Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NALP3 inflammasome functional polymorphisms and gout susceptibility

Gout is the most common autoinflammatory arthritis characterized by elevated serum urate and recurrent attacks of intra-articular crystal deposition of monosodium urate (MSU). Although the pathogenesis of gout is still unclear, accumulated studies indicate that genetic factors trigger gout development, including some susceptibility genes that control the production and clearance of urate and lead to hyperuricemia. However, the epidemiological evidence suggests that only less than 10% of hyperuricemia patients develop gout, indicating that other genes unrelated to the urate metabolism may also contribute to the diseases susceptibility. Accumulated evidences have implied that MSU crystal-induced inflammation is a paradigm of innate immunity and that NALP3 inflammasome, an innate immune complex containing NALP3, ASC, and CARD-8, is involved in gout development. Recent studies suggest that NALP3 and CARD-8 functional mutations contribute to the development of autoinflammatory diseases including hereditary periodic fever syndrome, arthristis as well as hypertension susceptibility. Taking into account these genetic findings, here we would like to propose a novel hypothesis that functional mutations in NALP3 inflammasome may make NALP3 inflammasome as attractive susceptibility candidates and genetic markers for gout. Further clinical genetic studies need to be performed to confirm the role of NALP3 inflammasome in the etiology of gout.
Verbs in speech framing expressions: Comparing English and Spanish 1

In this study, we explore how direct speech is portrayed in English and Spanish Speech Framing Expressions (SFEs). The study has two aims. Firstly, we survey the use of verbs in SFEs and offer a comprehensive inventory of those verbs in English and Spanish as representatives of Germanic and Romance languages respectively in order to determine what verb meanings are used to cue direct speech, what lexical resources express these meanings, and how rich and varied these vocabularies are in the two languages. Secondly, the comparisons across the languages provide the basis for a theoretical contribution to the debate about general typological differences in the semantics and lexicalization patterns of verbs in Germanic and Romance languages to the area of verbs for speech and to meaning modelling in general. Five main semantic categories of verbs were identified: speech, activity, perception, cognition and emotion. We show that Spanish features a much more varied repertoire than English and makes more use of verbs related to the domains of thinking and reasoning, while the physical domain is the preferred one in the English data set. It emerges that even though the same types of lexical resources are available in both languages, the ways of describing direct speech vary greatly.
The Incidence of Donor Site Pain After Bone Graft Harvesting From the Posterior Iliac Crest May Be Overestimated: A Study on Spine Fracture Patients

Study Design. A retrospective cohort study on patients with traumatic vertebral fractures who underwent fusion with iliac crest bone. Objective. To evaluate the influence of low back surgery on donor site attributed pain, we compared donor site pain between patients who underwent high and low level fusions. Summary of Background Data. The most common complication of posterior iliac crest bone graft harvesting is postoperative pain at the donor site. The incidence of donor site pain after bone graft harvesting from the posterior iliac crest is mainly reported from studies in patients who underwent low lumbar or lumbosacral surgery. The close proximity of the primary surgery to the iliac crest could interfere with the reported incidence of donor site pain. Methods. Questionnaires regarding the iliac crest morbidity were sent to patients who underwent instrumented posterolateral fusion after traumatic spinal fractures. The incidence of donor site attributed pain was compared between patients whose fusion was between T2 and L2, with patients whose fusion extended to L3 or more caudally. Results. In patients with a fusion of high levels, the donor site pain was significantly lower compared with patients with fusion of low levels (14.3% vs. 40.9%). Conclusion. Patients probably cannot differentiate between donor site pain and residual low back pain. The reported incidence of pain related to posterior iliac crest bone graft harvesting may therefore be overestimated.
Intellectual Capital (IC) Intensity vs. Capital Intensity: Impact on Corporate Governance and Disclosure Practices of Firms

This research focuses on industry characteristics and their impact on corporate governance and disclosure practices of firms. Nature of industry characteristics divides firms into two broad categories: intellectual capital (IC) intensive firms and capital intensive firms. Accordingly, this research studies the corporate governance and disclosure practices of firms listed in Indian stock market representing different sectors from both categories. The study has taken six sectors into consideration – Power, Oil & Gas, and Metal, along with Health Care, IT and FMCG. These sectors are segregated into high capital intensity (low IC intensity) and low capital intensity (high IC intensity) sectors depending on nature of industry. This study aims to establish a relationship, if any, between IC intensity of firms and their corporate governance practices in Indian context. Research concludes that there is no difference between IC intensive firms and capital intensive firms with respect to corporate governance and disclosure practices. After thorough empirical research, the paper explains why Indian scenario is different from developed nations such as USA.
Cleaning Data with Forbidden Itemsets

Methods for cleaning dirty data typically employ additional information about the data such as user-provided constraints specifying when data is dirty, e.g., domain restrictions, illegal value combinations, or logical rules. However, real-world scenarios usually only have dirty data available, without known constraints. In such settings, constraints are automatically discovered on dirty data and discovered constraints are used to detect and repair errors. Typical repairing processes stop there. Yet, when constraint discovery algorithms are re-run on the repaired data (assumed to be clean), new constraints and thus errors are often found. The repairing process then introduces new constraint violations. We present a different type of repairing method, which prevents introducing new constraint violations, according to a discovery algorithm. Summarily, our repairs guarantee that all errors identified by constraints discovered on the dirty data are fixed; and the constraint discovery process cannot identify new constraint violations. We do this for a new kind of constraints, called forbidden itemsets (FBIs), capturing unlikely value co-occurrences. We show that FBIs detect errors with high precision. Evaluation on real-world data shows that our repair method obtains high-quality repairs without introducing new FBIs. Optional user interaction is readily integrated, with users deciding how much effort to invest.
Mental health information.

What appears to be homesickness (“Swiss disease”) first appears in 16th century Swiss literature. It was a disease of epidemic proportions among Swiss mercenaries in the pay of European Kings. In 1678 the Swiss physician Hosferus called it „Nostalgic disease‟. As it appeared to be triggered at night by singing around campfires both singing and evening soup were banned but did little to stop it. By the early 18th century various theories had been proposed. It was realised that just as Swiss soldiers had to descend from high altitude to low, so whales came from the deep to beach themselves on dry land. This led to „pressure differential‟ treatment soldiers being confined to high towers, given doses of compressed air and rotated repeatedly in swivel chairs – but all to no avail. Bloodletting became the standard treatment.
Ste12 Transcription Factor Homologue CpST12 Is Down-Regulated by Hypovirus Infection and Required for Virulence and Female Fertility of the Chestnut Blight Fungus Cryphonectria parasitica

ABSTRACT A putative homologue of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ste12 transcription factor was identified in a series of expressed sequence tag-based microarray analyses as being down-regulated in strains of the chestnut blight fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica, infected by virulence-attenuating hypoviruses. Cloning of the corresponding gene, cpst12, confirmed a high level of similarity to Ste12 homologues of other filamentous fungi. Disruption of cpst12 resulted in no alterations in in vitro growth characteristics or colony morphology and an increase in the production of asexual spores, indicating that CpST12 is dispensable for vegetative growth and conidiation on artificial medium. However, the disruption mutants showed a very substantial reduction in virulence on chestnut tissue and a complete loss of female fertility, two symptoms normally conferred by hypovirus infection. Both virulence and female fertility were restored by complementation with the wild-type cpst12 gene. Analysis of transcriptional changes caused by cpst12 gene disruption with a custom C. parastica cDNA microaray chip identified 152 responsive genes. A significant number of these putative CpST12-regulated genes were also responsive to hypovirus infection. Thus, cpst12 encodes a cellular transcription factor, CpST12, that is down-regulated by hypovirus infection and required for female fertility, virulence and regulated expression of a subset of hypovirus responsive host genes.
Epidemiological study on feline gastric Helicobacter spp. in Japan

Epidemiological and pathological studies on Helicobacter spp. in feline stomachs in Japan were conducted using genus- and species-specific (H. felis, H. bizzozeronii, H. heilmannii sensu stricto [s.s.] and H. pylori) polymerase chain reactions (PCRs), ureAB gene sequencing and histopathology. PCR results showed that 28 of 56 cats were infected with Helicobacter spp. , and H. heilmannii s.s. was the most prevalent species by both PCR (28/28) and ureAB gene sequencing (26/28). Some of the sequences showed high similarities with those from human patients with gastric diseases (99%). There were no significant differences between Helicobacter spp. -positive and -negative cats in the severity of chronic gastritis (P=0.69). This is the first extensive epidemiological study on feline gastric Helicobacter spp. in Japan.
Risk factors for falls among Iowa farmers: a case-control study nested in the Agricultural Health Study.

BACKGROUND Farmers are at increased risk for fall-related injury compared with other occupations. Little is known about risk factors for non-fatal falls on the farm. This case-control study, nested within the Agricultural Health Study, aimed to assess risk factors for work-related falls among Iowa farmers. METHODS A screener questionnaire sent to 6,999 farmers in 1998 identified 79 farmers who reported a fall-related farm injury that required medical advice or treatment in the previous year. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to assess several possible risk factors for injury among these farmers compared with 473 farmers with no injury in the previous year. RESULTS There were significant associations between fall-related farm injury and age between 40 and 64 years (OR = 2.21; 95% CI = 1.20-4.07), doctor-diagnosed arthritis/rheumatism (OR = 2.05; 95% CI = 1.11-3.79), difficulty hearing normal conversation (even with a hearing aid, in the case of those who used one) (OR = 1.82; 95% CI = 1.07-3.08), and taking medications regularly (OR = 1.80; 95% CI = 1.02-3.18). CONCLUSIONS Aging and health impairments, such as arthritis and hearing difficulties, are risk factors for which accommodations and preventive strategies can be devised to prevent fall-related injuries on the farm.
Relationship between Environmental Reporting in Corporate Annual Reports & Corporate Profitability in Bangladesh

This study is designed to investigate the extent and nature of environmental reporting in corporate annual reports of the listed companies of Bangladesh. This study examines in particular the relationship between environmental disclosure in corporate annual reports and corporate profitability in Bangladesh. In order to do this, a disclosure index has been developed and utilized to measure the extent of disclosure made by companies in corporate annual reports. The study shows that corporate environmental reporting in Bangladesh is still in its infancy as the level of environmental disclosures on corporate annual reports is very low. This study reports that there is a positive relationship between environmental reporting and corporate profitability.
Piscirickettsia salmonis Imbalances the Innate Immune Response to Succeed in a Productive Infection in a Salmonid Cell Line Model

Piscirickettsia salmonis is a facultative intracellular bacterium that causes the disease called “salmon rickettsial syndrome”. Attempts to control this disease have been unsuccessful, because existing vaccines have not achieved the expected effectiveness and the antibiotics used fail to completely eradicate the pathogen. This is in part the product of lack of scientific information that still lacks on the mechanisms used by this bacterium to overcome infected–cell responses and survive to induce a productive infection in macrophages. For that, this work was focused in determining if P. salmonis is able to modify the expression and the imbalance of IL-12 and IL-10 using an in vitro model. Additionally, we also evaluated the role the antimicrobial peptide hepcidin had in the control of this pathogen in infected cells. Therefore, the expression of IL-10 and IL-12 was evaluated at earlier stages of infection in the RTS11 cell line derived from Oncorhynchus mykiss macrophages. Simultaneously, the hepcidin expression and location was analyzed in the macrophages infected with the pathogen. Our results suggest that IL-10 is clearly induced at early stages of infection with values peaking at 36 hours post infection. Furthermore, infective P. salmonis downregulates the expression of antimicrobial peptide hepcidin and vesicles containing this peptide were unable to merge with the infective bacteria. Our results suggest that P. salmonis is able to manipulate the behavior of host cytokines and likely might constitute a virulence mechanism that promotes intracellular bacterial replication in leukocytes cells lines of trout and salmon. This mechanism involves the generation of an optimum environment for the microorganism and the downregulation of antimicrobial effectors like hepcidin.
Trends in survival rates after allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation for acute and chronic leukemia by ethnicity in the United States and Canada.

PURPOSE Differences in survival among ethnic groups in the United States are reported in numerous diseases and treatment strategies. Whether survival after allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) differs by ethnicity is uncertain. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients (n = 6443) receiving HLA-identical sibling HSCT for acute or chronic leukemia in the United States or Canada between 1985 and 1999 and reported to the International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry were included. The survival of recipients reported as white, black, Hispanic, or Asian was compared using Cox proportional hazards regression adjusting for other clinical factors. Three 5-year periods were studied to evaluate changes over time. RESULTS Hispanics compared with whites had lower 1-year (53% v 65%; P <.001) and 3-year adjusted survival rates (38% v 53%; P <.001) between 1995 and 1999, the most recent period studied. We failed to find significant differences in survival rates comparing whites with blacks or with Asians in any of the time periods. Overall survival for the entire cohort improved over time, from 56% to 63% at 1 year and from 43% to 51% at 3 years, with greater improvements noted among blacks (45% to 61% at 1 year and 34% to 48% at 3 years). CONCLUSION Disparities remain in survival rates between whites and Hispanics despite adjustment for clinical factors. Factors not accounted for in this analysis, such as comorbid disease, socioeconomic status, healthcare access and delivery, and psychosocial and cultural variables, require further prospective study.
Synchronous High‐frequency Oscillations in Cat Area 18

The present study extends knowledge of the basic properties of correlated oscillatory activity patterns in the visual cortex of anaesthetized cats. Recordings with multiple electrodes were performed in area 18 and the correlations of multi‐unit activity in the frequency range 35‐80 Hz were determined using the coherence function. Statistical analysis revealed that the multi‐unit correlations depended on the cortical distance between the recording sites, the orientation selectivity of the neurons and their cortical layer. On average, correlations dropped to chance level within several millimetres and were higher in lower than in upper cortical layers. Similar results were found by analysing the correlations of oscillatory patterns in local field potentials recorded from the same electrodes. Correlations of neurons with similar orientation preferences were higher than those of neurons with different orientation preferences. Comparison to a matched sample from area 17 showed that the correlations in areas 18 and 17 depended on similar properties of the neurons. The dependences of correlated oscillations resembled the known pattern and specificity of intra‐areal fibre connections, suggesting that the correlations were intracortically established. Since correlations were specifically and not randomly related to the response properties of cortical neurons and were prominent in a visual area other than area 17, the findings suggest that correlated oscillatory activity provides a potential neural code supporting sensory information processing.
Path analysis of the consequences of customer service skills: an exploratory study in Jordan

The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between customer service skills (CSS), customer satisfaction (CS) and customers' loyalty (CL) through relationship marketing skills (RMS) in mobile service organisations (MSOs) in Jordan. Data were collected from 1,350 mobile service subscribers of the MSOs in Jordan. Our findings indicate that CSS has positively and significantly affected CS. CS dimensions have positively and significantly affected CL and RMS has positively and significantly affected CL. RMS partially mediated the relationship between CS dimensions and CL. Our research is the first attempt to investigate the relationship between CSS, CS and CL through RMS, as mediator, either in Jordan or in other developing countries.
Single versus Multiple Measurement of Attitudes

ABSTRACT Academic researchers tend to use multiple items to measure a construct reliably, whereas practitioners tend to use single-item measures. But when constructs such as brand attitude, attitude toward the advertisement, and attitude toward behaviors are double concrete—with a clear, singular meaning in which the object being rated also is clear and singularly identifiable—a single-item measure suffices (Rossiter, 2011). Using the results of 189 advertising studies, the authors found no difference in effect sizes when the double-concrete dependent variables were measured with single or multiple items—which means data collection is more efficient and less tedious. That is good news for advertising researchers in an era of ever-decreasing response rates and attention spans of respondents.
Vesicular stomatitis virus (New Jersey strain) infection in two California dairy herds: an epidemiologic study.

The course of vesicular stomatitis in cattle was investigated in 2 dairy herds (A and B) located in the southern San Joaquin Valley of California. Cattle were examined and specimens were obtained for virus isolation and for serologic survey for one year after an epizootic in December 1982. All 33 lactating cows selected for study had oral lesions, but only 19 (58%) were drooling or frothing around the mouth. Lesions on feet and teats were not observed. The healing time (longer than has been reported previously) for oral lesions ranged from 34 to 59 days. The mean serum neutralizing antibody titer for all cows tested in both herds 21 days after clinical signs were first observed was greater than 1:512. The mean titer decreased in the first 11 months after the epizootic, but remained greater than 1:128, and then increased during December 1983. Vesicular stomatitis virus/New Jersey strain was not isolated from 239 blood samples, 235 swab specimens of oral cavities, 38 swab specimens of oral epithelium, 206 urine specimens, or 232 fecal specimens collected from cows; however, it was isolated from tongue epithelium of 3 cows at 1, 4, and 21 days after signs of frothing were first noticed. For 20 lactating cows brought into dairy A during the epizootic, a mean time of 8.9 days elapsed between time of entry and appearance of clinical signs of vesicular stomatitis. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Molecular Analysis of Genes in Nostoc punctiforme Involved in Pilus Biogenesis and Plant Infection

ABSTRACT Hormogonia are the infective agents in many cyanobacterium-plant symbioses. Pilus-like appendages are expressed on the hormogonium surface, and mutations in pil-like genes altered surface piliation and reduced symbiotic competency. This is the first molecular evidence that pilus biogenesis in a filamentous cyanobacterium requires a type IV pilus system.
Evaluating the treatment of eating disorders from the patient's perspective.

OBJECTIVE This study investigated the evaluation of treatment of eating disorders (EDs) from the patient's perspective in a large community based sample in the Netherlands. It investigated perceived helpfulness of different types of treatment. Furthermore it investigated which patient and treatment characteristics contribute to the evaluation of treatment. METHOD The Eating Disorder Examination questionnaire was administered to 44 anorexia nervosa (AN), 43 bulimia nervosa (BN), 69 EDNOS (ED not otherwise specified), and 148 former ED patients. A questionnaire specifically designed for the purpose of this study addressing treatment history and patient's evaluation of their treatment was administered. RESULTS There is a substantial patient and doctor delay in seeking and finding treatment. Treatment in specialized ED centers, self-help groups, and treatment with a partner were reported to be most helpful. Beneficial components of treatment reported in specialized ED centers refer to the communication skills of professionals, the therapist-patient working alliance, the contact with peers, and the focus of treatment on both ED symptoms as well as underlying issues. CONCLUSION The patient's perspective on treatment of EDs does provide recommendations for the improvement of treatment of EDs that will facilitate clinical decision making and treatment planning.