Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Homocysteine increases cyclin-dependent kinase in aortic rat tissue.

BACKGROUND Hyperhomocyst(e)inemia is strongly associated with occlusive arterial disease. A direct effect of homocysteine on the proliferation of smooth muscle cells was proposed recently. This observation led us to examine the effect of homocysteine on cyclin-dependent kinase, the starter of mitosis and reflecting proliferation. METHODS AND RESULTS Seventy Him:OFA rats were divided into seven groups. For 12 weeks, 10 rats were fed homocysteine 25 mg/kg body weight per day, 10 were fed 50 mg/kg body wt per day, and 10 were fed 100 mg/kg body weight per day; 10 were given homocysteic acid 100 mg/kg body weight per day, 10 were administered cysteine 100 mg/kg body weight per day, and 10 were given ascorbic acid 270 mg/kg body weight per day. Ten remained untreated and served as controls. Aortic cyclin-dependent kinase was determined at the transcriptional (mRNA) and protein levels. Phosphokinase C and aortic homocyst(e)ine also were evaluated in aortic tissue. Aortic cyclin-dependent kinase protein was significantly (P = .0001) elevated in the three homocysteine-treated groups, and mRNA cyclin-dependent kinase levels were significantly elevated in the rats given the 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight per day protocol. Endothelial damage was shown at higher homocysteine doses as reflected by circulating ACE and von Willebrand factor changes. Proliferation of cells of the aortic wall by bromodeoxyuridine incorporation could be shown in the high-dose homocysteine group only. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that homocysteine specifically stimulates aortic cyclin-dependent kinase at the transcriptional level, with the possible consequence of proliferation of aortic cells as revealed by incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine in the aortic wall.
Suicide Attempt as a Risk Factor for Completed Suicide: Even More Lethal Than We Knew.

OBJECTIVE While suicide attempt history is considered to robustly predict completed suicide, previous studies have limited generalizability because of using convenience samples of specific methods/treatment settings, disregarding previous attempts, or overlooking first-attempt deaths. Eliminating these biases should more accurately estimate suicide prevalence in attempters. METHOD This observational retrospective-prospective cohort study using the Rochester Epidemiology Project identified 1,490 (males, N=555; females, N=935) Olmsted County residents making index suicide attempts (first lifetime attempts reaching medical attention) between January 1, 1986, and December 31, 2007. The National Death Index identified suicides between enrollment and December 31, 2010 (follow-up 3-25 years). Medical records were queried for sex, age, method, and follow-up care for index attempt survivors. Coroner records yielded data on index attempt deaths. RESULTS During the study period, 81/1,490 enrollees (5.4%) died by suicide. Of the 81, 48 (59.3%) perished on index attempt; 27 of the surviving 33 index attempt survivors (81.8%) killed themselves within a year. Males were disproportionately represented: 62/81 (11.2% of men, 76.5% of suicides) compared with 19/81 (2.0% of women, 23.5% of suicides). Of dead index attempters, 72.9% used guns, yielding an odds ratio for gunshot death, compared with all other methods, of 140 (95% CI=60-325). When adjusted for covariates, survivors given follow-up psychiatric appointments had significantly lower likelihood of subsequent suicide (odds ratio=0.212, 95% CI=0.089-0.507). CONCLUSIONS At 5.4%, completed suicide prevalence in this community cohort of suicide attempters was almost 59% higher than previously reported. An innovative aspect of this study explains the discrepancy: by including index attempt deaths-approximately 60% of total suicides-suicide prevalence more than doubled. We contend that counting both index and subsequent attempt deaths more accurately reflects prevalence. Our findings support suicide attempt as an even more lethal risk factor for completed suicide than previously thought. Research should focus on identifying risk factors for populations vulnerable to making first attempts and target risk reduction in those groups.
Building trust: the importance of democratic legitimacy in the formation of consumer attitudes toward drinking water

This study aimed to explore the role of democratic decision legitimacy in the formation of consumer attitudes toward drinking water. Using consumer-level data on the decision to change the drinking water sources in two Swedish cities, three core sets of variables were constructed: (1) the overall democratic decision legitimacy, defined as the citizens' support for the decision; (2) the input, throughput and output dimensions of decision legitimacy, representing the citizens' perceived opportunity to provide input, their ability to oversee, as well as their level of satisfaction with the outcome of the decision-making process; and (3) consumer attitudes toward drinking water, comprising trust, risk perception and acceptance. The results of the study provide support for the proposed mechanism that consumers that perceive a decision-making process more positively also tend to support the ultimate decision more, which in turn helps to establish more positive consumer attitudes towards their drinking water. Consequently, democratic legitimacy is an important precursor for building trust. This is particularly important if a waterborne outbreak has negatively impacted consumers' trust in their water, and when political and engineering decisions must be made.
Effect of exogenous oxytocin on the leakage of lactose from the mammary gland and on suckling-induced plasma prolactin in the lactating rat.

The leakage of lactose from the mammary gland into plasma and the increase in the suckling-induced concentration of prolactin in the plasma of oxytocin-injected lactating rats suckling different numbers of pups were investigated. Rats nursing eight pups were isolated from their litter for 6 h and injected i.v. with either 1 iu oxytocin or saline and allowed to resuckle either two, eight or 12 pups for 1 h. The concentration of lactose in plasma increased significantly in rats injected with oxytocin and allowed to resuckle two or eight pups; however, there was no difference in rats allowed to resuckle 12 pups. When compared within oxytocin-injected groups, the concentration of lactose was significantly lower in rats allowed to resuckle eight or 12 pups than in rats allowed to resuckle only two pups. Plasma prolactin concentrations increased during the suckling period in mothers suckling either eight or 12 pups, and oxytocin diminished the increase in prolactin concentration in both groups. In rats suckling two pups, prolactin release was not observed. The second objective of this study was to determine the relationship between the leakage of lactose from the mammary gland by oxytocin injection and suckling. Mothers that had the three left nipples of their mammary glands occluded were isolated from their litter of eight pups for 6 h and were allowed to resuckle with eight pups for 1 h. At the start of resuckling, 0.01, 0.1 or 1 iu oxytocin was injected i.v. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Alcohol use disorders, nicotine dependence, and co-occurring mood and anxiety disorders in the United States and South Korea-a cross-national comparison.

BACKGROUND The strong comorbidity between substance use disorders (SUDs) and mood and anxiety disorders has been well documented. In view of lack of research findings addressing the co-occurrence of SUDs and mood and anxiety disorders, this study examined the pattern of comorbidity of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and nicotine dependence (ND) between 2 culturally diverse countries, the United States and South Korea. METHODS Using the nationally representative samples of the U.S. and Korean general populations, we directly compared rates and comorbidity patterns of AUDs, ND, and mood and anxiety disorders between the 2 countries. We further examined the rates and the comorbidity pattern among individuals with AUDs who sought treatment in the last 12 months. Twelve-month prevalence rates were derived to estimate country differentials, and odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals were estimated to measure the strength of comorbid associations while adjusting for all sociodemographic characteristics in multivariate logistic models specific to each country. RESULTS The 12-month prevalence rates of AUDs, ND, and any mood disorder and any anxiety disorder were 9.7, 14.4, 9.5, and 11.9% among Americans, whereas the corresponding rates were 7.1, 6.6, 2.0, and 5.2% among Koreans. These rates were significantly greater (except for any AUD) among Americans than among their Korean counterparts. With respect to comorbidity, both countries showed comparable patterns that the prevalence rates of mood and anxiety disorders were consistently the highest among persons with alcohol dependence (AD). Also, a disparate pattern was observed in Korea that the prevalence rates of mood and anxiety disorders were generally lower among individuals with ND than among those with alcohol abuse and AD. Furthermore, despite significantly greater prevalence of AD in Korea (5.1%) than in the United States (4.4%), alcohol-dependent Americans were 4 times (OR = 3.93) more likely to seek treatment compared to their Korean counterparts. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicated that the prevalence of AD in Korea was substantially greater than that in both Western and other Asian countries, suggesting a maladaptive pattern of alcohol use in Korea, which is different from the general use pattern of other East Asian countries. The low rate of treatment utilization among Koreans might be attributable to perceived social stigma toward SUDs or mental health problems despite the fact that the Korean government offers national health insurance.
Influence of CrgA on Assembly of the Cell Division Protein FtsZ during Development of Streptomyces coelicolor

ABSTRACT The product of the crgA gene of Streptomyces coelicolor represents a novel family of small proteins. A single orthologous gene is located close to the origin of replication of all fully sequenced actinomycete genomes and borders a conserved gene cluster implicated in cell growth and division. In S. coelicolor, CrgA is important for coordinating growth and cell division in sporogenic hyphae. In this study, we demonstrate that CrgA is an integral membrane protein whose peak expression is coordinated with the onset of development of aerial hyphae. The protein localizes to discrete foci away from growing hyphal tips. Upon overexpression, CrgA localizes to apical syncytial cells of aerial hyphae and inhibits the formation of productive cytokinetic rings of the bacterial tubulin homolog FtsZ, leading to proteolytic turnover of this major cell division determinant. In the absence of known prokaryotic cell division inhibitors in actinomycetes, CrgA may have an important conserved function influencing Z-ring formation in these bacteria.
The random coding bound is tight for the average linear code

In 1973, Gallager published a correspondence, consisting a proof that the random coding bound is exponentially tight for the random code ensemble at all rates, even below the expurgation rate. This result explained that the random coding upper bound does not achieve the expurgation bound due to the properties of the random ensemble, irrespective of the utilized bounding technique. It has been conjectured that this same behavior holds true, also for a random linear ensemble. This conjecture is proved in this paper. Additionally, it is shown that exponential tightness for both ensembles can be achieved by considering only the triple-wise error events.
Chinese Import Competition and Skill Demand in Japanese Manufacturing

This paper examines the hypothesis that manufacturing industries in Japan that have been exposed to import competition from China experience greater skill upgrading by increasing demand for skilled workers. Using an industry panel dataset over the period 1980–2010, we exploit variations of workers’ skill categories by occupation, paired with information and communication technology (ICT) investment data in the employment share regression. We find that while import competition from China have shifted from labour intensive to more capital-intensive products, this has not resulted in substituting skilled workers in Japanese manufacturing. Rather, it has had the profound positive effect of raising overall demand for skilled workers. Most of the competition effects were felt among production workers, leaving middle-skilled workers largely unaffected.
A 600 mA, constant on-time controlled DC-DC converter with 67% conversion efficiency at an output current of 23 μA

This paper describes a constant on-time controlled DC-DC converter that realizes both high efficiency under light loads and fast load transient response. To realize low-power operation, a combination of a simple common-source amplifier and a low-power differential amplifier is used instead of a differential comparator. Using a common-source amplifier cuts power consumption in half compared with using a conventional differential comparator. The power consumption of the differential amplifier is negligible because it determines the DC operating point only. The differential amplifier also improves the accuracy of the DC output voltage. In addition, background calibration by a zero-cross comparator is proposed; calibration guarantees correct discontinuous-conduction mode operation and minimizes power loss at switching. Experimental results for a 600 mA, 3.6 V to 1.2 V DC-DC converter are described. The measured efficiency is 67% at an output current of 23 μA, and more than 80% for output current over 100 μA to 600 mA. Also, a small voltage disturbance of 30 mV is attained at a load-current transient of 590 mA.
Haemoglobin and ferritin concentrations in children aged 12 and 18 months

AIMS To define the normal ranges and investigate associated factors for haemoglobin and ferritin in British children at 12 and 18 months of age, and to estimate correlations between both haemoglobin and ferritin concentrations at 8, 12, and 18 months of age. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Subjects were part of the “children in focus” sample, randomly selected from the Avon longitudinal study of pregnancy and childhood. Capillary blood samples were taken from 940 children at 12 months and 827 children at 18 months of age. RESULTS Haemoglobin was distributed normally and ferritin was distributed log normally at 12 and 18 months of age. Ninety five per cent reference ranges were established from empirical centiles of haemoglobin and ferritin. Haemoglobin concentrations at 18 months were associated with sex and maternal education. Concentrations of ferritin at 12 and 18 months of age were associated with birth weight and current weight. Girls at 12 months, but not at 18 months, had 8% higher ferritin concentrations than boys. Haemoglobin and ferritin concentrations were significantly correlated over time (8–12 months:r Hb = 0.26,r Fer = 0.46; 12–18 months:r Hb = 0.37,r Fer = 0.34; 8–18 months:r Hb = 0.22,r Fer = 0.24). CONCLUSION Iron stores are depleted by rapid growth in infancy. A definition of anaemia based on the fifth centile gives cut off points at 12 and 18 months of age of haemoglobin < 100 g/l, and for iron deficiency of ferritin < 16 μg/l and < 12 μg/l, respectively. Because children below the fifth centile at one time point differ from those six months later, it is unclear whether screening would be effective.
Ladies First: Coerced Mating in a Fiddler Crab

In some species males increase their reproductive success by forcing females to copulate with them, usually by grasping the female or pinning her to the ground to prevent her from escaping. Here we report an example of males coercing copulation by trapping a female in a confined space. During mate-searching, female Uca mjoebergi fiddler crabs visit males and choose whether or not to enter their burrow for inspection. Males typically enter the burrow first and we found that 71% of females will follow him down and 54% decide to stay and mate. However, some males use an alternative tactic where he will wait for the female to enter the burrow first, after which he traps her inside. Although a significantly lower percentage of females will enter a burrow following this behaviour (41%), upon entry 79% females that enter will become trapped and almost all of these females (90%) produce a clutch of eggs. Our observations suggest that males are able to gain fertilisations from females that may not have remained in the burrow by trapping them and coercing them to mate.
The octapeptide repeat PrPC region and cobalamin‐deficient polyneuropathy of the rat

Introduction: Cobalamin (Cbl) deficiency affects the peripheral nervous system (PNS) morphologically and functionally. We investigated whether the octapeptide repeat (OR) region of prion protein (PrPC) (which is claimed to have myelinotrophic properties) is involved in the pathogenesis of rat Cbl‐deficient (Cbl‐D) polyneuropathy. Methods: We intracerebroventricularly administered antibodies (Abs) against the OR region (OR‐Abs) to Cbl‐D rats to prevent myelin damage and maximum nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) abnormalities, and PrPCs to normal rats to reproduce PNS Cbl‐D–like lesions. We measured nerve PrPC levels and MNCV. Results: The OR‐Abs normalized myelin ultrastructure, MNCV values, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α levels in the sciatic and tibial nerves of Cbl‐D rats. PrPC levels increased in Cbl‐D nerves. The nerves of the PrPC‐treated rats showed typical Cbl‐D lesions, significantly decreased MNCV values, and significantly increased TNF‐α levels. Conclusions: OR‐Abs prevent the myelin damage caused by increased OR regions, and excess TNF‐α is involved in the pathogenesis of Cbl‐D polyneuropathy. Muscle Nerve 2011
Performance Evaluation of Massive MIMO with Low-Height Small-Cell Using Realistic Channel Models

Massive MIMO with small-cells are attracting much attention as a promising scenario for 5G. In those deployment scenarios, it is considered that base stations (BSs) are located at heights below 10 m such as on a lamppost or an exterior wall of a building's second floor. However, the throughput performance in such scenarios has not been sufficiently evaluated yet, since the current widely used channel models such as the 3GPP 3D channel model is only applicable for BS heights at 10 m and above. This paper investigates the throughput performance of a downlink Massive MIMO small-cell located at heights below 10 m based on new realistic channel model parameters. The new channel model parameters have been obtained from a measurement campaign conducted at such BS heights using a carrier frequency of 3.7 GHz with 250 MHz bandwidth. We also compare the Massive MIMO performance with the conventional channel model parameters from 3GPP's 3D urban-microcell (3D-UMi) scenario. The computer simulation results show that the average cell throughput with one of the new channel models (called "Open Square") is 94% higher compared to 3D-UMi. This is because the parameters of the Open Square scenario have a lower path-loss and a larger angular spread of departure than the conventional. Therefore, the new channel model parameters can contribute to improve accuracy in design and evaluation of Massive MIMO small-cell network towards the 5G deployment.
Alcohol, methylxanthine-containing beverages, and colorectal cancer in Córdoba, Argentina

The relationship between social class indicators, body mass index (BMI), selected life-style habits (alcohol, coffee, maté and tea drinking) and colorectal cancer was investigated in a case-control study conducted between 1993 and 1997 in Córdoba, Argentina, a relatively high mortality area for colorectal cancer. Cases were 190 patients below age 80 years with incident, histologically confirmed colorectal adenocarcinomas, and controls were 393 patients admitted to hospital for a wide spectrum of acute, non-neoplastic disorders. Higher social class, based on occupation of the head of the household, was significantly associated with colorectal cancer risk: the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were 1.9 (1.2-2.9) for intermediate and 2.0 (1.2-3.4) for the highest as compared to the lowest social class individuals. When compared with subjects whose BMI was<25 kg/m2, the OR was 1.1 (0.7-1.6) for those with BMI 25 to 29 kg/m2, and 1.3 (0.7-2.3) for those ≥ 30. In comparison with alcohol abstainers, the OR was 2.8 (1.6-5.1) for drinkers, and there was a significant trend in risk with dose. The association was observed with wine (the most common alcoholic beverage in Argentina), as well as for beer and spirits. The consumption of coffee, mate and tea was not significantly related to colorectal cancer, but the ORs were below unity (0.9 (0.7-1.3) for coffee, 0.9 (0.6-1.5) for mate and 0.8 (0.6-1.2) for tea drinkers). The relationship between social class, alcohol drinking and colorectal cancer were consistent across strata of sex and age. This study confirms that colorectal cancer has positive social class correlates. The association with alcohol drinking is apparently stronger than previously reported, and may be due to the role of chance and/or peculiar correlates of alcohol drinking in this Argentinean population
Tracking factors modulating cytoplasmic incompatibilities in the mosquito Culex pipiens

Wolbachia are maternally inherited endosymbiotic bacteria that infect many arthropod species and may induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), resulting in abortive embryonic development. One Wolbachia host, Culex pipiens complex mosquitoes, displays high levels of variability in both CI crossing types (cytotypes) and DNA markers. We report here an analysis of 14 mosquito strains, containing 13 Wolbachia variants, and with 13 different cytotypes. Cytotypes were Wolbachia‐dependent, as antibiotic treatment rendered all strains tested compatible. Cytotype distributions were independent of geographical distance between sampling sites and host subspecies, suggesting that Wolbachia does not promote a reproductive isolation depending on these parameters. Backcross analysis demonstrated a mild restoring effect of the nuclear genome, indicating that CI is mostly cytoplasmically determined for some crosses. No correlation was found between the phenotypic and genotypic variability of 16 WO prophage and transposon markers, except for the WO prophage Gp15 gene, which encodes a protein similar to a bacterial virulence factor. However, Gp15 is partially correlated with CI expression, suggesting that it could be just linked to a CI gene.
Effects of Attention and Background Verbal Stimuli on Event‐Related Potentials to Tone Pips in Humans

Abstract: The effects of attention and background verbal stimuli on event‐related potentials (ERPs) following tone pips were assessed under four conditions: tone pips presented alone when attending and ignoring the tones and tone pips plus verbal stimuli when attending the tones and attending the verbal stimuli. The data were quantified in terms of the N1‐P2 amplitude and the similarity (correlation) between ERPs in corresponding placements over the two hemispheres. The main results were that attention influenced the ERP amplitude only with the verbal stimuli, that interhemispheric similarity was greatest with the tones only, and that similarity was greater under the tone plus verbal stimuli condition during tone‐attention instructions.