Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential Neutralizing Activities of a Single Domain Camelid Antibody (VHH) Specific for Ricin Toxin’s Binding Subunit (RTB)

Ricin, a member of the A-B family of ribosome-inactivating proteins, is classified as a Select Toxin by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because of its potential use as a biothreat agent. In an effort to engineer therapeutics for ricin, we recently produced a collection of alpaca-derived, heavy-chain only antibody VH domains (VHH or “nanobody”) specific for ricin’s enzymatic (RTA) and binding (RTB) subunits. We reported that one particular RTB-specific VHH, RTB-B7, when covalently linked via a peptide spacer to different RTA-specific VHHs, resulted in heterodimers like VHH D10/B7 that were capable of passively protecting mice against a lethal dose challenge with ricin. However, RTB-B7 itself, when mixed with ricin at a 1∶10 toxin:antibody ratio did not afford any protection in vivo, even though it had demonstrable toxin-neutralizing activity in vitro. To better define the specific attributes of antibodies associated with ricin neutralization in vitro and in vivo, we undertook a more thorough characterization of RTB-B7. We report that RTB-B7, even at 100-fold molar excess (toxin:antibody) was unable to alter the toxicity of ricin in a mouse model. On the other hand, in two well-established cytotoxicity assays, RTB-B7 neutralized ricin with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) that was equivalent to that of 24B11, a well-characterized and potent RTB-specific murine monoclonal antibody. In fact, RTB-B7 and 24B11 were virtually identical when compared across a series of in vitro assays, including adherence to and neutralization of ricin after the toxin was pre-bound to cell surface receptors. RTB-B7 differed from both 24B11 and VHH D10/B7 in that it was relatively less effective at blocking ricin attachment to receptors on host cells and was not able to form high molecular weight toxin:antibody complexes in solution. Whether either of these activities is important in ricin toxin neutralizing activity in vivo remains to be determined.
A Distributed Approximation Algorithm for the Metric Uncapacitated Facility Location Problem in the Congest Model

We present a randomized distributed approximation algorithm for the metric uncapacitated facility location problem. The algorithm is executed on a bipartite graph in the Congest model yielding a (1.861 + epsilon) approximation factor, where epsilon is an arbitrary small positive constant. It needs O(n^{3/4}log_{1+epsilon}^2(n) communication rounds with high probability (n denoting the number of facilities and clients). To the best of our knowledge, our algorithm currently has the best approximation factor for the facility location problem in a distributed setting. It is based on a greedy sequential approximation algorithm by Jain et al. (J. ACM 50(6), pages: 795-824, 2003). The main difficulty in executing this sequential algorithm lies in dealing with situations, where multiple facilities are eligible for opening, but (in order to preserve the approximation factor of the sequential algorithm) only a subset of them can actually be opened. Note that while the presented runtime bound of our algorithm is "with high probability", the approximation factor is not "in expectation" but always guaranteed to be (1.861 + epsilon). Thus, our main contribution is a sublinear time selection mechanism that, while increasing the approximation factor by an arbitrary small additive term, allows us to decide which of the eligible facilities to open.
Ileocecal Intussusception with Histomorphological Features of Inflammatory Neuropathy in Adenovirus Infection

The pathophysiological mechanisms for ileocecal intussusception in children with adenovirus infection are not well characterized. Here we demonstrate coincidence of adenovirus infection and inflammatory neuropathy of myenteric plexus in two children with ileocecal intussusception. Inflammatory neuropathy, an unspecific morphological feature which is found in peristalsis disorders, was morphologically characterized by the influx of CD3 positive lymphocytes in nervous plexus. To our knowledge, this is the first report suggesting peristalsis disorders from inflammatory neuropathy as additional mechanism in the pathophysiological concept of adenovirus-associated ileocecal intussusception.
Family Structure, Racial Socialization, Perceived Parental Involvement, and Social Support as Predictors of Self-Esteem in African American College Students

The present study was a correlation survey examination of self-esteem among African American college students. The constructs of racial socialization, parental involvement, social support, family structure, and self-esteem were examined among 98 African American college students residing in the central region of North Carolina. To examine these relationships, Pearson product correlation, multiple regressions, and ANOVA were run to analyze data. Conventional wisdom suggested that changes in family structure such as the dissolution of a two-parent family would have short-term and long-term effects on children and a wide range of psychosocial outcomes. However, the current study found no significant mean differences in self-esteem across family structures. By examining self-esteem in the sample population, this study identified that social support and parental involvement were significant factors that contributed to the development of self-esteem in African American adults.
The More We Learn the Less We Know? On Inductive Learning from Examples

We consider the average error rate of classification as a function of the number of training examples. We investigate the upper and the lower bounds of this error in a class of commonly used algorithms based on inductive learning from examples. As a result, we arrive at the astonishing conclusion that, contrary to what one could expect, the error rate of some algorithms does not decrease monotonically with number of training examples; rather, it initially increases up to a certain point and only then it starts to decrease. Furthermore, the classification quality of some algorithms is as poor as that of the naive algorithm. We show that for simple monomials, even if we take an exponentially large training data set, the classification quality of some methods will not be better than if we have taken just one or several training examples.
Model kinetic equation for low-density granular flow.

A model kinetic equation is proposed to describe the time evolution of a gas composed of particles which collide inelastically. Dissipation in collisions is described by means of a parameter which is related to the coefficient of restitution, \ensuremath{\epsilon}. The kinetic equation can be solved exactly for the homogeneous cooling state, providing explicit expressions for both the time-dependent ``temperature'' and the velocity distribution function. In contrast to the Maxwellian for fluids with energy conservation, this distribution exhibits algebraic decay for large velocities. Hydrodynamic equations are derived by expanding in the gradients of the hydrodynamic fields around the homogeneous cooling state, without the limitation to \ensuremath{\epsilon} asymptotically close to unity. The equation for the energy density contains, in addition to a source term describing the energy lost in collisions, a contribution to the heat flux which is proportional to the gradient of the density. The linear stability of the homogeneous cooling state is investigated by analyzing the hydrodynamic modes of the system. The shear modes are found to decay slowly at long wavelengths, in the sense that spatial perturbations of the macroscopic flow field decay slower than the cooling rate for the thermal velocity of the reference homogeneous state. On the other hand, the heat mode is always stable. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
Statistics and ethics in medical research. Misuse of statistics is unethical.

"Some people hate the very name of statistics but I find them full of beauty and interest. Whenever they are not brutalised, but delicately handled by the higher methods, and are warily interpreted, their power of dealing with complicated phenomena is extraordinary. They are the only tools by which an opening can be cut through the formidable thicket of difficulties that bars the path of those who pursue the Science of man. " FRANCIS GALTON1
Short-Term Insulin Therapy and Normoglycemia: Effects on erythrocyte lipid peroxidation in NIDDM patients

OBJECTIVE To evaluate erythrocyte lipid peroxidation (LPO) before and after an adaptive short-term insulin therapy in NIDDM patients who were chronically hyperglycemic. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Twenty-six patients with NIDDM (mean HbA1c, 11.28%) aged 53.04 ± 2.03 years were submitted for 3 days to constant intravenous glucose and continuous insulin perfusion at an adaptable rate to maintain glycemia within the normal range. An evaluation of LPO at baseline and after euglycemic insulin therapy was determined by erythrocyte free and total malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) percentage, vitamin E and glutathione content, and the following antioxidant enzymatic activity determinations: glutathione peroxidase (GPX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). Fasting serum glucose, HbA1c, triglycerides, cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol levels were also determined at these time points. RESULTS At baseline, erythrocyte free and total MDA were significantly higher in NIDDM patients than in control subjects (11.14 ± 0.80 vs. 1.74 ± 0.11 nmol/g Hb [P < 0.0001] for free MDA; 18.04 ± 1.79 vs. 7.85 ± 0.55 nmol/g Hb [P < 0.0001] for total MDA). PUFAs, particularly C20:4 and C22:5, were increased (14.69 ± 0.34 vs. 12.03 ± 0.31 and 2.31 ± 0.04 vs. 1.71 ± 0.03% of total fatty acids, respectively). Vitamin E and glutathione were reduced significantly (6.16 ± 0.61 vs. 14.84 ± 0.64 nmol/g Hb and 0.42 ± 0.04 vs. 0.97 ± 0.06 mmol/l, respectively). No difference was observed for the enzymatic activities. After euglycemic insulin therapy, triglycerides significantly decreased compared with baseline concentrations (1.55 ± 0.13 vs. 2.42 ± 0.22 mmol/l; P < 0.001), whereas other lipidic parameters were unchanged. Free MDA significantly decreased (8.60 ± 0.76 vs. 11.14 ± 0.80 nmol/g Hb [P < 0.01]), while vitamin E increased (7.93 ± 0.73 vs. 6.16 ± 0.61 nmol/g Hb [P < 0.05]). No difference was observed for PUFAs, glutathione, or total MDA. CONCLUSIONS The observed erythrocyte LPO in NIDDM decreased after a short-term adaptive insulin therapy. This decrease could be principally attributed to the normalized glycemia that reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, which in turn may explain the increase in erythrocyte membrane vitamin E and the decrease in MDA. This study shows the value of a euglycemic environment in NIDDM to reduce LPO and, at long range, to minimize clinical diabetes complications.
COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIOURAL ASPECTS Psychosocial Factors and Beliefs Related to Intention to Not Binge Drink Among Young Adults

Aims: The objective of the study was to identify psychosocial factors and salient beliefs associated with the intention of young people to not binge drink in the next month, applying an extended version of the theory of planned behavior. Methods: Among 200 youths randomly recruited from adult education centers in the province of Quebec, Canada, 150 completed a question- naire. Of these, 141 youths reported having used alcohol in the last year—analyses were performed on this sub-sample. Results: The prediction model demonstrated that perceived behavioral control (odds ratio, OR = 2.60, 95% confidence interval, CI 1.59-4.23; P = 0.0001), attitude (OR = 2.49, 95% CI 1.14-5.43; P = 0.02) and moral norm (OR = 1.88, 95% CI 1.23-2.88; P = 0.004) are three determinant variables of intention to not binge drink in the next month. The intention is also related to cannabis use in the last month (OR = 0.17 95% CI 0.05-0.53; P = 0.002). Young people who believe that if they do not binge drink in the next month, they will have a lower risk of getting depressed (OR = 1.53, 95% CI 1.23-1.90; P = 0.0001), and those who believe they will be able to not binge drink even if they are at a party (OR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.29-1.94; P < 0.0001), are more likely to have a positive intention. Conclusion: Despite some methodological limitations, this study revealed several options for helping young people to not binge drink during their school career.
Short-duration prophylaxis against venous thromboembolism after total hip or knee replacement: a meta-analysis of prospective studies investigating symptomatic outcomes.

BACKGROUND The prevalence of asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis diagnosed by venography after hip or knee replacement remains high despite 7 to 10 days of anticoagulant prophylaxis. However, the risk of symptomatic events in such patients is unclear. We performed a meta-analysis to provide reliable estimates of the risk of symptomatic venous thromboembolism occurring within 3 months of hip or knee replacement in patients who received short-duration (7-10 days) anticoagulant prophylaxis. METHODS The MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were searched from January 1993 to March 2001, supplemented by a manual search of bibliographies and conference abstracts, to identify prospective studies of patients undergoing hip or knee replacement who received short-duration prophylaxis (ie, 7-10 days of fixed-dose low-molecular-weight heparin or adjusted-dose warfarin, with a target international normalized ratio of 2.0-3.0). Studies were classified as clinical outcome studies if the outcome was symptomatic venous thromboembolism or as venographic outcome studies if the outcome was asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis diagnosed after bilateral venography. RESULTS There were 4 clinical outcome studies with 6089 patients who had 3 months of follow-up, and 13 venographic outcome studies with 7080 patients who had venography 7 to 10 days after surgery. In clinical outcome studies, the 3-month incidence of nonfatal venous thromboembolism was 3.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.0%-4.4%), and the 3-month incidence of fatal pulmonary embolism was 0.10% (95% CI, 0.02%-0.20%). The postprophylaxis incidence of nonfatal venous thromboembolism was 2.2% (95% CI, 1.4%-3.0%), and the incidence of fatal pulmonary embolism was 0.05% (95% CI, 0%-0.12%). The postprophylaxis incidence of symptomatic venous thromboembolism was higher after hip than after knee replacement (2.5% vs 1.4%; P=.02). In venographic outcome studies, the prevalence of deep vein thrombosis (total and proximal) was higher after knee than after hip replacement (total: 38.8% vs 16.4%; P<.001; proximal: 7.6% vs 3.8%; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS In patients who undergo hip or knee replacement and receive short-duration anticoagulant prophylaxis, symptomatic nonfatal venous thromboembolism will occur in about 1 of 32 patients and fatal pulmonary embolism will occur in about 1 of 1000 patients within 3 months of the surgery. Although the prevalence of asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis is more than 2-fold higher after knee replacement than after hip replacement 7 to 10 days after surgery, in the subsequent 3 months, symptomatic venous thromboembolism is more likely to occur after hip replacement.
Effect of software version and parameter settings on the marginal and internal adaptation of crowns fabricated with the CAD/CAM system

Objective This study investigated the marginal and internal adaptation of individual dental crowns fabricated using a CAD/CAM system (Sirona’s BlueCam), also evaluating the effect of the software version used, and the specific parameter settings in the adaptation of crowns. Material and Methods Forty digital impressions of a master model previously prepared were acquired using an intraoral scanner and divided into four groups based on the software version and on the spacer settings used. The versions 3.8 and 4.2 of the software were used, and the spacer parameter was set at either 40 μm or 80 μm. The marginal and internal fit of the crowns were measured using the replica technique, which uses a low viscosity silicone material that simulates the thickness of the cement layer. The data were analyzed using a Friedman two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and paired t-tests with significance level set at p<0.05. Results The two-way ANOVA analysis showed the software version (p<0.05) and the spacer parameter (p<0.05) significantly affected the crown adaptation. The crowns designed with the version 4.2 of the software showed a better fit than those designed with the version 3.8, particularly in the axial wall and in the inner margin. The spacer parameter was more accurately represented in the version 4.2 of the software than in the version 3.8. In addition, the use of the version 4.2 of the software combined with the spacer parameter set at 80 μm showed the least variation. On the other hand, the outer margin was not affected by the variables. Conclusion Compared to the version 3.8 of the software, the version 4.2 can be recommended for the fabrication of well-fitting crown restorations, and for the appropriate regulation of the spacer parameter.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) X-ray / UV campaign on the Mrk 279 outflow : Density diagnostics in Active Galactic Nuclei using O V K-shell absorption lines

One of the main problems in modeling the ionised outflows in Active Galactic Nuclei is the unknown distance of the outflowing wind to the central source. Only if the density is known this distance can be determined through the ionisation parameter. Here we study density diagnostics based upon O transitions. O is known to have metastable levels that are density dependent. We study the population of those levels under photoionisation equilibrium conditions and determine for which parameter range they can have a significant population. We find that resonance line trapping plays an important role in reducing the critical densities above which the metastable population becomes important. We investigate the K-shell absorption lines from these metastable levels. Provided that there is a sufficient population of the metastable levels, the corresponding K-shell absorption lines are detectable and are well separated from the main absorption line originating from the ground state. We then present the Chandra LETGS spectrum of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 279 that may show for the first time the presence of these metastable level absorption lines. A firm identification is not yet possible due to both uncertainties in the observed wavelength of the strongest line as well as uncertainties in the predicted wavelength. If the line is indeed due to absorption from O, then we deduce a distance to the central source of one light week to a few light months, depending upon the importance of additional
The stratification of leisure: Variation in the salience of socioeconomic dimensions in shaping leisure participation in two consumer societies

In this article the authors compare the stratification of culture in France and Israel, testing the homology between lifestyles (leisure activities) and social positions (education, income, and occupational status). They articulate a set of hypotheses pertaining to expected difference between the two countries. They argue that these differences are warranted because France is characterized by strong Western values and a tradition of class differences, while Israel is a new state, economically developed but not Western, with a significant socialist tradition and weakly structured classes. The authors use data from lifestyle surveys conducted in France (2003) and in Israel (2007). Their findings suggest that the division between highbrow and lowbrow lifestyle activities is more clear-cut in France and that the link between lifestyle clusters and social position is more accentuated in France. Their discussion highlights the contribution of this article to the growing body of literature on cross-national differences in cultural stratification and to understanding variation in the salience of socioeconomic dimensions in shaping cultural competencies in consumer society. Finally, the authors discuss the importance of conducting comparative research that includes countries outside Europe and North America.
A supply-demand model of party-system institutionalization: The Russian case

An accountable democracy requires institutionalized parties. A supply—demand model hypothesizes that institutionalization is a function of four sets of influences: stability in election law, persisting commitments to parties by political elites and by voters, and learning by elites and by voters. The hypotheses are tested with aggregate data from nine nationwide elections in Russia since 1993, in which institutionalization and its complement, volatility, are decomposed. Survey data from the 2007—8 round of Russian elections is then used to test the extent of institutionalization through party identification. Logit analysis shows that the high level of support for President Putin’s new party, United Russia, is based on temporary rather than durable influences. The political elite’s volatile supply of parties has created a ‘floating’ party system and a delegative democracy with implications for new democracies on other continents.
Painful Moan or Erotic Groan: Top-down Influence on the Emotional Response to Sounds

The present study tested the effects of top-down processing, in particular the influence of contextual knowledge, on the emotional interpretation of sounds. This was done through a study on the affective priming of auditory stimuli. Eighteen sounds from the International Affective Digitized Sounds (six positive, six negative, and six neutral) were played in three different framing-label conditions. The positive condition displayed an emotionally positive labelpreceding each sound, the negative condition displayed an emotionally unpleasant label, and the neutral condition displayed letter labels. The current study chose to examine the effects of top-down processing by examining both implicit and explicit measures of emotional response. Electrodermal activity and facial muscle activity were recorded in order to measure the physiological responses to each label-sound pair as a means of investigating implicit responses. Participants also provided their ratings of each sound’s valence and arousal in order to measureexplicit emotional responses. It was hypothesized that participants would exhibit physiological responses typically evoked by pleasant stimuli (e.g., increased zygomaticus activity) in the positive label condition, and responsestypically evoked by unpleasant stimuli (e.g., increased corrugator activity) in the negative label condition, both regardless of sound valence. This study found both sound type and label type to have a significant effect onparticipants’ ratings on valence, but not on their ratings of arousal. There was, however, a significant interaction of sound type and label type on both valence and arousal. In regards to physiological measurements, sound type had asignificant effect on zygomaticus activity, but not on electrodermal activity or corrugator activity. Label type did not produce a significant effect for facial muscle activity or electrodermal activity.