Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-term immune responses and comparative effectiveness of one or two doses of 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) in HIV-positive adults in the era of combination antiretroviral therapy

HIV infection impairs maintenance of immunological memory, yet few studies of HIV‐positive adults receiving 7‐valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) have followed them beyond the first year. We determined and compared the durability of serological responses and the clinical outcomes of HIV‐positive adults annually for five years following vaccination with one or two doses of PCV7.
Metallurgical industry in Romania in the context of the economic crisis

M. Zaharia, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Romania A.G. Babucea, A. Bălăcescu, C.I. Răbonţu, “Constantin Brancusi” University of Targu Jiu, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Targu Jiu, Romania The magnitude of the economic crisis and the influence on the developments of industrial branches was different. Although European economies are strongly interconnected both internally and externally, the way in which an economic branch has crossed and is trying to overcome the economic crisis has some peculiarities arising from its specificity on the one hand, and on the other hand, from the policies applied in the field. Based on these considerations, the paper examines how Romanian metallurgical industry passes through the economic crisis as compared with other industries. Also based on quantitative analyses performed and taking into account the specific phenomenon of seasonality are presented models of evolution of this industry with horizon in February 2015.
Autonomous mammotropic pituitary tumors in mice; their somatotropic features and responsiveness to estrogens.

Summary and Conclusions Two types of transplantable pituitary tumors were commonly found in female mice following massive whole-body ionizing irradiation: adrenotropic and mammotropic. The former appeared earlier, but the latter was more common. Mammary gland hyperplasia is distinct only in female mice bearing mammotropic tumors. The mammotropic tumor also exerts some somatotropic effects, and this occurs in animals of both sexes. Proliferation of mammotropes appears to be dependent on stimulation by gonadal hormones, mainly estrogens. The neoplastic mammotropes of mice, although autonomous, retained responsiveness to estrogens. Most mammotropes have coarse acidophilic granules. These radiation-induced mammotropic tumors appear similar to those induced by large doses of estrogen. The working hypotheses are advanced (a) that estrogen is the physiologic growth stimulant of the mammotropes and (b) that the mechanism by which two known procedures (total-body irradiation and large doses of estrogens) induce mammotropic pituitary tumors is continuous hyperestrogenization. An incidental observation recorded is a marked somatotropic effect of autonomous thyrotropic tumors grown in normal hosts. It is suggested that several pituitary hormones possess general somatotropic properties probably exerted by different mechanisms.
Quality Indicators to Assure and Improve Cancer Care in Spain Using the Delphi Technique.

BACKGROUND The quality of cancer care has become a priority for health care systems. The goal of this research was to develop a set of evidence-based quality indicators (QIs) for organization, palliative care, and colorectal, breast, and lung cancers for introducing a system of benchmarking in Spain. METHODS A comprehensive evidence-based literature search was performed to identify potential QIs. An expert panel (the health care quality promotion group) of 9 oncologists identified indicators and evaluated them. A Delphi process involving 58 physicians was used to rank QIs by clinical relevance (validity). The expert panel then evaluated the selected indicators in terms of the feasibility of measuring them in Spanish hospitals, their usefulness for comparisons, their degree of clinical relevance, and their sensitivity to the impact of health care improvements. RESULTS From the literature review, 99 potential QIs were identified. The Delphi process shortened the list to 72 QIs. A final set of 57 QIs was established by the health care quality promotion group: 12 related to organizational issues, 11 to colorectal cancer, 11 to breast cancer, 12 to lung cancer, and 11 to palliative care. This final set included structure (n=2), process (n=36), and outcome (n=19) indicators. CONCLUSIONS A set of QIs has been developed using a validated Delphi method, meaning that we can be confident of their validity, feasibility, sensitivity, and acceptability. These QIs are to serve as the basis of a strategy for benchmarking across oncology services in Spanish hospitals and should enable us to assure and improve the quality of cancer care.
Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase isoforms as targets in respiratory disease

Respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD], severe asthma, cystic fibrosis [CF] and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis [IPF] are inadequately controlled by current therapies. The underlying molecular mechanisms and pathogenesis of these diseases remain unclear, making identification and validation of potential new therapeutic targets difficult. However, recent studies have identified the central signalling mediator PI3K as playing an integral role in the immune system including initiation and maintenance of inflammatory responses. Specifically, the relatively leukocyte-specific PI3Kγ and PI3Kδ isoforms are central to leukocyte function and can be targeted pharmacologically. Early to man studies using selective PI3K isoform inhibitors are required to determine whether they have a future in treating respiratory disease, particularly in controlling both innate and adaptive inflammatory responses as well as restoring glucocorticoid function and reducing tumorigenesis.
Structure and Function of Leukocyte Integrins

Cell communication is essential to development, tissue organization and function of all multicellular organisms. Cells communicate with each other and with their environment via soluble mediators and during direct contact. In the immune system leukocytes are involved in a host of cell-soluble mediator, cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. For instance, an acute inflammatory response is initiated by release of soluble substances at the site of injury that direct leukocyte migration and localization. The circulating leukocytes arriving at the site of injury must directly adhere to the endothelium and basement membrane during extravasation from the circulation. Once in the tissue, leukocytes will migrate in response to gradients of chemoattractants and to adhesive gradients. The leukocytes will adhere and de-adhere to a variety of cells, finally find infected or antigen-presenting cells, adhere to them and deliver the appropriate immunological response. Discovery of several cell surface receptors involved in cell-cell, cell-substrate, or cell-soluble ligand binding has been a key factor in understanding the mechanisms underlying inflammatory and immune phenomena. Three protein families, the immunoglobulin (Ig) family (Williams & Barclay 1988, Williams 1987), the integrin family (Springer 1990, Kishimoto et al. 1989a, Hynes 1987, Ruoslahti & Pierschbacher 1987, Hemler 1988), and the recently designated selectin family (Tedder et al. 1989, Stoolman 1989, Springer 1990), have been described that are extensively involved in a network of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions in the immune system. Engagement of these surface receptors can transduce a signal leading to cellular events that change the phenotype, movement, gene expression, or activation state of the cell. On the other hand, cytoplasmic signals regulate the functional activity and surface expression of these receptors. These receptors thus mediate a dialogue, transferring information in
A Wearable Respiratory Monitoring Device – the Between-Days Variability of Calibration

Abstract The between-days variability in ascertained gain factors for calibration of a wearable respiratory inductance plethysmograph (RIP) and validity thereof for the repeated use during exercise were examined. Consecutive 5-min periods of standing still, slow running at 8 km·h-1, fast running at 14 km·h-1 (male) or 12 km·h-1 (female) and recovery were repeated by 10 healthy subjects on 5 days. Breath-by-breath data were recorded simultaneously by flow meter and RIP. Gain factors were determined individually for each trial (CALIND) via least square regression. Reliability and variability in gain factors were quantified respectively by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and limits of agreement. Within a predefined error range of ±20% the amount of RIP-derived tidal volumes after CALIND was compared to corresponding amounts when gain factors of the first trial were applied on the following 4 trials (CALFIRST). ICC ranged within 0.96 and 0.98. The variability in gain factors (up to ± 24.06%) was reduced compensatively by their sum. Amounts of breaths within the predefined error range did not differ between CALIND and (CALFIRST) (P>0.32). The between-days variability of gain factors for a wearable RIP-device does not show impaired reliability in further derived tidal volumes.
Columnar Metaplasia in the Esophageal Remnant After Esophagectomy: A Common Occurrence and a Valuable Insight Into the Development of Barrett Esophagus

Objective: This study aimed to establish the incidence of postesophagectomy columnar metaplasia and dysplasia, and the timescale over which it develops. It also aimed to assess if this epithelium is molecularly similar to sporadic Barrett esophagus, thereby confirming suitability as a research model. Background: Metaplasia in the esophageal remnant after esophagectomy is well described, but incidence and the potential for dysplasia are uncertain, and the clinical relevance unclear. Although proposed as a model for Barrett esophagus, no large studies have examined the molecular phenotype of postesophagectomy metaplasia. Methods: Patients underwent prospective endoscopic evaluation having previously undergone esophagectomy. The macroscopic appearance of the esophageal remnant was noted and biopsies taken. Specimens were stained using hematoxylin and eosin and by immunohistochemistry for cytokeratins 7 and 20, and Chromogranin A—proteins which have a well described expression pattern in sporadic Barrett esophagus. Results: Of the 126 eligible patients, 45 (36%) had evidence of metaplasia. There were no cases of dysplasia. Nonintestinalized columnar epithelium occurred earlier than specialized intestinal metaplasia (median 4.8 vs 8.1 yr; P = 0.025). Thirty-seven samples underwent immunohistochemical analysis. A classic cytokeratin 7/20 staining pattern was present in 23 cases (62%), within the prevalence range reported for sporadic Barrett. Conclusions: Columnar metaplasia is common following esophagectomy, but the absence of dysplasia in this large cohort is reassuring. Presence of specialized intestinal metaplasia is associated with increased time from surgery, suggesting this represents later disease. Immunohistochemistry staining is similar to sporadic Barrett, suggesting that this group of patients represent an accurate human model for the development of Barrett.
Construction and analysis of a new 4 x 4 orthogonal space-time block code

In this paper, we construct a new nonlinear 4x4 full-rate, full-diversity orthogonal space-time block code (STBC) using quaternionic algebra on which the Alamouti code is also based. We also develop a differential encoding and decoding scheme for this code, which also enjoys low decoding complexity
A Centering analysis of relative clauses in English and Greek

Centering Theory (Grosz et al., 1995) was developed as a model of local coherence in discourse. Coherence in Centering is evaluated in terms of center transitions, defined and ranked to reflect four degrees of coherence. Center transitions are computed for each ‘utterance’ by means of two basic comparisons; whether the topic of the current utterance is the same as the topic of the preceding utterance and whether it is realized in a prominent position, e.g., in subject position in English. An entity realized in subject position is the highest ranked entity of the utterance and most likely center of the succeeding discourse. Other entities in the same utterance are ranked lower. Complex sentences raise interesting questions for Centering as well as our understanding of the effects of syntactic stucture on discourse processing. This is because complex sentences contain multiple subjects, i.e., the subject of the main clause and the subjects of subordinate clauses. What the salience status of these entities is with respect to each other is a question that merits further investigation. Following up on earlier work on the salience status of entities in adverbial clauses (Miltsakaki, 2002a,b), here we focus on relative clauses. We compare and contrast the salience of entities in main and relative clauses in two languages: English and Greek. For each language 100 tokens of non-restrictive, sentence final relative clauses were extracted from corpora. Centering transitions were computed in two conditions: the complex sentence condition, in which the relative clause was processed as a single unit with the main clause, and the single clause condition, in which the main and relative clause were processed as a single unit. Assuming reasonable coherence in the written corpus, we expected that if entities evoked in relative clauses were of equal salience status as entities evoked in main clauses, then the single clause condition should yield more ‘coherent’ transitions than the complex sentence condition. Preliminary analysis of the results shows that this is not the case. Most importantly, closer inspection of choice and interpretation of referential forms in the following discourse shows that subjects of relative clauses do not always warrant pronominal reference even in the absence of more recent competing antecedents. The remaining of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 summarizes
Effect of Speaking Rate on the Identification of Word Boundaries

Abstract Two experiments were conducted to determine whether listeners’ ability to use allophonic variation to identify word boundaries is influenced by speaking rate. Listeners in both experiments were presented two-word sequences (such as great eyes) spoken by naturally fast and naturally slow talkers; in one experiment the sequences were presented in quiet and in the other they were presented in noise. The listeners’ task was to identify the intended sequence from among four choices with alternative segmentations (e.g. great eyes, gray ties, great ties, gray eyes). In both experiments performance was worse for the sequences produced by the naturally fast talkers than for those produced by the naturally slow talkers. This finding suggests that the extent to which allophonic variation contributes to the identification of word boundaries may depend on the rate at which the speech was produced.
For whom is a picture worth a thousand words? Extensions of a dual-coding theory of multimedia learning.

In 2 experiments, high- and low-spatial ability students viewed a computer-gener ated animation and listened simultaneously (concurrent group) or successively (successive group) to a narration that explained the workings either of a bicycle tire pump (Experiment 1) or of the human respiratory system (Experiment 2). The concurrent group generated more creative solutions to subsequent transfer problems than did the successive group; this contiguity effect was strong for high- but not for low-spatial ability students. Consistent with a dual-coding theory, spatial ability allows high-spatial learners to devote more cognitive resources to building referential connections between visual and verbal representations of the presented material, whereas low-spatial ability learners must devote more cognitive resources to building representation connections between visually presented material and its visual representation.
The IBD-Cope: A New Instrument for Measuring Coping in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has a major impact on psychological well-being. How an individual copes with IBD determines quality of life. We aimed to develop a brief, IBD-specific questionnaire to assess coping strategies (IBD-Cope) and to determine its test-retest reliability and validity. METHODS Twenty IBD coping strategies were initially deemed to have face validity. Participants were recruited from an existing study, specialist outpatient clinics and via email. Distribution analyses were performed before test-retest reliability was determined. Exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) were then performed before cross-sectional validity was tested. RESULTS The majority of participants in the study samples were female and most had Crohn's disease. All participants were aged between 18 and 65 years. EFA on the initial validation sample produced two components explaining 42% of the variance, and broadly reflected 'good' and 'bad' coping. EFA on the repeat validation sample showed three questions consistently clustering into either good or bad coping strategies. Good and bad coping strategies defined using the IBD-Cope were positively associated with adaptive (r = 0.57, p < 0.01) and maladaptive (r = 0.55, p < 0.01) coping on the Brief Coping Operations Preference Enquiry (Brief COPE), respectively. CONCLUSIONS The IBD-Cope is a concise IBD-specific coping strategy questionnaire with demonstrated reliability and validity. The IBD-Cope subscales are moderately correlated with adaptive and maladaptive subscales of the Brief COPE. Prospective studies are required to determine whether the 6 questions represented in the IBD-Cope accurately identify IBD patients who may benefit from interventions to improve coping strategies.
Using Team‐based Learning to Teach Clinical Pharmacology in Medical School: Student Satisfaction and Improved Performance

Formal teaching in clinical pharmacology was never part of the curriculum at the American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine. Based on feedback from students and on recommendations of academic bodies, we have introduced, since June 2008, twice‐monthly “rational prescribing” sessions during the required internal medicine rotation in year 4 of medical school. All sessions were designed according to the innovative Team‐based Learning format and concluded by having the students practice prescription writing and personal formulary development based on the World Health Organization criteria. Our 18‐month experience showed that students were very satisfied with the course and the teaching approach, and that their performance on prescription writing and formulary development had improved. Although further studies are needed to explore the impact of team‐based learning on additional performance measures, we recommend it as an effective alternative for teaching clinical pharmacology in medical schools.
Effect of telmisartan, valsartan and candesartan on mycophenolate mofetil pharmacokinetics in Japanese renal transplant recipients

Objective: The aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of the peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ (PPAR‐γ) activating angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) telmisartan and the non‐PPAR‐γ activating ARB valsartan and candesartan on mycophenolic acid (MPA) pharmacokinetics in renal transplant recipients.
Record mobility (μeff ∼3100 cm2/V-s) and reliability performance (Vov∼0.5V for 10yr operation) of In0.53Ga0.47As MOS devices using improved surface preparation and a novel interfacial layer

In<sub>0.53</sub>Ga<sub>0.47</sub>As quantum-well (QW) MOSFETs with a novel interfacial layer(IL)/high-k stack on an improved interface were fabricated. Excellent device characteristics (SS~72mV/dec, I<sub>on</sub>/I<sub>off</sub>>10<sup>6</sup> at V<sub>ds</sub>=0.5V, DIBL~26mV/v for a device at EOT~1.25nm) were obtained. In addition, EOT was scaled down to 1.0 nm without a significant degradation in electrical properties. The extracted field-effect mobility (peak μ<sub>eff</sub> ~3100 cm<sup>2</sup>/V-s for EOT~1.25nm and μ<sub>eff</sub> ~ 2400 cm<sup>2</sup>/V-s for EOT~1.0nm) is the highest split C-V mobility reported for surface channel In<sub>0.53</sub>Ga<sub>0.47</sub>As MOSFETs at such small EOT. We demonstrate a record reliability performance using the new IL with an overdrive voltage, V<sub>ov</sub>~0.5V for a 10 year operation (with maximum ΔV<sub>th</sub>=30mV) at EOT~1.25nm. We attribute this performance enhancement in mobility to reduced surface roughness (extremely smooth surface) and remote phonon scattering (due to IL), and improvement in reliability to enhanced energy misalignment between defect bands in high-k and charge carriers in the semi-conductor respectively.
Neither Dectin-2 nor the Mannose Receptor Is Required for Resistance to Coccidioides immitis in Mice

ABSTRACT We investigated the roles of the mannose receptor (MR) and Dectin-2 in resistance to pulmonary coccidioidomycosis in C57BL/6 (B6) mice and in the interaction of myeloid cells with spherules, using B6 mice with targeted mutations in Mrc1 and Clec4n. Spherules are the tissue form of Coccidioides, and we determined that the MR on bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDC) was important for recognition of spherules (formalin-killed spherules [FKS]) and for secretion of interleukin 10 (IL-10) and proinflammatory cytokines in response to FKS by both elicited macrophages and BMDC. Infected MR knockout (KO) mice produced more IL-10 in their lungs than did B6 mice, and MR KO mice also made more protective Th-17 cytokines. In contrast to the MR, Dectin-2 was not required for recognition of FKS by BMDC or for the production of cytokines by BMDC in response to FKS. However, Dectin-2 KO was required for stimulation of elicited peritoneal macrophages. Despite that, lung cytokine levels were not significantly different in Dectin-2 KO mice and B6 mice 14 days after infection, except for IL-1β, which was higher in Dectin-2 KO lungs. Although both Dectin-2−/− and MR−/− myeloid cells had reduced proinflammatory cytokine responses to FKS in vitro, neither MR nor Dectin-2 deficiency reduced the resistance of B6 mice to pulmonary coccidioidomycosis.