Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of soluble adhesion molecules in juvenile idiopathic arthritis between the active and remission stages

Objective: To determine the serum levels of soluble adhesion molecules in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), and to determine whether the levels of these molecules differ between active disease and remission in the same JIA subtype, and whether differences in these levels exist between controls and the three JIA subtypes. Methods: The serum levels of soluble E-selectin (sE-selectin) and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 40 patients with JIA (12 systemic, 13 polyarticular, and 15 oligoarticular) who had active disease or were in clinical remission and 16 healthy controls. Differences in the levels of adhesion molecules of the same JIA subtype during different disease activity were determined by the pairedt test, and differences between the disease and control groups were calculated by one way analysis of variance. A value p<0.01 was considered significant. Results: During the same disease stage (active or in remission), systemic JIA was associated with a significantly higher sE-selectin level than the oligoarticular JIA subtype, whereas this was not found for sICAM-1. Although the mean levels of sE-selectin and sICAM-1 in active systemic and polyarticular JIA were higher than those in remission, this did not reach statistical significance. The levels of sE-selectin and sICAM-1 of the three JIA subtypes, in both the active stage and clinical remission, were still significantly higher than in normal controls. Conclusions: Systemic JIA is associated with a higher sE-selectin level than oligoarticular JIA both in active disease and in clinical remission. This may explain why the morbidity of systemic JIA is greater than that of oligoarticular JIA—namely, owing to increased endothelial cell activation. As significantly higher levels of sE-selectin and sICAM-1 were found in the active and remission stages of the three JIA subtypes compared with those in the control group, JIA may recur even when clinical remission has been achieved.
Predicting bankruptcy in construction business: Traditional model validation and formulation of a new model

When predicting bankruptcy of a company basing on its financial statements, the line of business in which the company is operating plays a significant role in terms of prediction accuracy. This accuracy is particularly crucial to banks and businesses which realise sales mostly on credit. The failure to recognise a client’s or business partner’s financial difficulties or the threat of bankruptcy with sufficient accuracy could lead to significant losses. Bankruptcy prediction models are used for these purposes. Most of the models created have been dedicated to the branch of manufacturing, while the branch of construction is relatively neglected by the mainstream literature. Traditional bankruptcy prediction models cannot be used effectively due to specifics of construction business. The aim of this paper is to test the current accuracies of five selected bankruptcy models in predicting the bankruptcy of construction companies. An additional aim is to create a new model designed specifically for this branch. The research was conducted on the sample of Czech companies. The method of Receiver Operating Characteristic was applied as the measure of accuracy for testing the models. The model created during the course of this research achieved an accuracy higher by 3.6 to 8 percent than the traditional models tested.
Pharmacological Challenge Models in Clinical Drug Developmental Programs

Early phase clinical research for drug development requires the investigation of safety, tolerability and efficacy of novel compounds. The latter is hampered by the absence of the disorder in healthy volunteers, which is why challenge models are often applied in order to demonstrate ‘proof of pharmacology. ’ These challenge models can often be translatable from animal work and can inform the drug developer which dose, dosing regimen or application frequency should be selected prior to phase II studies in the target population. Furthermore, these challenge models represent well-controlled settings to perform activity screening of the compound. The following skin challenge models will be reviewed in this chapter: inflammation induced by Toll-like receptor agonists such as imiquimod, KLH challenge, UV-B irradiation and histamine.
An Indoor Fingerprinting Localization Approach for ZigBee Wireless Sensor Networks

Location tracking systems are increasingly becoming the focus of research in the field of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). Received Signal Strength (RSS)-based localization systems are at the forefront of tracking research applications. Radio location fingerprinting is one of the most promising indoor positioning approaches due to its powerful in terms of accuracy and cost. However, fingerprinting systems require the collection of a large number of reference points in the tracking area to achieve reasonable localization accuracy. In this paper, we propose a fingerprinting localization approach based on a RSS technique. The proposed system does not require gathering a large number of reference points and offers good localization accuracy indoors. The implemented approach is based on dividing the tracking area into subareas and assigning a unique feature to each subarea through ranging the RSS values from different reference points. In order to test the proposed system's efficiency, a number of real experiments have been conducted using Jennic sensor nodes.
Determination of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide yields in the mainstream smoke of selected international cigarettes

Objective: Survey of nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide (CO) smoke deliveries from 77 cigarette brands purchased in 35 countries was conducted using a standardised machine smoking method. The goal of this study was to determine regional variations and differences in the tar, nicotine, and CO smoke yields of a cigarette brand manufactured by a leading transnational corporation and of non-US locally popular cigarette brands. Design: The majority of the cigarettes were purchased in each of the participating countries by delegate members of the World Health Organization and forwarded to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for analysis. Smoke deliveries were determined using a standardised smoking machine method and subsequent gravimetric and gas chromatography analysis. Results: The smoke deliveries varied widely. Mainstream smoke deliveries varied from 6.8 to 21.6 mg tar/cigarette, 0.5 to 1.6 mg nicotine/cigarette, and 5.9 to 17.4 mg CO/cigarette. In addition to the smoke deliveries, the cigarettes were examined to determine physical parameters such as filter composition, length, and ventilation levels. Conclusion: Analysis of the smoke deliveries suggested that cigarettes from the Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and Western Pacific WHO regions tended to have higher tar, nicotine, and CO smoke deliveries than did brands from the European, American, or African WHO regions surveyed.
Congenital postural scoliosis.

plasma and urine testosterone incremental changes after 4 days ofHCG for all patients, suggesting either urine or plasma testosterone measurements under these conditions are suitable indices of testicular function. Basal levels of urine testosterone were no direct guide as to expected response to 4 days of HCG. Eight children with normal pubertal development on follow-up and 3 children with constitutional delayed puberty had base-line plasma testosterone and 4-hour levels after a single injection of HCG (1500 units), directly proportional to their maturational status (Tanner I-V). The less mature (Tanner I-II) had very low basal plasma testosterone levels which did not change significantly at 4 hours. Good responses 24 to 48 hours after the single injection ofHCG were, however, shown. This may be a useful altemative test of gonadal function to the 4-day stimulation test.
CoffeeStrainer: statically-checked constraints on the definition and use of types in Java

Usually, programming languages are used according to conventions and rules. Although general rules can be enforced by lint-like tools, there is a large class of rules that cannot be built into such tools because they result from particular design decisions or the reuse of existing software. This paper presents a system, called CoffeeStrainer, that statically checks programmer-specified constraints on Java programs. Unlike previous approaches, which only support constraints that apply to definitions of types, CoffeeStrainer additionally supports a second class of constraints which apply to all uses of a type. Both classes of constraints play an important role for object-oriented class libraries and frameworks, which often make assumptions on their correct use.
Pharmacological Assessment of M 1 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor-Gq / 11 Protein Coupling in Membranes Prepared from Postmortem Human Brain Tissue

Using a selective G q/11 protein antibody capture guanosine 5 -O-(3-[S]thio)triphosphate ([S]GTP S) binding approach, it has been possible to perform a quantitative pharmacological examination of the functional activity of the M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) in membranes prepared from human postmortem cerebral cortex. Oxotremorine-M caused a 2-fold increase in [S]GTP S-G q/11 binding with a pEC50 of 6.06 0.16 in Brodmann’s areas 23 and 25 that was almost completely inhibited by preincubation of membranes with the M1 mAChR subtype-selective antagonist muscarinic toxin-7. In addition, the orthosteric and allosteric agonists, xanomeline [3(3-hexyloxy-1,2,5-thiadiazol-4-yl)-1,2,5,6-tetrahydro1-methylpyridine] and AC-42 (4-n-butyl-1-[4-(2-methylphenyl)-4oxo-1-butyl]-piperidine hydrogen chloride), increased [S]GTP S-G q/11 binding, but with reduced intrinsic activities, inducing maximal responses that were 42 1 and 44 2% of the oxotremorine-M-induced response, respectively. These data indicate that the M1 receptor is the predominant mAChR subtype coupling to the G q/11 G protein in these brain regions and that it is possible to quantify the potency and intrinsic activity of full and partial M1 mAChR receptor agonists in postmortem human brain using a selective G q/11 protein antibody capture [ S]GTP S binding assay. Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) are widely expressed throughout the CNS. Five mAChR subtypes have been cloned (M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5) that can be subdivided into two distinct classes based on sequence homologies and signal transduction properties. The M1 mAChR (together with the M3 and M5 receptor subtypes) preferentially couples to Gq/11 proteins and stimulation of the inositol 1,4,5trisphosphate/Ca /diacylglycerol/protein kinase C signal transduction cascade (Caulfield and Birdsall, 1998). This mAChR subtype also activates the extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway (Berkeley et al., 2001) and modulates the activity of a diverse group of ion channels, including N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors and the M-current (Marino et al., 1998; Delmas and Brown, 2005). In contrast, M2 and M4 mAChRs signal through Gi/o proteins to inhibit adenylate cyclase activity and modulate a variety of other ion channels, e.g., N-type voltage-gated Ca channels (Caulfield and Birds-
Trans-fatty acids and cancer: the evidence reviewed

The present review comes from the authors of the recent Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) review Update on Trans Fatty Acids and Health, and focuses on assessing the strength of the evidence for a link between trans-fatty acid (trans-FA) intake and cancer. It evaluates a range of human ecological, case–control and prospective studies with trans-FA exposure assessed using either dietary assessment methods or trans-FA levels in tissues. Relevant animal studies are also presented in order to elucidate potential mechanisms. It concludes that there is weak and inconsistent evidence for a relationship between trans-FA and breast or colorectal cancer. Evidence for an association between trans-FA and prostate cancer is limited, but a recent large case–control study has shown a strong interaction between risk and trans-FA intake for the RNASEL QQ/RQ genotype that is present in about 35 % of the population. This potential association requires further investigation. The single study on non-Hodgkin's lymphoma reported a strong positive association, but only used a single assessment of dietary trans-FA made at the start of the study in 1980, and the significant changes in trans-FA intakes between then and the end of follow-up in 1994 limit the reliability of this observation. There is insufficient evidence to allow any differentiation between the effects of trans-FA from animal or vegetable origin on cancer risk.
High-throughput SNP-genotyping analysis of the relationships among Ponto-Caspian sturgeon species

Abstract Legally certified sturgeon fisheries require population protection and conservation methods, including DNA tests to identify the source of valuable sturgeon roe. However, the available genetic data are insufficient to distinguish between different sturgeon populations, and are even unable to distinguish between some species. We performed high-throughput single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-genotyping analysis on different populations of Russian (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii), Persian (A. persicus), and Siberian (A. baerii) sturgeon species from the Caspian Sea region (Volga and Ural Rivers), the Azov Sea, and two Siberian rivers. We found that Russian sturgeons from the Volga and Ural Rivers were essentially indistinguishable, but they differed from Russian sturgeons in the Azov Sea, and from Persian and Siberian sturgeons. We identified eight SNPs that were sufficient to distinguish these sturgeon populations with 80% confidence, and allowed the development of markers to distinguish sturgeon species. Finally, on the basis of our SNP data, we propose that the A. baerii-like mitochondrial DNA found in some Russian sturgeons from the Caspian Sea arose via an introgression event during the Pleistocene glaciation. In the present study, the high-throughput genotyping analysis of several sturgeon populations was performed. SNP markers for species identification were defined. The possible explanation of the baerii-like mitotype presence in some Russian sturgeons in the Caspian Sea was suggested.
A Case of Mexiletine-induced Hypersensitivity Syndrome Presenting as Eosinophilic Pneumonia

An 82-yr-old man was presented with fever and cough accompanied by generalized erythematous rash. He had taken mexiletine for 5 months, as he had been diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy and ventricular arrhythmia. Laboratory studies showed peripheral blood eosinophilia and elevated liver transaminase levels. Chest radiographs showed multiple nodular consolidations in both lungs. Biopsies of the lung and skin lesions revealed eosinophilic infiltration. After a thorough review of his medication history, mexiletine was suspected as the etiologic agent. After discontinuing the mexiletine and starting oral prednisolone, the patient improved, and the skin and lung lesions disappeared. Subsequently, mexiletine was confirmed as the causative agent based on a positive patch test. Drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome is a severe adverse reaction to drugs and results from treatment with anticonvulsants, allopurinol, sulfonamides, and many other drugs. Several cases of mexiletine-induced hypersensitivity syndrome have been reported in older Japanese males with manifestation of fever, rash, peripheral blood eosinophilia, liver dysfunction without other organ involvement. Here, we report a case of mexiletine-induced hypersensitivity syndrome which presented as eosinophilic pneumonia in a Korean male.
Negative Affect and Political Sensitivity in Crossed Categorization: Self-Reports versus EMG

We experimentally examined the effects of negative integral affect on preferences among the double in-group (ii), crossed (io and oi), and double out-group (oo) targets of the crossed categorization paradigm. We used insults from members of politically sensitive vs. non-sensitive out-group categories of a crossed target (Oi) to induce affect. Dependent measures included self-reports and a psycho-physiological measure of affect (facial electromyography, EMG). Under no insult, participants conformed to social desirability pressure and favorably evaluated targets with a politically sensitive out-group membership, whereas facial EMG measures indicated greater negativity toward those same targets. Negativity of self-report and facial EMG measures converged, however, when members of a politically sensitive out-group category had provided hostility-justifying insults.
Communication requirements for crash avoidance

Safety applications are a driving force behind VANET deployment. Automobile manufacturers, government organizations, and consortia of the two have been investigating using VANETs for safety applications. Though VANETs are in large part designed for safety applications, researchers do not yet know the communication requirements of VANET safety messages. As a result, protocol designers have relied on generic network success metrics, such as packet delivery ratio, to evaluate their protocols. However, a more useful metric is the ability of currently proposed VANET schemes (e.g., for authentication, power control, etc.) to allow vehicles to receive safety messages and warn their drivers sufficiently in advance of an accident so that the driver can avoid the accident. Besides the basic safety message service, researchers have proposed other VANET mechanisms and services including mix zones [2, 5] and silent periods [18, 8, 17] to enhance vehicle privacy, intelligent transportation systems [24], and commercial applications [12]. However, these applications face a similar question: will a VANET be able to support these services and still achieve the safety goals for which the VANET was designed? Previous attempts at answering the above questions have been made using small test beds without any collisions and using vehicle kinematics and message reception probabilities. However, each of these approaches lack the realism (i.e., actual crashes) and scale that VANETs will have. In this paper, we present our results from simulating two vehicular safety applications. We simulated crash scenarios and determined the probability that vehicles could avoid the crashes. Additionally, we measured the communication requirements needed for those probabilities.
Impact of nitrogen and potassium fertilisation levels and scheduling on â??Nulesâ? clementine variety yield and quality at southern Morocco

In this work, the impact of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K2O) fertilizers rates and application scheduling on “Nules” Clementine variety yield, size and quality was evaluated for two consecutive years (2014 and 2015). The experiment was carried out in a commercial citrus orchard located in Taroudant province in Morocco where a randomized complete block design was adopted. Among 6 treatment programs tested, the treatment N°6 appeared to be the most suitable as fertilization program for citrus clementine “Nules” grown under the semi arid climate of southern Morocco. This program is a combination of 240 kg/ha of N and 160 kg/ha of K2O scheduled as follow: Nitrogen 15% before bud initiation (BB), 30% between bud growth (BG) and full blooming (FB), 35% from FB to the physiological fruits dropping of June (PD), 20% between PD and fruit color changing (CC) and 0% from CC to the end of harvesting (EH). Potassium: 15% (BB), 20% (BG-FB), 15% (FB-PD), 25% (PD-CC) and 25% (CC-EH). Statistical analysis showed highly significant differences between the treatments. Treatment 6 showed the highest results in terms of fruit yield, size and juice content, whereas treatments 1 and 2 showed the lowest results respectively. However, no significant differences were recorded in term of total soluble solids and TSS/TA ratio even titrable acidity was higher in the case of treatment 6.
Boson Sampling on a Photonic Chip

Computing Power of Quantum Mechanics There is much interest in developing quantum computers in order to perform certain tasks much faster than, or that are intractable for, a classical computer. A general quantum computer, however, requires the fabrication and operation a number of quantum logic devices (see the Perspective by Franson). Broome et al. (p. 794, published online 20 December) and Spring et al. (p. 798, published online 20 December) describe experiments in which single photons and quantum interference were used to perform a calculation (the permanent of a matrix) that is very difficult on a classical computer. Similar to random walks, quantum walks on a graph describe the movement of a walker on a set of predetermined paths; instead of flipping a coin to decide which way to go at each point, a quantum walker can take several paths at once. Childs et al. (p. 791) propose an architecture for a quantum computer, based on quantum walks of multiple interacting walkers. The system is capable of performing any quantum operation using a subset of its nodes, with the size of the subset scaling favorably with the complexity of the operation. Optical circuits are used to demonstrate a quantum-enhanced calculation. [Also see Perspective by Franson] Although universal quantum computers ideally solve problems such as factoring integers exponentially more efficiently than classical machines, the formidable challenges in building such devices motivate the demonstration of simpler, problem-specific algorithms that still promise a quantum speedup. We constructed a quantum boson-sampling machine (QBSM) to sample the output distribution resulting from the nonclassical interference of photons in an integrated photonic circuit, a problem thought to be exponentially hard to solve classically. Unlike universal quantum computation, boson sampling merely requires indistinguishable photons, linear state evolution, and detectors. We benchmarked our QBSM with three and four photons and analyzed sources of sampling inaccuracy. Scaling up to larger devices could offer the first definitive quantum-enhanced computation.
JAK2 aberrations in childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia

JAK2 abnormalities may serve as target for precision medicines in pediatric B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL). In the current study we performed a screening for JAK2 mutations and translocations, analyzed the clinical outcome and studied the efficacy of two JAK inhibitors in primary BCP-ALL cells. Importantly, we identify a number of limitations of JAK inhibitor therapy. JAK2 mutations mainly occurred in the poor prognostic subtypes BCR-ABL1-like and non- BCR-ABL1-like B-other (negative for sentinel cytogenetic lesions). JAK2 translocations were restricted to BCR-ABL1-like cases. Momelotinib and ruxolitinib were cytotoxic in both JAK2 translocated and JAK2 mutated cells, although efficacy in JAK2 mutated cells highly depended on cytokine receptor activation by TSLP. However, our data also suggest that the effect of JAK inhibition may be compromised by mutations in alternative survival pathways and microenvironment-induced resistance. Furthermore, inhibitors induced accumulation of phosphorylated JAK2Y1007, which resulted in a profound re-activation of JAK2 signaling upon release of the inhibitors. This preclinical evidence implies that further optimization and evaluation of JAK inhibitor treatment is necessary prior to its clinical integration in pediatric BCP-ALL.