Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can Immunity to Breast Cancer Eliminate Residual Micrometastases?

An effective immune response has the potential for breast cancer sterilization with marked reduction in the potential for disease relapse. Adaptive type I immune cells uniquely have the capability of (i) cytotoxic T-cell activation and proliferation until all antigen expressing cells are eradicated, (ii) traversing endothelial barriers to penetrate tumor deposits wherever they occur, and (iii) immunologic memory, which allows the persistence of destructive immunity over the years it may take for breast cancer micrometastases to become clinically evident. Numerous recent investigations suggest that some breast cancers stimulate the type of immunity that results in a decreased risk of relapse. Moreover, the endogenous type I tumor microenvironment or type I immunity induced by drugs or biologic agents may improve response to standard therapies, further lowering the probability of disease recurrence. Clin Cancer Res; 19(23); 6398–403. ©2013 AACR.
Guidelines for the interpretation of the neonatal electrocardiogram. A task force of the European Society of Cardiology.

Department of Cardiology, University of Pavia and IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy; University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, U.S.A. ; The Children’s Heart Program of South Carolina, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, U.S.A. ; Pediatric Arrhythmias Center, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy; Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A. ; Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Hopital Necker Enfants Malades, Paris, France; Department of Paediatric Cardiology, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.
Safety and Efficacy of Laparoscopy-Assisted Gastrectomy after Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection for Early Gastric Cancer: A Retrospective Report

Background: This study aimed to determine the safety and effectiveness of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) after ESD. Methods: We reviewed patients with gastric cancer who underwent distal gastrectomy after non-curative ESD from May 2000 to July 2010, and classified them into LADG-ESD and open distal gastrectomy (ODG) after non-curative ESD (ODG-ESD). In addition, we analyzed the standard LADG (LADG-standard) during the same period. We retrospectively analyzed surgical outcomes and survival in these 3 groups. Pathological results after gastrectomy were compared between the LADG-ESD and ODG-ESD; Results: Sixty-one patients underwent distal gastrectomy after non-curative ESD. No differences in overall survival were found between the LADG-ESD and ODG-ESD. The average duration to surgery after ESD was 42.4 days. Although the average surgical duration and average length of hospital stay after surgery were longer in the LADG-ESD than in the ODG-ESD, number of LN dissections was statistically identical in these 2 groups. Operative complications in the LADG-ESD (16.0%) was higher than that in the LADG-standard (3.8% - 8.2%) but similar to that in the ODG-ESD (13.9%). Conclusion: The present study suggests that LADG contributes to the effectiveness of the treatment of choice for non-curative endoscopic resection.
An ex-vivo Human Intestinal Model to Study Entamoeba histolytica Pathogenesis

Amoebiasis (a human intestinal infection affecting 50 million people every year) is caused by the protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica. To study the molecular mechanisms underlying human colon invasion by E. histolytica, we have set up an ex vivo human colon model to study the early steps in amoebiasis. Using scanning electron microscopy and histological analyses, we have established that E. histolytica caused the removal of the protective mucus coat during the first two hours of incubation, detached the enterocytes, and then penetrated into the lamina propria by following the crypts of Lieberkühn. Significant cell lysis (determined by the release of lactodehydrogenase) and inflammation (marked by the secretion of pro-inflammatory molecules such as interleukin 1 beta, interferon gamma, interleukin 6, interleukin 8 and tumour necrosis factor) were detected after four hours of incubation. Entamoeba dispar (a closely related non-pathogenic amoeba that also colonizes the human colon) was unable to invade colonic mucosa, lyse cells or induce an inflammatory response. We also examined the behaviour of trophozoites in which genes coding for known virulent factors (such as amoebapores, the Gal/GalNAc lectin and the cysteine protease 5 (CP-A5), which have major roles in cell death, adhesion (to target cells or mucus) and mucus degradation, respectively) were silenced, together with the corresponding tissue responses. Our data revealed that the signalling via the heavy chain Hgl2 or via the light chain Lgl1 of the Gal/GalNAc lectin is not essential to penetrate the human colonic mucosa. In addition, our study demonstrates that E. histolytica silenced for CP-A5 does not penetrate the colonic lamina propria and does not induce the host's pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion.
The Selection of an Appropriate Count Data Model for Modelling Health Insurance and Health Care Demand: Case of Indonesia

We apply several estimators to Indonesian household data to estimate the relationship between health insurance and the number of outpatient visits to public and private providers. Once endogeneity of insurance is taken into account, there is a 63 percent increase in the average number of public visits by the beneficiaries of mandatory insurance for civil servants. Individuals’ decisions to make first contact with private providers is affected by private insurance membership. However, insurance status does not make any difference for the number of future outpatient visits.
THE CU-HTK MARCH 2000 HUB5E TRANSCRIPTION SYSTEM

This paper describes the Cambridge University HTK (CU-HTK) system developed for the NIST March 2000 evaluation of English conversational telephone speech transcription (Hub5E). A range of new features have been added to the HTK system used in the 1998 Hub5 evaluation, and the changes taken together have resulted in an 11% relative decrease in word error rate on the 1998 evaluation test set. Major changes include the use of maximum mutual information estimation in training as well as conventional maximum likelihood estimation; the use of a full variance transform for adaptation; the inclusion of unigram pronunciation probabilities; and word-level posterior probability estimation using confusion networks for use in minimum word error rate decoding, confidence score estimation and system combination. On the March 2000 Hub5 evaluation set the CU-HTK system gave an overall word error rate of 25.4%, which was the best performance by a statistically significant margin. This paper describes the new system features and gives the results of each processing stage for both the 1998 and 2000 evaluation sets.
Temperature effect on the heavy-ion induced Single-Event Transients propagation on a CMOS Bulk 0.18 µm inverters chain

In this paper, a study by device simulation of the heavy-ion induced Single-Event Transients (SET) is realized in the 218-418 K range in order to determine the temperature effect on a CMOS bulk 0.18 mum inverter. An investigation of the SET propagation though a 10-inverters logic chain is performed, and the threshold LET (LETth) required for unattenuated propagation through the inverters chain is determined. The LETth is calculated for two different location of the heavy ion impact and for three temperatures. An increase of the sensitivity is found when the temperature raise from 218 to 418 K.
Ni3TeO6—a collinear antiferromagnet with ferromagnetic honeycomb planes

We report a comprehensive study of magnetic properties of Ni3TeO6. The system crystallizes in a noncentrosymmetric rhombohedral lattice, space group R3. There are three differently coordinated Ni atoms in the unit cell. Two of them form an almost planar honeycomb lattice, while the third one is placed between the layers. Magnetization and specific heat measurements revealed a single magnetic ordering at TN = 52 K. Below TN the susceptibility with the magnetic field parallel to the c axis drops towards zero while the perpendicular susceptibility remains constant, a characteristic of antiferromagnetic materials. Neutron diffraction confirmed that the system is antiferromagnet below TN with ferromagnetic ab planes stacked antiferromagnetically along the c axis. All Ni moments are in the S = 1 spin state and point along the c axis.
Stud Identity Among Female-Born Youth of Color: Joint Conceptualizations of Gender Variance and Same-Sex Sexuality

Little is known about the experiences of individuals who may fall under the umbrella of “transgender” but do not transition medically and/or socially. The impact of the increasingly widespread use of the term “transgender” itself also remains unclear. The authors present narratives from four female-born youth of color who report a history of identifying as a “stud. ” Through analysis of their processes of identity signification, the authors demonstrate how stud identity fuses aspects of gender and sexuality while providing an alternate way of making meaning of gender variance. As such, this identity has important implications for research and organizing centered on an LGBT-based identity framework.
A Human CD4+ T Cell Epitope in the Influenza Hemagglutinin Is Cross-Reactive to Influenza A Virus Subtypes and to Influenza B Virus

ABSTRACT The hemagglutinin protein (HA) of the influenza virus family is a major antigen for protective immunity. Thus, it is a relevant target for developing vaccines. Here, we describe a human CD4+ T cell epitope in the influenza virus HA that lies in the fusion peptide of the HA. This epitope is well conserved in all 16 subtypes of the HA protein of influenza A virus and the HA protein of influenza B virus. By stimulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from a healthy adult donor with peptides covering the entire HA protein based on the sequence of A/Japan/305/1957 (H2N2), we generated a T cell line specific to this epitope. This CD4+ T cell line recognizes target cells infected with influenza A virus seasonal H1N1 and H3N2 strains, a reassortant H2N1 strain, the 2009 pandemic H1N1 strain, and influenza B virus in cytotoxicity assays and intracellular-cytokine-staining assays. It also lysed target cells infected with avian H5N1 virus. We screened healthy adult PBMCs for T cell responses specific to this epitope and found individuals who had ex vivo gamma interferon (IFN-γ) responses to the peptide epitope in enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assays. Almost all donors who responded to the epitope had the HLA-DRB1*09 allele, a relatively common HLA allele. Although natural infection or standard vaccination may not induce strong T and B cell responses to this highly conserved epitope in the fusion peptide, it may be possible to develop a vaccination strategy to induce these CD4+ T cells, which are cross-reactive to both influenza A and B viruses.
Intra-arterial Cell Transplantation Provides Timing-Dependent Cell Distribution and Functional Recovery After Stroke

Background and Purpose— Intra-arterial cell transplantation offers a novel therapeutic strategy for stroke; however, it remains unclear how the timing of cell administration affects cell distribution, brain repair processes, and functional recovery. Here, we investigate the hypothesis that the timing of cell transplantation changes the behavior of the cell graft and the host environment in a way that affects functional recovery. Methods— Rats received human mesenchymal stem cells via the internal carotid artery at 1, 4, or 7 days (D1, D4, or D7) after middle cerebral artery occlusion and reperfusion. Animals were euthanized at various time points to assess cell distribution, infiltration of activated microglia, expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, reactive astrocytes, angiogenesis, and functional recovery. Results— Human mesenchymal stem cells were widely distributed both in the peri-infarct and core in D1, and dominantly in the peri-infarct in D4. Very few cells were observed on D7. At day 7 poststroke, microglia activation was significantly suppressed in both the peri-infarct and core in D1, and predominantly in the peri-infarct in D4. At day 21 poststroke, brain-derived neurotrophic factor was widely distributed throughout the peri-infarct in D1 and D4, along with many reactive astrocytes and considerable angiogenesis. Motor function improved earlier in D1 and later in D4, but no recovery was obtained in D7. Conclusions— Our results indicate that intra-arterial cell transplantation provides timing-dependent cell distribution and poststroke functional recovery via a combination of neuroprotection, reactive astrocyte enhancement, and angiogenesis.
Altered lipid metabolism in a Drosophila model of Friedreich's ataxia

Abstract Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is the most common form of autosomal recessive ataxia caused by a deficit in the mitochondrial protein frataxin. Although demyelination is a common symptom in FRDA patients, no multicellular model has yet been developed to study the involvement of glial cells in FRDA. Using the recently established RNAi lines for targeted suppression of frataxin in Drosophila, we were able to study the effects of general versus glial-specific frataxin downregulation. In particular, we wanted to study the interplay between lowered frataxin content, lipid accumulation and peroxidation and the consequences of these effects on the sensitivity to oxidative stress and fly fitness. Interestingly, ubiquitous frataxin reduction leads to an increase in fatty acids catalyzing an enhancement of lipid peroxidation levels, elevating the intracellular toxic potential. Specific loss of frataxin in glial cells triggers a similar phenotype which can be visualized by accumulating lipid droplets in glial cells. This phenotype is associated with a reduced lifespan, an increased sensitivity to oxidative insult, neurodegenerative effects and a serious impairment of locomotor activity. These symptoms fit very well with our observation of an increase in intracellular toxicity by lipid peroxides. Interestingly, co-expression of a Drosophila apolipoprotein D ortholog (glial lazarillo) has a strong protective effect in our frataxin models, mainly by controlling the level of lipid peroxidation. Our results clearly support a strong involvement of glial cells and lipid peroxidation in the generation of FRDA-like symptoms.
AVERTING MATERNAL DEATH AND DISABILITY Emergency obstetric care as the priority intervention to reduce maternal mortality in Uganda

Purpose:We conducted a survey to determine availability of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) to provide baseline data for monitoring provision of obstetric care services in Uganda.Methods: The survey, covering 54 districts and 553 health facilities, assessed availability of EmOC signal functions. Following this, performance improvement process was implemented in 20 district hospitals to scale-up EmOC services. Findings: A maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 671/100,000 live births was recorded. Hemorrhage, 42.2%, was the leading direct cause of maternal deaths, and malaria accounted for 65.5% of the indirect causes. Among the obstetric complications, abortion accounted for 38.9% of direct and malaria 87.4% of indirect causes. Removal of retained products (OR 3.3, P<0.002), assisted vaginal delivery (OR 3.3, P<0.001) and blood transfusion (OR 13.7, P<0.001) were the missing signal functions contributing to maternal deaths. Most health facilities expected to offer basic EmOC, 349 (97.2%) were not offering them. Using the performance improvement process, availability of EmOC in the 20 hospitals improved significantly. Conclusion: An integrated programming approach aiming at increasing access to EmOC, malaria treatment and prevention services could reduce maternal mortality in Uganda. © 2007 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
Optical Turbulence Profiles at Mauna Kea Measured by MASS and SCIDAR

The vertical distribution of turbulence over Mauna Kea has been measured on four nights in 2002 October, simultaneously using two different instruments based on stellar scintillation—the generalized SCIDAR (scintillation detection and ranging) and MASS (multiaperture scintillation sensor). The turbulence integrals match within 20%, and the low‐resolution profiles delivered by MASS correctly reveal the localization of the strongest high‐altitude turbulent layers. As deduced from DIMM (differential image motion monitor), MASS, and SCIDAR measurements, optical turbulence in the first 0.7 km above the summit contributed typically half of the total integral, the latter corresponding to a seeing of 0. ″5. The ground layer and free atmosphere are not correlated.
Effects of Repeated Chlamydia pneumoniae Inoculations on Aortic Lipid Accumulation and Inflammatory Response in C57BL/6J Mice

ABSTRACT Chlamydia pneumoniae is a common respiratory tract pathogen, and persistent infections have been associated with atherosclerosis. We studied the effects of repeated chlamydial inoculations on the inflammatory response and on aortic lipid accumulation in C57BL/6J mice. Mice fed a diet supplemented with 0.2% cholesterol were infected three or six times with C. pneumoniae every fourth week. Sera and lungs were analyzed for inflammatory responses, lung tissues were tested for the presence of C. pneumoniae DNA and RNA, and intimal lipid accumulation in the aortic sinus was quantified. High levels of chlamydial heat shock protein 60 (Hsp60) immunoglobulin G2c subclass antibodies were detected in all of the infected mice, and a positive and statistically significant correlation was found between these antibodies and autoantibodies against mouse Hsp60. Both Hsp60 antibody levels correlated with the severity of lung tissue inflammation. The cholesterol supplement in the diet had no effect on serum cholesterol levels. Significantly larger intimal lipid lesions were seen in the mouse group infected six times (6,542 μm2) than in the control group (1,376 μm2; P = 0.034). In conclusion, repeated inoculations increased aortic sinus lipid accumulation in normocholesterolemic mice. The correlation between the antibodies to mouse and chlamydial Hsp60 proteins and their association with lung inflammation further support the theory of the development of an autoimmune response against heat shock proteins after repeated chlamydial infections.
Supporting priorities and improving utilization of the IBM SP scheduler using slack-based backfilling

Distributed memory parallel systems such as the IBM SP2 execute jobs using variable partitioning. Scheduling jobs in FCFS order leads to severe fragmentation and utilization loss, which lead to the development of backfilling schedulers such as EASY. This paper presents a backfilling scheduler that improves EAST in two ways: It supports both user selected and administrative priorities, and guarantees a bounded wait time for all jobs. The scheduler gives each waiting job a slack, which determines how long it may have to wait before running: 'important' and 'heavy' jobs will have little slack in comparison with others. Experimental results show that the priority scheduler reduces the average wait time by about 15% relative to EASY in an equal priorities scenario, and is responsive to differential priorities as well.
COMPONENTS OF REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION BETWEEN THE MONKEYFLOWERS MIMULUS LEWISII AND M. CARDINALIS (PHRYMACEAE)

Abstract Evolutionists have long recognized the role of reproductive isolation in speciation, but the relative contributions of different reproductive barriers are poorly understood. We examined the nature of isolation between Mimulus lewisii and M. cardinalis, sister species of monkeyflowers. Studied reproductive barriers include: ecogeographic isolation; pollinator isolation (pollinator fidelity in a natural mixed population); pollen competition (seed set and hybrid production from experimental interspecific, intraspecific, and mixed pollinations in the greenhouse); and relative hybrid fitness (germination, survivorship, percent flowering, biomass, pollen viability, and seed mass in the greenhouse). Additionally, the rate of hybridization in nature was estimated from seed collections in a sympatric population. We found substantial reproductive barriers at multiple stages in the life history of M. lewisii and M. cardinalis. Using range maps constructed from herbarium collections, we estimated that the different ecogeographic distributions of the species result in 58.7% reproductive isolation. Mimulus lewisii and M. cardinalis are visited by different pollinators, and in a region of sympatry 97.6% of pollinator foraging bouts were specific to one species or the other. In the greenhouse, interspecific pollinations generated nearly 50% fewer seeds than intraspecific controls. Mixed pollinations of M. cardinalis flowers yielded >75% parentals even when only one-quarter of the pollen treatment consisted of M. cardinalis pollen. In contrast, both species had similar siring success on M. lewisii flowers. The observed 99.915% occurrence of parental M. lewisii and M. cardinalis in seeds collected from a sympatric population is nearly identical to that expected, based upon our field observations of pollinator behavior and our laboratory experiments of pollen competition. F1 hybrids exhibited reduced germination rates, high survivorship and reproduction, and low pollen and ovule fertility. In aggregate, the studied reproductive barriers prevent, on average, 99.87% of gene flow, with most reproductive isolation occurring prior to hybrid formation. Our results suggest that ecological factors resulting from adaptive divergence are the primary isolating barriers in this system. Additional studies of taxa at varying degrees of evolutionary divergence are needed to identify the relative importance of pre- and postzygotic isolating mechanisms in speciation.
Cancer Therapy : Preclinical Identi fi cation of Unique MEK-Dependent Genes in GNAQ Mutant Uveal Melanoma Involved in Cell Growth , Tumor Cell Invasion , and MEK Resistance

Purpose: Metastatic uveal melanoma represents the most common intraocular malignancy with very poor prognosis and no effective treatments. Oncogenicmutations in the G-proteina-subunit q and 11 have been described in about 85% of uveal melanomas and confer constitutive activation. Multiple signaling pathways are induced as a consequence of GNAQ/11 activation, which include the MEK/ERK kinase cascade.We analyzed the transcriptional profile of cell lines treatedwith amitogen-activated protein (MAP)/ extracellular signal–regulated (ERK) kinase (MEK) inhibitor to identify gene targets of activated GNAQ and to evaluate the biologic importance of these genes in uveal melanoma. Experimental Design: We conducted microarray analysis of uveal melanoma cell lines with GNAQ mutations treated with the MEK inhibitor selumetinib. For comparison, we used cells carrying BRAF and cells without either mutation. Changes in the expression of selected genes were then confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR and immunoblotting. Results:We found that GNAQmutant cells have aMEK-dependent transcriptional output and identified a unique set of genes that are downregulated byMEK inhibition, including the RNAhelicaseDDX21 and the cyclin-dependent kinase regulator CDK5R1whereas Junwas induced.We provide evidence that these genes are involved in cell proliferation, tumor cell invasion, and drug resistance, respectively. Furthermore, we show that selumetinib treatment regulates the expression of these genes in tumor tissues of patients with metastatic GNAQ/11 mutant uveal melanoma. Conclusions:Our findings define a subset of transcriptionally regulated genes by selumetinib in GNAQ mutant cells and provide new insights into understanding the biologic effect of MEK inhibition in this disease. Clin Cancer Res; 18(13); 1–10. 2012 AACR.