Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mitochondrial Malate-Aspartate Shuttle Regulates Mouse Embryo Nutrient Consumption*

Pyruvate has been considered the sole substrate that can support development of the mouse zygote to the two-cell stage, with lactate able to support development from the two-cell stage. This study has determined for the first time that mitochondrial reducing equivalent shuttles regulate metabolism in the early embryo. Activity of the malate-aspartate shuttle was found to be essential for the metabolism of lactate in the two-cell embryo. Furthermore, the inability of the mouse zygote to use lactate as an energy source was a result of a lack of malate-aspartate shuttle activity. The mRNA for the four enzymes for shuttle activity were detected at all stages of development. It was determined that aspartate was a rate-limiting factor in the activity of the malate-aspartate shuttle in mouse zygotes probably due to the high Km of the cytoplasmic aspartate aminotransferase. Addition of high concentrations of exogenous aspartate to the culture medium enabled mouse zygotes to utilize lactate in the absence of pyruvate and develop normally to the blastocyst stage as well as produce normal viable offspring. This study determined that the malate-aspartate shuttle is a key regulator of embryo metabolism and therefore viability and is the first report that mouse zygotes can develop normally to term in the absence of pyruvate.
Earnings Thresholds and Market Responses

Degeorge, Patel and Zeckhauser (1999) show that companies manage their earnings to meet or exceed three earnings targets: zero earnings, earnings reported four quarters ago, and analysts' earnings forecasts. We extend this work along two lines. First, we document time and cross-sectional variation in threshold-regarding behavior. Second, we examine the market responses when earnings surpass thresholds, controlling for the earnings surprises. Our results suggest that investors view threshold crossing as an important indicator of the health of companies.
Association Between Lifestyle Factors and Mental Health Measures Among Community-Dwelling Older Women

Objective: To investigate the association between potentially modifiable lifestyle factors and cognitive abilities/depressive symptoms in community-dwelling women aged 70 years and over. Method: Cross-sectional study of community-dwelling women aged 70 years and over (n = 278; mean age = 74.6 years). Lifestyle variables assessed included smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, nutrition and education. The mental health measures of interest were depression, anxiety, quality of life and cognitive function, as assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), SF-36, and the Cambridge Cognitive Examination for Mental Disorders of the Elderly (CAMCOG), respectively. Results: Physically active women were half as likely to be depressed (BDI score ≥ 10) and anxious (BAI score ≥ 8) when compared to their physically inactive counterparts (OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3–0.8 for both, adjusted for marital status and smoking in the case of depression). Having ever smoked more than 20 cigarettes per day was associated with increased risk of depression (OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.4–5.5, adjusted for marital status and physical activity). Moderate alcohol use was associated with increased likelihood of having a CAMCOG score within the highest 50 percentile (OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.1–3.5, adjusted for age and education), as was more than minimum statutory education (OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.1–3.5, adjusted for age and alcohol consumption). There was no obvious association between vitamin B12/folate deficiency or obesity with any of the measures of interest. Conclusions: The results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that depression is directly associated with heavy smoking and inversely associated with physical activity. They also support the idea that non-harmful alcohol consumption is associated with better cognitive performance. Randomised clinical trials should be now designed to clarify whether management of lifestyle factors reduces the incidence of mood disorders and cognitive impairment in later life.
Study on quadruped bounding with a passive compliant spine

In running, legged animals take advantages of their flexible bodies to increase their locomotion performance, resulting in superior mobility and fast motions. Previous works on quadruped robots mostly used the simplified model with massless legs. However, in reality, a leg consists of two or three segments with mass and inertia. We study herein the bounding of quadruped robots with a model closer to a real animal, i.e., a model having articulated legs with joints with stiffness and damping properties, and a passive spinal joint, to obtain an insight into the robot's dynamic behaviors. The effects of spine flexibility were investigated on quadrupedal bounding gait by changing dynamic properties and hardware parameters and then comparing the performance of models with and without a spinal joint. The model comparisons revealed that body flexibility significantly increased stride length and strongly affected the dynamic of the body and the energy efficiency.
Remise en cause du paradigme des pôles de compétitivité par l’approche Living Lab, comme prise en compte du progrès social

Cet article etablit une analyse critique de l’existence et de l’evolution des modeles territoriaux d’innovation, en France, depuis l’implantation des poles de competitivite, jusqu’a la creation des Livings Labs. Ces demarches ont pour intention d’impulser le developpement de nouvelles filieres innovantes en appui d’un territoire en creant une synergie entre les acteurs. Toutefois, les Livings Labs, recemment mis en place, permettent d’inventer de nouveaux modes d’echange, de services publics et de liens entre les entreprises et les habitants d’un territoire, elements imputables aux poles de competitivite. L’approche Livings Lab joue donc le role de liant en contribuant a repondre aux nouveaux enjeux des territoires, tout en placant l’usager au cœur de la demarche. Ainsi, a l’inverse des poles de competitivite, au sein d’un Livings Lab l’usager devient le coconcepteur, le coproducteur de services dont il est lui-meme le beneficiaire.
Comparison of Stock Valuation Models With Their Intrinsic Value in Tehran Stock Exchange

Stock evaluation is one of the most important and most complex operational processes in the stock exchange. In financial markets, the pricing of tradable assets plays a basic role in resource allocation. After initial stock valuation of listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange, some changes were observed in prices with the value set by the Stock Exchange. The aim of this study was to determine the model applied in the formation of stock prices in the stock market to find an appropriate market value model among value-based valuation models. To test the models of stock valuation, ordinary least square regression was used. Also, EViews software was used for further data analysis. The sample included all the companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange from 2008 till 2013. Based on the stratified random sampling, each industry was selected as a category and using Cochran formula, sample size of 40 participants was determined from each category. The data analysis indicated that the price-to-book ratio (P/B ratio) had the highest adjustment factor and had been set as the best stock valuation model.
MoTup1 is required for growth, conidiogenesis and pathogenicity of Magnaporthe oryzae.

The general transcriptional repressor Tup1 proteins play important regulatory roles in the growth and development of fungi. In this report, we characterized MoTup1, a protein homologous to Tup1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, from M. oryzae. Disruption of MoTUP1 resulted in severe mycelial growth reduction and a defect in conidiogenesis. We found that MoTup1 is required for the maintenance of cell wall integrity by regulating the expression of the genes involved in cell wall biosynthesis. Pathogenicity assays indicated that the ΔMotup1 mutants lost the ability to invade both rice and barley hosts. Moreover, observation of rice epidermis penetration showed that the hyphal tips of the mutants could still form appressorium-like structures, but were unable to invade host cells. Taken together, our results demonstrate that M. oryzae MoTup1 is an important regulatory factor in fungal growth, development and pathogenesis on hosts.
TEG-REP: A corpus of Textual Entailment Graphs based on Relation Extraction Patterns

The task of relation extraction is to recognize and extract relations between entities or concepts in texts. Dependency parse trees have become a popular source for discovering extraction patterns, which encode the grammatical relations among the phrases that jointly express relation instances. State-of-the-art weakly supervised approaches to relation extraction typically extract thousands of unique patterns only potentially expressing the target relation. Among these patterns, some are semantically equivalent, but differ in their morphological, lexical-semantic or syntactic form. Some express a relation that entails the target relation. We propose a new approach to structuring extraction patterns by utilizing entailment graphs, hierarchical structures representing entailment relations, and present a novel resource of gold-standard entailment graphs based on a set of patterns automatically acquired using distant supervision. We describe the methodology used for creating the dataset and present statistics of the resource as well as an analysis of inference types underlying the entailment decisions.
Effect of stepped light intensity on polymerization force and conversion in a photoactivated composite.

PURPOSE This study evaluated the effect of stepped light intensity on the polymerization shrinkage forces and degrees of conversion of a hybrid composite. MATERIALS AND METHODS Composite specimens were bonded between two steel rods (5.00 mm diameter, 1.25 mm apart, configuration factor = 2) mounted in a universal testing machine using a constant displacement mode. Polymerization contraction force was recorded for 300 seconds under four light exposure conditions: group 1: 40 s x 800 mW/cm2; group 2: 10 s x 100 mW/cm2 + 30 s x 800 mW/cm2; group 3: 60 s x 800 mW/cm2; group 4: 10 s x 100 mW/cm2 + 50 s x 800 mW/cm2. Maximum curing force (N300 s) and maximum force rate of the four groups were compared using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) (alpha = 0.05) and the Tukey test. Degree of conversion in all groups was evaluated at two depths (top surface and 2 mm) using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). RESULTS Mean maximum shrinkage forces and standard deviations (SD) were: group 1, 177 N (SD = 23); group 2, 172 N (SD = 11); group 3, 213 N (SD = 15); group 4, 197 N (SD = 17). Mean maximum forces for stepped and standard groups with the same duration (1 and 2; 3 and 4) were not statistically different; means for groups 2 and 3 were statistically different. Maximum force rates were not significantly different (p = .1548). Force:time curves were S-shaped. Specimens exposed to stepped curing exhibited longer delays before force was recorded. Mode of curing was shown not to contribute to overall cure, but both duration of cure and the depth (top surface vs. 2.00 mm) were significant with an interaction effect.
Update on the pathogenesis and treatment of systemic idiopathic arthritis

Purpose of review Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA) is an inflammatory condition characterized by fever, lymphadenopathy, rash, arthritis, and serositis. Although the ultimate cause of this disorder remains elusive, recent work defining cytokine effector mechanisms has led to a new treatment paradigm for this condition. In this review, we describe the recent immunological reclassification of SJIA as an autoinflammatory disorder as well as detailing the dramatic changes in its treatment. Recent findings SJIA is an autoinflammatory disorder in which defects of innate immune system pathways lead to significant inflammation. Recent studies of the pathophysiology, as well as successful treatment trials, have established interleukin-1&bgr; (IL-1&bgr;) and IL-6 as key cytokines in the pathogenesis of this condition. As a result, their inhibition has become the centerpiece of the current SJIA treatment paradigm. Summary There has been a major shift away from the traditional treatments of SJIA towards therapeutics that inhibit IL-1&bgr; and IL-6. In fact, the IL-1 blocker anakinra is now regarded as standard of care for SJIA patients with systemic symptoms, while the IL-6 inhibitor tocilizumab shows great potential. Future research holds promise for the development of more efficient cytokine inhibition as well a more comprehensive knowledge of the innate cytokine networks in this disease.
Formation of fumonisins and other secondary metabolites by Fusarium oxysporum and F. proliferatum: a comparative study

The principal aim of this study was to estimate the formation of fumonisins (FB1 and FB2), moniliformin (MON), and ergosterol (ERG) by Fusarium oxysporum and Fusarium proliferatum, while the formation of beauvericin (BEA) was estimated by the latter Fusarium species only. Moreover, the effect of temperature on the biosynthesis of mycotoxins was also evaluated. Fumonisins were formed by F. proliferatum, with the highest yield at 18°C (720.0–1976.6 µg g−1 for FB1, 74.2–670.8 µg g−1 for FB2) and only by three of four F. oxysporum strains at a very low level (0.02–4.77 µg g−1 for FB1, 0.02–2.15 µg g−1 for FB2). The amount of MON formed by F. proliferatum was the highest (p < 0.001) at 32°C (3056.87 µg g−1), while MON biosynthesis by F. oxysporum was lower 227.54 µg g−1 (p < 0.001). BEA was produced by F. proliferatum with the highest level at 25°C (p < 0.001). ERG–recognized as an indicator of fungal biomass development and as a consequence of mycotoxin formation–was found at the highest concentration at a biosynthesis temperature of 25°C for F. proliferatum and F. oxysporum (p < 0.001).
Retrospective Comparison of Estimated GFR using 2006 MDRD, 2009 CKD-EPI and Cockcroft-Gault with 24 Hour Urine Creatinine Clearance.

INTRODUCTION The assessment of Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) is essential for clinical practice in assessing kidney function, drug dosing, detecting and estimating the prognosis of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). The most common practical method for assessing GFR is performed with a 24 hour/timed urine collection for creatinine clearance evaluation. The estimation of eGFR by creatinine based formulae is known to be a rapid and reliable means of approximation of creatinine clearance. AIM To compare eGFR using three commonly used Formulae {Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study Equation (MDRD 2006), Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI 2009) and Cockcroft-Gault Formula} with 24 hour creatinine clearance and to identify which amongst the 3 formulae for eGFR closely correlates with 24 hour creatinine clearance in a secondary care hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS We retrospectively collected laboratory data requested for 24 hour creatinine clearance in the period from January 2014 to August 2016. Totally 91 laboratory request for 24 hour creatinine clearance data were obtained. The paired-t-test was used for comparison since all parameters used in the study were numerical, all patients came from same population and all had paired results. RESULTS The eGFR by MDRD formulae had a statistically insignificant p-value (p > 0.05) i.e., good approximation in the IInd, IIIrd, IVth and Vth stages of CKD on comparison with 24 hour creatinine clearance. The eGFR by CKD-EPI formulae had a statistically insignificant p-value (p > 0.05) in the IInd, IVth and Vth stages of CKD. The eGFR by Cockcroft-Gault Formulae had a statistically insignificant p-value (p > 0.05) in the Ist, IInd and Vth stages of CKD. CONCLUSION The Creatinine based GFR estimation provides a more accurate assessment of 24 hour creatinine clearance and kidney function than measuring serum creatinine alone but have certain limitations in few clinical circumstances. No single equation will be optimal for all populations. But the result of this study showed MDRD 2006 formulae to be more accurate than CKD-EPI 2009 and Cockcroft-Gault formulae in estimating GFR, detection of CKD, drug dosing and estimating prognosis.
Transient liquid phase sintered attach for power electronics

Low temperature transient liquid phase sintering (LT-TLPS) pastes, based on copper-tin, have been developed for high temperature attachment of wide band gap semiconductor dice to substrates for power electronics. The LT-TLPS attach process enables pressure-less joining at low temperatures in air. An organic binder has been used to form a stencil-printable paste that prevents oxidation of the copper and tin particles, before and during sintering. Shear samples have been manufactured consisting of copper dummy dice and copper substrates joined with a stencil printed layer of one of three copper-tin sinter pastes (viz. Cu60Sn, Cu50Sn, and Cu40Sn) having copper concentrations of 40%, 50%, and 60% by weight respectively. A high-temperature shear test setup has been designed to determine the shear strength of the three pastes at temperatures of 25°C, 125°C, 250°C, 400°C, and 600°C. It has been shown that the joints remain strong up to the melting point of the dominant intermetallic phase of the joint. Cu50Sn joints showed no reduction in shear strength up to 400°C, while Cu40Sn pastes showed no reduction in shear strength up to 600°C. This demonstrates that pressure-less LT-TLPS pastes can be used to form high-temperature resilient joints at low process temperatures in reasonably short process times.
Discriminating Ability of Humphrey Matrix Perimetry in Early Glaucoma Patients

Purpose: To determine the discriminating ability of some parameters provided by Humphrey Matrix perimetry for early glaucoma detection. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was performed. Sixty-five primary open-angle glaucoma patients with early-stage visual field defects on standard automated perimetry (mean deviation = –1.98 ± 1.93 dB) and 56 healthy subjects were included. All subjects performed the Humphrey Matrix perimetry with a threshold 30-2 strategy. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed for each parameter and calculated the area under the ROC curve (AUC) to seek the best discriminating parameter for early glaucoma detection. Results: The AUCs of Humphrey Matrix perimetry with the mean deviation, pattern standard deviation, Glaucoma Hemifield Test, number of points that have a p < 5% in pattern deviation plot (PDP) and number of points that have a p < 1% in PDP were 0.795, 0.808, 0.689, 0.985 and 0.946, respectively. Conclusion: Humphrey Matrix perimetry allowed accurate discrimination between normal and early glaucomatous eyes. The number of points that had a p < 5% in PDP was the best discriminating parameter for early glaucoma detection using Humphrey Matrix perimetry.
Assessment of Utilization and Pharmacovigilance Based on Spontaneous Adverse Event Reporting of Gadopentetate Dimeglumine as a Magnetic Resonance Contrast Agent After 45 Million Administrations and 15 Years of Clinical Use

Purpose:Although contrast agents have become indispensable tools in magnetic resonance and their safe and effective use the foundation of many essential diagnostic procedures, only limited summary information on their utilization and pharmacovigilance is available to the community. After voluntary access to the manufacturer spontaneous adverse event database, we assessed the available data for gadopentetate dimeglumine. Material and Methods:Gadopentetate dimeglumine (Gd-DTPA, Magnevist; Berlex/Schering AG, Berlin, Germany) became commercially available in 1988 and is currently marketed in 101 countries. Using the manufacturer's continuous and cumulative database on product distribution and spontaneous adverse event (AE) reporting, we categorized AEs and assessed their cumulative occurrence after 10, 20, and 45 million applications that occurred in 1993, 1997, and 2002, respectively. Furthermore, we reviewed publications in Medline to assess prevalence of the 4 most common MR contrast agents in the indexed literature. Results:Gd-DTPA has been used in more than 45 million magnetic resonance imaging procedures since 1988 and is currently used globally in more than 5 million applications annually. The broadest category of spontaneously reported AEs, subjective symptoms, occurs in less than 0.01% of procedures. Within the total AEs reported, the distribution of serious and nonserious reports was 9.3% and 90.7%, respectively. The rates of AE reporting have changed over time, with increased rates in the second reporting period (1993 to 1997), followed by substantially lower rates in subsequent years. AE reporting rates are the most comprehensive data available; however, there will always be some underestimation of the true event rates. Although no substantial differences were noted among major age groups, substantial differences in reporting frequency were found among regions, with the United States reporting nearly twice as many AEs as Europe in the postmarketing phase. Conclusion:The postmarketing utilization and pharmacovigilance analysis of Gd-DTPA has revealed temporal changes and regional differences, overall with an excellent safety profile. Its extensive utilization and safety information have firmly established it as highly used and safe magnetic resonance imaging agent.
The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Central Banking

This chapter describes the impacts of the global financial crisis on monetary policy and institutions. It argues that during the crisis, financial stability took precedence over traditional inflation targeting and discusses the emergence of unconventional policy instruments such as quantitative easing (QE), forex market interventions, negative interest rates, and forward guidance. It describes the interaction between the zero lower bound (ZLB) and QE, and proposals, such as raising the inflation target, to alleviate the ZLB constraint. The chapter discusses the consequences of the relative passivity of fiscal policies, “helicopter money,” and 100 percent reserve requirement. The crisis triggered regulatory reforms in which central banks’ objectives were expanded to encompass macroprudential regulation. The chapter evaluates recent regulatory reforms in the United States, the euro area, and the United Kingdom. It presents data on new net credit formation during the crisis and discusses implications for exit policies.