Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Lymph Node-Derived Cytopathic Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Mne Variant Replicates in Nonstimulated Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells

ABSTRACT Lymph nodes (LNs) are sites of active human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) replication and disease at both early and late stages of infection. Consequently, variant viruses that replicate efficiently and subsequently cause immune dysfunction may be harbored in this tissue. To determine whether LN-associated SIVs have an increased capacity to replicate and induce cytopathology, a molecular clone of SIV was isolated directly from DNA extracted from unpassaged LN tissue of a pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina) infected with SIVMne. The animal had declining CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts at the time of the LN biopsy. In human CD4+ T-cell lines, the LN-derived virus, SIVMne027, replicated with relatively slow kinetics and was minimally cytopathic and non-syncytium inducing compared to other SIVMne clones. However, in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated pig-tailed macaque peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), SIVMne027 replicated efficiently and was highly cytopathic for the CD4+ T-cell population. Interestingly, unlike other SIVMne clones, SIVMne027 also replicated to a high level in nonstimulated macaque PBMCs. High-level replication depended on the presence of both the T-cell and monocyte/macrophage populations and could be enhanced by interleukin-2 (IL-2). Finally, the primary determinant governing the ability of SIVMne027 to replicate in nonstimulated and IL-2-stimulated PBMCs mapped togag-pol-vif. Together, these data demonstrate that LNs may harbor non-syncytium-inducing, cytopathic viruses that replicate efficiently and are highly responsive to the effects of cytokines such as IL-2.
A non-interventional study of biosimilar granulocyte colony-stimulating factor as prophylaxis for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia in a community oncology centre

Objectives: Prophylaxis with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) reduces the severity of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. Biosimilar G-CSF is now approved for use, based on comparable efficacy, safety and quality with the originator product. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of patients’ charts following the switch from originator G-CSF (Neupogen®) to biosimilar G-CSF (Zarzio®/Filgrastim Hexal®) in a large community oncology practice. A total of 77 consecutive patients with cancer who received biosimilar G-CSF were reviewed, as were 25 patients who received originator G-CSF at the same centre. Results: The median age of patients in the biosimilar G-CSF cohort was 67 years (range 20−83). In this cohort 48% had chemotherapy with a febrile neutropenia risk of >20%. Biosimilar G-CSF was given as primary prophylaxis in 52% and as secondary prophylaxis in 48% of patients. Age and febrile neutropenia in medical history or in previous chemotherapy were factors that triggered the use of G-CSF in patients with a febrile neutropenia risk of <20%. One patient developed febrile neutropenia. Neutropenia led to chemotherapy dose reductions in five patients (6.5%) and discontinuation in two patients (2.5%). No unexpected safety findings were observed. Patient characteristics were generally similar in the originator G-CSF cohort. Only 24% of patients had a febrile neutropenia risk >20% and 36% received primary prophylactic G-CSF. One patient developed febrile neutropenia. Neutropenia led to chemotherapy dose reductions in two patients (8%) and discontinuation in two patients (8%). Conclusions: Biosimilar G-CSF was effective and prevented dose reductions/discontinuation in the majority of patients. Biosimilar G-CSF was considered clinically comparable to its reference product.
PAPER 280 A FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION PROGRAM ON INMATES AT FOLSOM PRISON

Significant overall reductions over the nine months were found (p <.05) on all psychological indices measured-state anxiety, trait anxiety, neuroticism, and hostility. In particular, neuroticism showed a continued downward trend over the nine month interval. The marked improvements in sleeping patterns and insomnia noted at three months were also sustained and a clear trend developed towards less heavy use of cigarettes.
Corporate Cost and Profit Shares in the Euro Area and the US: The Same Story?

This paper presents evidence of how the shares of labour and capital costs and profits in the gross value added of corporate sectors of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US varied between 1995 and 2016, and seeks to explain the differences between countries and how they have developed over time. The descriptive evidence does not support the hypothesis of a convergence in the composition of the countries’ corporate gross value added in the period, either within the euro area or between Europe and the US, nor is there evidence of a generalised downward trend in the share of labour costs over time. The parallel upward trend in the corporate profit share of the US and Germany between 2000 and 2016 stands out, with German corporate profit share consistently above that of the US. The evidence presented here supports the claim made by other studies that increasing corporate market power is the main driver of changes in the composition of gross value added over time in the case of the US. In the euro area countries, labour and capital shares are also sensitive to changes in the relative input prices of labour and capital (consistent with an inferred elasticity of substitution between labour and capital in production that is less than one, compared with the inferred value of one for the US). Finally, to explain the high and increasing German corporate profit share, it is necessary to account for the sustained comparative production cost advantage of German corporations.
Does cultural heritage monetary value have an impact on visits? An assessment using official Italian data

In this article, we try to investigate which factors affect the visits to cultural heritage (CH), using Italy as a case study. We adopt a broad definition of CH including archaeological and historical sites, historical buildings and museums, focusing our attention on State CH. In our empirical analysis, we use a rather innovative indicator of CH value, that is, the monetary value of State CH, officially provided by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Using these data, this article aims at evaluating if such monetary value has a significant role in stimulating visits to cultural sites for the years 1996–2010. We also control for other factors potentially affecting the number of visits to cultural sites, such as alternative tourist attractors and the regional performance in the tourism sector. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that attempts to investigate the effect of CH monetary value on cultural participation.
BDNF 196 G/A and 270 C/T Polymorphisms and Susceptibility to Parkinson's Disease: A Meta-Analysis

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to explore whether brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) polymorphisms 196 G/A and 270 C/T confer susceptibility to Parkinson's disease (PD). The authors conducted a meta-analysis of the associations between the BDNF 196 G/A and 270 C/T polymorphisms and PD in subjects. They considered 12 studies in the case of the BDNF 196 G/A polymorphism and 4 studies in the case of the BDNF 270 C/T polymorphism. Meta-analysis showed no association between PD and the BDNF 196A allele in all study subjects (odds ratio [OR] = 1.066, 95% CI [0.972, 1.169], p = .173). However, ethnicity-specific meta-analysis identified an association between the BDNF 196 AA + AG genotype and PD in Europeans, but not in Asians (OR = 1.212, 95% CI [1.007, 1.458], p = .042; OR = 1.0567, 95% CI [0.913, 1.221], p = .465). Meta-analysis showed no association between PD and the BDNF 270 C/T polymorphism (OR for the T allele = 1.213, 95% CI [0.923, 1.595], p = .165). This meta-analysis identified an association between the BDNF 196 G/A polymorphism in Europeans, but not in Asians, but failed to identify an association between the BDNF 270 C/T polymorphism and PD.
The antiproliferative and immunotoxic effects of L-canavanine and L-canaline

L-Canavanine and its arginase-catalyzed metabolite, L-canaline, are two novel anticancer agents in development. Since the immunotoxic evaluation of agents in development is a critical component of the drug development process, the antiproliferative effects of L-canavanine and L-canaline were evaluated in vitro. Both L-canavanine and L-canaline were cytotoxic to peripheral blood mononucleocytes (PBMCs) in culture. Additionally, the mononucleocytes were concurrently exposed to either L-canavanine or L-canaline and each one of a series of compounds that may act as metabolic inhibitors of the action of L-canavanine and L-canaline (L-arginine, L-ornithine, D-arginine, L-lysine, L-homoarginine, putrescine, L-ω-nitro arginine methyl ester and L-citrulline). The capacity of these compounds to overcome the cytotoxic effects of L-canavanine or L-canaline was assessed in order to provide insight into the biochemical mechanisms that may underlie the toxicity of these two novel anticancer agents. The results of these studies suggest that the mechanism of L-canavanine toxicity is mediated through L-arginine-utilizing mechanisms and that the L-canavanine metabolite, L-canaline, is toxic to human PBMCs by disrupting polyamine biosynthesis. The elucidation of the biochemical mechanisms associated with the effects of L-canavanine and L-canaline on lymphoproliferation may be useful for maximizing the therapeutic effectiveness and minimizing the toxicity of these novel anticancer agents.
Developing a framework to track knowledge convergence in 'big data'

Systems to track the early stages of industrial convergence are used to understand technological and scientific developments. Keywords are considered an important indicator to detect knowledge convergence and so far, few reported methods use them. We define two objectives, first to propose a framework to detect knowledge convergence using keywords and second to test this framework by detecting analysing topics converging into 'big data'. We propose a method which uses scientific papers' author keywords as the data source and includes techniques such as word co-occurrence network analysis and established knowledge sources to disambiguate and classify keywords. We analysed scientific publications related to 'big data' for the years 2008-2016 and identified 221 keywords as a proxy of knowledge convergence and grouped them into 11 topics. Among these 11 topics, four were identified as significant adopters of big data knowledge: artificial intelligence, pattern recognition, natural language processing and data science.
Clinical Outcome and Efficacy of Antegrade Colonic Enemas Administered via an Indwelling Cecostomy Catheter in Adults With Defecatory Disorders

BACKGROUND: Antegrade colonic enemas are used in selected adult patients with defecatory disorders. Conduit stenosis requiring revisional surgery is common. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine whether stenosis could be avoided by using an indwelling antegrade continence enema catheter in an appendiceal or cecal conduit, and to describe medium-term clinical outcomes. DESIGN: This study was a retrospective case series. SETTING: The study was conducted at a tertiary referral hospital in Sydney, Australia. PATIENTS: Adults administering antegrade colonic enemas to manage defecatory disorders were selected for the study. METHODS: Patients with an indwelling antegrade continence enema catheter completed a face-to-face survey when they attended the clinic for catheter change. A postal survey was sent to nonattenders, and, if it was not returned, the patient was contacted, and the survey was completed by telephone. The survey asked about irrigation techniques, satisfaction, confidence to manage, and continence, using quantitative scores. RESULTS: Fifty-four patients (45 female; mean age, 49 years) had constipation (n = 31), incontinence (n = 6), both incontinence and constipation (n = 2) or obstructed defecation due to gracilis neosphincter (n = 5), congenital anomalies (n = 8), or spinal injuries (n = 2). Thirty-five patients (65%) continued to irrigate for a mean follow-up of 5.5 years (range, 4 months to 13.7 years). Mean enema volume was 1178 mL (95% CI, 998–1357; range, 350–2000 mL), and half the patients added a stimulant to the irrigation. Mean total toileting time was 59 minutes (95% CI, 48–66; range, 15–120 minutes). Twenty-one patients had incontinence between irrigations, and in 17% incontinence was severe (St. Mark score >12). Satisfaction (visual analogue scale = 8.1) and confidence to partake in social activities (visual analogue scale = 8.2) and all-day activities (visual analogue scale = 7.1) were high. Complications included superficial wound infection (n = 15), wound infection requiring surgery (n = 6), paraconduit hernia (n = 2), and indwelling antegrade continence enema catheter dislodgement (n = 33). There was no conduit track stenosis. LIMITATIONS: The study is a medium-term retrospective case series using patient-reported outcomes and clinical records without a control group. CONCLUSIONS: With the use of the indwelling antegrade continence enema catheter, appendicostomy and cecostomy stenosis requiring revisional surgery was avoided. Antegrade colonic irrigation failed in about one-third of cases; in the 65% who continued to irrigate, satisfactory functional outcome was achieved.
Measurement of Femoral Torsion by Ultrasound and Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Concurrent Validity

Background Abnormal femoral torsion has been linked to osteoarthritis in the knee as well as to patellofemoral pain. Inexpensive, valid, and reliable methods for assessing femoral torsion are needed. Ultrasound (US) is a noninvasive and clinically accessible method that can be used for the assessment of bone morphology, such as femoral torsion. Objective The objective of this study was to determine the concurrent validity of US for the measurement of femoral torsion with a reference method, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Design Repeated measurements of femoral torsion were obtained with US and MRI in a laboratory setting. Methods Twenty-eight people (4 men, 24 women; mean age=26.8 years [SD=4.0 years], mean body height=170.3 cm [SD=8.0 cm], mean body weight=64.7 kg [SD=9.8 kg]) participated in this study. T1-weighted axial oblique images of the femoral neck and epicondylar axis were acquired with a 1.5-T magnetic resonance system. Ultrasonographic measurements then were obtained by a tilting technique with a linear transducer that was 4.5 cm long and operated at a frequency of 10 MHz and a depth of 5 cm. Results The average angles of anteversion measured by US and by MRI were 20.7 degrees (SD=11.0) and 19 degrees (SD=11.3), respectively. The reliability, reported as the intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC (2,1)], of repeated measurements of in vivo femoral torsion by US was . 98. The reliability [ICC (2,1)] of magnetic resonance image analysis was . 96. The standard error of the measurement for US was 2.2 degrees, and that for MRI was 1.9 degrees. The concurrent validity of US with MRI (R2) was . 93 (r=.96). Limitations Obtaining measurements by US requires appropriate training before data collection. Conclusions Ultrasound measurement of femoral torsion has high concurrent validity with in vivo MRI and may be used when an assessment of bony morphology is needed but MRI is not available.
Data Integrity for Collaborative Applications over Hosted Services

In this work we focus on integrity and consistency of data accessed and manipulated by multiple collaborating users, and stored in an (untrusted) hosted service. This is a problem, aspects of which have been studied in isolation in hitherto distinctcommunities. Consistency is one of the cardinal problems of distributed computing. Integrity of hosted data has been studied over the last decade, and numerous techniques for proof of data possession and/or retrievability have been explored. The latter line of work however have often assumed static data, and techniques to handle dynamic or versioned data have only very recently been proposed. Yet, even the existing solutionsthat handle mutable content do so under the assumption that only a single data owner (using a single client) manipulate and verify said data. This is a serious limitation in terms of the variety of applications that can benefit from such mechanisms for proof of data possession. The novelty, and primary contribution of this work is in filling this gap. Specifically, we extend the existing ideas of proof of possession of dynamic data, in orderto support multiple users who may collaborate in real time or asynchronously. In contrast (and addition) to the challenge of an untrusted storage server that existing techniques for proof of data possession need to overcome, we had to, simultaneously account for data integrity violations that may be incurred due to all the usual challenges of maintaining consistency of collaborative data (even if the storage server was trusted).
Soil microbial parameters and stability of soil aggregate fractions under different grassland communities on the Loess Plateau, China

Over-grazing and large-scale monocultures on the Loess plateau in China have caused serious soil erosion by water and wind. Grassland revegetation has been reported as one of the most effective counter measures. Therefore, we investigated soil aggregation, aggregate stability and soil microbial activities as key parameters for soil remediation through grassland revegetation.The results showed that soil microbial biomass carbon (Cmic) and microbial biomass nitrogen (Nmic) increased under revegetated grass communities compared to cropland and overgrazed pastures and were higher in surface layers (0–10 cm) than in the subsurface (10–20 cm). Although there are variations between the four investigated grassland communities, their values were 10 to 50 times higher in comparison to the cropland and overgrazed pastures, similar to the increase in soil enzyme activities, such as β-glucosidase and β-glucosaminidase.Soil aggregate stability (SAS) showed clear differences between the different land uses with two main soil aggregate fractions measured by ultra sound: < 63 μm and 100–250 μm, with approximately 70% and 10% of the total soil volume respectively. We also found positive correlations between SAS and soil microbial parameters, such as Cmic, Nmic, and soil enzyme activities. From this, we concluded that revegetation of eroded soils by grasses accelerates soil rehabilitation.
University of Birmingham Identification of distinct human invariant natural killer T-cell response phenotypes to alpha- galactosylceramide

Background : Human CD1d-restricted, invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT) are a unique class of T lymphocytes that recognise glycolipid antigens such as α-galactosylceramide (αGalCer) and upon T cell receptor (TCR) activation produce both Th1 and Th2 cytokines. iNKT cells expand when cultured in-vitro with αGalCer and interleukin 2 (IL-2) in a CD1d-restricted manner. However, the expansion ratio of human iNKT cells varies between individuals and this has implications for attempts to manipulate this pathway therapeutically. We have studied a panel of twenty five healthy human donors to assess the variability in their in-vitro iNKT cell expansion responses to stimulation with CD1d ligands and investigated some of the factors that may influence this phenomenon. Results : Although all donors had comparable numbers of circulating iNKT cells their growth rates in-vitro over 14 days in response to a range of CD1d ligands and IL-2 were highly donor-dependent. Two reproducible donor response patterns of iNKT expansion were seen which we have called 'strong' or 'poor' iNKT responders. Donor response phenotype did not correlate with age, gender, frequency of circulating iNKT, or with the CD1d ligand utilised. Addition of exogenous recombinant human interleukin 4 (IL-4) to 'poor' responder donor cultures significantly increased their iNKT proliferative capacity, but not to levels equivalent to that of 'strong' responder donors. However in 'strong' responder donors, addition of IL-4 to their cultures did not significantly alter the frequency of iNKT cells in the expanded CD3+ population. Conclusion : (i) in-vitro expansion of human iNKT cells in response to CD1d ligand activation is highly donor variable, (ii) two reproducible patterns of donor iNKT expansion were observed, which could be classified into 'strong' and 'poor' responder phenotypes, (iii) donor iNKT response phenotypes did not correlate with age, gender, frequency of circulating iNKT cells, or with the CD1d ligand utilised, (iv) addition of IL-4 to 'poor' but not 'strong' responder donor cultures significantly increased their in-vitro iNKT cell expansion to αGalCer. Published: 3 December 2008 BMC Immunology 2008, 9:71 doi:10.1186/1471-2172-9-71 Received: 15 July 2008 Accepted: 3 December 2008 This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral. com/1471-2172/9/71 © 2008 Croudace et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Interactive Role of Protein Kinase C-δ with Rho-Kinase in the Development of Cerebral Vasospasm in a Canine Two-Hemorrhage Model

Background: We previously reported that protein kinase C (PKC)-δ was initially translocated from the cytosol to the membrane fraction (on day 4), followed by PKC-α, with the progression of cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) on day 7. Rho/Rho-kinase pathways have also been proposed to be involved in the vasospasm. Thus we investigated the interactive role of Rho-kinase and PKC in the development of cerebral vasospasm after SAH. Methods: The cerebral vasospasm was produced using a ‘two-hemorrhage’ canine model. The animals were treated with Y-27632, a Rho-kinase inhibitor, and rottlerin, a PKC-δ inhibitor, both injected into the cisterna magna. Results: Y-27632 inhibited the vasospasm, 20-kDa myosin light chain (MLC20) phosphorylation, and PKC-δ translocation after the second injection of autologous blood on day 4. In contrast, Y-27632 did not affect the vasospasm on day 7. Rottlerin also inhibited the vasospasm on day 4, but had no effect on MLC20 phosphorylation and RhoA translocation. The vasospasm was accompanied with the phosphorylation of caldesmon (CaD), an actin-linked regulatory protein, which was strongly attenuated by Y-27632 and rottlerin. The application of PKC-δ to skinned strips of isolated canine basilar arteries caused a contraction and an increase in CaD phosphorylation. Conclusion: The development of cerebral vasospasm after SAH (on day 4) is caused by at least two mechanisms: one involves MLC20 phosphorylation mediated by the inhibition of MLC20 phosphatase by Rho-kinase, and the other CaD phosphorylation mediated by the activation of PKC-δ by Rho-kinase, which results in the alleviation of the inhibition by CaD of myosin Mg2+-ATPase activity.