Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hepatitis B vaccination of 113 hemophiliacs: Lower antibody response in anti‐LAV/HTLV‐III‐positive patients

One‐hundred thirteen adults and children with hemophilia or other congenital bleeding disorders were vaccinated against the hepatitis B virus. Each patient was given three subcutaneous injections of the vaccine at monthly intervals and then a fourth booster dose 14 months after the first. The vaccine was highly immunogenic, since 111 of 113 patients (98%) produced anti‐HBs (10 mlU/ml or more). After the first three vaccine doses and after the booster dose, ten anti‐LAV/HTLV‐III‐positive hemophiliacs produced anti‐HBs but had a lower average titer than anti‐LAV/HTLV‐III‐negative hemophiliacs. Of the 23 patients treated with concentrates in the 15 month postvaccination period only, none acquired HBV infection. Of the 50 patients treated with concentrates also in the 6 month prevaccination period, one developed hepatitis B. In summary, the vaccine was highly immunogenic in both children and adults with hemophilia; anti‐LAV/HTLV‐III‐positive patients responded to the vaccine, but the average anti‐HBs response was lower; no case of hepatitis B occurred in patients treated with concentrates only in the postvaccination period.
Comparative Analysis of HaSNPV-AC53 and Derived Strains

Complete genome sequences of two Australian isolates of H. armigera single nucleopolyhedrovirus (HaSNPV) and nine strains isolated by plaque selection in tissue culture identified multiple polymorphisms in tissue culture-derived strains compared to the consensus sequence of the parent isolate. Nine open reading frames (ORFs) in all tissue culture-derived strains contained changes in nucleotide sequences that resulted in changes in predicted amino acid sequence compared to the parent isolate. Of these, changes in predicted amino acid sequence of six ORFs were identical in all nine derived strains. Comparison of sequences and maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) of specific ORFs and whole genome sequences were used to compare the isolates and derived strains to published sequence data from other HaSNPV isolates. The Australian isolates and derived strains had greater sequence similarity to New World SNPV isolates from H. zea than to Old World isolates from H. armigera, but with characteristics associated with both. Three distinct geographic clusters within HaSNPV genome sequences were identified: Australia/Americas, Europe/Africa/India, and China. Comparison of sequences and fragmentation of ORFs suggest that geographic movement and passage in vitro result in distinct patterns of baculovirus strain selection and evolution.
Isolated absence of right pulmonary artery

Background: Absence of right pulmonary artery (RPA) is a rare congenital abnormality with variable presentation. The diagnosis is often missed in infants Objective: The aim of this study was to describe infantile presentation of isolated absence of RPA along with a brief review of the literature. Methods: The details of five patients diagnosed with isolated absence of RPA from April 2007 to October 2009 were reviewed retrospectively Results: Five patients were identified with this anomaly. The median age of presentation was 86 days (range, 40–120 days) and the median weight was 3.65 kg (range, 3.1–5.5 kg). All patients presented with breathing difficulty and had severe pulmonary hypertension (PHT) along with absent RPA on echocardiography. A multidetector computed tomographic scan was performed to confirm the diagnosis in four cases. Three patients had major aortopulmonary collateral and the hilar RPA was not well developed in all. A correct diagnosis was made before referral in one patient only. Differential vascularity in chest X-ray, a useful clue, was seen in four of five cases. Surgical correction was not considered in view of the small hilar pulmonary artery. The patients were all managed medically with diuretics and Sildenafil. Conclusion: Isolated absence of RPA is a rare congenital abnormality with varied presentation. Infantile presentation is marked with congestive cardiac failure and PHT. Specific diagnostic clue includes differential vascularity on the chest X-ray.
Planar polarity genes in the Drosophila wing regulate the localisation of the FH3-domain protein Multiple Wing Hairs to control the site of hair production

The core planar polarity proteins play important roles in coordinating cell polarity, in part by adopting asymmetric subcellular localisations that are likely to serve as cues for cell polarisation by as yet uncharacterised pathways. Here we describe the role of Multiple Wing Hairs (Mwh), a novel formin homology 3 (FH3)-domain protein, which acts downstream of the core polarity proteins to restrict the production of actin-rich prehairs to distal cell edges in the Drosophila pupal wing. Mwh appears to function as a repressor of actin filament formation and, in its absence, ectopic actin bundles are seen across the entire apical surface of cells. We show that the proximally localised core polarity protein Strabismus acts via the downstream effector proteins Inturned, Fuzzy and Fritz to stabilise Mwh in apico-proximal cellular regions. In addition, the distally localised core polarity protein Frizzled positively promotes prehair initiation, suggesting that both proximal and distal cellular cues act together to ensure accurate prehair placement.
The persistence of neutralizing antibodies after revaccination against smallpox.

Persistence of neutralizing antibodies after revaccination against smallpox was studied. Single serum samples from 140 revaccinated donors were tested for neutralizing antibodies using the plaque reduction assay. The donors, aged 21-49 years at sampling, had been vaccinated in infancy and revaccinated at 8 and 18 years; they formed seven groups of 20 men each, revaccinated about 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years before sampling. The differences in mean titer among groups were insignificant (P greater than .01). The titer significantly decreased during the first 3 years after the revaccination but remained stable for at least 30 years thereafter (geometric mean titer, 10.5; 95% confidence interval, 6.8-16.4). The results suggest that there is probably no need for routine revaccinations beyond the primary and two revaccinations; nevertheless, persons at high risk should be revaccinated regardless of their vaccination status.
Towards a cognitive stimulation program using an errorless learning paradigm in amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Considering the high risk for amnestic mild cognitive impairment (A-MCI) individuals to progress towards dementia, it is crucial to study the efficacy of innovative treatment strategies such as cognitive stimulation techniques. The present study is a case report of two individuals presenting with A-MCI who were enrolled in a memory training program. After a broad neuropsychological assessment, the two participants were trained with an errorless (EL) learning paradigm on an individual basis, twice a week, over three weeks. Two follow-up sessions took place one and five weeks after the end of the training. Results showed that the program was well tolerated and feasible, and enhanced daily memory abilities. For the second participant only, a re-evaluation of her cognitive profile was completed 23 months after her first assessment and training. In addition, EL was directly compared with a control condition using an errorful (EF) learning paradigm to teach her new names over two sessions (one session for each condition). Her improvement on the trained material supported the preliminary efficacy of EL compared with EF for learning episodic material. These results are compatible with previous work that has preliminarily demonstrated the efficacy of an EL paradigm in patients with dementia.
Molecular analysis of the prokaryotic ubiquitin‐like protein (Pup) conjugation pathway in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Proteins targeted for degradation by the Mycobacterium proteasome are post‐translationally tagged with prokaryotic ubiquitin‐like protein (Pup), an intrinsically disordered protein of 64 residues. In a process termed ‘pupylation’, Pup is synthesized with a terminal glutamine, which is deamidated to glutamate by Dop (deamidase of Pup) prior to attachment to substrate lysines by proteasome accessory factor A (PafA). Importantly, PafA was previously shown to be essential to cause lethal infections by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in mice. In this study we show that Dop, like PafA, is required for the full virulence of Mtb. Additionally, we show that Dop is not only involved in the deamidation of Pup, but also needed to maintain wild‐type steady state levels of pupylated proteins in Mtb. Finally, using structural models and site‐directed mutagenesis our data suggest that Dop and PafA are members of the glutamine synthetase fold family of proteins.
Regulation of Dormancy in Barley by Blue Light and After-Ripening: Effects on Abscisic Acid and Gibberellin Metabolism1[W]

White light strongly promotes dormancy in freshly harvested cereal grains, whereas dark and after-ripening have the opposite effect. We have analyzed the interaction of light and after-ripening on abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellin (GA) metabolism genes and dormancy in barley (Hordeum vulgare ‘Betzes’). Analysis of gene expression in imbibed barley grains shows that different ABA metabolism genes are targeted by white light and after-ripening. Of the genes examined, white light promotes the expression of an ABA biosynthetic gene, HvNCED1, in embryos. Consistent with this result, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays show that dormant grains imbibed under white light have higher embryo ABA content than grains imbibed in the dark. After-ripening has no effect on expression of ABA biosynthesis genes, but promotes expression of an ABA catabolism gene (HvABA8′OH1), a GA biosynthetic gene (HvGA3ox2), and a GA catabolic gene (HvGA2ox3) following imbibition. Blue light mimics the effects of white light on germination, ABA levels, and expression of GA and ABA metabolism genes. Red and far-red light have no effect on germination, ABA levels, or HvNCED1. RNA interference experiments in transgenic barley plants support a role of HvABA8′OH1 in dormancy release. Reduced HvABA8′OH1 expression in transgenic HvABA8′OH1 RNAi grains results in higher levels of ABA and increased dormancy compared to nontransgenic grains.
Constructivism: Implications for the Design and Delivery of Instruction

Constructivism! The increase in frequency with which this word appears in the discourse of educational research, theory, and policy is truly remarkable. Unfortunately much of the discussion is at the level of slogan and cliche even bromide. "Students should construct their own knowledge" is being reverentially chanted throughout the halls of many a school/college/department of education these days, and any approach that is other than constructivist is characterized as promoting passive, rote, and sterile learning. For example, consider Rogoff's (1994) description of what she calls the adult-run model of how learning occurs:
Emission abatement versus development as strategies to reduce vulnerability to climate change: an application of FUND

Poorer countries are generally believed to be more vulnerable to climate change than richer countries because poorer countries are more exposed and have less adaptive capacity. This suggests that, in principle, there are two ways of reducing vulnerability to climate change: economic growth and greenhouse gas emission reduction. Using a complex climate change impact model, in which development is an important determinant of vulnerability, the hypothesis is tested whether development aid is more effective in reducing impacts than is emission abatement. The hypothesis is barely rejected for Asia but strongly accepted for Latin America and, particularly, Africa. The explanation for the difference is that development (aid) reduces vulnerabilities in some sectors (infectious diseases, water resources, agriculture) but increases vulnerabilities in others (cardiovascular diseases, energy consumption). However, climate change impacts are much higher in Latin America and Africa than in Asia, so that money spent on emission reduction for the sake of avoiding impacts in developing countries is better spent on vulnerability reduction in those countries. His last big project in a long career, Jan Feenstra managed the Netherlands Climate Change Assistance Programme through which the Dutch Government sponsors climate change research in developing countries. He hated how climate change detracted from what he considered to be the real issues. This paper is dedicated to his memory.
Cell-in-Cell Death Is Not Restricted by Caspase-3 Deficiency in MCF-7 Cells

Purpose Cell-in-cell structures are created by one living cell entering another homotypic or heterotypic living cell, which usually leads to the death of the internalized cell, specifically through caspase-dependent cell death (emperitosis) or lysosome-dependent cell death (entosis). Although entosis has attracted great attention, its occurrence is controversial, because one cell line used in its study (MCF-7) is deficient in caspase-3. Methods We investigated this issue using MCF-7 and A431 cell lines, which often display cell-in-cell invasion, and have different levels of caspase-3 expression. Cell-in-cell death morphology, microstructures, and signaling pathways were compared in the two cell lines. Results Our results confirmed that MCF-7 cells are caspase-3 deficient with a partial deletion in the CASP-3 gene. These cells underwent cell death that lacked typical apoptotic properties after staurosporine treatment, whereas caspase-3-sufficient A431 cells displayed typical apoptosis. The presence of caspase-3 was related neither to the lysosome-dependent nor to the caspase-dependent cell-in-cell death pathway. However, the existence of caspase-3 was associated with a switch from lysosome-dependent cell-in-cell death to the apoptotic cell-in-cell death pathway during entosis. Moreover, cellular hypoxia, mitochondrial swelling, release of cytochrome C, and autophagy were observed in internalized cells during entosis. Conclusion The occurrence of caspase-independent entosis is not a cell-specific process. In addition, entosis actually represents a cellular self-repair system, functioning through autophagy, to degrade damaged mitochondria resulting from cellular hypoxia in cell-in-cell structures. However, sustained autophagy-associated signal activation, without reduction in cellular hypoxia, eventually leads to lysosome-dependent intracellular cell death.
Learning environmental sounds with end-to-end convolutional neural network

Environmental sound classification (ESC) is usually conducted based on handcrafted features such as the log-mel feature. Meanwhile, end-to-end classification systems perform feature extraction jointly with classification and have achieved success particularly in image classification. In the same manner, if environmental sounds could be directly learned from the raw waveforms, we would be able to extract a new feature effective for classification that could not have been designed by humans, and this new feature could improve the classification performance. In this paper, we propose a novel end-to-end ESC system using a convolutional neural network (CNN). The classification accuracy of our system on ESC-50 is 5.1% higher than that achieved when using logmel-CNN with the static log-mel feature. Moreover, we achieve a 6.5% improvement in classification accuracy over the state-of-the-art logmel-CNN with the static and delta log-mel feature, simply by combining our system and logmel-CNN.
Algorithm-Dependent Generalization Bounds for Multi-Task Learning

Often, tasks are collected for multi-task learning (MTL) because they share similar feature structures. Based on this observation, in this paper, we present novel algorithm-dependent generalization bounds for MTL by exploiting the notion of algorithmic stability. We focus on the performance of one particular task and the average performance over multiple tasks by analyzing the generalization ability of a common parameter that is shared in MTL. When focusing on one particular task, with the help of a mild assumption on the feature structures, we interpret the function of the other tasks as a regularizer that produces a specific inductive bias. The algorithm for learning the common parameter, as well as the predictor, is thereby uniformly stable with respect to the domain of the particular task and has a generalization bound with a fast convergence rate of order <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {O}(1/n)$</tex-math><alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:href="tao-ieq1-2544314.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>, where <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$</tex-math><alternatives> <inline-graphic xlink:href="tao-ieq2-2544314.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> is the sample size of the particular task. When focusing on the average performance over multiple tasks, we prove that a similar inductive bias exists under certain conditions on the feature structures. Thus, the corresponding algorithm for learning the common parameter is also uniformly stable with respect to the domains of the multiple tasks, and its generalization bound is of the order <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {O}(1/T)$</tex-math><alternatives> <inline-graphic xlink:href="tao-ieq3-2544314.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>, where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$T$</tex-math><alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:href="tao-ieq4-2544314.gif"/> </alternatives> </inline-formula> is the number of tasks. These theoretical analyses naturally show that the similarity of feature structures in MTL will lead to specific regularizations for predicting, which enables the learning algorithms to generalize fast and correctly from a few examples.
Kinetics of Biphenyl and Polychlorinated Biphenyl Metabolism in Soil

The metabolism of 14C-labeled PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), which comprised the Aroclor 1242 mixture, was greatly enhanced by the addition of biphenyl (BP) to soil. After 49 days, only 25 to 35% of the original PCBs remained in the soil, and 48 to 49% was converted to 14CO2 (including soil carbonates) in treatments enriched with BP; by contrast, 92% of the PCBs remained and less than 2% was converted to 14CO2 in the unenriched control. Although the mineralization of PCBs in soils inoculated with Acinetobacter strain P6 was not greater than that in uninoculated BP-enriched soils, the initial and maximum mineralization rates and the disappearance of more highly chlorinated PCBs were greater with Acinetobacter strain P6. The mineralization of BP was consistent with kinetic models based upon linear-no growth and exponential growth; lower cell densities (<106/g) of BP-oxidizing bacteria gave a better fit for exponential growth, whereas the highest cell density (109/g) gave a better fit for linear-no growth. The numbers of BP-oxidizing bacteria declined exponentially upon depletion of the substrate. Since the mineralization of the chlorinated cometabolites was brought about by microorganisms (commensals) other than BP oxidizers, 14CO2 production could not be fit to either of the two growth models. However, 14CO2 production from the highest-density inoculum could be fit to a first-order (no-growth) sequential-reaction series. Although the population dynamics of the commensals could not be determined, the rate-limiting step in the cometabolic-commensal metabolism of PCBs to CO2 had to be the initial oxidation, since the rate of 14CO2 production was directly related to the population density of BP oxidizers.
Impact of nasal ventilation on survival in hypercapnic Duchenne muscular dystrophy

BACKGROUND Respiratory failure is the commonest cause of death in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Life expectancy is less than one year once diurnal hypercapnia develops. This study examines the effects of nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) on survival in symptomatic Duchenne patients with established ventilatory failure. METHODS Nocturnal NIPPV was applied in 23 consecutive patients with DMD of mean (SD) age 20.3 (3.4) years who presented with diurnal and nocturnal hypercapnia. RESULTS One year and five year survival rates were 85% (95% CI 69 to 100) and 73% (95% CI 53 to 94), respectively. Early changes in arterial blood gas tensions following NIPPV occurred with mean (SD) Po 2 increasing from 7.6 (2.1) kPa to 10.8 (1.3) kPa and mean (SD) Pco 2 falling from 10.3 (4.5) kPa to 6.1 (1.0) kPa. Improvements in arterial blood gas tensions were maintained over five years. Health perception and social aspects of SF-36 health related quality of life index were reported as equivalent to other groups with non-progressive disorders using NIPPV. CONCLUSION Nasal ventilation is likely to increase survival in hypercapnic patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and should be considered as a treatment option when ventilatory failure develops.
A Lack of Consensus in the Assessment of Fracture Healing Among Orthopaedic Surgeons

Background The assessment of fracture healing is both a clinically relevant and frequently used outcome measure following lower extremity trauma. However, it remains uncertain whether there is a consensus in the assessment of fracture healing among orthopaedic surgeons. Variability in the assessment of healing may have important implications in surgeons' decisions to intervene when they perceive fracture healing is slow to progress. Objective To identify surgeons' approaches in the assessment of tibial fracture healing and the definitions of a delayed union, nonunion, and malunion among orthopaedic surgeons. Study Design Cross-sectional survey of 577 orthopaedic surgeons. Methods Focus groups, key informants, and sampling to redundancy strategies were used to develop a survey to examine surgeons' opinions in the assessment of tibial shaft fractures. Surgeons were asked how often the following variables were used in the assessment of fracture healing: (a) callus size; (b) cortical continuity; (c) progressive loss of fracture line; (d) pain with weight bearing; and (e) pain to palpation at the fracture site. Further, surgeons were asked to provide a time point beyond which a delayed union becomes a nonunion. Finally, surgeons specified their limits of acceptable fracture alignment (translation, shortening, rotation, varus/valgus, and procurvatum/recurvatum). The survey was pilot tested for clarity and content validity. This survey was mailed to 577 orthopaedic surgeons who were members of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and European-AO International–affiliated trauma centers. Results Responses were obtained from 444 surgeons (response rate 77%). For each variable, the proportion of surgeons who always used the criterion ranged from 39.7% to 45.4%, and those who occasionally or never used the criterion ranged from 20.7% to 26.9%. Surgeons' definitions of delayed union ranged from 1 to 8 months, whereas definitions of nonunion ranged from 2 to 12 months. There was also variability in definitions of fracture malunion. Acceptable degrees of fracture shortening and translation ranged from less than 5 mm to greater than 15 mm. Surgeons' definitions of acceptable angular malunions (rotational, varus/valgus, and procurvatum/recurvatum) ranged from less than 5° to 20°. Conclusions There is a lack of consensus in the assessment of fracture healing in tibial shaft fractures among orthopaedic surgeons. Varying definitions of nonunion and malunion may influence the decision to intervene in an effort to promote fracture healing and/or realign the fracture.