considered an essential competency. World famous MNCs set up subsidiaries in succession to occupy a market share in China. Therefore, it is worthy to study MNCs' Chinese subsidiaries’ behaviour. This quantitative study therefore examined the role and autonomy of MNC subsidiaries in China and their relationship with their parent corporations. This quantitative study analysed the way in which the literature on subsidiary autonomy has evolved and identified determinates of such autonomy. The findings revealed that there are correlations between MNC procedure justice, subsidiary integration, subsidiary local responsiveness, and subsidiary relative capability and their influence on subsidiary autonomy. This suggests that the role of a subsidiary is highly influenced by its position in the MNC network.
Robust pitch estimation at very low SNR exploiting time and frequency domain cues

In this paper, we present a joint time/frequency domain approach for pitch estimation of speech at a very low SNR. The kernel of this approach lies in introducing a new function for detecting the time-domain cue by modifying the circular average magnitude difference function (CAMDF). By using the new function in conjunction with the half-wave rectified version of the autocorrelation function, the pitch-peak can be emphasized and the non-pitch peaks suppressed. To guarantee a robust pitch detection in noisy speech, a priori frequency-domain estimate of the dominant pitch-harmonic is extracted as an additional cue and is utilized to optimally match the pitch-peak in time-domain. The proposed approach is simulated using the Keele reference database. It is shown that the proposed method using joint time and frequency domain cues is able to give a superior accuracy relative to some of the existing methods even at a very low SNR of -10 dB.
A study of the action of bradykinin and bradykinin analogues in the human nasal airway.

1. The aim of this study was to investigate the action of bradykinin on resistance to airflow and on vascular permeability in the human nasal airway, and to explore the receptor mediating these effects. 2. Aerosol administration of bradykinin (10‐1000 micrograms) caused a dose‐related increase in nasal airway resistance (NAR) and an increase in albumin content of nasal lavage. 3. The bradykinin antagonists, [1‐adamantane acetyl‐D‐Arg0, Hyp3, Thi5,8, D‐Phe7]‐bradykinin, 100 micrograms, and [D‐Arg0, Hyp3, Thi5, D‐Tic7, Oic8]‐bradykinin, 100 micrograms, given 2 min before bradykinin, inhibited the increase in NAR and the increase of albumin content of nasal lavage caused by bradykinin. 4. The bradykinin antagonist, [D‐Arg0, Hyp3, D‐Phe7]‐bradykinin (100 micrograms) did not affect the increase in NAR produced by bradykinin, or the albumin content of nasal lavage. Increasing the dose of the antagonist to 1000 micrograms did not change the increase in NAR induced by bradykinin. 5. The selective B1 kinin receptor agonist, [Des‐Arg10]‐kallidin (100 micrograms) did not affect NAR or the albumin content of nasal lavage. 6. The receptor mediating increased NAR and the release of albumin induced by bradykinin in the human nasal airway appears not to be a B1 kinin receptor. The data are not entirely consistent with the effects of bradykinin in the human nasal airway being mediated by a B2 kinin receptor.
Coflex Dynamic Distraction Stabilization Device for Lumbar Degenerative Diseases

Aim of the study: The purpose of this study was to assess the safety and effectiveness of the Coflex Dynamic Distraction Stabilization (DDS) device in treating patients with degenerative diseases of the lumbar spine (DDLS), especially lumbar canal stenosis (LCS), to confirm its indications for implantation and to evaluate the clinical outcomes of patients. Material & Methods: Our study is part of a multi-centre prospective, case-controlled study in Egypt to determine the safety and efficacy of minimally invasive spinal procedures; of these, the Coflex implant, a functionally dynamic U-shaped titanium interspinous implant, was included in the present study. From June 2008 until July 2013, we treated 42 patients with this Coflex procedure. Median follow-up was 22.5 months. At the time of follow-up, all patients completed questionnaires and underwent clinical examination and spinal radiography. Results: A significant number of patients showed pain relief. Preoperatively, 30/42 (71%) patients complained of moderate or severe low back pain (LBP). Postoperatively, the LBP in six (14%) patients did improve, 24 (57%) even showed no low back pain anymore. Mean preoperative walking distance was 1000m. Significant pain relief (> 50%) in months was calculated. Radiological results showed that endplate angles when were acute preoperatively, always became less acute postoperatively, and the foraminal height always increased. Segmental range of motion (ROM) showed maintenance of the dynamic movements at the operated level. Disc height showed significant changes after the procedure in both anterior and posterior disc heights. Conclusion: The data provided has demonstrated that the Coflex implant provides pain relief for patients with indicated DDLS cases. The most common indications for implantation were spinal stenosis and spinal stenosis with lumbar disc herniation. There were no device-related complications. Using Coflex is a safe option in the selection of instrumentation for spinal stabilization.
Tourism regulation index system and planning of historic towns and districts

Aim To base the regulatory detailed planning of tourism districts in China mainly on "General Specification for Tourism Planning", while the selection and definition of its regulatory index system almost follows the one for urban planning,which cannot address all parts of the tourism equation and is not targeted at the specific regulatory indexes for land utilization.Methods Based on the review of national and international literature on tourism planning and relevant planning case studies,and in conjunction with the experience of the regulatory detailed planning of Gaodu historic town tourism district.Results Attempts to study the selection and application of tourism control elements in regulatory tourism detailed planning of historic town(district),and for the first time,proposes the formation of regulatory index system of tourism elements for tourism districts in historic town.Conclusion The technique normalization index system is establisheo in regulatory detailed planning of tourism district in historic town.
Performance measurement of some main memory database recovery algorithms

The performance of two main-memory database system (MDBS) algorithms is studied. M.H. Eich's (Proc. of the Fifth Int. Workshop on Database Machines., Oct. 1987) and T.J. Lehman's (Ph. D. Thesis, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Aug 1986) algorithms are selected for this study. The investigation indicates that the shadow approach, as used by Eich, has some advantages over the update in-place strategy of Lehman. The shadow approach has faster response for normal transactions even though transaction commit is slower compared to update in-place approach. It is concluded that irrespective of the recovery algorithm an efficient load balancing plays an important part in the performance of the system. It is suggested that processors should be allocated to any kind of activity on a demand basis. It is discovered that individual recovery of lockable units as used in Lehman's algorithm is a better choice since it increases the system availability after a system failure. It also allows background recovery to go in parallel to normal transaction processing. <<ETX>>
Decreased bacterial adherence and biofilm formation on chlorhexidine and silver sulfadiazine-impregnated central venous catheters implanted in swine.

OBJECTIVE To determine if antiseptic central venous catheters impregnated with silver sulfadiazine and chlorhexidine (antiseptic) reduce bacterial adherence and biofilm formation without producing local or systemic toxicity. DESIGN Prospective, randomized, controlled trial. SETTING Experimental laboratory in a university teaching hospital. SUBJECTS Ten outbred New Hampshire pigs. INTERVENTIONS Nonimpregnated (control) and antiseptic-impregnated catheters were inserted intravascularly into swine for 7 days. After explantation, the catheters were assessed for bacterial adherence and biofilm formation, and the surrounding tissue was assessed for signs of toxicity. Before retrieval, systemic concentrations of antimicrobials were determined. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Sequential roll plate and centrifuging were used to detect moderately and tightly adherent bacteria on the outer and luminal surfaces of the catheter. The presence of biofilm was detected by scanning electron microscopy. Tissues surrounding the catheters were examined histopathologically; systemic concentrations of chlorhexidine, sulfadiazine, and silver were determined by atomic absorption and high-performance liquid chromatography. As compared with the controls, antiseptic catheters had significantly (p < .01) fewer moderately and tightly adherent bacteria on outer and luminal surfaces, and fewer adherent bacteria when outer surfaces alone were examined (p < .01). Scanning electron microscopy showed bacterial biofilm and adherence on the control catheters but not on the antiseptic catheters. There were no abnormal histopathologic changes associated with the test catheter, and serum concentrations of the antibacterial agents were shown to be within nontoxic ranges. CONCLUSION The antiseptic-impregnated catheters prevented bacterial adherence and biofilm formation and produced no local or systemic toxicity.