Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Premotor lnterneuron Populations on the Frequency of the Spinal Pattern Generator for Swimming in Xenopus Embryos: A Simulation Study

Our aim was to test the hypothesis that the frequency of neuronal rhythm‐generating networks is partly controlled by the size of the active premotor interneuron population. We have tested possible mechanisms for frequency changes in a population model of the Xenopus laevis embryo spinal rhythm‐generating networks for swimming. After initiation by a brief sensory excitation, the frequency of swimming activity decreases to a steady level determined by the properties of the 24 interneurons and their connections. The initial frequency decrease was dependent on the time‐course of initiating sensory synaptic excitation. When some premotor excitatory interneurons were given weaker synaptic connections to reflect the variability in the spinal cord, they could drop out and stop firing during the initial frequency decrease while swimming activity continued. If the synaptic input of such weak excitatory interneurons was graded finely, they could drop out consecutively. This led to further decreases in the level of tonic excitation and in network frequency which depended on the number, type and distribution of excitatory interneurons that stopped firing. Silent weak excitatory interneurons could be recruited by a second sensory excitation and cause an increase in tonic depolarization and frequency which outlasted the sensory input. Such recruitment could occur on both sides after local sensory stimulation to only one region or one side of the model. We conclude that these computer simulations support the hypothesis that premotor interneuron drop‐out and recruitment is one mechanism which can control frequency in a locomotor central pattern generator.
Multiplet discharges after electrical stimulation: New evidence for distal excitability changes in motor neuron disease

We hypothesized that action potentials evoked by distal stimulation might trigger ectopic activity (multiplet discharges, MDs). By studying MDs, we investigated the involvement of the axonal part of the peripheral motor neuron in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and progressive muscular atrophy (PMA). We performed stimulated high-density surface EMG recordings of the thenar muscles in 10 ALS/PMA patients, five recordings per patient over a three-month period. Furthermore, motor unit number estimates (MUNE) and ALSFRS-R scores were obtained in sessions 1 and 5. MDs were found in all patients, in 21% of the sampled motor units, and in response to 2.4% of the stimulations. The interspike interval range of the MD components was 2.9–6.5 ms, which is compatible only with a distal MD origin. The number of MDs, as percentage of the number of applied stimuli, was correlated with a decline in ALSFRS-R (r =0.80, p =0.006) and MUNE (r =0.72, p =0.02). In conclusion, MDs can be elicited with electrical stimulation in ALS and PMA patients. Analysis of MD characteristics provides further indications for pathophysiological excitability changes in the most distal part of the motor neuron. MDs are associated with clinical deterioration.
Down‐regulation of insulin‐like growth factor‐I receptor and insulin receptor substrate‐1 expression in advanced human breast cancer

The ligands, receptors and related signaling proteins of the insulin‐like growth factor family are involved in the regulation of breast‐cancer cell growth. We investigated the expression pattern of insulin‐like growth factor‐I receptor (IGF‐IR), insulin receptor (IR) and insulin receptor substrate‐1 (IRS‐1), a core downstream signaling protein, in 69 primary breast‐cancer specimens of different grades and in 21 control tissues by immunohistochemistry. In addition, cell proliferation (percentage of Ki67+ nuclei) and estrogen receptor (ER) expression were determined. IGF‐IR, IRS‐1 and IR were expressed mainly in epithelial cells. IRS‐1 and IGF‐IR were expressed at high levels in control tissues and in well and moderately differentiated carcinomas but at low levels in poorly differentiated breast cancers. IR expression did not show a significant correlation with the differentiation grade of the tissues investigated. Statistical analysis (ROC analysis for tumor grade) demonstrated that down‐regulation of IGF‐IR and IRS‐1 correlated better with tumor progression than reduction of ER expression or increase in cell proliferation, IGF‐IR showing the best correlation, followed by IRS‐1 and, less significant, ER and Ki67. Our findings clearly show that progression of breast cancer is accompanied by a reduction of IGF‐IR/IRS‐1 expression and that IGF‐IR/IRS‐1 expression inversely correlates with high proliferation rate in dedifferentiated breast cancers. The strong correlation of IGF‐IR and IRS‐1 down‐regulation with tumor progression suggests the use of IGF‐IR and IRS‐1 as a novel set of marker proteins for tumor grading. Int. J. Cancer 89:506–513, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Customer satisfaction/delight and behavioural intentions of cell phone network customers – an emerging market perspective

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the extent to which the satisfaction/delight experienced by customers of cell phone network service providers is influenced by their perceptions of the networks’ employee service delivery skills and the value that the customers derive from the networks’ offerings. In turn, the influence of the extent of their satisfaction/delight on future behavioural intention (BI) is determined.Design/methodology/approachA descripto-explanatory research design is followed and data are collected from satisfied/delighted cell phone network service provider customers using self-administered questionnaires. A total of 593 responses were suitable for analysis. An exploratory factor analysis is used to uncover the interrelationships between the items measuring the study’s constructs. Furthermore, the measurement and structural models are assessed.FindingsPerceived employee service delivery skills (PESDS) and value significantly and positively influence customer satisfaction/delight experiences, whereas customer satisfaction/delight experiences significantly and positively influence their BIs.Research limitations/implicationsThe model tested confirms the hypothesised relationships between PESDS, perceived value, customer satisfaction/delight experiences and BIs of cell phone network customers. Customer satisfaction/delight experiences are linked to their two antecedents (PESDS and value) and their outcome, BI.Practical implicationsThe findings assist cell phone network service providers in understanding how PESDS and value can foster customer delight, ultimately leading to positive BIs from customers.Originality/valueThis study focuses only on satisfied customers and determines the interrelationships of the extent to which they encounter customer satisfaction/delight experiences and related constructs. Few research studies, however, have examined how customer satisfaction/delight experiences relate to its antecedents and outcome.
A post-Paris literature review of negative emissions technology, and potential for Ireland

This report, the first interim deliverable from the IE-NETs project, presents a comprehensive review of the existing international and national literature on the potential forms of negative emissions technology (NET), with a particular focus on technology options suitable for deployment in Ireland. It includes an executive summary which presents an overview and key results from the full review. ie-nets is a two-year research project, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency of Ireland (EPA) Research Programme 2014-2020 (grant number 2016-CCRPMS.36). The project is building Irish research capacity and contributing to national policy in the emerging area of Negative Emissions Technology/Carbon Dioxide Removal.
For how long do IMF forecasts of world economic growth stay up-to-date?

ABSTRACT This study analyses the performance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook output forecasts for the world and for both the advanced economies and the emerging and developing economies. With a focus on the forecast for the current year and the next year, we examine the durability of IMF forecasts, looking at how much time has to pass so that IMF forecasts can be improved by using leading indicators with monthly updates. Using a real-time data set for GDP and for indicators, we find that some simple single-indicator forecasts on the basis of data that are available at higher frequency can significantly outperform the IMF forecasts as soon as the publication of the IMF’s Outlook is only a few months old. In particular, there is an obvious gain using leading indicators from January to March for the forecast of the current year.
Características Econômico-Financeiras e a Intensidade no Reconhecimento de Ativos Intangíveis: Evidências em Empresas Brasileiras e Americanas

Foram investigadas caracteristicas economico-financeiras que possam distinguir a intensidade no reconhecimento de ativos intangiveis (AIs) por empresas brasileiras e americanas. Por meio de um estudo empirico-analitico, com abordagem quantitativa, empregou-se a regressao logistica, cuja variavel dependente (dummy) foi constituida entre empresas com maior (1) ou menor (0) representatividade de AIs (1) em relacao aos ativos totais. Foram analisadas 459 empresas (211 brasileiras e 248 americanas), no periodo entre o primeiro trimestre de 2010 e o ultimo de 2014. Os resultados propoem que a influencia do porte na intensidade no reconhecimento de AIs decorre de operacoes inerentes as grandes empresas, tais como o goodwill decorrente de combinacao de negocios, registro de patentes e maior capacidade de investimento em PD Reconhecimento; Caracteristicas Economico-Financeiras. https://doi.org/10.21714/2446-9114RMC2018v19n2t05
Efeitos das condições meteorológicas no mercado acionário brasileiro

Previous Psychology studies have found evidences of the influence of weather on mood of individuals. Other results suggest that humor have effect on the processes of decision making. Based on the evidences in this literature, this study aims to verify if there is a relation between weather factors (precipitation, wind, humidity, temperature and insolation) and the Brazilian stock market. The results suggest that weather influences both prices
Influence of nicotine chewing gum on fetal blood flow

Several studies have shown that smoking is not beneficial to the fetus. Among the acute effects, influence on fetal circulation has been reported. Nicotine is considered to be one of the active agents in cigarette smoke. To test the nicotine effects on the human fetus, maternal and fetal cardiovascular dynamics were studied in 20 pregnant women when chewing a chewing gum containing 4 mg of nicotine and a chewing gum without nicotine given in a randomized double blind order. The fetal blood flow was measured with a method combining real-time ultrasonography and pulsed Doppler technique. Registrations were made in ten fetuses from the thoracic part of the descending aorta and in ten fetuses from the intra-abdominal part of the umbilical vein. In 15 of the fetuses registrations were also made from the umbilical artery. Concentrations of nicotine in plasma were analyzed in six women. The maternal plasma nicotine concentrations increased after the nicotine gum to a maximum value of 12.4 ng X ml-1 (median) at 25 min (figure 1). The 4 mg nicotine gum increased significantly maternal heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (figure 2). There was no influence on fetal heart rate or fetal blood flow, neither in the thoracic part of the descending aorta, nor in the intra-abdominal part of the umbilical vein (figure 3). There were no changes in the waveforms of the maximum blood velocity curves, neither of the aorta nor the umbilical artery. This indicates that there was no increased resistance in the placenta, neither after the nicotine gum nor the placebo gum. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Integrating Cellular Networks, Smart Grid, and Renewable Energy: Analysis, Architecture, and Challenges

Powering cellular base stations with renewable energy are one of the long-term strategies for achieving green networks and reducing their operational costs. As an energy provider, the power grid is evolving into a smarter one, which allows more energy-efficient cellular networks and enables cooperation and interaction with the smart grid. On one hand, cellular networks can use harvested renewable energy and on-site energy storage to reduce their energy costs. On the other hand, the price of electricity depends on the energy load, which will eventually contribute to decreasing the peak consumption and global energy cost. In this paper, we propose new integration architecture for renewable energy-powered cellular networks and the smart grid. The proposed architecture is designed based on the classification and the analysis of the existing proposals and the requirements of the smart grid, renewable energy systems, and cellular networks.
In situ detection of telomerase catalytic subunit mRNA in glioblastoma multiforme

Activation of telomerase may allow unlimited cell proliferation and immortalization. One of the telomerase protein subunits has a reverse transcriptase (hTERT) activity that is essential for telomerase function and regulation. In human gliomas, telomerase is frequently associated with malignant tumor progression. In our study, we investigated the expression of hTERT at the cellular level in 34 primary de novo glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) by in situ hybridization ( ISH ). The expression of hTERT in tumor tissue was also assessed by RT‐PCR. In addition, telomerase activity measured by telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) and telomere length polymorphism assayed by telomere restriction fragment (TRF) Southern blot were investigated. We found that all GBM, including those with negative TRAP reaction, contained abundant amounts of cytoplasmic hTERT mRNA. Interestingly, the ISH analysis revealed that the hTERT mRNA was homogeneously expressed by the whole tumor cell population in about 60% of the GBM. In the remaining cases, hTERT was absent in subsets of tumor cells. TRF analysis, which shows that both TRAP‐positive and TRAP‐negative de novo GBM have elongated telomeres, further supports that telomerase activity is present in all de novo GBM. Correlations with tumor size and extent of necrosis suggest that hTERT reactivation is an early event in GBM development and that telomerase activity may be lost in subpopulations of neoplastic cells during tumor progression. Finally, ISH analysis of hTERT mRNA seems to provide a prognostic parameter for primary de novo GBM. Int. J. Cancer 88:895–901, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Molecular Modeling, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of N‐Heteroaryl Compounds as Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors Against HIV‐1

Different N‐heteroaryl compounds bearing pyrimidine and benzimidazole moieties have been designed in silico using Discovery studio 2.5 software, synthesized and evaluated for their inhibitory activity as reverse transcriptase inhibitors against HIV‐1 replication using laboratory adapted strains HIV‐1IIIB (X4, subtype B) and HIV‐1Ada5 (R5, subtype B), and the primary isolates HIV‐1UG070 (X4, subtype D) and HIV‐1VB59 (R5, subtype C). Cell‐based assay showed that compounds were active at 1.394 μm concentrations (Selectivity Index: 1.29–38.39). The studies on structure–activity relationship clearly suggested anti‐HIV activity of pyrimidine and benzimidazole derivatives and these findings were consistent with the in vitro cell‐based experimental data. The results of molecular modeling and docking confirmed that all compounds assumed a butterfly‐like conformation and showed H‐bond, ‘π–π’ and ‘π–+’ and hydrophobic interactions within flexible non‐nucleoside inhibitor binding pocket of HIV‐1 reverse transcriptase, similar to known non‐nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, such as nevirapine. In view of the results obtained, it can be said that the chemical skeletons of N, N′‐bis‐(pyridin‐2‐yl)‐succinamide (14 and 15) and 1, 4‐bis‐benzoimidazol‐1‐yl‐butane‐1, 4‐dione (16 and 17) may be used for developing potent inhibitors of HIV‐1 replication, with suitable structure/pharmacophore modifications.
The labour market in three countries : an international comparison of relative earnings in Australia, Great Britain and the United States

This thesis investigates the relationship between age and earnings for men and women in Australia, Great Britain and the United States. The facts for full­ time workers in the three countries can be summarised in the following way: 1. There was greater variation in earnings with age in the US than in either of the other countries. This was particularly apparent for men. In the US, 45 year old men earned on average, 42 per cent more than 25 year old men while in Great Britain, they earned 21 per cent more and in Australia, 13 per cent more. 2. Women’s earnings varied less with age than did men's in each country and peaked much earlier than male earnings. At their peak in their early 30s, American women's earnings were about 20 per cent above those of a 25 year old, in Great Britain they were 8 per cent above a 25 year old’s and in Australia they were about the same. 3. In each country, women's earnings varied less with age than did male earnings. If we take the proportionate difference between male and female earnings at each age between 16 and 64, the largest gap, relative to the gap at age 25, was between men and women in Australia in their late 30s. The relative difference between men and women in Australia was twice as large as in the other countries. There are a number of theories which have been put forward to explain why earnings vary with age. This thesis considers some of the factors suggested as being important; sex, experience in the workforce, education, industry of employment, the level of unionisation in an industry and cohort size. Our results show that within each country for both men and women, education, experience and industry of employment are important determinants of earnings. The evidence presented here is consistent, at least for men, with the hypothesis that higher levels of unionisation in an industry are associated with flatter age earnings profiles than in the less unionised industries. Our results on the effect of cohort size on earnings
Guidelines for the identification and development of sampling methods and design of suitable protocols for monitoring of Trichinella infection in indicator species.

SUMMARY According to the European Community Regulation No. 2075/2005, a risk-based program should be implemented in those areas where wildlife and pig holdings applying for Trichinella-free status coexist, or for region where the risk of Trichinella in domestic swine is officially recognised as negligible. Trichinella nematode species are primarily parasites of wildlife which can transmit the infection to pigs intended for human consumption, acting as reservoir of the parasite. Since not all mammals play the same role for the different Trichinella species, the selection of the target animals for epidemiological surveillance is of utmost importance. This document provides indications on the most suitable wild animals to be targeted for epidemiological surveillance according to the four Trichinella species circulating in Europe, together with technical specifications on the muscles of choice and their amount to be analysed for each host species considered.
Explaining the MENA Paradox: Rising Educational Attainment, Yet Stagnant Female Labor Force Participation

BACKGROUND Despite rapidly rising female educational attainment and the closing, if not reversal, of the gender gap in education, female labor force participation rates in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remain low and stagnant. This is a phenomenon that has come to be known as the "MENA paradox". Even if increases in participation are observed, they are typically in the form of rising unemployment rather than employment. METHODS We use multinomial logit models estimated, by country, on annual labor force survey data for four MENA countries - Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia - to simulate trends in female participation in different labor market states (public sector, private wage work, non-wage work, unemployment and non-participation) for married and unmarried women and men, of a given educational and age profile. RESULTS Our results confirm that the decline in the probability of public sector employment for educated women is associated with either an increase in unemployment or a decline in participation. CONCLUSIONS We argue that failure of employment rates to increase in line with women's rapidly rising educational attainment - the so-called MENA paradox -- can be primarily attributed to the change in opportunity structures facing educated women in the MENA region in the 2000s, rather than the supply-side factors traditionally emphasized in the literature to explain low female participation in MENA. CONTRIBUTION We argue that female labor force participation among educated women in four MENA countries - Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia -- is constrained by adverse developments in the structure of employment opportunities on the demand side. Specifically, the contraction in public sector employment opportunities has not been made up by a commensurate increase in opportunities in the formal private sector, leading to increases in female unemployment or declines in participation.
Interaction Between Gemfibrozil and Warfarin: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Possible procoagulant effects can occur when lipid‐lowering fibric acid derivatives, such as gemfibrozil and fenofibrate, are taken concomitantly with warfarin. Although there are several detailed reports of fenofibrate potentiating the anticoagulant effects of warfarin, few case reports have been published regarding an interaction between gemfibrozil and warfarin. We describe a 62‐year‐old man who was taking warfarin for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and came to the anticoagulation clinic for a routine follow‐up. For 9 months, the patient's international normalized ratio (INR) had been stable (target range 2.0–3.0) with warfarin 45 mg/week. At this clinic visit, however, his INR was supratherapeutic at 5.8; the only identified change in his drug therapy was the addition of gemfibrozil 600 mg twice/day, started 3 weeks earlier. The patient denied any changes in his dietary intake of vitamin K, alcohol use, or addition of nonprescription or herbal agents. Recent laboratory tests revealed no signs of thyroid abnormalities and only an insignificant elevation in his alanine aminotransferase level. His warfarin dose was decreased to 35–37.5 mg/week (a 22% reduction), and a therapeutic INR was maintained until gemfibrozil was later discontinued because of myalgia. After consecutive subtherapeutic INRs, his warfarin dose was increased to 45 mg/week and a therapeutic INR was maintained. Use of the Drug Interaction Probability Scale indicated that the likelihood of the gemfibrozil‐warfarin interaction was probable. The exact mechanism of the proposed interactions between fibric acid derivatives and warfarin remains unknown but may be multifactorial through inhibition of cytochrome P450 isoenzymes, displacement from protein binding sites, or changes in coagulation factor synthesis. Regardless of the fibric acid derivative chosen, an empiric dosage reduction of 20% and close INR monitoring are warranted in patients receiving warfarin.