Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risk factors for avascular bone necrosis in systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE To study the predictive factors for avascular necrosis (AVN) of bone in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHOD The records of 38 SLE patients who developed clinically apparent AVN during the course of their disease were reviewed. Information on clinical presentation, corticosteroid usage and autoantibody profiles was obtained, and comparison was made between these patients and 143 consecutive control SLE patients who did not have AVN. RESULTS The point prevalence of AVN in our SLE population was 12%. Patients with AVN, when compared with controls, had a significantly higher incidence of neurological disease (39% vs 14%; P < 0.001) and Cushingoid body habitus after steroid treatment (79% vs 53%; P = 0.004). The highest cumulative prednisolone dose in 1 and 4 months was significantly higher in the AVN group than the controls (1.8 vs 1.1 and 4.5 vs 2.8 g, respectively; P < 0.01 in both) and showed a linear trend with the incidence of AVN (chi2 test for trend, P < 0.01 in both). Lupus anticoagulant was associated with AVN (P = 0.02, odds ratio 2.88 [1.14-7.28]). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the highest cumulative prednisolone dose administered in 4 months, the maximum and mean daily prednisolone dosage, and the lupus anticoagulant were independent risk factors for AVN. CONCLUSIONS Corticosteroid remains the major predisposing factor for AVN in SLE. Patients who require an initial high-dose steroid for disease control are at risk of AVN, especially if they are positive for the lupus anticoagulant or develop Cushingoid habitus after steroid treatment. High-risk patients should be closely monitored so that early AVN can be diagnosed by sensitive techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging and radioisotope bone scanning.
Quantum oscillations in the surface-acoustic-wave attenuation caused by a two-dimensional electron system.

The interaction of surface acoustic ~aves with a two-dimensional electron system is investigated on GaAs/Ga~ „Al„As heterojunctions at low temperatures ( T 4.2 K) and high magnetic fields ( ~ 10 T). Surface acoustic waves are propagated through the heterojunction containing a highmobility two-dimensional electron gas and situated between the emitting and receiving transducers. The interaction between the two-dimensional electron system and the surface acoustic wave produces strong quantum oscillations in the sound attenuation and the sound velocity which can be quantitatively explained.
Please Scroll down for Article Communication Monographs a Meta-analysis of Research on Inoculation Theory a Meta-analysis of Research on Inoculation Theory

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. A meta-analysis of 54 cases testing the effectiveness of inoculation theory at conferring resistance and examining the mechanisms of the theory was conducted. The analyses revealed inoculation messages to be superior to both supportive messages and no-treatment controls at conferring resistance. Additionally, the results revealed refutational same and refutational different preemptions to be equally effective at reducing attitude change. However, the data were not consistent with some predictions made in narrative reviews of inoculation. No significant increase in resistance as a function of threat or involvement was found. Further, instead of a curvilinear effect for delay on resistance, the point estimates from our meta-analysis revealed equivalent resistance between immediate and moderate delays between inoculation and attack, with a decay in resistance after two weeks. Research on resistance to persuasion and attitude change is central to fully understanding social influence. In their review of attitude research, Eagly and Chaiken note that, ''explaining why people are so often effective at resisting efforts to change their strong attitudes remains one of the core issues of attitude theory'' (1993, p. 680). Resistance to persuasive messages and attitude change has been a longstanding topic of interest among scholars of social influence (McGuire, 1961a, 1961b), and examining the effectiveness of various methods of inducing resistance has not diminished in recent years (see, e.g., Tormala, 2008). McGuire's (1961a, 1961b) inoculation theory, in particular, has received renewed attention in the past biological metaphor to describe an approach for conferring resistance to persuasive messages. Through exposing individuals to messages containing a weakened argument against an attitude they hold, it is possible to ''inoculate'' the individuals against future attacks on the attitude (McGuire, 1961a,b; McGuire & Papageorgis, 1961). To date, a relatively substantial amount of …
The Persian version of the Berg Balance Scale: inter and intra-rater reliability and construct validity in elderly adults

Purpose: As a well-known measure for quantifying functional mobility in elderly persons, Berg Balance Scale (BBS) was used in the present study to evaluate its psychometric properties among a sample of 106 elderly individuals speaking Persian language. Method: After forward-backward translation process, videotapes were recorded from all participants while performing 14 tasks of the BBS. The volunteers were also asked to perform the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test at the same session. To determine inter and intra-rater reliability, the videotapes were viewed by two experienced therapists while one of the raters assessed the videotaped performance of the subjects on a second occasion. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients (95% confidence interval) of 0.93 (0.87 0.96) and 0.95 (0.92 0.97) were obtained for inter and intra-rater reliability, respectively. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.62 which is marginally lower than the cut-off point of 0.70. Furthermore, there were no ceiling and floor effects for the Persian version. In terms of construct validity, the BBS had a negative and strong correlation with the TUG (r = −0.74, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Acceptable levels of intra and inter-rater reliability with a moderate internal consistency and high validity were demonstrated for the Persian version of BBS. Implications for Rehabilitation The results on psychometric properties of the Persian BBS are comparable with the Italian, Brazilian, Norwegian, Turkish and Taiwanese versions of BBS. The Persian BBS seems to be a reproducible and standardized clinical instrument for use in community-dwelling elderly population. The Persian BBS can be used in geriatrics clinical settings and future outcome researches to assess balance abilities of Iranian older adults.
High-Frequency Patterns in the Abundance of Benthic Species near a Cold-Seep – An Internet Operated Vehicle Application

Three benthic megafaunal species (i.e. sablefish Anoplopoma fimbria; pacific hagfish Eptatretus stoutii and a group of juvenile crabs) were tested for diel behavioral patterns at the methane hydrates site of Barkley Canyon (890 m depth), off Vancouver Island (BC, Canada). Fluctuations of animal counts in linear video-transects conducted with the Internet Operated Deep-Sea Crawler “Wally” in June, July and December of 2013, were used as proxy of population activity rhythms. Count time series and environmental parameters were analyzed under the hypothesis that the environmental conditioning of activity rhythms depends on the life habits of particular species (i.e. movement type and trophic level). Non-linear least squares modeling of biological time series revealed significant diel periods for sablefish in summer and for hagfish and crabs in December. Combined cross-correlation and redundancy (RDA) analyses showed strong relationships among environmental fluctuations and detected megafauna. In particular, sablefish presence during summer months was related to flow magnitude, while the activity of pacific hagfish and juvenile crabs in December correlated with change in chemical parameters (i.e. chlorophyll and oxygen concentrations, respectively). Waveform analyses of animal counts and environmental variables confirmed the phase delay during the 24 h cycle. The timing of detection of sablefish occurred under low flow velocities, a possible behavioral adaptation to the general hypoxic conditions. The proposed effect of chlorophyll concentrations on hagfish counts highlights the potential role of phytodetritus as an alternative food source for this opportunistic feeder. The juvenile crabs seemed to display a cryptic behavior, possibly to avoid predation, though this was suppressed when oxygen levels were at a minimum. Our results highlight the potential advantages such mobile observation platforms offer in multiparametric deep-sea monitoring in terms of both spatial and temporal resolution and add to the vastly understudied field of diel rhythms of deep-sea megafauna.
Fast ferrous heme–NO oxidation in nitric oxide synthases

During catalysis, the heme in nitric oxide synthase (NOS) binds NO before releasing it to the environment. Oxidation of the NOS ferrous heme–NO complex by O2 is key for catalytic cycling, but the mechanism is unclear. We utilized stopped‐flow methods to study the reaction of O2 with ferrous heme–NO complexes of inducible and neuronal NOS enzymes. We found that the reaction does not involve heme–NO dissociation, but instead proceeds by a rapid direct reaction of O2 with the ferrous heme–NO complex. This behavior is novel and may distinguish heme–thiolate enzymes, such as NOS, from related heme proteins.
The Super-Kamiokande detector

Super-Kamiokande is the world’s largest water Cherenkov detector, with net mass 50,000 tons. During the period April, 1996 to July, 2001, Super-Kamiokande I collected 1678 live-days of data, observing neutrinos from the Sun, Present address: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA. Present address: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. Present address: MIT Lincoln Labs, Lexington, MA 02420, USA. Present address: Department of Physics, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA. S. Fukuda et al. / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 501 (2003) 418–462 419
Recent shallow moonquake and impact‐triggered boulder falls on the Moon: New insights from the Schrödinger basin

Shallow moonquakes are thought to be of tectonic origin. However, the geologic structures responsible for these moonquakes are unknown. Here we report sites where moonquakes possibly occurred along young lobate scarps in the Schrödinger basin. Our analysis of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Chandrayaan‐1 images revealed four lobate scarps in different parts of the Schrödinger basin. The scarps crosscut small fresh impact craters (<10–30 m) suggesting a young age for the scarps. A 28 km long scarp (Scarp 1) yields a minimum age of 11 Ma based on buffered crater counting, while others are 35–82 Ma old. The topography of Scarp 1 suggests a range of horizontal shortening (10–30 m) across the fault. Two scarps are associated with boulder falls in which several boulders rolled and bounced on nearby slopes. A cluster of a large number of boulder falls near Scarp 1 indicates that the scarp was seismically active recently. A low runout efficiency of the boulders (~2.5) indicates low to moderate levels of ground shaking, which we interpret to be related to low‐magnitude moonquakes in the scarp. Boulder falls are also observed in other parts of the basin, where we mapped >1500 boulders associated with trails and bouncing marks. Their origins are largely controlled by recent impact events. Ejecta rays and secondary crater chains from a 14 km diameter impact crater traversed Schrödinger and triggered significant boulder falls about 17 Ma. Therefore, a combination of recent shallow moonquakes and impact events triggered the boulder falls in the Schrödinger basin.
Clinical Investigation of Allergic Rhinitis and Allied Conditions

Allergic and allergy-like rhinitis may be present as an isolated disease of the nose, or associated with symptoms from the bronchi, skin, and less often the gastro-intestinal tract. The first group is often referred to the otologist, who is concerned with nasal structure and surgery, while the second group is referred to the allergist, who usually focuses on allergy examination and immunotherapy. Because otologists are not always knowledgeable about the allergic aspects of rhinitis, and because allergists now and then treat a rhinitis patient without examination of the diseased mucosa, the diagnosis of these patients is not always made with due consideration to all the investigative methods available. The present article is an attempt to review the different aspects of the clinical examination of rhinitis patients. As it focusses on adult patients with the nose as the only organ affected, the paediatrician is also referred to other reviews (6, 21, 27). Because hay fever as a rule does not present diagnostic difficulties, this prevalent disease will not be discussed in detail.
Multiple Homing Pathways Used by Yeast Mitochondrial Group II Introns

ABSTRACT The yeast mitochondrial DNA group II introns aI1 and aI2 are retroelements that insert site specifically into intronless alleles by a process called homing. Here, we used patterns of flanking marker coconversion in crosses with wild-type and mutant aI2 introns to distinguish three coexisting homing pathways: two that were reverse transcriptase (RT) dependent (retrohoming) and one that was RT independent. All three pathways are initiated by cleavage of the recipient DNA target site by the intron-encoded endonuclease, with the sense strand cleaved by partial or complete reverse splicing, and the antisense strand cleaved by the intron-encoded protein. The major retrohoming pathway in standard crosses leads to insertion of the intron with unidirectional coconversion of upstream exon sequences. This pattern of coconversion suggests that the major retrohoming pathway is initiated by target DNA-primed reverse transcription of the reverse-spliced intron RNA and completed by double-strand break repair (DSBR) recombination with the donor allele. The RT-independent pathway leads to insertion of the intron with bidirectional coconversion and presumably occurs by a conventional DSBR recombination mechanism initiated by cleavage of the recipient DNA target site by the intron-encoded endonuclease, as for group I intron homing. Finally, some mutant DNA target sites shift up to 43% of retrohoming to another pathway not previously detected for aI2 in which there is no coconversion of flanking exon sequences. This new pathway presumably involves synthesis of a full-length cDNA copy of the inserted intron RNA, with completion by a repair process independent of homologous recombination, as found for the Lactococcus lactis Ll.LtrB intron. Our results show that group II intron mobility can occur by multiple pathways, the ratios of which depend on the characteristics of both the intron and the DNA target site. This remarkable flexibility enables group II introns to use different recombination and repair enzymes in different host cells.
Polycomb group protein EZH2‐mediated E‐cadherin repression promotes metastasis of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma

Enhancer of Zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is a critical component of the polycomb‐repressive complex 2 (PRC2) that regulates many essential biological processes, including embryogenesis and many developmental events. The oncogenic role of EZH2 has recently been implicated in several cancer types. In this study, we first confirmed that the over‐expression of EZH2 is a frequent event in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC). We further demonstrated that EZH2 over‐expression is correlated with advanced stages of the disease and is associated with lymph node metastasis. Statistical analysis revealed that EZH2 over‐expression was correlated with reduced overall survival. Furthermore, over‐expression of EZH2 was correlated with reduced expression of tumor suppressor gene E‐cadherin. These observations were confirmed in vitro, in which knockdown of EZH2‐induced E‐cadherin expression and reduced cell migration and invasion. In contrast, ectopic transfection of EZH2 led to reduced E‐cadherin expression and enhanced cell migration and invasion. Furthermore, EZH2 may act on cell migration in part by suppressing the E‐cadherin expression. Taken together, these data suggest that EZH2 plays major roles in the progression of OTSCC, and may serve as a biomarker or therapeutic target for patients at risk of metastasis. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Learning in networks: An experimental study using stationary concepts

Our study analyzes theories of learning for strategic interactions in networks. Participants played two of the 2 x 2 games used by Selten and Chmura (2008) and in the comment by Brunner, Camerer and Goeree (2009). Every participant played against four neighbors and could choose a different strategy against each of them. The games were played in two network structures: a lattice and a circle. We compare our results with the predictions of different theories (Nash equilibrium, quantal response equilibrium, action-sampling equilibrium, payoff-sampling equilibrium, and impulse balance equilibrium) and the experimental results of Selten and Chmura (2008). One result is that the majority of players choose the same strategy against each neighbor. As another result we observe an order of predictive success for the stationary concepts that is different from the order shown by Selten and Chmura. This result supports our view that learning in networks is different from learning in random matching.
A genome-wide resource of cell cycle and cell shape genes of fission yeast

To identify near complete sets of genes required for the cell cycle and cell shape, we have visually screened a genome-wide gene deletion library of 4843 fission yeast deletion mutants (95.7% of total protein encoding genes) for their effects on these processes. A total of 513 genes have been identified as being required for cell cycle progression, 276 of which have not been previously described as cell cycle genes. Deletions of a further 333 genes lead to specific alterations in cell shape and another 524 genes result in generally misshapen cells. Here, we provide the first eukaryotic resource of gene deletions, which describes a near genome-wide set of genes required for the cell cycle and cell shape.
Ca2+ Influx through AMPA or Kainate Receptors Alone Is Sufficient to Initiate Excitotoxicity in Cultured Oligodendrocytes

Oligodendrocytes are vulnerable to excitotoxic insults mediated by AMPA receptors and by low and high affinity kainate receptors, a feature that is dependent on Ca(2+) influx. In the current study, we have analyzed the intracellular concentration of calcium [Ca(2+)](i) as well as the entry routes of this cation, upon activation of these receptors. Selective activation of either receptor type resulted in a substantial increase (up to fivefold) of [Ca(2+)](i), an effect which was totally abolished by the non-NMDA receptor antagonist CNQX or by removing Ca(2+) from the culture medium. Blockade of voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels with La(3+) or nifedipine, reduced the amplitude of the Ca(2+) current triggered by AMPA receptor activation by approximately 65%, but not that initiated by low and high affinity kainate receptors. In contrast, KB-R7943, an inhibitor of the plasma membrane Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchanger, solely attenuated the rise in [Ca(2+)](i) by approximately 25% due to activation of low affinity kainate receptors. However, oligodendroglial death by glutamate receptor overactivation was largely unaffected in the presence of La(3+) or KB-R7943. These findings indicate that Ca(2+) influx via AMPA and kainate receptors alone is sufficient to initiate cell death in oligodendrocytes, which does not require the entry of calcium via other routes such as voltage-activated calcium channels or the plasma membrane Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchanger.
NTT-UT Statistical Machine Translation in NTCIR-9 PatentMT

This paper describes details of the NTT-UT system in NTCIR- 9 PatentMT task. One of its key technology is system com- bination; the final translation hypotheses are chosen from n-bests by different SMT systems in a Minimum Bayes Risk (MBR) manner. Each SMT system includes different tech- nology: syntactic pre-ordering, forest-to-string translation, and using external resources for domain adaptation and tar- get language modeling.
Preparation and Evaluation of Inclusion Complex of the Lipid Lowering Drug Lovastatin with β-Cyclodextrin

Several attempts have been made to improve the solubility of water insoluble drugs. Over the years, inclusion complexation of drugs with ? -cyclodextrin has emerged as a viable attempt to improve the dissolution of water insoluble drugs. The aim of the present work was to improve the dissolution rate of lovastatin, a water insoluble drug, by inclusion complexation with ? -cyclodextrin. The stoichiometric ratio determined by phase solubility analysis for inclusion complexation of lovastatin with ? -cyclodextrin was 1:1. The solubility of lovastatin increased with increasing amount of ? -cyclodextrin in water. Gibbs free energy (? G tr °) values were all negative, indicating the spontaneous nature of lovastatin solubilization. Complexes of lovastatin were prepared with ? -cyclodextrin by various methods such as kneading, coevaporation and physical mixing. The complexes were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. These studies indicated the inclusion of lovastatin in the cavity of ? -cyclodextrin. The complexation resulted in a marked improvement in the solubility of lovastatin. The complex prepared by kneading method showed fastest and highest in vitro dissolution rate compared to the tablets of pure of lovastatin. Physical mixture of ? -cyclodextrin/lovastatin also showed significant improvement in the dissolution rate compared to pure lovastatin. Mean dissolution time (MDT) of lovastatin decreased significantly after preparation of complexes and physical mixture of lovastatin with ? -cyclodextrin. Similarity factor ( f 2 ) indicated significant difference between the release profiles of lovastatin from complexes and from pure lovastatin. Key words: Lovastatin, ? -cyclodextrin, inclusion complexation, in vitro dissolution studies. Dhaka Univ. J. Pharm. Sci. 6(1): 25-36, 2007 (June) The full text is of this article is available at the Dhaka Univ. J. Pharm. Sci. website