Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TNF-alpha: mRNA, plasma protein levels and soluble receptors in patients on chronic hemodialysis, on CAPD and with end-stage renal failure.

BACKGROUND Patients on hemodialysis suffer from an impaired immunity against infectious agents, hyporesponsiveness to vaccination and are prone to develop malignancies. This clinical state of immunoincompetence may be due to a disbalance in their defense mechanisms in which TNF-alpha and its soluble receptors 1 and 2 play a central role. PATIENTS AND METHODS We measured, with double-sandwich ELISA, the levels of TNF-alpha and the soluble TNF-receptors in peripheral blood of patients on chronic intermittent hemodialysis (CIHD), on peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and pre-dialysis end-stage renal failure (ESRF). Using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis, we quantified the amount of TNF-alpha mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from these patient groups. RESULTS In none of the patient groups, elevated levels of TNF-alpha were detected with ELISA, while high levels of soluble TNF receptors were present in ESRF, CAPD and CIHD patients. This may be the result of an activated TNF-alpha system or due to their impaired renal clearance. TNF-alpha mRNA level was elevated in CIHD patients compared to ESRF and CAPD patients or healthy controls. CONCLUSION This suggests that only during chronic HD is the TNF-alpha system activated. High levels of sTNFR, found in ESRF or CAPD patients do not reflect activation of TNF-alpha system, but are the result of impaired renal clearance of the receptors. Indeed, we found a strong linear correlation between the levels of sTNF receptors and renal function. Nevertheless, these high levels of sTNF receptors are biological active, as they were able to bind active TNF-alpha up to 75% (range 46 - 83%) and thus inhibit the bioactivity and bioavailability of produced TNF-alpha. This may play a role in the immunoincompetence of these patients.
A Double-Blind Comparative Trial of Loxapine and Trifluoperazine in Acute and Chronic Schizophrenic Patients

A double-blind comparative trial of loxapine and trifluoperazine was carried out in 57 acute and chronic schizophrenic patients. In both groups of patients loxapine proved to be equivalent in its effects to trifluoperazine and there were suggestions it might be rather more effective in chronic patients. Side-effects were simitar with the two drugs but anticholinergic effects, excitement, dizziness and faintness occurred rather more commonly with loxapine. Laboratory tests, urine analysis, cardiovascular and ophthalmological investigations showed no significant abnormalities.
Fabrication and Characteristics of Fast Photo Response ZnO/Porous Silicon UV Photoconductive Detector

Fast response time UV photoconductive detector was fabricated based on ZnO film prepared by thermal chemical spray pyrolysis technique. The ZnO nanofilms are grown on the porous silicon (PS) nanosurface which has drastically reduced the response time of the ZnO UV detector from few seconds to few hundreds of microseconds. The surface functionalization of the ZnO film deposited on porous silicon (PS) layer by polyamide nylon has highly improved the photoresponsivity of the detector to 0.8 A/W. The normalized detectivity (D*) of the fabricated ZnO UV detector at wavelength of 385 nm is found to be about 2.12 × 10 11 cm·Hz 1/2 ·W –1 . The ZnO film grown on the porous silicon layer was oriented in the c-axis and it is found to be a p-type semiconductor, which is referred to the compensation of the excess charge carriers in the ZnO film by the nanospikes silicon layer.
Cytometry, immunology, and HIV infection: Three decades of strong interactions

Flow cytometry (FCM) has been extensively used to investigate immunological changes that occur from infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This review describes some of the most relevant cellular and molecular changes in the immune system that can be detected by FCM during HIV infection. Finally, it will be discussed how this technology has facilitated the understanding not only of the biology of the virus but also of the mechanisms that the immune system activates to fight HIV and is allowing to monitor the efficacy of antiretroviral therapy. © 2013 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
Atopy, wheeze and bronchial responsiveness in young chilean adults. Do dietary antioxidants matter?

References 1. Bagheri H, Simiand E, Montastruc JL, Magnaval JF. Adverse drug reaction to antihelmintics. Ann Pharmacother 2004;38:383–388. 2. Mahboob A, Haroon TS. Fixed drug eruption with albendazole and its crosssensitivity with metronidazole – a case report. J Pak Med Assoc 1998;48: 316–317. 3. Macedo NA, Pineyro MI, Carmona C. Contact urticaria and contact dermatitis from albendazole. Contact Dermatitis 1991;25:73–75. 4. Chen KT, Twu SJ, Chang HJ, Lin RS. Outbreak of Stevens-Johnson syndrome/ toxic epidermal necrolysis associated with mebendazole and metronidazole use among Filipino laborers in Taiwan. Am J Public Health 2003;93:489–492. 5. Gonzalo-Garijo MA, Jimenez-Ferrera G, Bobadilla-Gonzalez P, Cordobes-Duran C. Hypersensitivity reaction to mizolastine: study of cross reactions. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2006;16:391–393. 6. Thami GP, Kanwar AJ. Fixed drug eruption due to metronidazole and tinidazole without cross-sensitivity to secnidazole. Dermatology 1998;196:368.
Brain astrocytes express region‐specific surface glycoproteins in culture

Astrocytes derived from the mouse brain mesencephalon and striatum regulate neuronal morphogenesis in a region‐specific manner in vitro. To begin defining molecular mechanisms that may underlie this functional heterogeneity, lectin probes were used to compare surface glycoproteins expressed by astrocytes from different brain regions. These experiments demonstrated marked differences in surface glycoproteins depending on the anatomic origin of the astrocytes. In particular, mesencephalic and cerebellar astrocytes express a fucosylated glycoprotein with and apparent molecular weight of 190 kD that is absent or rarely expressed by striatal or cortical astrocytes. These findings raise the possibility that carbohydrate diversity of astrocyte surface molecules may play a role in the heterogeneity of region‐specific neuron‐glial interactions.
Metabolic power demands of rugby league match play.

PURPOSE To describe the metabolic demands of rugby league match play for positional groups and compare match distances obtained from high-speed-running classifications with those derived from high metabolic power. METHODS Global positioning system (GPS) data were collected from 25 players from a team competing in the National Rugby League competition over 39 matches. Players were classified into positional groups (adjustables, outside backs, hit-up forwards, and wide-running forwards). The GPS devices provided instantaneous raw velocity data at 5 Hz, which were exported to a customized spreadsheet. The spreadsheet provided calculations for speed-based distances (eg, total distance; high-speed running, >14.4 km/h; and very-high-speed running, >18.1 km/h) and metabolic-power variables (eg, energy expenditure; average metabolic power; and high-power distance, >20 W/kg). RESULTS The data show that speed-based distances and metabolic power varied between positional groups, although this was largely related to differences in time spent on field. The distance covered at high running speed was lower than that obtained from high-power thresholds for all positional groups; however, the difference between the 2 methods was greatest for hit-up forwards and adjustables. CONCLUSIONS Positional differences existed for all metabolic parameters, although these are at least partially related to time spent on the field. Higher-speed running may underestimate the demands of match play when compared with high-power distance-although the degree of difference between the measures varied by position. The analysis of metabolic power may complement traditional speed-based classifications and improve our understanding of the demands of rugby league match play.
Relationship Between Temperature and Developmental Rate of Stethorus punctillum (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and Its Prey Tetranychus mcdanieli (Acarina: Tetranychidae)

Abstract Temperature affects insect and mite development, allowing species-specific traits including optimal temperature and low and high temperature thresholds to be observed. Development rate models and biological parameters estimated from them can help determining if synchrony exists between pests and natural enemies. We studied development of the coccinellid Stethorus punctillum Weise and the spider mite Tetranychus mcdanieli McGregor at 12 constant temperatures ranging 10–38°C (±0.5°C), and modeled their development rates as a function of temperature. This predator-prey complex is typical of red raspberry, Rubus idaeus L. , in Quebec, which is characterized by a short season. Eleven published models were compared for accuracy in predicting development rate of all stages of both species, and estimating their temperature thresholds and optima. The spider mite developed to the adult stage in the 14–36°C range, compared with 14–34°C for the coccinellid. Males and females did not differ, and the development rates steadily increased from 14 to 30°C, leveling off in the range 34–36°C for the spider mite, or 30–32°C for its predator. Most models were rejected for failure to satisfy criteria of goodness-of-fit and estimable temperature threshold parameters. The Lactin-2 model for T. mcdanieli and the Brière-1 model for S. punctillum, were superior at estimating low temperature threshold, which is critical where temperatures are frequently low in the spring, and were separately fitted to all development stages of both organisms. Based on the predictable early spring development of S. punctillum and T. mcdanieli, the results indicate potential synchrony between them.
Improving Transfer of Learning: An Innovative Comentoring Program to Enhance Workplace Implementation After an Occupational Therapy Course on Autism Spectrum Disorders

Introduction: Research suggests that learning gained through training is infrequently implemented in the workplace. A short-term postcourse comentoring program was developed with the aim of facilitating workplace implementation of learning after a 3-day course for occupational therapists. The program was evaluated for usefulness, successes, challenges, recommended improvements, and associations with changes in self-rated knowledge and confidence. Method: Two months after the course, 42 participants completed an evaluation of the comentoring program with closed- and open-ended questions addressing usefulness, successes, challenges, pairing preferences, and recommendations. They also completed a record on whether or not they had worked on goals nominated in their comentoring contract. Before and 2 months after the course, they completed a self-rated questionnaire on knowledge and confidence. Results: The comentoring program was recommended by 80% of participants. Benefits included opportunities for information and resource sharing, debriefing, problem solving, reassurance, and implementation of ideas. Ninety-five percent of participants worked on some or all their comentoring goals. Although there were significant improvements in knowledge (P < 0.001) and confidence (P < 0.001), the total comentoring evaluation score was not significantly associated with these changes. It is therefore possible that these improvements related to the course itself rather than the comentoring program. Challenges related to time, scheduling, distance, and pairing of comentors. Conclusion: Reported benefits of the program included enhanced psychosocial support and prompting to trial newly learned strategies. Effectiveness may be improved by setting aside time for comentoring in the workplace and better matching of comentors.
Are There Economies of Scale in Underwriting Fees? Evidence of Rising External Financing Costs

This study examines the behavior of spreads paid in firm underwritten seasoned common stock offerings and straight bond offerings. Estimates indicate that up to 85% of the spread is variable cost and that the marginal spread is rising. Further, offerings that are likely to require greater underwriting services encounter higher marginal spreads. These findings are consistent with there being a family of U-shaped spreads, with lower quality offerings priced on higher spreads, unlike the economies of scale view of spreads. They agree with the views that underwriters provide valuable services and that the marginal cost of external finance is rising. Article published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Financial Studies in its journal, The Review of Financial Studies.
Perceptual Similarity of Unfamiliar Regional Dialects : Some Preliminary Findings

Linguistic experience has been shown to affect the perception of regional dialect variation. This pilot study examined the effect of familiarity on the perceived similarity of regional dialects. Native speakers of American English completed a paired comparison perceptual similarity rating task with a group of unfamiliar regional dialects. Speakers of American English were asked to make explicit judgments about the similarity of a set of unfamiliar talkers from the United Kingdom and Ireland on the basis of regional dialect. Results showed that listeners judged pairs of talkers from the same dialect region as more similar than pairs of talkers from different dialect regions. A multidimensional scaling analysis revealed two dimensions of perceptual dialect similarity, which reflected the geographic locations of the cities of origin of the talkers. These findings suggest that, despite being unfamiliar with the regional dialects in the study, listeners were able to use dialect-specific differences in the acoustic signal to make judgments of the perceptual similarity of talkers based on their regional dialect.
Third harmonic injection on sliding mode control for a three-phase, three-wire inverter

This paper presents an approach to include the third harmonic injection into a Three-Phase, Three-Wire Voltage Sourced Inverter (VSI) operating with sliding mode control. First, independent phase currents are controlled to deliver the primary source power to the grid. Since only two phase current have been controlled, an extra degree of freedom can be employed to include the third harmonic injection. This is done by designing a neutral point voltage surface. Thanks to this, the DC-link voltage utilization is increased by a 13% without losing any advantage of the conventional sliding mode control. This method is conceptually simple and involves few steps. Experiments are carried out to confirm the effectiveness of proposed control algorithms.
Neural Stem Cells: Exogenous and Endogenous Promising Therapies for Stroke

M. Guerra-Crespo1,2, A.K. De la Herran-Arita1, A. Boronat-Garcia1, G. Maya-Espinosa1, J.R. Garcia-Montes1, J.H. Fallon3 and R. Drucker-Colin1,2 1Departamento de Neuropatologia Molecular, Instituto de Fisiologia Celular 2 Grupo Celulas Troncales Adultas, Regeneracion Neuronal y Enfermedad de Parkinson Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico 3Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine 1,2Mexico 3USA
Antimicrobial Activity of the Essential Oil of Greek Endemic Stachys spruneri and its Main Component, Isoabienol

The essential oils of Stachys spruneri Boiss. (sample A and sample B) were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. (+)-Isoabienol was the dominant component (49.5 and 48.2%, respectively of the total oils) among seventy-two identified constituents. Isoabienol was separated, purified by preparative thin-layer chromatography, and further identified by means of physicochemical and spectrometric analysis. The microbial growth inhibitory properties of the essential oil and its main metabolite, the labdane diterpene isoabienol, were determined using the broth microdilution method against eight laboratory strains of bacteria (Gram- positive: Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Micrococcus luteus, Enterococcus faecalis, Bacillus subtilis, and Gram- negative: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and two strains of the yeast Candida albicans. Both essential oil and isoabienol showed considerable activity against all the microorganisms tested, with the isolated compound being most active.
Epstein–Barr virus DNA load in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and whole blood from pediatric transplant recipients

B. Kasztelewicz, I. Jankowska, J. Pawłowska, J. Teisseyre, R. Grenda, M. Pronicki, K. Dzierżanowska‐Fangrat. Epstein–Barr virus DNA load in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and whole blood from pediatric transplant recipients. Transpl Infect Dis 2011: 13: 471–479. All rights reserved
Polycystic ovary morphology is associated with insulin resistance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by chronic anovulation, hyperandrogenism, polycystic ovary morphology (PCOM) and metabolic disturbances including insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Although insulin resistance could be associated with PCOM, recent studies have shown controversial results. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between PCOM and insulin resistance.
Recurrent Encoder-Decoder Networks for Time-Varying Dense Prediction

Dense prediction is concerned with predicting a label for each of the input units, such as pixels of an image. Accurate dense prediction for time-varying inputs finds applications in a variety of domains, such as video analysis and medical imaging. Such tasks need to preserve both spatial and temporal structures that are consistent with the inputs. Despite the success of deep learning methods in a wide range of artificial intelligence tasks, time-varying dense prediction is still a less explored domain. Here, we proposed a general encoder-decoder network architecture that aims to addressing time-varying dense prediction problems. Given that there are both intra-image spatial structure information and temporal context information to be processed simultaneously in such tasks, we integrated fully convolutional networks (FCNs) with recurrent neural networks (RNNs) to build a recurrent encoder-decoder network. The proposed network is capable of jointly processing two types of information. Specifically, we developed convolutional RNN (CRNN) to allow dense sequence processing. More importantly, we designed CRNNbottleneck modules for alleviating the excessive computational cost incurred by carrying out multiple convolutions in the CRNN layer. This novel design is shown to be a critical innovation in building very flexible and efficient deep models for timevarying dense prediction. Altogether, the proposed model handles time-varying information with the CRNN layers and spatial structure information with the FCN architectures. The multiple heterogeneous modules can be integrated into the same network, which can be trained end-to-end to perform time-varying dense prediction. Experimental results showed that our model is able to capture both high-resolution spatial information and relatively low-resolution temporal information as compared to other existing models.
Overcoming multidrug resistance in human lung cancer with novel benzo[a]quinolizin-4-ones.

AIM To investigate the ability of synthetic benzo[a]quinolizin-4-one derivatives to reverse multidrug resistance (MDR) in lung cancer cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cell line with MDR, A549RT-eto, was established by exposure to 1.5 μM etoposide. Cytotoxic activity was assayed by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromine (MTT) method. The mechanism of drug resistance was studied by real-time PCR, Western blot analysis, and flow cytometry. Benzo[a]quinolizin-4-one derivatives were synthesized and tested for cytotoxic activity and ability to modulate MDR. RESULTS A549RT-eto cells had an IC(50) for etoposide of 176 μM, 28-fold higher than parental cells, due to increased levels of MDR1 gene and P-glycoprotein (P-gp), resulting in greater drug efflux. Three benzo[a]quinolizin-4-ones reduced etoposide IC(50) from 176 μM to 22.4 μM -24.7 μM. This resulted from increased drug accumulation without altering P-gp expression at the transcription or translation level. CONCLUSION Non-toxic concentrations of benzo[a]quinolizin-4-one derivatives can reverse drug resistance of A549RT-eto by increasing the intracellular drug accumulation.
Allergic eye disease mechanisms

Allergic eye disease is a common ocular problem. It is one part of the whole spectrum of allergic diseases which share a common initiating mechanism and a characteristic pattern of inflammation. The association between exposure to airborne plant pollens and the development of ocular and nasal symptoms in itself was noted by Charles Blackley in 1873.1 The classification of allergic eye diseases is based entirely on clinical features, which in the past has resulted in the use of inappropriate or unsatisfactory treatments, owing to our lack of knowledge of the underlying mechanisms. Recent work has defined such underlying pathogenic mechanisms of allergic eye disease, extending our knowledge of the cellular and mediator mechanisms involved, and enabling pathophysiological correlates to be made between the clinical patterns of disease and responses to treatment. This is now resulting in a clearer understanding of the disease processes which, in the long term, holds promise for the development of more effective treatments. As the prevalence of allergic disease is increasing, probably through environmental factors, it is appropriate at this stage to review our current knowledge of the mechanisms of allergic eye disease. The morbidity and mortality of asthma have increased in the past few years2-5 with no corresponding rise in the underlying rate of atopy itself.6 Environmental causes have been cited as responsible for this, as the rising trends have occurred too quickly for genetic causes to have exerted their effects.6The increase in asthma has coincided with an increase in house dust mite levels, and is greatest in communities exposed to high allergen levels.2 However, there are no firm data available on which to base any change in the incidence of allergic eye disease. The reported incidence rates for the different forms of allergic eye disease have been varied. …
Effect of tranilast on matrix metalloproteinase production from neutrophils in‐vitro

Tranilast is an anti‐allergic agent that blocks the release of chemical mediators, such as histamine and leukotrienes from mast cells, and has been reported to suppress keloid and hypertrophic scar formation. Since matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an essential role in tissue remodelling, this study was undertaken to determine whether tranilast suppresses MMP production from neutrophils after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation in‐vitro. Neutrophils from five healthy donors (1times105 cells/mL) were stimulated with 1.0 μg mL−1 LPS in the presence or absence of various concentrations of tranilast for 24 h. MMP‐7, MMP‐8, MMP‐9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)‐1 levels in the culture supernatants were assayed by ELISA. In addition, the influence of tranilast on MMP mRNA expression and transcriptional factor activation in cells cultured for 12 h and 4 h was also evaluated by reverse transcriptase—polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. Tranilast inhibited MMP and TIMP‐1 production from neutrophils when cells were treated with the agent at more than 5.0times10−5 m. It also suppressed MMP mRNA expression and transcriptional factor activation induced in neutrophils by LPS stimulation. The results suggest that tranilast inhibits the formation of keloid scarring through the suppression of factors such as MMPs and TIMP, which are essential for tissue remodelling, from inflammatory cells.