Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical Significance of IgM and C3 Glomerular Deposition in Primary Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Glomerular IgM deposition is commonly shown in primary FSGS and sometimes accompanied by C3 deposition. Clinical presentation and treatment outcomes of these patients are not investigated in detail. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, &MEASUREMENTS One hundred six consecutive patients with biopsy-proven primary FSGS from 2004 to 2014 were enrolled retrospectively. Clinical features and treatment outcomes were compared between patients with and without IgM/C3 deposition. RESULTS Fifty-eight (54.7%) patients presented with IgM glomerular deposition on sclerotic segments. C3 and C1q depositions were shown exclusively in patients with IgM deposition (34.5% versus 0.0%; P<0.001 and 8.6% versus 0.0%; P=0.04, respectively). Patients with IgM deposition were younger (median; range: 24.5; 18.8-39.0 versus 46.5; 26.0-64.0 years old; P=0.001), had higher level of serum IgM (142.5; 96.3-206.0 versus 107.0; 71.0-140.0 mg/dl; P=0.01), and had higher level of eGFR (median; range 97.7; 48.0-135.8 versus 62.1; 33.7-93.9 ml/min per 1.73 m(2); P=0.01) at the time of kidney biopsy. The percentage of sclerosis lesions was significantly higher in patients with C3 deposition (median; range: 21.7%; 15.3%-31.1% versus 9.2%; 6.6%-20.0%; P=0.002). Although patients received comparable immunosuppressive treatments during 58.9 (29.5-81.1) months of follow-up, a significantly higher prevalence of refractory cases (no response or steroid dependent) occurred in patients with combined IgM and C3 deposition compared with patients with IgM deposition alone or without IgM deposition (58.8% versus 22.2% versus 15.6%, respectively; P=0.004). Multivariate analysis identified combined IgM and C3 deposition (odds ratio, 11.32; 95% confidence interval, 2.26 to 56.65; P=0.003) as an independent risk factor for refractory patients; 19 of 98 patients developed renal dysfunction when their serum creatinine levels increased >30% from baseline and reached >1.5 mg/dl. Combined IgM and C3 deposition (hazard ratio, 5.67; 95% confidence interval, 1.34 to 23.84; P=0.02) was identified as an independent risk factor for renal dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS Patients with primary FSGS and IgM and C3 deposition showed unfavorable therapeutic responses and worse renal outcomes, which indicate that IgM and C3 deposition might involve disease progression via complement activation.
The Psychology of Waiting Lines

The truth of this assertion cannot be denied: there can be few consumers of services in a modern society who have not felt, at one time or another, each of the emotions identified by Federal Express' copywriters. What is more, each of us who can recall such experiences can also attest to the fact that the waiting-line experience in a service facility significantly affects our overall perceptions of the quality of service provided.
Challenges in Mapping of Syntactic Representations for Framework-Independent Parser Evaluation

We explore some of the issues and challenges created by the incompatibility of diverse representation schemes for syntactic parsing. In particular, we examine the problem of output format conversion for evaluation of parsers that use different formalisms. We discuss recent related efforts, and present an evaluation of different parsers that use representations that vary not only in formalisms, but also in depth of syntactic information. We attempt to compare these parsers in a domain widely used for parser evaluation, the Wall Street Journal section of the Penn Treebank, and in the academic biomedical literature, where the use of parsing technologies is expected to contribute in practical applications, such as information extraction and text mining.
Neural reputation models learned from passive DNS data

Blacklists and whitelists are often employed to filter outgoing and incoming traffic on computer networks. One central function of these lists is to mitigate the security risks posed by malware threats by associating a reputation (for instance benign or malicious) to end-point hosts. The creation and maintenance of these lists is a complex and time-consuming process for security experts. As a consequence, blacklists and whitelists are prone to various errors, inconsistencies and omissions, as only a tiny fraction of end-point hosts are effectively covered by the reputation lists. In this paper, we present a machine learning model that is able to automatically detect whether domain names and IP addresses are benign, malicious or sinkholes. The model relies on a deep neural architecture and is trained on a large passive DNS database. Evaluation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach, as the model is able to detect malicious DNS records with a F1 score of 0.96. In other words, the model is able to detect 95 % of the malicious hosts with a false positive rate of 1:1000.
The Optimal Price of Money

The optimal inflation tax is computed in monetary models where money is costly to supply. The models are simple general equilibrium models with money in the utility function or a transactions technology. The inflation tax is a means of raising taxes to finance exogenous government expenditures. The alternative means of revenue are also distortionary. The main point of this article is to show that the robustness of the optimality of the Friedman rule, of a zero nominal interest rate, resides in the assumption that money is produced at zero cost.
Prenatal Attachment and Fetal Health Locus of Control among Low Risk and High Risk Pregnant Women

2 Abstract: The present study was carried out to assess prenatal attachment and fetal health locus of control among low risk and high risk Egyptian pregnant women. A descriptive correlational design was utilized for the study. A total of 100 pregnant women, both low (N=55) and high (N= 45) risk pregnant women were recruited for the study. Prenatal attachment inventory and fetal health locus of control scale (FHLC) were used for data collection Results indicated that participants experienced more positive feelings of attachment towards their fetuses, the mean prenatal attachment was 50.7 (SD± 9.9). Participants also reported high levels of fetal health locus of control, with the mean of 119.3 (SD ±15.0). Prenatal attachment was positively associated with fetal health locus of control, age and number of living children. Fetal health locus of control was positively associated with number of deliveries, number of abortions and marital status. Both prenatal attachment and fetal health locus of control differed by high/low risk pregnancy. In Conclusion, Egyptian pregnant women experienced more positive feeling of attachment toward their fetuses. Prenatal attachment differed by high/low risk pregnancy.
Flood in a Changing Climate: The Impact on Livelihood and How the Rural Poor Cope in Bangladesh

It is already documented that climate change will lead to an intensification of the global water cycle with a consequent increase in flood hazards. Bangladesh is also facing an increasing trend of flood disasters. Among the various risks and disasters in Bangladesh, flood is the most common and frequent. Floods make people vulnerable, as they take away their livelihoods at the first instance and leave them with little resources to overcome from the situation. Because of floods, rural poor communities face job loss, and two-thirds of their income is reduced, which limits their capabilities of preparedness, response, and recovery to subsequent floods. People cope with the situation by bearing substantial debts and a loss of productive assets. With an empirical field study in one of the most flood-prone upazilas (sub-districts) of Bangladesh, namely Goalanda Upazilla of the Rajbari district, this study intends to draw a “flood impact tree” of the study area. It also examines the impacts of flood on the livelihood of the rural poor and explores their coping strategies. This paper aims to facilitate an understanding of the impact of floods on their livelihood, especially on the income and occupations of the rural poor. At the same time, it aims to learn from their coping mechanisms.
Genetically Dependent ERBB3 Expression Modulates Antigen Presenting Cell Function and Type 1 Diabetes Risk

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease resulting from the complex interaction between multiple susceptibility genes, environmental factors and the immune system. Over 40 T1D susceptibility regions have been suggested by recent genome-wide association studies; however, the specific genes and their role in the disease remain elusive. The objective of this study is to identify the susceptibility gene(s) in the 12q13 region and investigate the functional link to the disease pathogenesis. A total of 19 SNPs in the 12q13 region were analyzed by the TaqMan assay for 1,434 T1D patients and 1,865 controls. Thirteen of the SNPs are associated with T1D (best p = 4×10−11), thus providing confirmatory evidence for at least one susceptibility gene in this region. To identify candidate genes, expression of six genes in the region was analyzed by real-time RT-PCR for PBMCs from 192 T1D patients and 192 controls. SNP genotypes in the 12q13 region are the main factors that determine ERBB3 mRNA levels in PBMCs. The protective genotypes for T1D are associated with higher ERBB3 mRNA level (p<10−10). Furthermore, ERBB3 protein is expressed on the surface of CD11c+ cells (dendritic cells and monocytes) in peripheral blood after stimulation with LPS, polyI:C or CpG. Subjects with protective genotypes have significantly higher percentages of ERBB3+ monocytes and dendritic cells (p = 1.1×10−9); and the percentages of ERBB3+ cells positively correlate with the ability of APC to stimulate T cell proliferation (R2 = 0.90, p<0.0001). Our results indicate that ERBB3 plays a critical role in determining APC function and potentially T1D pathogenesis.
Comparing odds ratios for nested subsets of dietary components.

BACKGROUND In nutritional epidemiology, it is often of interest to disentangle the risk of disease associated with related foods or nutrients, where the food items are in a nested arrangement within a larger group. To compare odds ratios (OR) derived from a standard quantile-based analysis can be misleading since the amounts consumed may differ substantially for different dietary components. METHODS The authors applied different logistic regression models on a case-control study concerning the risk of colorectal adenomas due to meat and its different subsets such as white meat, red meat and well-done red meat. RESULTS By calculating OR for a fixed amount of intake, the authors suggest a method for partitioning the risk of one dietary item into that associated with increasingly detailed sub-components. A graph is presented for illustrating such partitions in terms of both addition and substitution effects. CONCLUSIONS Odds ratios based on upper versus lower quantiles or percentiles are useful as they compare the risk between the upper and lower ends of the consumption range. A complimentary set of OR are those based on fixed amounts of consumption. These allow for direct comparisons between nested subgroups of dietary components, in order to disentangle the risk linked to specific groups of foods or nutrients.
Mutations in the Catalytic Loop HRD Motif Alter the Activity and Function of Drosophila Src64

The catalytic loop HRD motif is found in most protein kinases and these amino acids are predicted to perform functions in catalysis, transition to, and stabilization of the active conformation of the kinase domain. We have identified mutations in a Drosophila src gene, src64, that alter the three HRD amino acids. We have analyzed the mutants for both biochemical activity and biological function during development. Mutation of the aspartate to asparagine eliminates biological function in cytoskeletal processes and severely reduces fertility, supporting the amino acid's critical role in enzymatic activity. The arginine to cysteine mutation has little to no effect on kinase activity or cytoskeletal reorganization, suggesting that the HRD arginine may not be critical for coordinating phosphotyrosine in the active conformation. The histidine to leucine mutant retains some kinase activity and biological function, suggesting that this amino acid may have a biochemical function in the active kinase that is independent of its side chain hydrogen bonding interactions in the active site. We also describe the phenotypic effects of other mutations in the SH2 and tyrosine kinase domains of src64, and we compare them to the phenotypic effects of the src64 null allele.
A longitudinal household study of Streptococcus pneumoniae nasopharyngeal carriage in a UK setting

A 10-month longitudinal household study of pre-school children and their families was undertaken with monthly visits collecting epidemiological data and nasopharyngeal swabs in Hertfordshire, England from 2001 to 2002. Pneumococcal culture was with standard methods. In total, 121 families (489 individuals) took part. Mean prevalence of carriage ranged from 52% for age groups 0–2 years, 45% for 3–4 years, 21% for 5–17 years and 8% for [ges ]18 years. Carriage occurred more than once in 86% of children aged 0–2 years compared to 36% of those aged [ges ]18 years. The most prevalent serotypes in the 0–2 years age group were 6B followed by 19F, 23F, 6A and 14. Young children were responsible for the majority of introductions of new serotypes into a household. Erythromycin resistance (alone or in combination) occurred in 10% of samples and penicillin non-susceptibility in 3·7%. Overall the recently licensed 7-valent conjugate vaccine (PCV) would protect against 64% of serotypes with no intra-serogroup cross protection and 82% with such protection. Nasopharyngeal carriage of S. pneumoniae is common in a UK setting in the pre-conjugate vaccine era. PCV would protect against a large proportion of carriage isolates. However, the impact of vaccination on non-vaccine serotypes will need to be monitored.
Activation of p21 by HDAC Inhibitors Requires Acetylation of H2A.Z

Differential positioning of the histone variant H2A.Z in a p53 dependent manner was shown to regulate p21 transcription. Whether H2A.Z is involved in p21 activity in the absence of p53 is not known. The p21 gene is repressed in estrogen receptor (ER) negative cell lines that are p53−/− and hormone independent for their growth. Here we demonstrate that class I and II pan Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) induce p21 transcription and reduce cell proliferation of MDA-MB231, an ERα-negative mammary tumor cell line, in a H2A.Z dependent manner. H2A.Z is associated with the transcription start site (TSS) of the repressed p21 gene. Depleting H2A.Z did not lead to transcription of p21 but annihilated the stimulating effect of HDACi on this gene. Acetylation of H2A.Z but not of H3K9 at the p21 promoter correlated with p21 activation. We further show that HDACi treatment reduced the presence of the p400 chromatin remodeler at the p21 TSS. We propose a model in which association of p400 negatively affects p21 transcription by interfering with acetylation of H2A.Z.
The effect of 17β-estradiol on gene expression of calcitonin gene-related peptide and some pro-inflammatory mediators in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with pure menstrual migraine

Objective(s): The neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) has long been postulated to play an integral role in the pathophysiology of migraine. Earlier studies showed that CGRP can stimulate the synthesis and release of nitric oxide (NO) and cytokines from trigeminal ganglion glial cells. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of 17β-estradiol in regulation of CGRP expression, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity, and NO and interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) release in cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with pure menstrual migraine and healthy individuals. Materials and Methods: This study was performed on twelve patients with pure menstrual migraine and twelve age-and sex-matched healthy individuals. PBMCs treated with 17β-estradiol for 24 hr at physiological and pharmacological doses. Gene expression was evaluated by real time-PCR. CGRP and IL-1β proteins in culture supernatant were determined by ELISA method. Activity of iNOS in PBMCs and total nitrite in the culture supernatant were measured by colorimetric assays. Results: Treatment with 17β-estradiol had a biphasic effect on expression of CGRP. We found that 17β-estradiol treatment at pharmacological dose significantly increases mRNA expression of CGRP in both groups (P<0.001), whereas at physiological dose it could significantly decrease CGRP mRNA expression (P<0.001), CGRP protein levels, IL-1β release, NO production and iNOS activity only in patient groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: Collectively, it appears that 17β-estradiol can exert protective effect on decrease of inflammation in migraine via decrease in levels of CGRP, IL-1β and iNOS activity; however, more studies are necessary in this regard.
Dimensions and muscular architecture of the triangle of Koch.

The variability in the arrangement of the superficial atrial muscle fibers in the areas of the triangle of Koch may be one of the factors influencing the route for impulses entering the AV node. The purpose of this study was to present the dimensions of the triangle of Koch and to describe the arrangement of the subendocardial atrial muscle fibers that form the approaches to the AV node, in and around the area of the triangle of Koch. The examination was made on 50 human hearts got obtained after autopsies of patients older than 18 years, died from no cardiac reasons, and fixed in 10% formaldehyde. The dimensions of the triangle of Koch were measured using the caliper. For the analyzing of the arrangement of the subendocardial muscle fibers, the right atrium was divided into four areas and the atrial endocardium was carefully peeled. The mean value of the area of the triangle of Koch (P) was 261.65 +/- 52.30 mm2 (min 160.00; max 375.00), the length of side a, was 24.14 +/- 14.2. 53 mm (min 18; max 29), side b, was 20.12 +/- 2.42 mm (min 15; max 25) and side c, was 25.80 +/- 2.83 mm (min 20; max 31). The analyzing of the arrangement of the subendocardial superficial muscle fibers showed that 36 of the specimens had approximately precise patterns of fiber orientation within the areas of the right atrium. Variations in the fiber orientation were observed in 14 specimens. The knowledge of the anatomic features, dimensions and the architecture of the subendocardial muscle fibers of the triangle of Koch is the essential for both successful investigation and interpretation of the electrophysiological basis of heart dysrithmic diseases.
A proposal for the quality control of Tanacetum parthenium (feverfew) and its hydroalcoholic extract

In this study, we present a proposal for the physical and chemical quality control of the powder of the species T. parthenium (feverfew) and its hydroalcoholic extract obtained by percolation. The sesquiterpene lactone parthenolide, the main active compound of this plant, was quantified by HPLC and its content was found to be 0.49% in the powder and 1.06% in the extract. The total content of flavonoids, determined by UV spectroscopy, was found to be 0.54% in the powder and 1.05% in the hydroalcoholic extract. Santin, the main flavonoid of this species, was isolated and further identified in the extract by HPLC. Since parthenolide can also be found in other Asteraceae species, the analysis of santin is important to certify the authenticity of the plant material. The results confirmed the authenticity of the plant material and the efficiency of the extraction procedure.
Using the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Framework to Understand Belief Systems and Types of Awareness in Young Men Exposed to Chronic Community Violence

The purpose of the current study was to give voice to urban young men who have had exposure to chronic community violence. A qualitative, phenomenological method was used to explore and describe eight participants' exposure to violence, their beliefs about the event, and the resulting types of awareness. Four distinct types of awareness were identified, and their implications for counseling are explained. The findings suggest that it is important to understand the different types of awareness when providing treatment of any kind for the exposure.
Interaction between basigin and monocarboxylate transporter 2 in the mouse testes and spermatozoa

Basigin is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily and plays various important roles in biological events including spermatogenesis. To examine the basigin molecular variants during spermatogenesis and sperm maturation in the mouse, immunoprecipitated basigin samples from testis and epididymal spermatozoa were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The results demonstrated that basigin molecules from the testis and spermatozoa were separable into two major bands and that the differences in the molecular sizes were possibly because of an endoproteolytic cleavage. Since basigin is known to be a chaperone for the monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1), the localization of basigin, MCT1 and MCT2 was examined during postnatal testicular development. Immunohistochemical studies showed different expression patterns of MCT1 and MCT2. MCT1 was localized on the surface of spermatogonia, spermatocytes, and spermatids. In contrast, MCT2 appeared on the principal piece of spermatozoa in the testis, where basigin was also observed. In mature epididymal spermatozoa, MCT2 was located on the midpiece, where basigin co-localized with MCT2 but not with MCT1. Furthermore, MCT2 was immunoprecipitated with basigin in mouse testes and sperm. These results suggest that basigin has a functional role as a binding partner with MCT2 in testicular and epididymal spermatozoa.
A novel approach to crosstalk noise analysis in CMOS inverter driven coupled RLC interconnects

The performance of modern integrated circuits is significantly influenced by coupling effects of interconnects. Crosstalk noise must therefore be analyzed in the early stage of design to develop reliable VLSI interconnects. In this paper, we present a closed form crosstalk noise estimation technique to coupled RLC interconnects based on coupled transmission line theory and Fourier series analysis. The salient features of our model include accuracy, computational efficiency and continuous time domain solution. We analyze the impact of finite resistance in coupled RLC interconnects. The nonlinear behavior of the driver (CMOS inverter) is captured well in the proposed model. We introduce a novel technique to model CMOS inverter, namely MRLM (Multiple Ramp Library Model). It replaces the nonlinear driver into its equivalent RC model. The resultant circuit resembles with the simple coupled RLC interconnect in the absence of inverters and hence the same analysis is extended after the replacement. Based on our continuous time defined models, we derive analytical models for delay and energy dissipation due to interconnect. In addition, this work emphasizes on improving the performance namely computational efficiency. Simulations of our analytical models and SPICE are demonstrated by assuming different sets of line parameters. It is shown from the numerical results that our estimates match closely with that of SPICE simulations at a mean estimation error of 2.25 percentage.