Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased Concentrations of Interleukin-33 in the Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis.

OBJECTIVES Interleukin (IL)-33 is a cytokine with both pro- and anti-inflammatory effects involved in the pathogenesis of some inflammatory diseases. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) IL-33 concentrations in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS Blood specimens were obtained from 140 patients with MS (46 males and 94 females) with various disease patterns and treatment plans and 140 healthy subjects (47 males and 93 females), who acted as a control group. CSF samples were collected from 20 MS group and 20 sex- and age-matched patients with other neurological diseases of nonautoimmune etiology. The serum and CSF concentrations of IL-33 were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS The serum and CSF IL-33 levels were significantly higher in the MS group compared to the control group (p<0.001 and p<0.050, respectively). The serum IL-33 concentrations were also significantly higher in newly diagnosed (untreated) patients and patients treated with methylprednisolone or with interferon-β and methylprednisolone compared to the healthy patient group (p<0.007, p<0.002, and p<0.010, respectively). Moreover, the serum IL-33 concentrations in patients with relapsing-remitting (RRMS), primary progressive (PPMS), and secondary progressive (SPMS) forms of the disease were significantly higher than in the healthy control group (p<0.006, p<0.001, and p<0.020, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Our results showed increased concentrations of IL-33 in patients with MS including both untreated and treated MS patients and patients with the RRMS, SPMS, and PPMS forms. This suggests that IL-33 may be involved in the pathogenesis of all MS forms and treatment with methylprednisolone or both interferon-β plus methylprednisolone has no influence on IL-33 concentrations.
Palatal rugae as a tool for human identification.

OBJECTIVE This study was conducted to assess the accuracy of palatal rugae as a tool for human identification and to determine factors that may limit accuracy. This will serve as a potential basis for advising national health policy formulation on human identification as forensic rugoscopy is unexplored in sub-Saharan Africa. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred consenting participants were recruited; impressions of the upper jaws were taken and cast with dental stone. All the teeth on the models were trimmed off to prevent identification by tooth morphology and the models were coded. Five uncalibrated dentists independently pair-matched the models based on the pattern of the palatal rugae. RESULTS The overall accuracy for all 50 paired models ranged from 72 to 96%, while the percentage correct match for each of the 50 paired models range from 40-100%. All the examiners properly matched 60% of the models. CONCLUSION Rugoscopy is a useful technique for human identification due to the unique rugae pattern in every individual. However, without the aid of ancillary aids, visual inspection alone can be challenging. CLINICAL RELEVANCE This study provides useful information on an additional clinical technique relevant for human identification.
Key Factors for Selecting an Agile Method: A Systematic Literature Review

Agile methods have become popular in recent years because the success rate of project development using Agile methods is better than structured design methods. Nevertheless, less than 50 percent of projects implemented using Agile methods are considered successful, and selecting the wrong Agile method is one of the reasons for project failure. Selecting the most appropriate Agile method is a challenging task because there are so many to choose from. In addition, potential adopters believe that migrating to an Agile method involves taking a drastic risk. Therefore, to assist project managers and other decision makers, this study aims to identify the key factors that should be considered when selecting an appropriate Agile method. A systematic literature review was performed to elicit these factors in an unbiased manner and then content analysis was used to analyze the resultant data. It was found that the nature of project, development team skills, project constraints, customer involvement and organizational culture are the key factors that should guide decision makers in the selection of an appropriate Agile method based on the value these factors have for different organizations and/or different projects.
Physicians' oral health education in Kentucky.

OBJECTIVES The Physicians' Oral Health Education in Kentucky (POHEK) curriculum was developed to teach family medicine residents to (1) perform oral health screening and risk assessment and (2) recognize and manage common oral conditions for children ages 5 years and under. METHODS Family medicine residents in urban and rural settings received didactics and hands-on experience providing oral screening, risk assessments, and counseling for their pediatric patients. EVALUATION Residents were evaluated by comparing pretest and posttest means of surveys that assessed attitudes and knowledge. Chart audits were also performed. CONCLUSIONS Residents' knowledge and attitudes improved in the oral health care of their pediatric patients.
Software-directed combined cpu/link voltage scaling fornoc-based cmps

Network-on-Chip (NoC) based chip multiprocessors (CMPs) are expected to become more widespread in future, in both high performance scientific computing and low-end embedded computing. For many execution environments that employ these systems, reducing power consumption is an important goal. This paper presents a software approach for reducing power consumption in such systems through compiler-directed voltage/frequency scaling. The unique characteristic of this approach is that it scales the voltages and frequencies of select CPUs and communication links in a coordinated manner to maximize energy savings without degrading performance. Our approach has three important components. The first component is the identification of phases in the application. The next step is to determine the critical execution paths and slacks in each phase. For implementing these two components, our approach employs a novel parallel program representation. The last component of our approach is the assignment of voltages and frequencies to CPUs and communication links to maximize energy savings. We use integer linear programming (ILP) for this voltage/frequency assignment problem. To test our approach, we implemented it within a compilation framework and conducted experiments with applications from the SPEComp suite and SPECjbb. Our results show that the proposed combined CPU/link scaling is much more effective than scaling voltages of CPUs or communication links in isolation. In addition, we observed that the energy savings obtained are consistent across a wide range of values of our major simulation parameters such as the number of CPUs, the number of voltage/frequency levels, and the thread-to-CPU mapping.
Towards a Typology of Female Entrepreneurs

This paper reviews some of the employment problems faced by women and examines how these difficulties might be overcome through entrepreneurship. However, recent empirical work by Goffee and Scase suggests that it is inappropriate to speak of ‘the’ female entrepreneur: there are different types of female business proprietors. Based on an empirical study of 34 aspiring female proprietors, the authors investigate the validity of Goffee and Scase's assertions. Results suggest that there are indeed different types of female entrepreneur, and that while there are some similarities between the typology developed in this paper and that presented by Goffee and Scase, there are also significant differences between them. Possible policy implications of the findings are discussed.
Charged amino acid variability related to N-glyco -sylation and epitopes in A/H3N2 influenza: Hem -agglutinin and neuraminidase

Background The A/H3N2 influenza viruses circulated in humans have been shown to undergo antigenic drift, a process in which amino acid mutations result from nucleotide substitutions. There are few reports regarding the charged amino acid mutations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relations between charged amino acids, N-glycosylation and epitopes in hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Methods A total of 700 HA genes (691 NA genes) of A/H3N2 viruses were chronologically analyzed for the mutational variants in amino acid features, N-glycosylation sites and epitopes since its emergence in 1968. Results It was found that both the number of HA N-glycosylation sites and the electric charge of HA increased gradually up to 2016. The charges of HA and HA1 increased respectively 1.54-fold (+7.0 /+17.8) and 1.08-fold (+8.0/+16.6) and the number of NGS in nearly doubled (7/12). As great diversities occurred in 1990s, involving Epitope A, B and D mutations, the charged amino acids in Epitopes A, B, C and D in HA1 mutated at a high frequency in global circulating strains last decade. The charged amino acid mutations in Epitopes A (T135K) has shown high mutability in strains near years, resulting in a decrease of NGT135-135. Both K158N and K160T not only involved mutations charged in epitope B, but also caused a gain of NYT158-160. Epitope B and its adjacent N-glycosylation site NYT158-160 mutated more frequently, which might be under greater immune pressure than the rest. Conclusions The charged amino acid mutations in A/H3N2 Influenza play a significant role in virus evolution, which might cause an important public health issue. Variability related to both the epitopes (A and B) and N-glycosylation is beneficial for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms, disease pathogenesis and vaccine research.
Optimal Backup and Supplemental Power Pricing and Capacity Decisions in Electricity Markets

This article addresses the supply and pricing of backup power to be provided by local distribution companies to industrial self-generators. Optimal self-generation investment and backup power contracting strategies for self-generators are characterized. The paper characterizes welfare-optimal pricing and second-best pricing for a local distribution company (Disco). The paper shows that optimal subscription fee for a backup power contract should be nil, when the Disco can trade power in a spot market freely without transmission costs and self-generation is highly reliable. A further result asserts that average spot price is not optimal for a welfaremaximizing firm facing both demand and spot market uncertainty. Benchmarks for regulatory policy for backup tariffs are derived. ∗ Comments on earlier drafts of this paper by Marija Ilic and Paul Kleindorfer are gratefully acknowledged. This research is part of the “Distribution Company Strategy” Project at the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, conceived in cooperation with the larger project “Distributed Power Industry of the Future”, at the M.I. T. Energy Laboratory. This project was conceived during a Postdoctoral Research Internship with the Electric Systems Technology Institute, ABB Power T & D Company, Raleigh, NC, in the summer of 2000; support for this internship and the guidance of Dr. Le Tang are gratefully acknowledged.
Flavin adenine dinucleotide binding is the crucial step in alcohol oxidase assembly in the yeast Hansenula polymorpha

We have studied the role of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) in the in vivo assembly of peroxisomal alcohol oxidase (AO) in the yeast Hansenula polymorpha. In previous studies, using a riboflavin (Rf) autotrophic mutant, an unequivocal judgement could not be made, since Rf‐limitation led to a partial block of AO import in this mutant. This resulted in the accumulation of AO precursors in the cytosol where they remained separated from the putative peroxisomal AO assembly factors. In order to circumvent the peroxisomal membrane barrier, we have now studied AO assembly in a peroxisome‐deficient/Rf‐autotrophic double mutant (Δper1.rif1) of H. polymorpha. By sucrose density centrifugation and native gel electrophoresis, three conformations of AO were detected in crude extracts of Δper1. rif1 cells grown under Rf‐limitation, namely active octameric AO and two inactive, monomeric forms. One of the latter forms lacked FAD; this form was barely detectable in extracts wild‐type and Δper1 cells, but had accumulated in the cytosol of rif1 cells. The second form of monomeric AO contained FAD; this form was also present in Δper1 cells but absent/very low in wild‐type and rif1 cells. In vivo only these FAD‐containing monomers associate into the active, octameric protein. We conclude that in H. polymorpha FAD binding to the AO monomer is mediated by a yet unknown peroxisomal factor and represents the crucial and essential step to enable AO oligomerization; the actual octamerization and the eventual crystallization in peroxisomes most probably occurs spontaneously.
424 Effects of Bai zhu san (Atractylodis macrocephalae) decoction on cellular immunity and Th1/Th2 cytokine ratio in a Mifepristone-induced murine abortion model.

Chinese herbal medicine has been used as an anti-abortive treatment in farm animals for thousands of years. To investigate the anti-abortive functions and mechanisms of Bai zhu san (BZS) on mifepristone (RU-486)- induced abortion, pregnant mice were allocated to different groups as follows: control group receiving neither RU-486 nor BZS; mice receiving RU-486 only; mice treated with both RU-486 and BZS. The results showed that the concentrations of IL-10 and IL-4 in uterine lysates were significantly higher in mice of the BZS + RU-486 group compared with the mice of the RU-486 group. The IL-10 and IL-4 levels in serum were several folds higher than that in uterus lysates. The IFN-γ concentrations in uterine lysate decreased significantly in mice of the BZS + RU-486 group vs. the RU-486 group. There were no significant differences in IL-2 concentrations between the mice of BZS + RU-486 or RU-486 groups and controls in the uterus and serum. The numbers of CD4 + , CD8 + T lymphocytes or macrophages in the uterus decreased in the BZS + RU-486 group compared with the RU-486 group. These results indicate that the Chinese herbal formula Bai zhu san inhibits RU-486-induced abortion and modu - lates the Th1/Th2 cytokine balance at the maternal-foetal interface.
Low Socioeconomic Status Is Associated with Prolonged Times to Assessment and Treatment, Sepsis and Infectious Death in Pediatric Fever in El Salvador

Background Infection remains the most common cause of death from toxicity in children with cancer in low- and middle-income countries. Rapid administration of antibiotics when fever develops can prevent progression to sepsis and shock, and serves as an important indicator of the quality of care in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia. We analyzed factors associated with (1) Longer times from fever onset to hospital presentation/antibiotic treatment and (2) Sepsis and infection-related mortality. Method This prospective cohort study included children aged 0–16 years with newly diagnosed acute leukemia treated at Benjamin Bloom Hospital, San Salvador. We interviewed parents/caregivers within one month of diagnosis and at the onset of each new febrile episode. Times from initial fever to first antibiotic administration and occurrence of sepsis and infection-related mortality were documented. Findings Of 251 children enrolled, 215 had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (85.7%). Among 269 outpatient febrile episodes, median times from fever to deciding to seek medical care was 10.0 hours (interquartile range [IQR] 5.0–20.0), and from decision to seek care to first hospital visit was 1.8 hours (IQR 1.0–3.0). Forty-seven (17.5%) patients developed sepsis and 7 (2.6%) died of infection. Maternal illiteracy was associated with longer time from fever to decision to seek care (P = 0.029) and sepsis (odds ratio [OR] 3.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09–8.63; P = 0.034). More infectious deaths occurred in those with longer travel time to hospital (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.03–1.81; P = 0.031) and in families with an annual household income <US$2,000 (OR 13.90, 95% CI 1.62–119.10; P = 0.016). Interpretation Illiteracy, poverty, and longer travel times are associated with delays in assessment and treatment of fever and with sepsis and infectious mortality in pediatric leukemia. Providing additional education to high-risk families and staying at a nearby guest house during periods of neutropenia may decrease sepsis and infectious mortality.
The multifaceted nature of mentors’ authentic leadership and mentees’ emotional intelligence

The aim of the study was to investigate, from a critical perspective, mentees’ perceptions regarding the persons they view as their influential mentors – whether they regard them as authentic leaders and whether these mentors affect the development of mentees’ emotional intelligence (EI). Using a sample of 62 teacher-mentees from different school levels and different sectors in Israel, semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore participants’ perceptions of mentoring processes that had influenced them professionally. A qualitative analysis, based on a confirmatory approach using ATLAS.ti, revealed that the influential mentors were perceived as authentic leaders, acting within different dimensions of authentic leadership (AL) at different levels. In addition, it was found that mentees perceived their influential mentors as contributing to the development of the mentees’ EI, including different relationships between the various dimensions of AL and the different dimensions of EI. This led to the generation of a multifaceted model which may develop a critical perspective regarding the difficulty of mentoring, considering the uncertainly in mentors’ works. The findings support this critical review of mentoring and, it is argued, will encourage educational leaders to focus on advancing different dimensions of authentic leadership during mentors’ professional development programs, in order to develop different dimensions of mentees’ EI.
Recommendation for Movies and Stars Using YAGO and IMDB

With the rapid growth of web data, people sometime need semantic similar information in order to obtain a clear outline of their interests, so recommendation is needed to provide relevant information to users' queries. In this paper, we propose a method to recommend semantic similar movies and stars to users' queries, styles and stories. The system measures the similarities between movies according to genre and style features extracted from YAGO and IMDB. Experimental results show that the recommendations meet users' interests.
Approximate controllability of nonlinear stochastic impulsive systems with control acting on the nonlinear terms

This paper is concerned with the approximate controllability of the stochastic impulsive system with control acting on the nonlinear terms. In the case that the nonlinear terms are dependent on the control, the control cannot be expressed explicitly and analysed. In this situation, we generate the control sequence by the approximate equations and give the properties of the control sequence and the driven solution sets. Some discussions on the assumptions are given to impose on the system. The Hausdorff measure is adopted to relax the requirement of the compactness condition. It is also shown that under some sufficient conditions the stochastic impulsive system is approximately controllable without the requirement of the controllability of the associated linear system. The results of this paper can be degraded into special cases and coincide with some existing ones.
Food balance sheet and household budget survey dietary data and mortality patterns in Europe

Worldwide dietary data for nutrition monitoring and surveillance are commonly derived from food balance sheets (FBS) and household budget surveys (HBS). We have compared food supply from FBS and food availability data from HBS among eighteen European countries and have estimated the extent to which they correlate, focusing on food groups which are comparably captured by FBS and HBS and for which there is epidemiological evidence that they can have a noticeable impact on population mortality. Spearman's correlation coefficient was +0·78 (P < 10− 3) for vegetables (including legumes),+0·76 (P < 10− 3) for fruits, +0·69 (P < 10− 3) for fish and seafood and +0·93 (P < 10− 3) for olive oil. With respect to meat and meat products, the coefficient was lower at +0·39 (P = 0·08). Moreover, we have examined whether the supply (FBS) or the availability (HBS) of food groups known or presumed to have beneficial effect on the occurrence of CHD and total cancer can predict overall, coronary and cancer mortality in ecological analyses. After controlling for purchasing power parity-adjusted gross domestic product and tobacco smoking we found that for vegetables, fruits, fish and seafood, as well as for olive oil, both the FBS and the HBS estimates were inversely associated with all three indicators of mortality, although the number of countries with complete information on all study variables hindered formal statistical documentation (P>0·05 in some instances). FBS and HBS have their own strengths and weaknesses, but they may complement each other in dietary assessments at the population level.
Differentiated instruction: Hong Kong prospective teachers’ teaching efficacy and beliefs

Catering for learner diversity is one of the key areas in the recent educational reform in Hong Kong. Pre-service teacher education acts as a fundamental way to equip pre-service teachers ready for accommodating diverse learning needs and to build up pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy. The purpose of the study is to examine prospective teachers’ teaching beliefs toward differentiated instruction and teaching efficacy. Using a sequential mixed methods design that contains a questionnaire, focus group interviews, and individual interviews, prospective teachers undertaking a 13-session course regarding differentiated instruction as offered by a local university in Hong Kong participated in the study from January to April 2013. Changes in teaching beliefs regarding differentiated instruction as well as teaching efficacy levels were found. More positive attitudes toward differentiated teaching were found; however, there existed different concerns including class management and conflicts with personal teaching beliefs. These concerns may be related to practical experiences and confidence as well as expectations upon students. Implications for future course development and research are discussed at the end of the paper.