Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Decrease in Proportion of CD19+CD24hiCD27+ B Cells and Impairment of Their Suppressive Function in Graves’ Disease

IL-10-producing B cells (B10 cells) have been shown to play a suppressive role in the peripheral blood of humans, with their numbers and function altered in several autoimmune diseases. However, the role of B10 cells in Graves’ disease (GD) remains unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that B10 cells in human peripheral blood belonged to a CD24hiCD27+ B cell subpopulation. The proportion of B10 cells along with the CD19+CD24hiCD27+ B cell subset was significantly lower in new-onset patients compared with healthy individuals. In recovered patients, these proportions were restored to levels similar to those seen in healthy individuals. Additionally, we found that CD19+CD24hiCD27+ B cells from healthy individuals inhibited proliferation and TNF-α production of CD4+ T cells via an IL-10–independent pathway. They also inhibited IFN-γ production by CD4+ T cells, through an IL-10–dependent pathway. In contrast, their suppressive function on CD4+ T cell proliferation and cytokine production was impaired in new-onset and recovered patients compared with healthy individuals. Our study provides evidence that CD19+CD24hiCD27+ B cells may possess the capacity to downregulate immune responses, partially by production of IL-10 in human peripheral blood. Impairment of their immunosuppressive function may contribute to GD pathogenesis and relapse.
Eager Data Transfer Mechanism for Reducing Communication Latency in User-Level Network Protocols

Abstract: Clusters have become a popular alternative for building high-performance parallel computing systems. Today’s high-performance system area network (SAN) protocols such as VIA and IBA significantly reduce user-to-user communication latency by implementing protocol stacks outside of operating system kernel. However, emerging parallel applications require a significant improvement in communication latency. Since the time required for transferring data between host memory and network interface (NI) make up a large portion of overall communication latency, the reduction of data transfer time is crucial for achieving low-latency communication. In this paper, Eager Data Transfer (EDT) mechanism is proposed to reduce the time for data transfers between the host and network interface. The EDT employs cache coherence interface hardware to directly transfer data between the host and NI. An EDT-based network interface was modeled and simulated on the Linux-based, complete system simulation environment, Linux/SimOS. Our simulation results show that the EDT approach significantly reduces the data transfer time compared to DMA-based approaches. The EDT-based NI attains 17% to 38% reduction in user-to-user message time compared to the cache-coherent DMA-based NIs for a range of message sizes (64 bytes ~ 4 Kbytes) in a SAN environment.
Plant foods and differences between colon and rectal cancers

A case–control study on plant food intake and its role in the risk of colon and rectal cancers was carried out in Montevideo, Uruguay. Four hundred and eighty-four (484) cases of colorectal cancer and 1452 controls were frequency matched on age, sex, residence and urban/rural status. Among cases, 260 patients had colon cancer whereas 224 had rectal tumours. Controls had non-neoplastic conditions. Both cases and controls were interviewed in the four major hospitals in Montevideo shortly after admittance for diagnosis or treatment. The questionnaire included a section on frequency of foods, which included 64 items, in particular, queries on 18 vegetables, 10 fruits and 6 cereal dishes were included. Thus, the amount of plant foods consumed was complete and included the main plant foods in the Uruguayan diet. The analysis showed that rectal cancer displayed inverse associations with total plant foods, total vegetables, cooked vegetables, potatoes and legumes. When data were stratified by tumour site and sex, only men showed a protective effect of plant foods (odds ratio (OR) of rectal cancer for men 0.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.2–0.7). In contrast, women with rectal carcinoma were not associated with plant food intake. It can be concluded that plant foods are protective factors for men afflicted with colorectal cancer but that plant food intake is not associated with risk in women. This is, at least in part, due to the high risk associated with bread intake in this gender.
Heated, Humidified High-Flow Nasal Cannula Versus Nasal CPAP for Respiratory Support in Neonates

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Heated, humidified high-flow nasal cannula (HHHFNC) is commonly used as a noninvasive mode of respiratory support in the NICU. The safety and efficacy of HHHFNC have not been compared with other modes of noninvasive support in large randomized trials. The objective was to assess the efficacy and safety of HHHFNC compared with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) for noninvasive respiratory support in the NICU. METHODS: Randomized, controlled, unblinded noncrossover trial in 432 infants ranging from 28 to 42 weeks’ gestational age with planned nCPAP support, as either primary therapy or postextubation. The primary outcome was defined as a need for intubation within 72 hours of applied noninvasive therapy. RESULTS: There was no difference in early failure for HHHFNC (23/212 [10.8%]) versus nCPAP (18/220 [8.2%]; P = .344), subsequent need for any intubation (32/212 [15.1%] vs 25/220 [11.4%]; P = .252), or in any of several adverse outcomes analyzed, including air leak. HHHFNC infants remained on the study mode significantly longer than nCPAP infants (median: 4 vs 2 days, respectively; P < .01), but there were no differences between study groups for days on supplemental oxygen (median: 10 vs 8 days), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (20% vs 16%), or discharge from the hospital on oxygen (19% vs 18%). CONCLUSIONS: Among infants ≥28 weeks’ gestational age, HHHFNC appears to have similar efficacy and safety to nCPAP when applied immediately postextubation or early as initial noninvasive support for respiratory dysfunction.
Effective fault localization techniques for concurrent software

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I must express my utmost gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Mary Jean Harrold, for her unlimited support. Mary Jean helped me in all aspects of research from finding a research topic to writing a good research paper. Also, she gave me advice to be a good researcher as well as a good person. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Richard Vuduc. Rich has been a good research mentor from the early stage of my Ph.D. After Mary Jean's passing, he graciously took me as his student and guided me to finish the Ph.D. journey. Naik, and Milos Prvulovic, for their useful comments to complete this research. Especially , I thank Mark for giving me an opportunity to work at a research lab and for showing me his outlook to research. advice has helped me since even when I struggled during my Ph.D.
Antiangiogenic and Antitumoral Activity of Phenyl-3-(2-Chloroethyl)Ureas

The development of new anticancer agents with lower toxicity, higher therapeutic index, and weaker tendency to induce resistant phenotypes in tumor cells is a continuous challenge for the scientific community. Toward that end, we showed previously that a new class of soft alkylating agents designed as phenyl-3-(2-chloroethyl)ureas (CEUs) inhibits tumor cell growth in vitro and that their efficiency is not altered by clinically relevant mechanisms of resistance such as overexpression of multidrug resistance proteins, increase in intracellular concentration of glutathione and/or glutathione S-transferase activity, alteration of topoisomerase II, and increased DNA repair. Mechanistic studies have showed recently that the cytotoxic activity of several CEUs was mainly related to the disruption of microtubules. Here, we present results supporting our assumption that 4-tert-butyl-[3-(2-chloroethyl)ureido]phenyl (tBCEU) (and its bioisosteric derivative 4-iodo-[3-(2-chloroethyl)ureido]phenyl (ICEU) are potent antimicrotubule agents both in vitro and in vivo. They covalently bind to β-tubulin, leading to a microtubule depolymerization phenotype, consequently disrupting the actin cytoskeleton and altering the nuclear morphology. Accordingly, tBCEU and ICEU also inhibited the migration and proliferation of endothelial and tumor cells in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. It is noteworthy that ICEU efficiently blocked angiogenesis and tumor growth in three distinct animal models: (a) the Matrigel plug angiogenesis assay; (b) the CT-26 tumor growth assay in mice; and (c) the chick chorioallantoic membrane tumor assay. In addition, we present evidence that CEU cytotoxicity is unaffected by additional resistance mechanisms impeding tumor response to DNA alkylating agents such as cisplatin, namely the cell adhesion mediated-drug resistance mechanism, which failed to influence the cytocidal activity of CEUs. On the basis of the apparent innocuousness of CEUs, on their ability to circumvent many classical and recently described tumor cell resistance mechanisms, and on their specific biodistribution to organs of the gastrointestinal tract, our results suggest that CEUs represent a promising new class of anticancer agents.
Estimating current derivatives for sensorless motor drive applications

The PWM current derivative technique for sensorless control of AC machines requires current derivative measurements under certain PWM vectors. This is often not possible under narrow PWM vectors due to high frequency (HF) oscillations which affect the current and current derivative responses. In previous work, researchers extended the time that PWM vectors were applied to the machine for to a threshold known as the minimum pulse width (tmin), in order to allow the HF oscillations to decay and a derivative measurement to be obtained. This resulted in additional distortion to the motor current New experimental results demonstrate that an artificial neural network (ANN) can be used to estimate derivatives using measurements from a standard current sensor before the HF oscillations have fully decayed. This reduces the minimum pulse width required and can significantly reduce the additional current distortion and torque ripple.
The mechanism of pollinator specificity between two sympatric fig varieties: a combination of olfactory signals and contact cues.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Pollinator specificity facilitates reproductive isolation among plants, and mechanisms that generate specificity influence species boundaries. Long-range volatile attractants, in combination with morphological co-adaptations, are generally regarded as being responsible for maintaining extreme host specificity among the fig wasps that pollinate fig trees, but increasing evidence for breakdowns in specificity is accumulating. The basis of host specificity was examined among two host-specific Ceratosolen fig wasps that pollinate two sympatric varieties of Ficus semicordata, together with the consequences for the plants when pollinators entered the alternative host variety. METHODS The compositions of floral scents from receptive figs of the two varieties and responses of their pollinators to these volatiles were compared. The behaviour of the wasps once on the surface of the figs was also recorded, together with the reproductive success of figs entered by the two Ceratosolen species. KEY RESULTS The receptive-phase floral scents of the two varieties had different chemical compositions, but only one Ceratosolen species displayed a preference between them in Y-tube trials. Specificity was reinforced at a later stage, once pollinators were walking on the figs, because both species preferred to enter figs of their normal hosts. Both pollinators could enter figs of both varieties and pollinate them, but figs with extra-varietal pollen were more likely to abort and contained fewer seeds. Hybrid seeds germinated at normal rates. CONCLUSIONS Contact cues on the surface of figs have been largely ignored in previous studies of fig wasp host preferences, but together with floral scents they maintain host specificity among the pollinators of sympatric F. semicordata varieties. When pollinators enter atypical hosts, post-zygotic factors reduce but do not prevent the production of hybrid offspring, suggesting there may be gene flow between these varieties.
Electrical Characteristics of SCR - based ESD Device for I/O and Power Rail Clamp in 0.35um Process

This paper presents a SCR-based ESD protection devices for I/O clamp and power rail clamp, respectably. These devices have a low trigger voltage and high holding voltage characteristics than conventional SCR device. These devices are fabricated by using 0.35um BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) processes. These devices were validated using a TLP system. From the experimental results, the device for I/O ESD clamp has a trigger voltage of 5.8V. Also, the device for power rail ESD clamp has a holding voltage of 7.7V. Keywords—ESD (Electro-Static Discharge), ESD protection device, SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier), Latch-up
Comparison of satisfaction rates and erectile function in patients treated with sildenafil, intracavernous prostaglandin E1 and penile implant surgery for erectile dysfunction in urology practice.

PURPOSE We compared erectile function status and satisfaction rates in patients who received treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED) with sildenafil, intracavernous prostaglandin E1 (ICI) and penile implant surgery (IPP). MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 138 consecutive patients who received treatment for ED between April 2000 and April 2001 were considered candidates for study. Mean followup was 19.54 months. Of the patients 27 were not available for followup and 26 were not on any form of treatment. Of the patients receiving treatment for ED 85 were administered the Erectile Dysfunction Inventory for Treatment Satisfaction (EDITS) questionnaire and the Erectile Function Domain (EFD) of the International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire. Three treatment groups were identified, including 31 patients on sildenafil citrate, 22 on ICI and 32 who underwent IPP. Mean total EDITS, EDITS Index and EFD scores in the 3 groups were considered for statistical evaluation. RESULTS There was no statistical difference in the total EDITS (25.59 versus 27.06, p = 0.48), EDITS Index (58.16 versus 61.15, p = 0.49) or EFD (22.91 versus 20.26, p = 0.12) score between the groups on ICI and sildenafil citrate, respectively. Total EDITS, EDITS Index and EFD scores were significantly higher in patients who underwent IPP than those on sildenafil citrate (36.09 versus 27.06, p <0.001, 82.03 versus 61.51, p <0.001 and 27.88 versus 20.26, p <0.001, respectively). Total EDITS, EDITS Index and EFD scores were significantly higher in patients who underwent IPP than those on ICI (36.09 versus 25.59, 82.03 versus 58.16 and 27.88 versus 22.91, respectively, all p <0.001). CONCLUSIONS At a mean followup of 19.54 months patients who underwent penile implant surgery had significantly better erectile function and treatment satisfaction than those receiving sildenafil citrate and intracavernous prostaglandin E1.
Distribution of voltage‐gated potassium and hyperpolarization‐activated channels in sensory afferent fibers in the rat carotid body

The chemosensory glomus cells of the carotid body (CB) detect changes in O2 tension. Carotid sinus nerve fibers, which originate from peripheral sensory neurons located within the petrosal ganglion, innervate the CB. Release of transmitter from glomus cells activates the sensory afferent fibers to transmit information to the nucleus of the solitary tract in the brainstem. The ion channels expressed within the sensory nerve terminals play an essential role in the ability of the terminal to initiate action potentials in response to transmitter‐evoked depolarization. However, with a few exceptions, the identity of ion channels expressed in these peripheral nerve fibers is unknown. This study addresses the expression of voltage‐gated channels in the sensory fibers with a focus on channels that set the resting membrane potential and regulate discharge patterns. By using immunohistochemistry and fluorescence confocal microscopy, potassium channel subunits and HCN (hyperpolarization‐activated) family members were localized both in petrosal neurons that expressed tyrosine hydroxylase and in the CSN axons within the carotid body. Channels contributing to resting membrane potential, including HCN2 responsible in part for Ih current and the KCNQ2 and KCNQ5 subunits thought to underlie the neuronal “M current,” were identified in the sensory neurons and their axons innervating the carotid body. In addition, the results presented here demonstrate expression of several potassium channels that shape the action potential and the frequency of discharge, including Kv1.4, Kv1.5, Kv4.3, and KCa (BK). The role of these channels should be considered in interpretation of the fiber discharge in response to perturbation of the carotid body environment. J. Comp. Neurol. 510:367–377, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Measuring Educators’ Perceptions of Their Skills Relative to Response to Intervention

The Perceptions of RtI Skills Survey is a self-report measure that assesses educators’ perceptions of their data-based problem-solving skills—a critical element of many Response-to-Intervention (RtI) models. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate the underlying factor structure of this tool. Educators from 68 (n = 2,397) and 60 (n = 1,961) schools in a southeastern state participated during the spring of 2008 and spring of 2010, respectively. Results supported a correlated three-factor model with the following dimensions: Perceptions of RtI Skills Applied to Academic Content, Perceptions of RtI Skills Applied to Behavior Content, and Perceptions of Data Display Skills. Internal consistency estimates for all factors exceeded . 90. In addition, significant associations between factor scores and data-based problem-solving fidelity at Tiers I and II were found. Implications for educators facilitating RtI implementation are discussed.
Biological Science Misconceptions AmongstTeachers And Primary Students In Jordan:Diagnosis And Treatment

This study was conducted to identify and treat misconceptions in biological science content amongst teachers and primary stage students in Jordan during the scholastic year 2002/2003. The qualitative approach was used in collecting and analysing data. This study emerged from classroom observations during a preservice science method course in the teacher education program offered at the University of Jordan in 2001/2002. Close observations indicated that teachers and primary students have many biological misconceptions that should be identified and treated properly. Results showed that students and teachers were accommodating many biological misconceptions in all topics covered by this study. Many conclusions were derived from these study findings, and based on these findings, it was recommended that pre-service teacher education programs should be reconstructed so that they account for diagnosing and treating biological misconceptions.
Comparison of Comfort and Effectiveness of Total Face Mask and Oronasal Mask in Noninvasive Positive Pressure Ventilation in Patients with Acute Respiratory Failure: A Clinical Trial

Background. There is a growing controversy about the use of oronasal masks (ONM) or total facemask (TFM) in noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV), so we designed a trial to compare the uses of these two masks in terms of effectiveness and comfort. Methods. Between February and November 2014, a total of 48 patients with respiratory failure were studied. Patients were randomized to receive NPPV via ONM or TFM. Data were recorded at 60 minutes and six and 24 hours after intervention. Patient comfort was assessed using a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using t-test and chi-square test. Repeated measures ANOVA and Mann–Whitney U test were used to compare clinical and laboratory data. Results. There were no differences in venous blood gas (VBG) values between the two groups (P > 0.05). However, at six hours, TFM was much more effective in reducing the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2) (P = 0.04). Patient comfort and acceptance were statistically similar in both groups (P > 0.05). Total time of NPPV was also similar in the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions. TFM was superior to ONM in acute phase of respiratory failure but not once the patients were out of acute phase.
Comparison of 2-bitstream polarization-MIMO performance of 2 and 4-port bowtie antennas for LTE in random-LOS

We evaluate the performance of a dual-polarized wideband antenna in terms of polarization-MIMO in Random-LOS for two different modes of operation: 2 and 4-port excited mode. The 2-port mode was obtained by differential excitation of two opposite ports of the 4-port design by using two baluns. The Zero-Forcing receiver throughput is evaluated based on the Probability of Detection of two bitstreams when orthogonal polarizations provide the MIMO subchannels. Assuming a uniform distribution for the Angle of Arrivals and orthogonally polarized waves incident on the antennas, the overall PoD over coverage cones of 30°, 60° and 90° are presented. The 2-bitstream multiplexing MIMO efficiency defined at the 95% Probability of Detection is evaluated for the two modes of operation at different frequencies and for different coverage cones. The 2-bitstream coverage pattern of the antenna for the two modes are plotted over the range of Angles-of-Arrival (AoA), by choosing fixed polarization (horizontal and vertical) for the incoming waves. The coverage pattern is significantly degraded for the 2-port mode, in particular in the middle of the band.
CTLA-4 -1722T/C Polymorphism and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Susceptibility: A Meta-analysis Involving Ten Separate Studies

Cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) -1722T/C polymorphism has been identified as a susceptibile gene for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but studies are inconsistent. To better assess the association between CTLA-4 -1722T/C polymorphism and SLE, a meta-analysis was performed, including 10 studies, total of 1 387 patients and 1 617 controls. Overall, the CTLA-4 -1722T/C polymorphism was significantly associated with SLE susceptibility (T VS C: OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 0.86–1.60, P = 0.304; T/T VS C/C: OR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.09–3.39, P = 0.024; T/C VS C/C: OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 0.91–2.49, P = 0.114; T/T VS T/C: OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 0.95–1.75, P = 0.107). When stratified by ethnicity, the CTLA-4 -1722T/C polymorphism was associated with SLE only in Asians (T VS C: OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.10–1.96, P = 0.010; T/T VS C/C: OR = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.13–3.85, P = 0.018; T/C VS C/C: OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 0.87–2.69, P = 0.141; T/T VS T/C: OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 0.97–2.09, P = 0.070). In summary, the CTLA-4 -1722T/C polymorphism confers to SLE risk, especially in Asians.
Real-time sliding mode control for a doubly fed induction generator

This paper proposes a control scheme based on the block control technique using sliding modes, for a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) prototype connected to an infinity bus. The DFIG is widely used as a wind generator; it allows the rotor speed to vary while synchronizing the stator directly to a fixed frequency power system. The generation scheme for the DFIG has one back-to-back PWM voltage-source converter connected between the rotor and the electrical grid. The rotor side converter (RSC) is connected via a dc link to the grid side converter (GSC), which is in turn connected to the stator terminals directly or through a step-up transformer. A block control scheme for the RSC is proposed to control the electric torque and the reactive power independently. The variables to be controlled by the GSC are the dc voltage in the dc link and the reactive power in the step-up terminals. The performance of the control scheme proposed is illustrated via real-time implementation in a 1/4HP DFIG prototype.