Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Haplotype analysis in simplex families and novel analytic approaches in a case-control cohort reveal no evidence of association of the CTLA-4 gene with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) is a negative regulator of T cells and is, therefore, a strong candidate susceptibility gene for T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. The association of CTLA-4 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been investigated previously, with inconsistent results. Recently, SNPs mapping to the gene (and not previously investigated in RA) have been associated with both type 1 diabetes mellitus and Graves' disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of the CTLA-4 polymorphism with RA. METHODS Primer extension methods were used to genotype 5 haplotype-tagging SNPs (htSNPs) (-1722 T/C, -1661 A/G, -658 C/T, -319 C/T, and +49 A/G), and the TaqMan 5' allelic discrimination assay was used to genotype an additional 2 SNPs (CT60 and rs1863800) mapping to the CTLA-4 gene. Association to the 5 htSNPs was investigated using the transmission disequilibrium test in RA simplex families (n = 122). Allele frequencies for the htSNPs were also investigated in affected sibling pairs (n = 96) and unrelated controls (n = 173). For the SNPs CT60 and rs1863800, unrelated patients with RA (n = 759) were compared with controls (n = 755). RESULTS No evidence for association to single markers or haplotypes of the 5 htSNPs was detected in either RA simplex families or the affected sibling-control cohort. Neither of the 2 SNPs recently associated with Graves' disease showed evidence for association in the unrelated patient-control cohort. CONCLUSION No evidence for association of CTLA-4 with RA was detected using family or case-control methods.
Consumer perception of portable ladder hazards and warnings

This article describes the results of a survey intended as a preliminary assessment of consumer perceptions of the hazardousness of portable ladders and the warning labels provided on portable ladders. One hundred ten participants responded to an online survey tool called Amazon Mechanical Turk. The survey collected information about participants’ use of ladders, their ratings of familiarity with ladders, perceived hazardousness of portable ladders, and perception of warning labels on portable ladders. Results indicated a small but significant relationship between familiarity with ladders and their perceived hazardousness, and that participants thought that people should be warned about the hazards associated with ladder use. Implications for future research about consumer perception of portable ladder hazards and warnings are described.
Analysis of three phase distribution networks with distributed generation

This paper presents three phase distributed generations (DGs) model in unbalanced three-phase distribution power-flow and analyzes their effect when they are connected in distribution networks. The DGs can be modeled as a voltage-controlled node (PV node) or as a complex power injection (PQ node). The unbalanced three-phase distribution power-flow has been developed on the basis of the symmetrical components. Newton Raphson method has been chosen for well known excellent convergence characteristics. The three-phase power-flow program has been tested using a practical 37 node distribution feeder. The solution of the base case of the 37 node feeder is compared with the radial distribution analysis package (RDAP). Then the three-phase power-flow method is used to analyze distribution networks with DGs. The analysis is carried out with various size, quantity and location of DGs. The simulation results show that the integration of DG into an existing distribution network can improve the voltage profile as well as reduces the total system losses.
A Needs Analysis in Learning English for Airline Staff Program

Needs analysis is necessary for the institutions to design or develop the English curriculum to find out a set of competencies needed by the students. Needs analysis to find specific needs for the students in the institution may direct the institution to an English program called English for Specific Purposes (ESP). This study was aimed (1) to find out the students of Airline Staff Program need in learning English at International Tourism College and (2) to investigate in what extent the existing English syllabus appropriate to the students’ needs. A purposive sampling technique was used to choose the sample. The subjects were 71 students of Airline Staff Program, the lecturer and the manager of International Tourism College. The instruments were close ended-questionnaire, documentation, and interview guide. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted through qualitative and quantitative procedures, by using data reduction, presentation, verification and conclusion drawing. The first finding showed that students need to learn English because English is an international language that is used at airline industry. The students need to learn four skills; speaking, listening, reading and writing. However, communication and speaking skill are the main priorities skill for them. The second was from documentation. It is found that the syllabus is appropriate with the students’ need related to duration of the course, material, and context. The study also showed some aspects of teaching material should be upgraded in developing a communicative syllabus. Finally, by analyzing students’ need helped teachers and institution in designing an appropriate syllabus.
The Intersection of Child Maltreatment and Behaviour Problems: Implications for Child Welfare Service Providers

Evidence suggests that child maltreatment is associated with externalizing, antisocial, and criminal behaviour, although the mechanisms explaining this association remain poorly understood. The purpose of this thesis research is twofold: to deepen current understanding of the relationship between maltreatment and behaviour problems, and to understand the potential intervening role of child welfare services in influencing this relationship. With few Canadian studies in this area, an aim of this research is to provide a foundation from which future research
Isolation of Arcobacter butzleri from ground water

Arcobacter butzleri was isolated from a contaminated ground water source. These organisms, previously designated as aerotolerant Campylobacter, were capable of surviving in the ground water environment. Specific DNA probes were used to characterize the isolates in the initial identification and survival studies. Arcobacter butzleri was found to be sensitive to chlorine inactivation.
Exercise training improves neurovascular control and functional capacity in heart failure patients regardless of age

Background: Exercise training is a non-pharmacological strategy for treatment of heart failure. Exercise training improves functional capacity and quality of life in patients. Moreover, exercise training reduces muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and peripheral vasoconstriction. However, most of these studies have been conducted in middle-aged patients. Thus, the effects of exercise training in older patients are much less understood. The present study was undertaken to investigate whether exercise training improves functional capacity, muscular sympathetic activation and muscular blood flow in older heart failure patients, as it does in middle-aged heart failure patients. Design: Fifty-two consecutive outpatients with heart failure from the database of the Unit of Cardiovascular Rehabilitation and Physiology Exercise were divided by age (middle-aged, defined as 45–59 years, and older, defined as 60–75 years) and exercise status (trained and untrained). Methods: MSNA was recorded directly from the peroneal nerve using the microneurography technique. Forearm Blood Flow (FBF) was measured by venous occlusion plethysmography. Functional capacity was evaluated by cardiopulmonary exercise test. Results: Exercise training significantly and similarly increased FBF and peak VO2 in middle-aged and older heart failure patients. In addition, exercise training significantly and similarly reduced MSNA and forearm vascular resistance in these patients. No significant changes were found in untrained patients. Conclusion: Exercise training improves neurovascular control and functional capacity in heart failure patients regardless of age.
Modelisation de la tete humaine sous accelerations extremes par la methode des elements finis : application au choc et a l'hypergravite

En cas d'accident de la route, la tete humaine est generalement exposee a des chargements dynamiques violents provoquant des blessures de la tete qui sont toujours devastatrices pour les victimes et la societe. Malheureusement, tous les mecanismes de lesions cerebrales ne sont pas encore clairement connus. Dans ce travail de these, un modele d'elements finis tridimensionnel de la tete humaine a ete elabore avec, pour l'objectif la reproduction realiste de la geometrie reelle de la tete, puis d'estimer la limite de tolerance de la tete humaine au choc en termes de contrainte intracerebrale. Nous avons realise aussi une etude parametrique de la reponse dynamique du cerveau afin de mieux comprendre les influences de la cinematique de la tete humaine sur l'etat de contrainte et de deformation intracranienne. Nous avons ensuite realise une reconstruction numerique d'un impact subit par motocycliste lors d'un accident reel. Cette reconstruction d'accident est couplee a la reconstruction d'accident experimentale. En se basant sur les resultats de cette etude de reconstruction d'accident et de l'etude de validation, nous avons propose une limite de tolerance cerebrale en terme de contrainte de cisaillement maximale. Dans une deuxieme partie de cette these, la modelisation bidimensionnelle de l'ecoulement du lcr a ete realisee, afin de determiner les contraintes mecaniques induites au cerveau sous hypergravite. D'apres les resultats de nos simulations, un changement de mecanisme de pertes de connaissance semble se dessiner autour de jolt = 1 g/s.
The Reorganization of the Golgi Complex in Anoxic Pancreatic Acinar Cells

An extensive reorganization of the Golgi complex (CC) was found in the acinar cells of pancreatic lobules incubated in vitro under conditions which inhibited ATP synthesis and thereby blocked the intracellular transport of secretory proteins. After 15-min incubation under N, or in the presence of 1 mM dinitrophenol (DNP), transitional elements of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lost their protrusions, small peripheral Golgi vesicles decreased drastically in number, and fibrillar aggregates — 0.2 to 0.5 pm in diameter appeared on the cis side of the stacks of Golgi cisternae. These aggregates often contained vesicle-free, small (−40 nm), globular cages and, occasionally, vesicle-free, clathrin-like cages. Fibrillar aggregates were also observed on the trans side of Golgi stacks. Other changes included the proliferation of GERL-elements (“rigid lamellae”) and a striking increase in the population of coated vesicles trans to the Golgi complex and throughout the apical region of the anoxic acinar cells. All changes were found to be reversible provided the cells were incubated for less than 1 h under N2. These observations suggest that the fibrillar elements and the associated cages described in this study may play a role in the vesicular transport of newly synthesized proteins from the ER to the Golgi complex. Further work is needed to explore this possibility.
Effect of data acquisition accuracy on timing of stand harvests and expected net present value.

Modern remote sensing provides cost-efficient spatial digital data that are more accurate than before. However, the influence of increased accuracy and cost-efficiency on simulations of forest management planning has not been evaluated. The aim of the present study was to analyse the effect of data acquisition accuracy on standwise forest inventory by comparing the accuracy and cost of traditional compartmentwise inventory methods with 2D and 3D measurements of digital aerial photographs and airborne laser scanning. Comparison was based on the expected net present value (NPV), i.e. economic losses that consisted of the inventory costs and incorrect timings of treatments. The reference data, totalling 700 ha, were measured from Central Park in the city of Helsinki, Finland. The data were simulated to final cut with a MOTTI simulator, which is a stand-level analysis tool that can be used to assess the effects of alternative forest management practices on growth and timber yield. The results showed that when inventory costs were not considered there were no significant differences between the expected NPV losses in 3D measurements of digital aerial photographs, laser scanning and the compartmentwise method. When inventory costs were taken into account, the compartmentwise method was still the most efficient inventory method in the study area. Forest inventories, however, are usually directed to larger areas when the costs per hectare of remote-sensing methods decrease. As a result of better accuracies, 3D and compartmentwise methods always produce better results than the 2D method when NPV losses are accounted. Simulations of this type are based on the accuracies and costs of the 3D data available today, assuming that the data can be used in tree-level measurements.
Gender Differences in Reward-Based Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is one of the most successful segments of the burgeoning fintech industry that might challenge the role of traditional financial intermediaries. We document a number of gender differences in crowdfunding by analyzing a near-comprehensive sample of Kickstarter campaigns launched by individual entrepreneurs in the U.S. We argue that these differences are most plausibly explained by male entrepreneurs' relative overconfidence. Suggesting a tendency to overestimate the potential demand for their products, we find that male entrepreneurs set higher goal amounts, which results in more frequent campaign failures. In contrast, female entrepreneurs' campaigns are more likely to succeed and achieve higher pledged amounts relative to campaign goals. In successive campaigns, both male entrepreneurs' goal amounts and success rates converge toward those of female entrepreneurs, consistent with entrepreneurial experience mitigating the effects of overconfidence. The results are robust to using matched control groups, alleviating the potential concern about a selection effect.
Creating and taming discord: How firms manage embedded competition in alliance portfolios to limit alliance termination

Research Summary: Firms with resources that make them attractive allies are also desirable partners for competitors so that competition among partners is embedded in alliance portfolios. We develop a framework in which competition within a portfolio creates benefits for a focal firm but threatens partners, increasing the hazard of alliance termination. We then propose four mechanisms for managing the threat of competition to partners reflecting aspects of portfolio configuration: alliance governance, social cohesion, social structure of competition, and partner similarity. We test our framework using a sample of 204 biopharmaceutical firms with alliance portfolios comprising 1,621 alliances between 1990 and 2000. The study addresses the interplay of competition and cooperation in alliance portfolios, and more generally, key aspects of value chain integration strategy. Managerial Summary: Alliance portfolios comprise a focal firm's set of direct partners, some of which compete with each other because of overlapping resources, capabilities, and strategies. The threat of actual or perceived competition from other partners may cause some firms to terminate their alliance with the focal firm. We develop a framework comprising four mechanisms related to alliance portfolios—alliance governance, social cohesion, social structure of competition, and partner similarity—that allows focal firms to attenuate the hazard of termination of their alliances. We find support for our framework in a study of 204 biopharmaceutical firms with alliance portfolios comprising 1,621 alliances between 1990 and 2000. We improve understanding of how firms can manage competition and cooperation within their alliance portfolios.
The guidance subsystem of a remotely controlled autonomous robot in the physical agent system (PAS)

The purpose of this research is to provide a sensory feedback about distance information in the remotely controlled autonomous robot systems. The distance information to the target object, pointed by a laser pointer operated from remote place, is measured by triangular principle coupled with a CCD camera. In this research, force feedback is used, in order to display the distance information to an operator. As a result of this research, an operator can perform robot operation with a spatial feel. This paper evaluates and describes the relation between the force feedback patterns and distance recognition.
Pituitary irradiation with high-energy proton beams: a preliminary report.

Summary There has been described a multiple-plane, rotational technic for irradiation of the human pituitary gland with the 340-Mev proton beam from the 184-inch synchrocyclotron. Peak doses of 14,000–30,000 rad at the center of the pituitary have been administered to 26 patients with metastatic breast cancer, and decreased pituitary function and gross and microscopic damage of the pituitary gland have been demonstrated. The most common laboratory findings were depression of I131 uptake by the thyroid and decrease of 24-hour urinary gonadotropins. There was clinical evidence of improvement in a few of the patients treated. Four patients with acute lymphatic leukemia, embryonal dysgerminoma of the testis, chronic lymphatic leukemia and diabetes mellitus, and malignant exophthalmos have also been irradiated, but they are not reported in detail at this time.
Three-phase flyback/current-fed push-pull dc-dc converter with y-Δ connected transformer

This paper presents the three-phase dc-dc flyback/current-fed push-pull converter. The main features of the proposed converter are: flyback operation for a duty cycle less than 1/3; boost operation for a duty cycle range from 1/3 to 1; input and output ripple current cancellation for a duty cycle of 1/3 or 2/3; reduced inrush current in flyback mode operation; the voltage and current frequencies in the output filter are three times higher than the switching frequency; The Y-Δ connection allows a reduction of reactive power processed by transformer. Typical applications include charging stations for electric vehicles, installations fed by battery units, photovoltaic arrays or fuel cell systems. This paper gives theoretical analysis, simulation and experimental result data for a 2 kW; 150 Vdc input; output from 100 Vdc to 540 Vdc and, 40 kHz switching frequency.
A human experiment in nerve division by W.H.R. Rivers MD FRS, Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge and Henry Head MD FRS, Physician to the London Hospital, Brain 1908: 31; 323-450.

Despite having studied in detail the symptoms and signs of recovery from peripheral nerve injury in patients at the London Hospital with Mr James Sherren, Dr Head knows that much of importance is missing from these accounts. Moreover, Dr Rivers—who has advised Sherren and Head on psychophysical aspects of their work throughout—is frustrated by the relative paucity of his own observations. The solution is simple. Dr Rivers will cut and suture all cutaneous branches of Dr Head's radial nerve at the left elbow sparing any muscular innervations and, together, they will study the patterns of recovery. Surgery takes place on 25 April 1903 in the house of Mr Dean, with Mr Sherren assisting. Continuing with his practice at the London Hospital but travelling to Cambridge for examination in Dr Rivers's College room at weekends—in order to avoid ‘the ordinary distractions of a busy life … fatal to the detachment required by the sensory tests we wished to apply’—Dr Head summarizes his responses to the examination of the affected and his normal parts over the next 4 years. Overall, Dr Head is examined over several hours on each of 167 days at intervals between 26 April 1903 and 13 December 1907, during which he is not aware of the precise nature or order of the tests being applied (Fig. 1). Sensation is mapped systematically in a grid of 1 cm squares. A variety of instruments are used: reliance is placed on the use of cotton wool; graduated tactile and pain hairs provided by Professor Maximilian von Frey that stimulate at between 8 and 266 g/mm2; Cattell's pressure algometer; temperature applied by a flat-bottomed 1.25 cm diameter silver tube; heat and cold spots detected using the 1 mm2 tip of a soldering iron; discrimination of the two points of …
Nervous signs associated with otitis and cranial osteomyelitis and with Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale infection in red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa)

A case of nervous signs in red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) associated with a severe otitis and osteomyelitis is reported. The outbreak was characterized by abnormal head position, torticollis and difficulty in standing, walking and flying. Pathological, microbiological and molecular genetic data supported an association with Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) infection. Clinical signs persisted for several days and were accompanied by weight loss leading to death. Morbidity was approximately 20% and most birds died if untreated. Lesions were mainly characterized by a severe osteomyelitis of the cranial bones and purulent inflammation of the external, middle and inner ears. O. rhinotracheale was isolated from ear samples, skull and brain stem in pure culture. Genetic characterization by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of the clinical isolates showed that the outbreak was caused by a single strain of ORT. This appears to be the first report of otitis associated with ORT in an avian species.
Whole-Genome Shotgun Sequences of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Lilleengen Type Strains LT1, LT18, LT19, LT20, LT21, and LT22

ABSTRACT The Lilleengen type (LT) collection of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strains has served the scientific community as a group of model organisms for basic genetic and biochemical pathway research. Here, we report the whole-genome shotgun sequences of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strains LT1, LT18, LT19, LT20, LT21, and LT22.
Anatomy and Histology of the Frontalis Muscle

Purpose: To determine the gross and histologic configurations of the medial and lateral frontalis muscle. Methods: After making a midcoronal incision and bluntly dissecting to the orbital rim, the frontalis muscle was marked and measured. A protractor was used to measure the frontalis–orbicularis angle (FOA) and, when present, the angle of central bifurcation (AOB). Three strips of full-thickness forehead soft tissue measuring 0.5 cm × 8 cm were excised 3, 4.5, and 6 cm above the supraorbital notch and analyzed histologically for the presence of skeletal muscle fibers. Data were analyzed using 2-sample t tests, paired t tests, Pearson correlations, and mixed effect models. A p value of ⩽ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Sixty-four hemifaces of 32 cadavers (16 males) were dissected. All specimens were Caucasian. The average age was 78.2 years (range, 56–102 years). The average FOA was 88.7° (13.0°), and the average AOB was 90.0° (26.4°). A visible midline bifurcation occurred in 28 of 32 subjects (88%) at an average height of 4.7 cm (range, 2.4–7.2 cm) superior to the supraorbital notch. Continuous skeletal muscle fibers were present within the midline bifurcation histologically in 89%, 75%, and 11% of specimens 3.5, 5.0, and 6.5 cm above the supraorbital notch, respectively. In 46% of individuals, skeletal muscle fibers were continuously present microscopically within the gross bifurcation. Conclusion: While a medial frontalis muscle bifurcation occurs grossly in most senescent Caucasians, muscle fibers exist microscopically within this zone in nearly half of individuals.