Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In Vitro Analysis and In Vivo Tumor Targeting of a Humanized, Grafted Nanobody in Mice Using Pinhole SPECT/Micro-CT

Nanobodies are a novel type of immunoglobulinlike, antigen-binding protein with beneficial pharmacologic and pharmacokinetic properties that are ideally suited to targeting cellular antigens for molecular imaging or therapeutic purposes. However, because of their camelid, nonhuman origin, the possible immunogenicity of Nanobodies when used in the clinic is a concern. Here we present a new strategy to quickly generate humanized Nanobodies for molecular imaging purposes. Methods: We genetically grafted the antigen-binding loops of NbCEA5, a Nanobody with specificity for the colon carcinoma marker carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), onto the framework of a humanized Nanobody scaffold. This scaffold has been previously characterized in our laboratory as a stable Nanobody that can serve as a universal loop acceptor for antigen-binding loops from donor Nanobodies and has been additionally mutated at about 10 crucial surface-exposed sites to resemble the sequence of human variable immunoglobulin domains. The 3 recombinant Nanobodies (NbCEA5, humanized scaffold, and humanized CEA5 graft) were produced in bacteria and purified. Unlabeled and 99mTc-labeled Nanobodies were biochemically characterized in vitro and tested as probes for SPECT/CT of xenografted tumors. Results: The success of loop-grafting was confirmed by comparing these Nanobodies for their capacity to recognize soluble CEA protein in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and by surface plasmon resonance and to bind to CEA-positive LS174T colon carcinoma cells and CEA-transfected but not untransfected Chinese hamster ovary cells in flow cytometry. Specificity of binding was confirmed by competition studies. All Nanobodies were heat-stable, could be efficiently labeled with 99mTc, and recognized both soluble and membrane-bound CEA protein in binding studies. Finally, biodistribution experiments were performed with intravenously injected 99mTc-labeled Nanobodies in LS174T tumor–bearing mice using pinhole SPECT/micro-CT. These in vivo experiments revealed specificity of tumor targeting and rapid renal clearance for all Nanobodies, with low signals in all organs besides the kidneys. Conclusion: This study shows the potency of antigen-binding loop-grafting to efficiently generate humanized Nanobodies that retain their targeting capacities for noninvasive in vivo imaging of tumors.
Does Social Identification Harm or Serve as a Buffer? The Impact of Social Identification on Anger After Experiencing Social Discrimination

Research on targets' affective reactions to social discrimination has not yet addressed self- and other-directed anger at the same time. Four studies tested the hypothesis that the perceived cause of negative feedback moderates the impact of social identification on self-directed anger. In Studies 1 and 2, high levels of social identification led to less self-directed anger when negative feedback was attributed to social discrimination but not when it was attributed either to other external causes or internally. In Study 3, a cross-lagged design showed that higher identification led to less self-directed anger when negative feedback was attributed to social discrimination but not the other way around. This effect was found using scenarios (Studies 1-3) and also when using the recollection of personal experiences to manipulate attribution (Study 4). These results indicate that following social discrimination, social identification protects the self and does not increase individual vulnerability.
Socio-economic conditions of physical activity of manual workers from Wrocław

ABSTRACT The article is aimed at evaluating the relationships existing between physical activity of manual workers from Wrocław and their socio-economic status. The survey completed in 2013 comprised 844 persons (300 women and 544 men), aged from 21 to 60 years. A method of diagnostic poll was used to assess physical activity, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire in a short version was used as the survey instrument, with the form expanded by characteristics of socio-economic status. Most of surveyed Wrocław residents were making physical effort sufficient to achieve health benefits. Moreover, the probability of meeting physical activity standards defined by the World Health Organization was highest for people between 21 and 30 years of age, with secondary education, whose monthly gross income per person in a household did not exceed PLN 1000. The survey has shown the existence of physical activity relationships with such characteristics of socio-economic status of surveyed persons as age, education and income.
Teething in infants—Knowledge and attitude of traditional birth attendants in Ibadan, Nigeria

Introduction: Misconceptions are associated with the teething process in Nigeria and is often blamed for symptoms in infants. A horrendous incident occurred in Nigeria in 2008 which recorded 84 infant deaths due to consumption of adulterated teething syrup to prevent teething problems. In the quest to engage the populace, particularly mothers, in health education to change this erroneous mindset about teething, it will be necessary and more cost effective to involve Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA’s) who can be invaluable in assisting to dispel myths associated teething as they live and work among the local populace and many times give counsel to mothers. Aim: To assess the attitude and beliefs of TBA’s in Ibadan, to teething in infants. Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted among TBA’s in Ibadan, Nigeria. A thirteen item interviewer administered questionnaire was distributed to all 163 TBA’s in the five urban local government areas who agreed to be part of the study. Results: Over half of the respondents (59.5%) and (55.8%) associated the teething process with fever and diarrhea respectively. Other beliefs included boils (49.1%), loss of appetite (48.5%), weight loss (44.2%), and sleeplessness (42.3%). A greater proportion of the older and less educated TBA’s associated teething with fever, diarrhea, boils, loss of appetite and weight loss. The respondents would advise analgesics (55.8%), teething powder (67.5%), antibiotics (12.3%), concoctions (4.3%) and sedatives (4.3%) as teething remedies. There was a greater tendency for less educated TBA’s to advise the use of concoctions and antibiotics. Conclusion: The study reveals grave misconceptions among TBA’s who in developing countries like Nigeria give counsel to mothers in the various communities. There is an urgent need for health education to the TBA’s particularly the older and less educated ones.
Family and Medical Leave in 2012: Methodology Report

Acknowledgements The final report is a collaboration of the United States Department of Labor's Chief Evaluation Office (CEO), Wage and Hour Division (WHD), and Abt Associates. This effort has received the strong support of the CEO—including Jean Grossman, Demetra Nightingale, and Jonathan Simonetta. The survey and this report would not have happened without their vision and day-today input. At WHD, Libby Hendrix's understanding of FMLA and her experiences with the fielding and use of the previous survey were invaluable. Other WHD participating in the effort included At Abt Associates, Glen Schneider served as Project Quality Advisor, providing key insights throughout the project and careful review of this final report. Katie Heintz and Cindy Taylor provided valuable management guidance. The survey was fielded by Abt-SRBI under the leadership of Kelly Daley. Allison Ackermann served as Acting Project Director during the early phase of the project and led the Employee Survey. Julie Pacer led the Worksite Survey. Courtney Kennedy and Ben Phillips led the technical design and weighting effort. Marci Schalk also contributed.
Eye trauma in children and adolescents: Perspectives from a developing country and validation of the ocular trauma score.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the current causes of ocular trauma and to assess the prognostic value of the ocular trauma score (OTS) in children. DESIGN Prospective observational study of children with ocular trauma in Sao Paulo, Brazil, over 1 year. METHODS Initial OTS categories were calculated for each patient and compared with the final visual result. RESULTS Ninety-six patients were included; most were male (73%). Mean age was 7.3 years. Closed globe trauma was the most frequent (74%), followed by open-globe trauma (10.4%). Household items were mainly responsible for the trauma. Correlation between the predicted and achieved visual acuity was good (Kendall tau-b = 0.7192). CONCLUSION Closed globe is the most frequent trauma in children and adolescents, and some injuries could be prevented by safety measures and closer adult supervision. The OTS was shown to have limited value in predicting long-term visual acuity in children and adolescents.
Effect of Curcumin on Lung Resistance-Related Protein (LRP) in Retinoblastoma Cells

Purpose: Multidrug resistance to anticancer drugs is a major cause of chemotherapy failure in cancer patients. Lung resistance-related protein (LRP) has been identified as the major vault protein (MVP) in humans, which is associated with multidrug resistance in various cancer cells. Overexpression of LRP is found in many solid tumors and cancer cell lines. Methods: In this study, curcumin mixture was used to study the modulation of LRP in Y79 retinoblastoma cell line by Western blot and RT-PCR. Results: RT-PCR and Western blot was carried to determine the expression of LRP mRNA and protein level. Western blot and RT-PCR analysis showed that curcumin inhibited LRP expression in a dose-dependent manner in the Y79 retinoblastoma cell line. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that curcumin modulated the expression of LRP in the Y79 retinoblastoma cell line. Thus, curcumin may be used as a chemosensitizer to make the retinoblastoma cells more sensitive to the effects of chemotherapy.
THE RESEARCH OF THE OPTIMAL ALLOCATION OF ASSETS STRUCTURE AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

This paper argues that the research of assets structure hasmore practical value and universal significance than capitalstructure. They are the main source of creating corporatevalue and avoid risks. As a result, this paper tries to evaluatethe relationship between assets structure and businessperformance through the correlation of the demonstrationabout listed company. On this basis, the paper separatelyand then curve fitting each variable, trying to fit in theestablished model based on the equation, find the optimalasset allocation values. This paper will get the multivariatelinear regression equation.
The Impact of an Increase in the Legal Retirement Age on the Effective Retirement Age

We analyze the impact of an increase in the legal retirement age on the effective retirement age in the Netherlands. We do this by means of a dynamic programming model for the retirement behavior of singles. The model is applied to new administrative data that contain very accurate and detailed information on individual incomes and occupational pension entitlements. Our model is able to capture the main patterns observed in the data. We observe that as individuals get older their labor supply declines considerably and this varies by age and gender. We simulate the current pension reform which aims at gradually increasing the legal retirement age from 65 to 67 and a hypothetical reform that immediately increases the retirement age to 67. The simulation results show a small impact on the effective retirement age for the first reform and a bigger impact for the second reform. Respectively, individuals postpone their retirement by $$<$$<1 month and 7 months on average; while differences across individuals mainly depend on their gender and health status.
Platelet-activating factor: receptors and signal transduction.

During the past two decades, studies describing the chemistry and biology of PAF have been extensive. This potent phosphoacylglycerol exhibits a wide variety of physiological and pathophysiological effects in various cells and tissues. PAF acts, through specific receptors and a variety of signal transduction systems, to elicit diverse biochemical responses. Several important future directions can be enumerated for the characterization of PAF receptors and their attendant signalling mechanisms. The recent cloning and sequence analysis of the gene for the PAF receptor will allow a number of important experimental approaches for characterizing the structure and analysing the function of the various domains of the receptor. Using molecular genetic and immunological technologies, questions relating to whether there is receptor heterogeneity, the precise mechanism(s) for the regulation of the PAF receptor, and the molecular details of the signalling mechanisms in which the PAF receptor is involved can be explored. Another area of major significance is the examination of the relationship between the signalling response(s) evoked by PAF binding to its receptor and signalling mechanisms activated by a myriad of other mediators, cytokines and growth factors. A very exciting recent development in which PAF receptors undoubtedly play a role is in the regulation of the function of various cellular adhesion molecules. Finally, there remain many incompletely characterized physiological and pathophysiological situations in which PAF and its receptor play a crucial signalling role. Our laboratory has been active in the elucidation of several tissue responses in which PAF exhibits major autocoid signalling responses, e.g. hepatic injury and inflammation, acute and chronic pancreatitis, and cerebral stimulation and/or trauma. As new experimental strategies are developed for characterizing the fine structure of the molecular mechanisms involved in tissue injury and inflammation, the essential role of PAF as a primary signalling molecule will be affirmed. Doubtless the next 20 years of experimental activity will be even more interesting and productive than the past two decades.
A preclinical evaluation of polypropylene/polylacticacid hybrid meshes for fascial defect repair using a rat abdominal hernia model

Objectives Synthetic mesh surgery for both abdominal and urogenital hernia repair is often unsatisfactory in the long-term due to postoperative complications. We hypothesized that a semi-degradable mesh hybrid may provide more appropriate biocompatibility with comparable mechanical properties. The aim was to compare its in vivo biocompatibility with a commercial polypropylene (PP) mesh. Methods 72 rats were randomly allocated to either our new composite mesh (monofilament PP mesh knitted with polylactic-acid-fibers (PLA)) or to a commercially available PP mesh that was used as a control. 15, 90, and 180 days after implantation into the rat abdomen mesh tissue complexes were analysed for erosion, contraction, foreign body reaction, tissue integration and biomechanical properties. Results No differences were seen in regard to clinical parameters including erosion, contraction or infection rates between the two groups. Biomechanical properties including breaking load, stiffness and deformation did not show any significant differences between the different materials at any timepoint. Macrophage staining did not reveal any significant differences between the two groups or between timepoints either. In regard to collagen I there was significantly less collagen I in the PP group compared to the PP/ PLA group at day 180. Collagen III did not show any significant differences at any timepoint between the two groups. Conclusion A PP/PLA hybrid mesh, leaving a low amount of PP after PLA degradation seems to have comparable biomechanical properties like PP at 180 days due to enhanced collagen production without significant differences in erosion, contraction, herniation or infection rates.
Shigella Vaccine Development: Finding the Path of Least Resistance

ABSTRACT Shigella spp. represent the second most common etiologic pathogen causing childhood diarrhea in developing countries. There are no licensed Shigella vaccines, and progress for such vaccines has been limited. In this issue of Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, Riddle and colleagues (M. S. Riddle, R. W. Kaminski, C. Di Paolo, C. K. Porter, R. L. Gutierrez, et al., Clin Vaccine Immunol 23:908–917, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/CVI.00224-16) report results from a phase I study of a parenterally administered monovalent O-polysaccharide “bioconjugate” directed against Shigella flexneri 2a. Ultimately, the goal is to develop a broad-spectrum Shigella vaccine to address this public health concern. A parenteral Shigella vaccine capable of eliciting protection in children of developing countries would be an important tool to reach this goal.
Tricuspid regurgitation late after mitral valve replacement: clinical and echocardiographic evaluation.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY Significant tricuspid regurgitation (TR) can contribute to increased morbidity and mortality in patients after mitral valve replacement (MVR), both in the immediate and late postoperative period. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and the clinical importance of TR late after MVR, as assessed both clinically and echocardiographically. METHODS The study group comprised 65 patients (39 women, 26 men; mean age 61+/-12 years) with rheumatic heart disease who had undergone MVR without tricuspid valve surgery between one and 30 years (mean 11.3+/-8 years) before their last clinical examination. All patients underwent a complete color-Doppler echocardiographic examination. The predominant presurgical mitral lesion was stenosis in 44 patients and regurgitation in 21. The severity of the tricuspid valve disease was assessed echocardiographically using color-Doppler flow images and flow direction in the inferior vena cava or hepatic veins, and by clinical evaluation. RESULTS Echocardiography revealed significant late TR in 44 patients (67%), which was moderate in 16 and severe in 28, and evident on physical examination in 24 cases (37%). Age (relative risk (RR) = 1.1; C.I. 1-1.1) and female sex (RR = 1.8; C.I. = 1.0-3.2) were identified as statistically significant predictors for late clinical TR development, but only age was found as a statistically significant predictor for echocardiographic TR development. An elevated RR for organic TR and predominant mitral regurgitation was found. In contrast, pre- and postoperative pulmonary artery pressure, predominant mitral lesion, prosthetic valve gradient and regurgitation were similar in patients with and without late TR. CONCLUSIONS Significant TR diagnosed by echocardiography late after MVR is common, and clinically evident in more than one-third of patients. Therefore, a lower threshold for tricuspid valve repair should be considered when mitral valve surgery is carried out.
Improving the Quality of Instruction for Egyptian Science Classes: Developing and Evaluating a Teaching Program for Middle School Students

Educators and policymakers envision the future of education in Egypt as enabling learners to acquire scientific inquiry and problem solving abilities. The main aim of this study is to develop and evaluate a science teaching program for Egyptian lower secondary school students to foster students’ problem solving abilities, experimental strategy knowledge, achievement, perceptions on the quality of science lessons, and motivation towards science. The lesson plans of the teaching program were constructed based on an established model for problem solving, combining two models of problem solving (Klahr & Dunbar, 1988; Oser & Baeriswyl, 2001). The program itself consisted of five double lessons on the topic, “density and buoyancy”. Six instruments were applied to assess students’ problem solving abilities, experimental strategy knowledge, science achievement, perceptions on the quality of science lessons, motivation towards science and, finally, teachers’ quality of instruction. The instruments were partly self-developed and partly adapted to the school conditions in Egypt from newly performed studies on strategy knowledge and problem solving in Germany, and PISA and TIMSS tests. All instruments had to be translated into Arabic from German or English; the translation process and the quality control were closely screened. From September to October 2011, an intervention study was conducted in a quasi-experimental design with pre- and post-testing (e.g. Shadish, Memphis, Dood & Evanston, 2002). The sample included n=147 seventh grade students in a general middle school in the city of Aswan, Egypt during the 2011-2012 school year. The intervention group consisted of 74 students (50% males), while the control group contained 73 students (49.5% males). Both groups showed no significant differences in age, cognitive abilities, social background, academic pre-knowledge and teachers’ quality of instruction. Two treatments were used with the control and intervention group: the newly developed teaching program was used to teach the intervention group while the control group was taught according to regular teaching methods. Both groups were taught by the same teacher (the author, who is a qualified science teacher). To ensure the comparability and quality of teaching in both groups, a second science teacher filled in observer sheets (Clausen, 2002). The study was conducted during a six week-long unit at a middle school in Egypt. Intervention and control group students were compared to determine differences in learning outcomes and motivation. The data were appropriately analyzed according to the Rasch model and classical test theory. The results revealed that students in the intervention group performed significantly better with a small and medium effect size (. 1
The efficacy and safety of posterior scleral reinforcement using genipin cross-linked sclera for macular detachment and retinoschisis in highly myopic eyes

Background/aims To evaluate the efficacy and safety of posterior scleral reinforcement (PSR) using genipin cross-linked sclera as the material to treat macular detachment and retinoschisis, both without macular hole, in highly myopic eyes. Methods Twenty-one patients with highly myopic eyes (24 eyes) with macular detachment and retinoschisis were treated sequentially with genipin cross-linked PSR and were followed for at least 1 year after surgery. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), spherical equivalent (SE) power, axial length (AL), optical coherence tomography, and the complications were evaluated. Results The mean SE decreased from −13.81±4.67 D preoperatively to −9.64±4.86 D postoperatively, while the improvement in the logMAR BCVA values was from 1.24±0.57 before surgery to 1.03±0.57 after surgery. The preoperative AL (29.73±2.31 mm) was decreased (28.08±2.08 mm) after the operation. The retina in 21 eyes (87.5%) was successful reattached and the macular detachment was significantly decreased in two eyes; a macular hole occurred in one eye. Conclusions For at least a 1 year period of follow-up, PSR with genipin cross-linked sclera was safe and effective to treat macular detachment and retinoschisis in high myopia when a macular hole was not present. The reinforcement effect tended to be stabilised and maintained for 6 months after treatment.