Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Current views on the functions of interleukin-17A-producing cells in atherosclerosis

Summary Multiple components of the immune response are involved in the initiation, progression and persistence of atherosclerosis. Interleukin (IL)-17A is produced by a broad variety of leukocytes and plays an important role in host defense. IL-17A is also involved in the pathology of several autoimmune diseases mainly via the regulation of chemokine expression and leukocyte migration to the site of inflammation. There is an increasing body of evidence indicating an association between elevated levels of IL-17A and cardiovascular diseases. Interestingly, this IL- 17A-dependent response occurs in parallel with the Th1-dominant immune response during atherogenesis. To date, the precise role of IL-17A+ cells in atherosclerosis is controversial. Several studies have suggested a pro-atherogenic role of IL-17A via the regulation of aortic macrophage numbers, Th1-related cytokines and aortic chemokine expression. However, two studies recently described anti-inflammatory effects of IL-17A on mouse plaque burden via possible regulation of aortic VCAM-1 expression and T cell content. Furthermore, an initial study using IL-17A-deficient mice demonstrated that IL-17A affects the immune composition and inflammatory phenotype of the aortic wall; however, no effects were observed on atherosclerosis. Further studies are necessary to fully address the role of IL-17A and other IL-17 family members in atherosclerosis.
Immune‐mediated dormancy: an equilibrium with cancer

This brief review discusses the role of the immune system in tumor development, covering a history of cancer immunity and a summary of the concept of cancer immunoediting, including its three phases: elimination, equilibrium, and escape. The latter half of this review then focuses specifically on the equilibrium phase, making note of previous work, suggesting that immunity might maintain cancer in a dormant state, and concluding with a description of a tractable mouse model unequivocally demonstrating that immunity can indeed hold preformed cancer in check. These findings form a framework for future studies aimed at validating immune‐mediated cancer dormancy in humans with the hopes of devising new, immunotherapeutic strategies to treat established cancer.
A Bioluminescent Whole-Cell Reporter for Detection of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid and 2,4-Dichlorophenol in Soil

ABSTRACT A bioreporter was made containing atfdRPDII-luxCDABE fusion in a modified mini-Tn5 construct. When it was introduced into the chromosome of Ralstonia eutropha JMP134, the resulting strain, JMP134-32, produced a sensitive bioluminescent response to 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) at concentrations of 2.0 μM to 5.0 mM. This response was linear (R2 = 0.9825) in the range of 2.0 μM to 1.1 × 102 μM. Saturation occurred at higher concentrations, with maximal bioluminescence occurring in the presence of approximately 1.2 mM 2,4-D. A sensitive response was also recorded in the presence of 2,4-dichlorophenol at concentrations below 1.1 × 102μM; however, only a limited bioluminescent response was recorded in the presence of 3-chlorobenzoic acid at concentrations below 1.0 mM. A significant bioluminescent response was also recorded when strain JMP134-32 was incubated with soils containing aged 2,4-D residues.
Embodiment and sense-making in autism

Traditional functionalist approaches to autism consider cognition, communication, and perception separately, and can only provide piecemeal accounts of autism. Basing an integrative explanation on a single cause or common factor has proven difficult. Traditional theories are also disembodied and methodologically individualistic. In order to overcome these problems, I propose an enactive account of autism. For the enactive approach to cognition embodiment, interaction, and personal experience are central to understanding mind and subjectivity. Enaction defines cognition as sense-making: the way cognitive agents meaningfully connect with their world, based on their needs and goals as self-organizing, self-maintaining, embodied agents. In the social realm, when we interactively coordinate our embodied sense-making, we participate in each other’s sense-making. Thus, social understanding is defined as participatory sense-making. Applying the concepts of enaction to autism, I propose that 1) Sensorimotor particularities in autism translate into a different sense-making and vice versa. Autistic behaviors, e.g. restricted interests, will have sensorimotor correlates, as well as specific significance for autistic people in their context. 2) Socially, a reduced flexibility in interactional coordination can lead to difficulties in participatory sense-making. At the same time, however, seemingly irrelevant autistic behavior can be quite attuned to the interactive context. I illustrate this complexity in the case of echolalia. An enactive account of autism starts from the embodiment, experience, and social interactions of autistic people. Enaction brings together the cognitive, social, experiential, and affective aspects of autism in a coherent framework based on a complex, non-linear multi-causality. On this foundation, bridges can be built between autistic people and their often non-autistic context, and quality of life prospects can be improved.
Supporting Spanish Language Literacy: Latino Children and Free Reading Resources in Schools.

Abstract This study attempts to describe the issues which affect availability of free-reading materials in Spanish in elementary and middle school libraries. Attention was given to documenting the processes and chains of events which result in the actual library collections in selected elementary and middle schools in the Greater Los Angeles area. Nine school libraries were visited to examine current collections and patterns of use as well as implementation of district policies. Secondarily, public libraries closest to each school site were examined in order to determine their role in providing language minority children with free-reading materials. Conclusions were drawn as to the effectiveness of the school library in providing language minority children with access to reading materials in their primary language, and whether the needs of language minority children can be met through use of existing reading resources in the schools and in the community at large. Implications for primary language literacy.
Age-Related Differences in Phosphodiesterase Activity and Effects of Chronic Phosphodiesterase Inhibition in Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Background—Despite the application of proven adult heart failure therapies to children with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC), prognosis remains poor. Clinical experience with phosphodiesterase 3 inhibitors (PDE3i) in pediatric patients with IDC, however, demonstrates improved heart failure symptoms without the increased incidence of sudden death seen in adults treated with PDE3i. We sought to determine age-related differences in PDE activity and associated intracellular signaling responsible for the efficacy and relative safety of chronic PDE3i in pediatric heart failure. Methods and Results—cAMP levels, PDE activity, and phospholamban phosphorylation (pPLB) were determined in explanted human left ventricular myocardium (pediatric n=41; adult n=88). Adults and children with IDC (not treated with PDE3i) had lower cAMP and pPLB compared with nonfailing controls. In contrast to their adult counterparts, pediatric IDC patients chronically treated with PDE3i had elevated cAMP (P=0.0403) and pPLB (P=0.0119). In addition, total PDE- and PDE3-specific activities were not altered in pediatric IDC patients on PDE3i, whereas adult IDC patients on PDE3i demonstrated higher total PDE-specific (74.6±13.8 pmol/mg per minute) and PDE3-specific (48.2±15.9 pmol/mg per minute) activities in comparison with those of nonfailing controls (59.5±14.4 and 35.5±12.8 pmol/mg per minute, respectively). Conclusions—Elevated cAMP and higher pPLB may contribute to sustained hemodynamic benefits in pediatric IDC patients treated with PDE3i. In contrast, higher total PDE and PDE3 activities in adult IDC patients treated with PDE3i may perpetuate lower myocardial cAMP and pPLB levels, limiting the potential benefits of PDE3i therapy.
In Silico Modelling of Tumour Margin Diffusion and Infiltration: Review of Current Status

As a result of advanced treatment techniques, requiring precise target definitions, a need for more accurate delineation of the Clinical Target Volume (CTV) has arisen. Mathematical modelling is found to be a powerful tool to provide fairly accurate predictions for the Microscopic Extension (ME) of a tumour to be incorporated in a CTV. In general terms, biomathematical models based on a sequence of observations or development of a hypothesis assume some links between biological mechanisms involved in cancer development and progression to provide quantitative or qualitative measures of tumour behaviour as well as tumour response to treatment. Generally, two approaches are taken: deterministic and stochastic modelling. In this paper, recent mathematical models, including deterministic and stochastic methods, are reviewed and critically compared. It is concluded that stochastic models are more promising to provide a realistic description of cancer tumour behaviour due to being intrinsically probabilistic as well as discrete, which enables incorporation of patient-specific biomedical data such as tumour heterogeneity and anatomical boundaries.
Psychological health of mothers caring for mentally disabled children in Qatar.

OBJECTIVE To compare the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among mothers of mentally disabled children and mothers of non-disabled children, and to identify the determinants associated with psychiatric morbidity. METHODS A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Qatar from January to June 2005 to compare the prevalence psychiatric morbidity by using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) among 195 mothers of mentally disabled children selected as a study group, and 139 mothers with non-disabled children as a comparison group. RESULTS The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was higher among mothers caring for mentally disabled children than mothers of non-disabled children in the comparison group. The study found the following predictors for developing psychiatric morbidity: having more than one disabled child, mentally disabled child less than 5 years of age, disabled child is first in order of birth, presence of chronic illness in addition to the mental disability, and presence of other type of disability besides the mental one. We also found that educating mothers in caring for a disabled child has a protective effect on developing psychiatric morbidity. CONCLUSION Mothers of mentally disabled children have poorer psychological health than mothers of non-disabled children. Shifting the rehabilitation services from child-centered to family-centered services through providing supportive services is recommended.
Whole-Genome Transcriptional Analysis of Chemolithoautotrophic Thiosulfate Oxidation by Thiobacillus denitrificans under Aerobic versus Denitrifying Conditions

ABSTRACT Thiobacillus denitrificans is one of the few known obligate chemolithoautotrophic bacteria capable of energetically coupling thiosulfate oxidation to denitrification as well as aerobic respiration. As very little is known about the differential expression of genes associated with key chemolithoautotrophic functions (such as sulfur compound oxidation and CO2 fixation) under aerobic versus denitrifying conditions, we conducted whole-genome, cDNA microarray studies to explore this topic systematically. The microarrays identified 277 genes (approximately 10% of the genome) as differentially expressed using RMA (robust multiarray average) statistical analysis and a twofold cutoff. Genes upregulated (ca. 6- to 150-fold) under aerobic conditions included a cluster of genes associated with iron acquisition (e.g., siderophore-related genes), a cluster of cytochrome cbb 3 oxidase genes, cbbL and cbbS (encoding the large and small subunits of form I ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, or RubisCO), and multiple molecular chaperone genes. Genes upregulated (ca. 4- to 95-fold) under denitrifying conditions included nar, nir, and nor genes (associated, respectively, with nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, and nitric oxide reductase, which catalyze successive steps of denitrification), cbbM (encoding form II RubisCO), and genes involved with sulfur compound oxidation (including two physically separated but highly similar copies of sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase and of dsrC, associated with dissimilatory sulfite reductase). Among genes associated with denitrification, relative expression levels (i.e., degree of upregulation with nitrate) tended to decrease in the order nar > nir > nor > nos. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR analysis was used to validate these trends.
Determination of dabigatran, rivaroxaban and apixaban by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography – tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC‐MS/MS) and coagulation assays for therapy monitoring of novel direct oral anticoagulants

Three novel direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have recently been registered by the Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency Commission: dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban. To quantify DOACs in plasma, various dedicated coagulation assays have been developed.
Transcriptional Regulation of the SMK1Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Gene during Meiotic Development inSaccharomyces cerevisiae

ABSTRACT Meiotic development (sporulation) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is characterized by an ordered pattern of gene expression, with sporulation-specific genes classified as early, middle, mid-late, or late depending on when they are expressed.SMK1 encodes a mitogen-activated protein kinase required for spore morphogenesis that is expressed as a middle sporulation-specific gene. Here, we identify the cis-acting DNA elements that regulate SMK1 transcription and characterize the phenotypes of mutants with altered expression patterns. The SMK1 promoter contains an upstream activating sequence (UASS) that specifically interacts with the transcriptional activator Abf1p. The Abf1p-binding sites from the earlyHOP1 and the middle SMK1 promoters are functionally interchangeable, demonstrating that these elements do not play a direct role in their differential transcriptional timing. Timing of SMK1 expression is determined by anothercis-acting DNA sequence termed MSE (for middle sporulation element). The MSE is required not only for activation ofSMK1 transcription during middle sporulation but also for its repression during vegetative growth and early meiosis. In addition, the SMK1 MSE can repress vegetative expression in the context of the HOP1 promoter and convert HOP1from an early to a middle gene. SMK1 function is not contingent on its tight transcriptional regulation as a middle sporulation-specific gene. However, promoter mutants with different quantitative defects in SMK1 transcript levels during middle sporulation show distinct sporulation phenotypes.
Psychotherapy with children in refugee families who have survived torture: Containment and understanding of repetitive behaviour and play

Abstract Children of refugee families who have survived torture often have emotional, psychosomatic and behavioural problems as well as problems with learning. In order to understand the difficulties of these children, we have to recognize the complicated interaction of cumulative traumatic strain and recurring exposure to shocking violence. The traumatic experiences of the child in the country of origin take place in the broader context of chronic danger and persecution, often to be followed in the country of exile both by recurrent family strain and social estrangement. In the transference this complicated mixture of repeated trauma and chronic strain may show as a pervasive tendency to retreat to defensive survival strategies combined with continual repetition of more specific traces of the impact of the trauma on the individual. This paper focuses on how the enacted survival strategies can be contained and understood in the transference. In due course the compulsive repetition can be given meaning as .
A new strategy based on adaptive mixture of Gaussians for real-time moving objects segmentation

Here, a new and efficient strategy is introduced which allows moving objects detection and segmentation in video sequences. Other strategies use the mixture of gaussians to detect static areas and dynamic areas within the images so that moving objects are segmented [1], [2], [3], [4]. For this purpose, all these strategies use a fixed number of gaussians per pixel. Typically, more than two or three gaussians are used to obtain good results when images contain noise and movement not related to objects of interest. Nevertheless, the use of more than one gaussian per pixel involves a high computational cost and, in many cases, it adds no advantages to single gaussian segmentation. This paper proposes a novel automatic moving object segmentation which uses an adaptive variable number of gaussians to reduce the overall computational cost. So, an automatic strategy is applied to each pixel to determine the minimum number of gaussians required for its classification. Taking into account the temporal context that identifies the reference image pixels as background (static) or moving (dynamic), either the full set of gaussians or just one gaussian are used. Pixels classified with the full set are called MGP (Multiple Gaussian Pixel), while those classified with just one gaussian are called SGP (Single Gaussian Pixel). So, a computation reduction is achieved that depends on the size of this last set. Pixels with a dynamic reference are always MGP. They can be Dynamic-MGP (DMGP) when they belong to the dynamic areas of the image. However, if the classification result shows that the pixel matches one of the gaussian set, then the pixel is labeled static and therefore it is called Static-MGP (SMGP). Usually, these last ones are noise pixels, although they could belong to areas with movement not related to objects of interest. Finally, pixels with a static reference that still match the same gaussian are SGP and they belong to the static background of the image. However, if they do not match the associated gaussian, they are changed either to SMGP or DMGP. In addition, any pixel can maintain its status and SMGP can be changed to DMGP and SGP. A state diagram shows the transition schemes and its characterizations, allowing the forecasting of the reduction of the computational cost of the segmentation process. Tests have shown that the use of the proposed strategy implies a limited loss of accuracy in the segmentations obtained, when comparing with other strategies that use a fixed number of gaussians per pixel, while achieving very high reductions of the overall computational cost of the process.
Qualifications Frameworks: some conceptual issues

The aim of this article is to contribute to realising the progressive and democratic opportunities that National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) can offer. In doing so it will be critical of many of the ways that NQFs have been interpreted to date and the claims that have been made for them. The article has six sections. Section 1 considers some of the reasons for the recent growth of interest in NQFs. Section 2 is concerned with the widely shared goals of NQFs and some of the contradictions and problems that they involve. Section 3 discusses the very different forms that NQFs can take. Section 4 examines a number of issues that underlie all approaches to qualifications but are made more explicit by qualification frameworks and concludes by questioning the much lauded claim that NQFs can promote and accredit informal learning. The concluding section considers the longer term implications for the future of NQFs of the earlier analysis.
On the dangers of pulling a fast one: Advertisement disclaimer speed, brand trust, and purchase intention

Two experiments demonstrated that fast (vs. normal-paced) end-of-advertisement disclaimers undermine consumers’ purchase intention toward untrusted brands (both trust-unknown and not-trusted brands), but that disclaimer speed has no effect on consumers’ purchase intention toward trusted brands. The differential effects of disclaimer speed for untrusted versus trusted brands were not due to differences in consumers’ familiarity with the brands (experiment 1). Consistent with the hypothesis that fast disclaimers adversely affect purchase intention via heuristic rather than elaborative processes, the disclaimer speed × brand trust interaction effect remained robust even when the disclaimer presented positive information about the advertised product (experiment 2).
Plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines in adult Nigerians with the metabolic syndrome

Background: The aim of this study is to determine the plasma levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrotic factor alpha (TNF-α, and C-reactive protein (CRP) in adult Nigerians with the metabolic syndrome and to determine the relationship between components of the metabolic syndrome and CRP in adult Nigerians. Subjects and Methods: This was a case–control study of fifty adult men and women with the metabolic syndrome, and fifty age- and sex-matched males and females without the metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome was defined based on the National Cholesterol Education Programme-Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Written informed consent was obtained from the participants. Blood pressure and anthropometry measurements were taken and venous blood was collected after an overnight fast. The Ethics Committee of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria, approved the study protocol. Comparisons of continuous variables and categorical variables were done using the Student's t-test and Chi-square test, respectively. Regression analysis was used to determine the associations between variables. Statistical significance was set at P< 0.05. Results: The age- and sex-matched males and females with and without the metabolic syndrome did not differ in their sociodemographic characteristics. They however differed in some clinical and laboratory parameters such as diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.048), waist circumference (P = 0.002), body mass index (P = 0.012), waist/hip ratio (P = 0.023), high density lipoprotein (HDL) (P = 0.012), and insulin resistance (IR) (P = 0.042). There was a statistically significant increase in the inflammatory marker, CRP (P = 0.019), the cytokines, IL6 (P = 0.040), and TNF-α (P = 0.031) between the subjects with and without metabolic syndrome. There was also a significant association between CRP, waist circumference, IR, and HDL in the metabolic syndrome (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines are raised in metabolic syndrome and this may provide novel strategies for the management of metabolic syndrome and related disorders.
Concurrent engineering for real-time systems

The Incremental Prototyping Technology for Embedded Real-Time Systems (Iptes) project, which is part of ESPRIT II, is described. The goal of the project is to develop methodologies and tools for the distributed prototyping of real-time systems. The work concentrates on two areas of support for concurrent engineering: adapting graphical-animation techniques to real-time-system development and creating a mechanism for propagating changes within and between tasks. <<ETX>>
Full Interference Cancellation for Two-Path Relay Cooperative Networks

This paper proposes the full interference cancellation (FIC) algorithm to cancel the interrelay interference (IRI) in the two-path cooperative system. Arising from simultaneous data transmission from the source and relay nodes, IRI may significantly decrease performance if it is not carefully handled. Compared with the existing partial interference cancellation scheme, the FIC approach is more robust yet is not as complex. Numerical results are also given to verify the proposed scheme.