Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contemporary H3N2 influenza viruses have a glycosylation site that alters binding of antibodies elicited by egg-adapted vaccine strains

Significance The majority of influenza vaccine antigens are prepared in chicken eggs. Human vaccine strains grown in eggs often possess adaptive mutations that increase viral attachment to chicken cells. Most of these adaptive mutations are in the hemagglutinin protein, which functions as a viral attachment factor. Here, we identify a hemagglutinin mutation in the current egg-adapted H3N2 vaccine strain that alters antigenicity. We show that ferrets and humans exposed to the current egg-adapted H3N2 vaccine strain produce antibodies that poorly neutralize H3N2 viruses that circulated during the 2016–2017 influenza season. These studies highlight the challenges associated with producing influenza vaccine antigens in eggs, while offering a potential explanation of why there was only moderate vaccine effectiveness during the 2016–2017 influenza season. H3N2 viruses continuously acquire mutations in the hemagglutinin (HA) glycoprotein that abrogate binding of human antibodies. During the 2014–2015 influenza season, clade 3C.2a H3N2 viruses possessing a new predicted glycosylation site in antigenic site B of HA emerged, and these viruses remain prevalent today. The 2016–2017 seasonal influenza vaccine was updated to include a clade 3C.2a H3N2 strain; however, the egg-adapted version of this viral strain lacks the new putative glycosylation site. Here, we biochemically demonstrate that the HA antigenic site B of circulating clade 3C.2a viruses is glycosylated. We show that antibodies elicited in ferrets and humans exposed to the egg-adapted 2016–2017 H3N2 vaccine strain poorly neutralize a glycosylated clade 3C.2a H3N2 virus. Importantly, antibodies elicited in ferrets infected with the current circulating H3N2 viral strain (that possesses the glycosylation site) and humans vaccinated with baculovirus-expressed H3 antigens (that possess the glycosylation site motif) were able to efficiently recognize a glycosylated clade 3C.2a H3N2 virus. We propose that differences in glycosylation between H3N2 egg-adapted vaccines and circulating strains likely contributed to reduced vaccine effectiveness during the 2016–2017 influenza season. Furthermore, our data suggest that influenza virus antigens prepared via systems not reliant on egg adaptations are more likely to elicit protective antibody responses that are not affected by glycosylation of antigenic site B of H3N2 HA.
Biopersistence and Brain Translocation of Aluminum Adjuvants of Vaccines

Aluminum oxyhydroxide (alum) is a crystalline compound widely used as an immunological adjuvant of vaccines. Concerns linked to the use of alum particles emerged following recognition of their causative role in the so-called macrophagic myofasciitis (MMF) lesion detected in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue/syndrome. MMF revealed an unexpectedly long-lasting biopersistence of alum within immune cells in presumably susceptible individuals, stressing the previous fundamental misconception of its biodisposition. We previously showed that poorly biodegradable aluminum-coated particles injected into muscle are promptly phagocytosed in muscle and the draining lymph nodes, and can disseminate within phagocytic cells throughout the body and slowly accumulate in brain. This strongly suggests that long-term adjuvant biopersistence within phagocytic cells is a prerequisite for slow brain translocation and delayed neurotoxicity. The understanding of basic mechanisms of particle biopersistence and brain translocation represents a major health challenge, since it could help to define susceptibility factors to develop chronic neurotoxic damage. Biopersistence of alum may be linked to its lysosome-destabilizing effect, which is likely due to direct crystal-induced rupture of phagolysosomal membranes. Macrophages that continuously perceive foreign particles in their cytosol will likely reiterate, with variable interindividual efficiency, a dedicated form of autophagy (xenophagy) until they dispose of alien materials. Successful compartmentalization of particles within double membrane autophagosomes and subsequent fusion with repaired and re-acidified lysosomes will expose alum to lysosomal acidic pH, the sole factor that can solubilize alum particles. Brain translocation of alum particles is linked to a Trojan horse mechanism previously described for infectious particles (HIV, HCV), that obeys to CCL2, signaling the major inflammatory monocyte chemoattractant.
Efficient obstacle-avoiding rectilinear steiner tree construction

Given a set of pins and a set of obstacles on a plane, an obstacle-avoiding rectilinear Steiner minimal tree (OARSMT) connects these pins, possibly through some additional points (called Steiner points), and avoids running through any obstacle to construct a tree with a minimal total wirelength. The OARSMT problem becomes more important than ever for modern nanometer IC designs which need to consider numerous routing obstacles incurred from power networks, prerouted nets, IP blocks, feature patterns for manufacturability improvement, antenna jumpers for reliability enhancement, etc. Consequently, the OARSMT problem has received dramatically increasing attention recently. Nevertheless, considering obstacles significantly increases the problem complexity, and thus most previous works suffer from either poor quality or expensive running time. Based on the obstacle-avoiding spanning graph (OASG), this paper presents an efficient algorithm with some theoretical optimality guarantees for the OARSMT construction. Unlike previous heuristics, our algorithm guarantees to find an optimal OARSMT for any 2-pin net and many higher-pin nets. Extensive experiments show that our algorithm results in significantly shorter wirelengths than all state-of-the-art works.
A Comprehensive Study of Silicon Micropillar Based Biporous Evaporator

Silicon micropillar based evaporators were proven to be good candidates in advanced vapor chambers, due to their high permeability, excellent capillary performance and ease of control over the fabrication process. In this paper, biporous silicon micropillar based evaporator with microchannels to shorten the fluid transportation distance was studied comprehensively. Semianalytical model in predicting the dryout heat flux of biporous evaporator was developed. Evaporator samples with different microchannel widths were fabricated and tested. Sample with geometries of d = 3.4 μm, h = 9.00 μm, l=6 μm, li =101.0 μm, w = 58.5 μm was able to demonstrate a dryout heat flux q’’= 55.9 W/cm 2. This has a difference of only 9.0 % compared to the model predicted dryout heat flux. The biporous evaporator was found to have a gentle drop of heat transfer coefficient after dryout, owing to the existence of microchannels that can shorten the fluid propagation distance. Samples with wider microchannels were found to have larger superheat values, due to the smaller thin film evaporation areas of these sample. This paper provided great insights into the investigation of biporous evaporators and can serve as important design guidance for biporous evaporator utilized in advanced vapor chamber.
Fuel oil effect on the population growth, species diversity and chlorophyll (a) content of freshwater microalgae

Fresh water algae were subjected to different concentrations (0.03, 0.07, 0.12, 0.25 and 0.5 g l -1 ) of aqueous extract of reference fuel oil (EPA, USA, API Oil No. 2, 38% aromatic, 1274). Significant decease in Chlorophyll. (a) was observed as the concentration of fuel oil was increased. The EC 50 value of fuel oil after 7 days was 0.29 g l -1 . Total algal counts and growth rate decreased in response to the studied fuel oil. High diversity values in diatoms were observed in all treated aqueous cultures. High concentrations of fuel oil significantly decreased carbohydrate and protein contents of algal cells.
Prenatal screening for trisomy 18 with free beta human chorionic gonadotrophin as a marker.

OBJECTIVE--To determine the relation between maternal serum alpha fetoprotein and free beta human chorionic gonadotrophin concentrations in pregnancies complicated by trisomy 18 and establish whether prenatal biochemical screening for this condition could be developed in a way similar to that proposed for trisomy 21. DESIGN--Serum alpha fetoprotein and free beta human chorionic gonadotrophin concentrations in women with singleton pregnancies affected by cytogenetically confirmed trisomy 18, uncomplicated by neural tube defect or ventral wall defect, were identified from prospective trisomy 21 screening programmes. Additionally, stored maternal serum from similar pregnancies was analysed retrospectively. Analyte concentrations from singleton unaffected pregnancies were identified from a prospective screening programme as controls. Statistical parameters of the affected and unaffected populations were compiled. SETTING--Biochemical screening laboratories in Britain and the United States. SUBJECTS--52 women with singleton pregnancies complicated by trisomy 18; control population of 6661 women with unaffected singleton pregnancies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Median values of each analyte and their distribution in the affected and unaffected populations; detection rate of trisomy 18 and the false positive rate. RESULTS--Maternal serum alpha fetoprotein and free beta human chorionic gonadotrophin concentrations were significantly lower in pregnancies complicated by trisomy 18 (median values 0.71 and 0.37 respectively). By using a multivariate risk algorithm incorporating maternal age risk of trisomy 18 and the concentration of the two biochemical markers it was predicted that 50% of trisomy 18 cases (unaffected by neural tube defect or ventral wall defect) could be detected with a 1% false positive rate. CONCLUSION--Second trimester biochemical screening for trisomy 18 could be a valuable addition to trisomy 21 screening programmes.
Asynchronous Rendezvous Analysis via Set-valued Consensus Theory

This paper presents the design and analysis result for asynchronous rendezvous control of multiagent systems with continuous-time dynamics and intermittent interactions. The protocol-designing strategies only impose weak restrictions on anticipated-way-point sets (from which the way-points are selected) and path-planning of each agent and can be applied to the networks of arbitrary dimensional subsystems. Explicitly, the anticipated-way-point sets are in a polytope-like form and the path between any two consecutive way-points is required to be included within the minimum convex region covering the two associated anticipated-way-point sets. Under the assumption of directed and switching interaction topology and the assumption of intermittent and asynchronous interactions with time-varying delays, we perform the set-valued consensus analysis on the evolution of anticipated-way-point sets with respect to update times and provide mild sufficient conditions for the solvability of the asynchronous rendezvous problem. The proof techniques rely much on graph theory and nonnegative matrix theory. The obtained result extends greatly the existing work in the literature and several examples demonstrate its broad potential applications. Particularly, additional distributed control rules, different from the circumcenter algorithm, are devised for network connectivity maintenance.
The Stochastic Grid Bundling Method: Efficient Pricing of Bermudan Options and their Greeks

This paper describes a practical simulation-based algorithm, which we call the Stochastic Grid Bundling Method (SGBM) for pricing multi-dimensional Bermudan (i.e. discretely exercisable) options. The method generates a direct estimator of the option price, an optimal early-exercise policy as well as a lower bound value for the option price. An advantage of SGBM is that the method can be used for fast approximation of the Greeks (i.e., derivatives with respect to the underlying spot prices, such as delta, gamma, etc.) for Bermudan-style options. Computational results for various multi-dimensional Bermudan options demonstrate the simplicity and efficiency of the algorithm proposed.
Simple Carrier Matrix Modifications Can Enhance Delivery of Recombinant Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 for Posterolateral Spine Fusion

Study Design. A nonhuman primate lumbar intertransverse process arthrodesis model was used to evaluate modifications to a plain collagen sponge to deliver recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2). Objectives. To evaluate the feasibility of enhancing the delivery of rhBMP-2 with the established collagen sponge carrier by adding biphasic ceramic phosphate (BCP) granules (15% hydroxyapatite, 85% tricalcium phosphate) or allograft chips to provide compression resistance for posterolateral spine arthrodesis. Summary of Background Data. Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 was successfully delivered with a resorbable collagen sponge in a rabbit intertransverse process fusion model. Success in nonhuman primates required a higher dose (6–9 mg) of rhBMP-2 and a more compression-resistant matrix (ceramic) than plain collagen. The limitation of the ceramic carrier was its radiopacity, which made radiographic detection of new bone formation difficult. Methods. Nine adult rhesus monkeys underwent bilateral posterolateral intertransverse process arthrodesis at L4-L5. The animals were divided into three groups (n = 3 each) based on the graft material implanted: 1) autogenous iliac crest bone (5 cm3/side); 2) collagen sponge and 15:85 BCP granules loaded with rhBMP-2 (3 mg/side); and, 3) collagen sponge and allograft chips loaded with rhBMP-2 (3 mg/side). The monkeys were killed 24 weeks after surgery. Inspection, manual palpation, radiography, computed tomographic scans, and histology were used to assess fusion. Results. All six monkeys with rhBMP-2 delivered in the collagen/15:85 BCP carrier and the collagen/allograft chips carrier achieved solid spine fusions, whereas only one of three animals fused with autogenous bone graft. Histologic analysis of the bone induced by rhBMP-2 showed normal trabecular bone and bone marrow elements. Conclusions. The addition of either 15:85 BCP granules or allograft bone chips to the existing resorbable collagen sponge matrix enhanced delivery of rhBMP-2 in the posterolateral spine. The combination matrices were more compression resistant and had improved radiographic resorption properties that permitted easy radiographic visualization of new bone. In addition, a lower dose of rhBMP-2 (3 mg/side) was successful compared with the dose previously used with the plain collagen sponge (6 mg/side).
Health risk factors and the incidence of hypertension: 4-year prospective findings from a national cohort of 60 569 Thai Open University students

Objective This study evaluates the impact of a number of demographic, biological, behavioural and lifestyle health risk factors on the incidence of hypertension in Thailand over a 4-year period. Design A 4-year prospective study of health risk factors and their effects on the incidence of hypertension in a national Thai Cohort Study from 2005 to 2009. Setting As Thailand is transitioning from a developing to a middle-income developed country, chronic diseases (particularly cardiovascular disease) have emerged as major health issues. Hypertension is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke and cross-sectional studies have indicated that the prevalence is increasing. Study participants A total of 57 558 Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University students who participated in both the 2005 and 2009 questionnaire surveys and who were normotensive in 2005 were included in the analysis. Measures Adjusted relative risks associating each risk factor and incidence of hypertension by sex, after controlling for confounders such as age, socioeconomic status, body mass index (BMI) and underlying diseases. Results The overall 4-year incidence of hypertension was 3.5%, with the rate in men being remarkably higher than that in women (5.2% vs 2.1%). In both sexes, hypertension was associated with age, higher BMI and comorbidities but not with income and education. In men, hypertension was associated with physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol and fast food intake. In women, hypertension was related to having a partner. Conclusions In both men and women, hypertension was strongly associated with age, obesity and comorbidities while it had no association with socioeconomic factors. The cohort patterns of socioeconomy and hypertension reflect that the health risk transition in Thais is likely to be at the middle stage. Diet and lifestyle factors associate with incidence of hypertension in Thais and may be amenable targets for hypertension control programmes.
Pigmentary Characteristics, UV Radiation Exposure, and Risk of Non–Hodgkin Lymphoma: a Prospective Study among Scandinavian Women

Background: UV radiation and pigmentary characteristics may be associated with non–Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) risk, but few prospective studies exist. We investigated these associations in a Norwegian-Swedish cohort. Methods: The cohort included women ages 30 to 50 years at enrolment in 1991 to 1992. Host factors, and exposure to sun and artificial tanning devices in life-decades 0 to 50 years were collected by questionnaire. Relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated by Poisson regression. Results: Among 104,953 women with complete follow-up through 2006 (Sweden) and 2007 (Norway), 158 were diagnosed with NHL. Women with brown hair had an increased risk of NHL compared with dark brown–haired/black-haired women (RR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.08-2.74); decreased risks were found among women with gray, green or mixed (RR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.32-0.77), or blue (RR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.35-0.81) eyes compared with those with brown eyes, and among those with high propensity to burn compared with those with low propensity (RR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.36-0.91). Annual number of sunburns and bathing vacations in any age decade, or ever use of artificial tanning devices were not significantly associated with NHL risk. After exposure at ages 10 to 39 years, RRs for ever versus never exposed were 0.99 (95% CI, 0.65-1.50) for sunburn, 1.00 (95% CI, 0.64-1.54) for bathing vacations, and 0.99 (95% CI, 0.67-1.46) for artificial tanning device use. Conclusion: Whereas several pigmentary characteristics were associated with NHL risk, our results do not support an association between UV radiation and NHL. Impact: Studies of UV radiation and NHL are warranted for etiologic understanding and public health recommendations. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 19(6); 1569–76. ©2010 AACR.
Better preservation of residual renal function in peritoneal dialysis patients treated with a low-protein diet supplemented with keto acids: a prospective, randomized trial.

BACKGROUND While a low-protein diet may preserve residual renal function (RRF) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients before the start of dialysis, a high-protein intake is usually recommended in dialysis patients to prevent protein-energy wasting. Keto acids, which were often recommended to pre-dialysis CKD patients treated with a low-protein diet, had also been reported to be associated with both RRF and nutrition maintenance. We conducted a randomized trial to test whether a low-protein diet with or without keto acids would be safe and associated with a preserved RRF during peritoneal dialysis (PD). METHODS To assess the safety of low protein, we first conducted a nitrogen balance study in 34 incident PD patients randomized to receive in-centre diets containing 1.2, 0.9 or 0.6 g of protein/kg ideal body weight (IBW)/day for 10 days. Second, 60 stable PD patients [RRF 4.04 +/- 2.30 ml/ min/1.73 m(2), urine output 1226 +/- 449 ml/day, aged 53.6 +/- 12.8 years, PD duration 8.8 (1.5-17.8) months] were randomized to receive either a low- (LP: 0.6-0.8 g/kg IBW/day), keto acid-supplemented low- (sLP: 0.6-0.8 g/kg IBW/day with 0.12 g/kg IBW/day of keto acids) or high-protein (HP: 1.0-1.2 g/kg IBW/day) diet. The groups were followed for 1 year and RRF as well as nutritional status was evaluated serially. RESULTS A neutral or positive nitrogen balance was achieved in all three groups. RRF remained stable in group sLP (3.84 +/- 2.17 to 3.39 +/- 3.23 ml/min/1.73 m(2), P = ns) while it decreased in group LP (4.02 +/- 2.49 to 2.29 +/- 1.72 ml/min/1.73 m(2), P < 0.05) and HP (4.25 +/- 2.34 to 2.55 +/- 2.29 ml/min/1.73 m(2), P < 0.05). There was no change from baseline on nutritional status in any of the groups during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS A diet containing 0.6-0.8 g of protein/kg IBW/day is safe and, when combined with keto acids, is associated with an improved preservation of RRF in relatively new PD patients without significant malnutrition or inflammation.
Cancer patients with oral mucositis: challenges for nursing care1

OBJECTIVE: to analyze nursing care provided to cancer patients with oral mucositis based on the Nursing Process (NP). METHOD: this exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional and quantitative study was conducted with 213 patients undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy in two cancer facilities: one philanthropic and one private service. RESULTS: the participants were mainly female, aged 45.8 years old on average, with up to 11 years of schooling and income of up to one times the minimum wage. Severe mucositis was related to chemotherapy associated with radiotherapy. Only 25.3% of the patients reported having received guidance from nurses during their treatment concerning self-care. The perceptions of patients regarding quality of care did not significantly differ between the private and public facilities. The basic human needs mainly affected were comfort, eating, and hygiene. Based on this finding, one NP was established listing the diagnoses, interventions and expected results to establish an ideal, though individualized, standard of nursing care to be provided to these patients. CONCLUSION: to understand oral mucositis is crucial to establish nursing care that includes prevention based on the implementation of an oral care plan.
Salton award lecture: information retrieval as engineering science

This paper gives my personal view on the field of information retrieval (IR), by first presenting my own definition of the field, and then pointing out why IR isn't an engineering science yet. For the latter, IR lacks appropriate theoretic foundations, which would not only give us a better understanding of current systems, but also would provide a generally valid basis for building systems, and enable us to make predictons about the performance of these systems. For reaching this goal, we need a well-balanced interplay between theory building, hypothesis generation and testing via experimentation.
High-yield production of dihydrogen from xylose by using a synthetic enzyme cascade in a cell-free system.

Let enzymes work: H2 was produced from xylose and water in one reactor containing 13 enzymes (red). By using a novel polyphosphate xylulokinase (XK), xylose was converted into H2 and CO2 with approaching 100 % of the theoretical yield. The findings suggest that cell-free biosystems could produce H2 from biomass xylose at low cost. Xu5P = xylulose 5-phosphate, G6P = glucose 6-phosphate.