Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perspectivas de rentabilidad de la banca por Internet en Europa

Este articulo trata de responder a la cuestion de si los bancos por Internet son viables en Europa en el medio plazo. Hasta la fecha, los bancos por Internet del mundo entero han mostrado, en general, unos resultados peores que los bancos tradicionales de edad similar, principalmente porque sus gastos generales son mas altos. El articulo trata de valorar si se trata de un fenomeno de caracter temporal y de evaluar en que medida los bancos por Internet pueden generar economias de escala en exceso respecto a los bancos tradicionales y/o ellos (y sus clientes) pueden acumular experiencia con este nuevo canal de distribucion, que les permita obtener resultados comparables o mejores que los obtenidos por los bancos tradicionales. Con dicho objetivo, en este trabajo se ha seguido el mismo marco de analisis utilizado por DeYoung (2001, 2002) para los bancos por Internet en EEUU. Las limitaciones en la disponibilidad de los datos, asi como la existencia de distintos marcos regulatorios y condiciones de mercado en el sector de banca minorista en los quince paises de la Union Europea, han exigido algunas modificaciones en dicha metodologia. Los resultados empiricos confirman la existencia de economias de escala basadas en la tecnologia para los bancos por Internet, mientras que no hay evidencia de la existencia de economias de aprendizaje especificas para estos bancos. A medida que los bancos por Internet se hacen mas grandes, el diferencial de rentabilidad con los bancos tradicionales se reduce. Al hacer frente a las demandas de mayor seguridad por parte de los usuarios de la banca por Internet, los reguladores pueden incentivar a que un mayor numero de ellos utilice este canal de distribucion, lo cual permitiria a los bancos por Internet beneficiarse en mayor medida de las potenciales economias de escala implicitas en nuestras estimaciones.
2‐(Pro‐1‐ynyl)‐5‐(5,6‐dihydroxypenta‐1,3‐diynyl) Thiophene Induces Apoptosis Through Reactive Oxygen Species‐Mediated JNK Activation in Human Colon Cancer SW620 Cells

2‐(Pro‐1‐ynyl)−5‐(5,6‐dihydroxypenta‐1,3‐diynyl) thiophene (PYDDT) is a naturally occurring thiophene isolated from the roots of Echinops grijsii, a Chinese herbal medicine used to treat colon cancer, breast cancer, and lung cancer. There are many reports on the clinical use of Echinops grijsii alone or in combination with other herbs to treat malignant tumors. We previously reported that the expression and activity of phase II enzymes including GSTs and NQO1 could be induced through the activation of Keap1‐Nrf2 pathway by the treatment of PYDDT. In this study, we reported the anticancer effect and mechanism of PYDDT against human colon cancer SW620 cells. Our results demonstrate that treatment of SW620 cells with PYDDT leads to induction of mitochondrial‐mediated apoptosis, which is characterized by the cleavage of PARP, activation of caspase 9 and caspase 3, release of cytochrome c from mitochondria, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, down‐regulation of Bcl‐2, and mitochondrial translocation of Bax. The PYDDT treatment caused the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and the activation of JNK but not p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinases and ERK1/2. Specific JNK inhibitor SP600125 prevented the PYDDT‐induced down‐regulation of Bcl‐2, mitochondrial translocation of Bax, activation of caspase 3, and apoptosis of SW620 cells. Moreover, PYDDT‐induced apoptosis as well as activation of JNK was abrogated by the pretreatment with antioxidant N‐acetylcysteine. Taken together, these findings suggest that PYDDT induces apoptosis in SW620 cells through a ROS/JNK‐mediated mitochondrial pathway. Anat Rec, 298:376–385, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A clinicopathological comparison of community-based and clinic-based cohorts of patients with dementia.

OBJECTIVES To compare the sensitivity and specificity of the clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer disease, the distribution of pathological causes, and the demographic and clinical characteristics of 2 different groups of patients with dementia. DESIGN Retrospective clinicopathological study. SETTING A memory disorder clinic in a university hospital and a multiethnic community. PATIENTS Sixty-three patients from a memory disorder clinic and 26 patients from a large community-based study who underwent autopsy after clinical evaluation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Differential distribution of clinical and pathological findings, with clinicopathological correlations. RESULTS Clinic patients were younger at diagnosis, more educated, and more likely to be white. Of the 63 clinic patients we evaluated, 29 (46%) had a pathological diagnosis of definite AD, 15 (24%) had a diagnosis of mixed AD, and 19 (30%) had a diagnosis of another type of dementia. The pathological diagnoses in the community patients were distributed as follows: 6 (23%) had definite AD, 6 (23%) had mixed AD, 6 (23%) had cerebrovascular disease, and 8 (31%) had another type of dementia. The difference in distribution of pathological diagnoses between these 2 groups was only significant for cerebrovascular diseases. For patients seen at the clinic, the sensitivity of the clinical diagnosis of AD was 98% and the specificity was 84%; for the community group, the sensitivity was 92% and the specificity was 79%. CONCLUSIONS The difference in sensitivity and specificity of clinical diagnosis was not statistically significant between the groups of clinic patients and community patients. Dementia associated with cerebrovascular disease was more prevalent in the community sample. This difference may be attributable to clinical and demographic differences between the 2 groups.
Mechanical Behavior of the Lamb Growth Plate in Response to Asymmetrical Loading: A Model for Blount Disease

Blount disease is a deformity of the knee as a result of abnormal mechanical forces known to influence the growth of the physis. Despite existing studies on mechanical forces on chondrocyte cultures or limited growth plate specimens, very little information characterizes the whole growth plate to asymmetrical loading. In this study, we evaluate the response of 5 ovine proximal tibial growth plates to asymmetrical mechanical loading. Fresh proximal tibia specimens were mounted, and compressive forces were applied via a servohydraulic test frame (MTS Systems Corporation, Minneapolis, Minn) machine at standardized locations while transducers recorded the displacement at different locations. With this method, we demonstrate that loading (cyclical or static) on 1 edge of the tibial surface results in compression through the physis under the site of pressure. In addition, we record statistically significant tensile displacement opposite the compressed side (P < 0.001); this effect diminished as loading cell moved central on the tibial surface. We further show that growth plate topography influences the amount of tension and compression observed. From this study, we conclude that asymmetrical loading (such as that observed in Blount disease) may lead to compression (which retards growth) but also develops tension on the convex side (which may be a mechanism to increase deformity via Depelch phenomenon). The relationship of physeal architecture (more undulations-less physeal strain) may explain why greater deformity is observed on the tibial side of the knee in adolescent Blount disease than on the femoral side.
Dynamics of Mitochondrial DNA Nucleoids Regulated by Mitochondrial Fission Is Essential for Maintenance of Homogeneously Active Mitochondria during Neonatal Heart Development

ABSTRACT Mitochondria are dynamic organelles, and their fusion and fission regulate cellular signaling, development, and mitochondrial homeostasis, including mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) distribution. Cardiac myocytes have a specialized cytoplasmic structure where large mitochondria are aligned into tightly packed myofibril bundles; however, recent studies have revealed that mitochondrial dynamics also plays an important role in the formation and maintenance of cardiomyocytes. Here, we precisely analyzed the role of mitochondrial fission in vivo. The mitochondrial fission GTPase, Drp1, is highly expressed in the developing neonatal heart, and muscle-specific Drp1 knockout (Drp1-KO) mice showed neonatal lethality due to dilated cardiomyopathy. The Drp1 ablation in heart and primary cultured cardiomyocytes resulted in severe mtDNA nucleoid clustering and led to mosaic deficiency of mitochondrial respiration. The functional and structural alteration of mitochondria also led to immature myofibril assembly and defective cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Thus, the dynamics of mtDNA nucleoids regulated by mitochondrial fission is required for neonatal cardiomyocyte development by promoting homogeneous distribution of active mitochondria throughout the cardiomyocytes.
DDGSim: GPU based simulator for large multicore with bufferless NoC

In large scale chip multicore, last level cache management and core interconnection network play important roles in performance and power consumption. And in large scale chip multicore, mesh interconnect is used widely due to scalability and simplicity of design. As interconnection network occupied significant area and consumes significant percent of system power, bufferless network is an appealing alternative design to reduce power consumption and hardware cost. We have designed and implemented a simulator for simulation of distributed cache management of large chip multicore where cores are connected using bufferless interconnection network. Also, we have redesigned and implemented the DDGSim, which is a GPU compatible parallel version of the same simulator using CUDA programming model. We have simulated target large chip multicore with up to 43,000 cores and achieved up to 25 times speedup on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 GPU over serial simulation.
Association between the rotation and three‐dimensional tortuosity of the proximal ascending aorta

Age‐related morphological changes of the aorta, including dilatation and elongation, have been reported. However, rotation has not been fully investigated. We focused on the rotation of the ascending aorta and investigated its relationship with tortuosity. One hundred and two consecutive patients who underwent computed tomography coronary angiography were studied. The angle at which the en face view of the volume‐rendered image of the right coronary aortic sinus (RCS) was obtained without foreshortening was defined as the rotation index. It was defined as zero if the RCS was squarely visible in the frontal view, positive if it rotated clockwise toward the left anterior oblique (LAO) direction, and negative if it rotated counter‐clockwise toward the right anterior oblique (RAO) direction. The tortuosity was evaluated by measuring the biplane tilt angles formed between the ascending aorta and the horizontal line. The mean rotation index, posterior tilt angle viewed from the RAO direction (αRAO), and anterior tilt angle viewed from the LAO direction (αLAO) were 4.8 ± 16.3, 60.7 ± 7.0°, and 63.6 ± 9.0°, respectively. Although no correlation was observed between the rotation index and the αLAO (β = −0.0761, P = 0.1651), there was a significant negative correlation between the rotation index and αRAO (β = −0.1810, P < 0.0001). In multivariate regression analysis, the rotation index was an independent predictor of the αRAO (β = −0.1274, P = 0.0008). Clockwise rotation of the proximal ascending aorta exacerbates the tortuosity by tilting the aorta toward the posterior direction. Clin. Anat. 27:1200–1211, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Purification of a Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor from Bovine Heart

Abstract: A neurotrophic factor that promotes the survival of cholinergic parasympathetic ciliary neurons has been purified ∼20,000‐fold from bovine cardiac tissue under nondenaturing conditions using heparin‐affinity chromatography. Up to 22 μg of purified factor having a specific activity of 4 × 105 trophic units/mg can be obtained from 250 g of heart muscle. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)‐polyacrylamide gels of the purified material show a broad band that is sometimes resolvable into a closely spaced pair of bands of 22 and 23 kilodaltons. Partially purified factor can be resolved into two peaks of activity (pI 5.6 and 5.0) by highresolution anion‐exchange chromatography and chromato focusing, although these procedures have not proved useful as purification methods because of the large losses of activity incurred. It is likely that these two peaks represent the two bands seen on SDS‐polyacrylamide gels. The bovine cardiac factor(s) differs from similar factors purified from chick optic tissues and pig brain in that it is irreversibly denatured by SDS.
ERK1/2 Achieves Sustained Activation by Stimulating MAPK Phosphatase-1 Degradation via the Ubiquitin-Proteasome Pathway*

Sustained extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) activation does not always correlate with its upstream Ras-Raf-mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1/2 (MKK1/2) signal cascade in cancer cells, and the mechanism remains elusive. Here we report a novel mechanism by which sustained ERK1/2 activation is established. We demonstrate that Pb(II), a carcinogenic metal, persistently induces ERK1/2 activity in CL3 human lung cancer cells and that Ras-Raf-MKK1/2 signaling cannot fully account for such activation. It is intriguing that Pb(II) treatment reduces mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) protein levels in time- and dose-dependent manners, which correlates with sustained ERK1/2 activation, and that Pb(II) also induces mRNA and de novo protein synthesis of MKP-1. In Pb(II)-treated cells, MKP-1 is polyubiquitinated, and proteasome inhibitors markedly alleviate the ubiquitination and degradation of MKP-1. Inhibiting the Pb(II)-induced ERK1/2 activation by PD98059 greatly suppresses MKP-1 ubiquitination and degradation. It is remarkable that constitutive activation of MKK1/2 triggers endogenous MKP-1 ubiquitination and degradation in various mammalian cell lines. Furthermore, expression of functional MKP-1 decreases ERK1/2 activation and the c-Fos protein level and enhances cytotoxicity under Pb(II) exposure. Taken together, these results demonstrate that activated ERK1/2 can trigger MKP-1 degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, thus facilitating long-term activation of ERK1/2 against cytotoxicity.
Electronic Communications of the EASST Volume 18 ( 2009 ) Proceedings of the Eighth International Workshop on Graph Transformation and Visual Modeling Techniques ( GT-VMT 2009 ) Euler Diagram Transformations

Euler diagrams are a visual language which are used for purposes such as the presentation of set-based data or as the basis of visual logical languages which can be utilised for software specification and reasoning. Such Euler diagram reasoning systems tend to be defined at an abstract level, and the concrete level is simply a visualisation of an abstract model, thereby capturing some subset of the usual boolean logic. The visualisation process tends to be divorced from the data transformation process thereby affecting the user’s mental map and reducing the effectiveness of the diagrammatic notation. Furthermore, geometric and topological constraints, called wellformedness conditions, are often placed on the concrete diagrams to try to reduce human comprehension errors, and the effects of these conditions are not modelled in these systems. We view Euler diagrams as a type of graph, where the faces that are present are the key features that convey information and we provide transformations at the dual graph level that correspond to transformations of Euler diagrams, both in terms of editing moves and logical reasoning moves. This original approach gives a correspondence between manipulations of diagrams at an abstract level (such as logical reasoning steps, or simply an update of information) and the manipulation at a concrete level. Thus we facilitate the presentation of diagram changes in a manner that preserves the mental map. The approach will facilitate the realisation of reasoning systems at the concrete level; this has the potential to provide diagrammatic reasoning systems that are inherently different from symbolic logics due to natural geometric constraints. We provide a particular concrete transformation system which preserves the important criteria of planarity and connectivity, which may form part of a framework encompassing multiple concrete systems each adhering to different sets of wellformedness conditions.
IAP family protein expression correlates with poor outcome of multiple myeloma patients in association with chemotherapy‐induced overexpression of multidrug resistance genes

Multidrug‐resistant (MDR) multiple myeloma (MM) patients who fail chemotherapy frequently express MDR1 protein, which serves as an efflux pump that protects neoplastic cells. The expression of lung resistance protein (LRP), which mediates intercellular and nucleocytoplasmic transport, is also correlated with chemotherapy resistance and shorter survival of MM patients. Here, we investigated the chemotherapy‐induced change of MDR expression in MM patients using quantitative RT‐PCR. Overall expression levels of MDR1 and LRP in MM patients were significantly higher than those in control subjects and increased after chemotherapy. More than half of the patients exhibited increased expression of MDR1 (14/26) or LRP (17/26) after chemotherapy. Also, the expression of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAP) was determined in association with the prognosis of the patients. Among patients with increased MDR1‐expression after chemotherapy, those with a poor outcome exhibited significant increases in survivin, cIAP1, cIAP2, and XIAP expression by chemotherapy compared with those with a good prognosis. Similarly, in the LRP expression‐increased group, patients with a poor outcome showed significant increases of cIAP1 and cIAP2 expression compared with those with longer survival. In patients with reduced‐MDR1 or LRP expression after chemotherapy, changes in the expression of IAPs induced by chemotherapy did not correlate with their prognosis. These findings indicate that IAP family proteins might play a role in worsening the prognosis of MM patients in association with chemotherapy‐induced overexpression of MDR1 or LRP. Am. J. Hematol. , 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The morphogenetic MreBCD proteins of Escherichia coli form an essential membrane‐bound complex

MreB proteins of Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Caulobacter crescentus form actin‐like cables lying beneath the cell surface. The cables are required to guide longitudinal cell wall synthesis and their absence leads to merodiploid spherical and inflated cells prone to cell lysis. In B. subtilis and C. crescentus, the mreB gene is essential. However, in E. coli, mreB was inferred not to be essential. Using a tight, conditional gene depletion system, we systematically investigated whether the E. coli mreBCD‐encoded components were essential. We found that cells depleted of mreBCD became spherical, enlarged and finally lysed. Depletion of each mre gene separately conferred similar gross changes in cell morphology and viability. Thus, the three proteins encoded by mreBCD are all essential and function in the same morphogenetic pathway. Interestingly, the presence of a multicopy plasmid carrying the ftsQAZ genes suppressed the lethality of deletions in the mre operon. Using GFP and cell fractionation methods, we showed that the MreC and MreD proteins were associated with the cell membrane. Using a bacterial two‐hybrid system, we found that MreC interacted with both MreB and MreD. In contrast, MreB and MreD did not interact in this assay. Thus, we conclude that the E. coli MreBCD form an essential membrane‐bound complex. Curiously, MreB did not form cables in cell depleted for MreC, MreD or RodA, indicating a mutual interdependency between MreB filament morphology and cell shape. Based on these and other observations we propose a model in which the membrane‐associated MreBCD complex directs longitudinal cell wall synthesis in a process essential to maintain cell morphology.
Self‐report of physical symptoms associated with using mobile phones and other electrical devices

The aim of our work was to study the working‐age population's self‐reported physical symptoms associated with using mobile phones and other electrical devices. A qualitative method was applied using an open‐ended question in a questionnaire, which included questions about the possible influence of new technical equipment on health. We then created subgroups of respondents for different self‐reported symptoms associated with mobile phones and other electrical devices. The research questions were: (1) how the respondents described physical symptoms associated with using mobile phones and other electrical devices and (2) how the answers can be classified into subgroups based on symptoms or devices. We identified the following categories: (1) respondents with different self‐reported symptoms which they associated with using mobile phones (headache, earache, or warmth sensations), (2) respondents who had skin symptoms when they stayed in front of a computer screen, (3) respondents who mentioned physical symptoms associated with using mobile phones and other electrical devices. Total prevalence of self‐reported physical symptoms associated with using mobile phones and other electrical devices (categories 1 and 2) was 0.7%. In the future it will be possible to obtain new knowledge of these topics by using qualitative methods. Bioelectromagnetics 30:431–437, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
High-Temperature (250 °C / 500 °F) 19 000 min $^{\hbox{-}1}$ BLDC Fan for Forced Air-Cooling of Advanced Automotive Power Electronics

In an increasing number of application areas and industry sectors, such as the automotive, aerospace, military, or oil and gas industry, a trend towards higher ambient temperature rating from 120 °C upward for electrical machines and power electronic converters can be observed. Forced air-cooling of power electronic converters offers reduced complexity of the cooling circuit compared to water-cooling. For air-cooled, high-ambient temperature rated converters, fans are required to withstand these temperatures and still feature performance comparable to standard conditions in order to still enable a high converter power density and efficiency. Commercially available fans for power electronics cooling are typically rated up to 75°C, rarely fans are specified up to 105°C. In this paper, the electrical and mechanical design of a 40 mm × 40 mm × 28 mm fan is presented in detail that offers an operational temperature range from -40 °C to 250°C at the rated speed of 19 000 min-1 and comparable fluid dynamic performance in terms of static pressure and volume flow at 120 °C as commercial high performance fans at 20°C. The three-phase brushless direct current machine driving the fan is integrated into its hub and has got an input power of 15 W. The fan can be driven using a three-phase inverter supplied from 12 V dc voltage with an inverter switching frequency of less than 1.3 kHz.