Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Circulating endothelial progenitor cells in systemic sclerosis: association with disease severity

Background: Heterogeneous data have been reported regarding the detection and number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Objective: We investigated the number of circulating EPCs using recent recommendations and we quantified their late outgrowth in patients with SSc and healthy controls. Patients and methods: EPCs, defined as Lin–/7AAD–/CD34+/CD133+/VEGFR-2+ cells, were quantified in 50 patients with SSc (mean age: 55 (16) years, disease duration: 9 (9) years) and 26 controls (mean age: 53 (19) years) by cell sorting/flow cytometry and by counting late outgrowth colony-forming units (CFU). Results: Patients with SSc displayed higher circulating EPC counts than controls (median 86 (5–282) vs 49 (5–275)) EPCs for 1 million Lin– mononuclear cells; p = 0.01). Lower EPC counts were associated with the higher Medsger’s severity score (p = 0.01) and with the presence of past and/or current digital ulcers (p = 0.026). There was no difference for the number of late outgrowth EPC-CFUs between patients with SSc and controls in cell culture evaluation. The formation of colonies was associated with higher levels of circulating EPCs (p = 0.02) and the number of colonies correlated with levels of EPCs (R = 0.73, p = 0.0004), validating our combination of fluorescence-activated cell sorter surface markers. Conclusions: We quantified circulating EPCs with an accurate combination of markers herein validated. Our data demonstrate increased circulating EPC levels in SSc, supporting their mobilisation from bone marrow. Furthermore, the subset of patients with digital vascular lesions and high severity score displayed low EPC counts, suggesting increased homing at this stage. The predictive value of this biomarker now warrants further evaluation.
The interaction of heparan sulfate proteoglycans with endothelial transglutaminase-2 limits VEGF165-induced angiogenesis

Transglutaminase-2 attenuates blood vessel formation by preventing heparan sulfate from potentiating signaling by a VEGF isoform. Preventing angiogenesis Limiting angiogenesis, the process of blood vessel formation, is desirable in various clinical contexts. Proteins of the VEGF family are key angiogenic factors, and some VEGF isoforms bind to heparan sulfate proteoglycans along with the receptor VEGFR2 to stimulate angiogenesis. Beckouche et al. found that transglutaminase-2, a cross-linking enzyme that can be released by endothelial cells, prevented a specific VEGF isoform from binding to heparan sulfate proteoglycans. Mice lacking transglutaminase-2 had increased retinal angiogenesis. In addition, the sprouting of endothelial capillaries in response to this VEGF isoform was increased when the cells were deficient in transglutaminase-2. Sprouting angiogenesis is stimulated by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF165) that is localized in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and binds to heparan sulfate (HS)–bearing proteins known as heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs). VEGF165 presentation by HSPGs enhances VEGF receptor–2 (VEGFR2) signaling. We investigated the effect of TG2, which binds to HSPGs, on the interaction between VEGF165 and HS and angiogenesis. Mice with tg2 deficiency showed transiently enhanced retina vessel formation and increased vascularization of VEGF165-containing Matrigel implants. In addition, endothelial cells in which TG2 was knocked down exhibited enhanced VEGF165-induced sprouting and migration, which was associated with increased phosphorylation of VEGFR2 at Tyr951 and its targets Src and Akt. TG2 knockdown did not affect the phosphorylation of VEGFR2 at Tyr1175 or cell proliferation in response to VEGF165 and sprouting or signaling in response to VEGF121. Decreased phosphorylation of VEGFR2 at Tyr951 was due to ECM-localized TG2, which reduced the binding of VEGF165 to endothelial ECM in a manner that required its ability to bind to HS but not its catalytic activity. Surface plasmon resonance assays demonstrated that TG2 impeded the interaction between VEGF165 and HS. These results show that TG2 controls the formation of VEGF165-HSPG complexes and suggest that this regulation could be pharmacologically targeted to modulate developmental and therapeutic angiogenesis.
Clinicians Communicating with Patients Experiencing Cancer Pain

Purpose: Provider-patient communication deficits are often implicated as barriers to adequate cancer pain relief. The purpose of this study was to describe verbal communication behaviors and interactions between providers and patients reporting cancer pain. Methods: As part of a multisite clinical trial, we enrolled 17 oncology physician specialists and 84 patient participants who had reported cancer pain or treatment-related pain in the previous week associated with prostate or head and neck cancer. The study baseline clinic visits(N=84) were audiotaped, transcribed, and entered into non-numerical unstructured data indexing searching and theorizing (NUD·IST) for content analysis. Each text unit in each transcript was coded as to conversation context: pain, additional symptom/side effects, tumor treatment, and/or personal remarks. Clinician questions were coded as either open-ended or closed-ended, clinician interruptions and subject changes were counted, and a measure of verbal dominance was calculated. Results: The clinicians spent over half the conversations doing the talking. We calculated a close-ended to open-ended question ratio of 5.8:1. In 55% of the visits, the patient with cancer was interrupted by the clinician when the patient attempted to provide information or ask a question. Symptoms/side effects were addressed in practically all visits, whereas sensory pain was addressed in 90% of the visits. Conclusions: The clinicians were attentive to daily problems relevant to treatment side effects; however, the results also indicate a pattern of communication during the clinic visit that is typically clinician oriented. The nature of such communication may prevent the patient from sharing significant facts and experiences relevant to cancer pain and thus compromise the quality of pain management.
Primary lymphoma of the central nervous system: epidemiology, pathology and current approaches to diagnosis, prognosis and treatment

An overview of the current approaches to the management of patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is provided. Although accumulating evidence demonstrates that PCNSL is a curable type of brain tumor, in many cases establishing the diagnosis and overcoming chemotherapeutic resistance remain significant obstacles. The issue of treatment-related neurotoxicity is also a central consideration in treatment planning. The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy has had a major impact on this disease in that the incidence of AIDS-related central nervous system lymphoma, once highly prevalent in the 1980s and 1990s, has now virtually disappeared. However, the problem of diagnostic delays secondary to steroid effects, radiation-induced neurotoxicity and methotrexate resistance represent unique and important problems in this disease. The use of anti-CD20 antibody in this disease represents the first application of biologically based targeted therapies for PCNSL; however, the overall impact of this modality in brain lymphoma awaits further evaluation in ongoing studies The application of proteomic as well as gene expression technologies is yielding insights into PCNSL pathogenesis, in particular specific oncogenic pathways, which may be exploited to develop new therapies.
Status of Women in Indian Society

The present study is related to status of women in Indian society from ancient days till today. It gives importance on the position of women in various fields like family life, social life and work situation. It highlights on female foeticide, low literacy level of women, women's low nutritional status, women's role in decision making, their position as per Indian tradition etc. This paper also gives emphasis on number of women in total workforce, torture of them by men in family life, social life and in other fields where they are participants. Lastly it concludes on importance of women and role of society for the emancipation of women from male dominated society and their oppression and suppression.
Classification of digital modulation schemes using neural networks

Modulation recognition systems have to be able to correctly classify the incoming signal's modulation scheme in the presence of noise. This paper addresses the problem of automatic modulation recognition of digital communication signals using neural networks. Seven digital modulation schemes have been considered and seven features have been used as inputs to the neural network (NN) to perform the classification. Several NN structures have been tested that perform at over 99% accuracy at signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) of 10 dB. Design considerations for the NN classifier are discussed and the implementation of these has been shown to produce significant reduction in network size. The performance of the NN-based classifier has also been compared with that of a decision-theoretic classifier; it was found that the NN slightly outperforms the decision-theoretic classifier.
Improved cell core for a mixed-mode polynomial CNN

This paper proposes improvements for a recently reported mixed-mode polynomial CNN cell structure. Like the previous cell core, the improved cell can be used to process input data that has been divided into blocks (layers), while keeping all input/output operations during processing local. The improved cell core uses current memories as means to convey data between different blocks. This way only one DA converter and polynomial circuit is needed in the cell and the current sources of the DAC can also be utilized in the ADC. In addition to gray-scale processing, the cell is capable of processing binary data so that the eight-bit gray-scale state memory can be used as eight one-bit local memories. The analog circuits of the design are composed of simple primitives which make the design well suited for implementation using modern silicon process.
Extended-Spectrum (cid:2) -Lactamase CTX-M-1 in Escherichia coli Isolates from Healthy Poultry in France (cid:1)

Genes encoding extended-spectrum (cid:1) -lactamase CTX-M-1 were detected in 12 Escherichia coli isolates recovered over a 7-month period from the ceca of healthy poultry in seven districts in France in 2005. Eleven of those strains were not clonally related and had a bla CTX-M-1 gene located on transferable plasmids of different sizes and structures. the clavulanic (cid:2) -lactamases either derivatives of CTX-M-type -lactamases
ViSA: Visualization of sorting algorithms

Algorithm analysis and design is a great challenge for both computer and information science students. Fear of programming, lack of interest and the abstract nature of programming concepts are main causes of the high dropout and failure rates in introductory programming courses. With an aim to motivate and help students, a number of researchers have proposed various tools. Although it has been reported that some of these tools have a positive impact on acquiring programming skills, the problem still remains essentially unresolved. This paper describes ViSA, a tool for visualization of sorting algorithms. ViSA is an easy-to-set-up and fully automatic visualization system with step-by-step explanations and comparison of sorting algorithms. Design principles and technical structure of the visualization system as well as its practical implications and educational benefits are presented and discussed.
Marijuana initiation in 2 American Indian reservation communities: comparison with a national sample.

OBJECTIVES We examined disparities in age-related patterns of marijuana initiation in 2 culturally distinct American Indian reservation communities (from the Northern Plains and the Southwest) compared with a national sample. METHODS We used discrete-time survival models to estimate age-related risk for initiation with data from 2 population-based studies: the American Indian Service Utilization, Psychiatric Epidemiology, Risk and Protective Factors Project and the baseline National Comorbidity Survey. RESULTS Among respondents who were born before 1960, peak risk for marijuana initiation in all samples was at age 18 years, and risk was greatest in the national sample. Among those who were born later than 1960, risk peaked at age 16 years and was highest in the American Indian samples. Males were at increased risk compared with females, especially in the older cohort and the Southwest tribal sample. CONCLUSIONS Findings of disproportionate risk for marijuana initiation among younger members of the tribal samples raise concerns that American Indian reservation youths may be increasingly vulnerable to drug use and its concomitants, which suggests a need for more aggressive prevention efforts in these communities.
Increased Angiostatin Levels in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluids from ARDS Patients and from Human Volunteers after Lung Instillation of Endotoxin

Summary Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by a disruption of the alveolar-capillary barrier, due to both an epithelial and an endothelial dysfunction. Whereas epithelial apoptosis seems to be mainly mediated by Fas ligand, the mediators of endothelial damage remain to be identified. Angiostatin, a powerful inhibitor of angiogenesis in vivo, also specifically induces apoptosis in endothelial cells. The concentration of various enzymes that cleave angiostatin from plasminogen was reported to be significantly increased in bronchalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids from patients with ARDS. Therefore, in this study, we investigated whether angiostatin was generated during the pulmonary inflammatory response of both healthy subjects challenged with endobronchial endotoxin and in patients with ARDS. We found significantly elevated angiostatin levels in BAL fluids from patients at risk for and with early ARDS (up to 0.022% and 0.018% of total protein, respectively), as well as in BAL fluids from volunteers treated with endotoxin (up to 1.17% of total protein), as compared to BAL fluids from control patients (<0.005% of total protein). These data suggest that angiostatin may contribute to the endothelial damage observed in ARDS, probably via an increased permeability of the alveolar capillary barrier, allowing for an intra-alveolar processing of its precursor plasminogen.
Effects of stressors on immune parameters and on the faecal shedding of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in piglets following experimental inoculation.

The study examined the effects of stressors on the responses of 3 and a half-week old piglets that had been given an oral dose of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and a novel harmless antigen (ovalbumin). Removal from the sow (WEAN), a short-term cold stressor (12;C for 48 hours) (TEMP) and mixing with non-littermates (MIX) were assessed in terms of the effects on faecal shedding of ETEC, immune responses, weight gain and an ACTH stimulation test. WEAN and TEMP reduced weight gain and all stressors increased faecal shedding of ETEC. All stressors increased the IgG responses to F4(K88)ac antigens and WEAN and TEMP increased the IgA responses to the same antigens, probably as a result of increased intestinal proliferation of ETEC. None of the stressors, however, had significant effects on antibody responses to ovalbumin or on lymphocyte proliferation assays. The results indicate that stressors influence the faecal shedding of ETEC in young piglets by a mechanism that may not involve modulation of immune responses.
Invariance of Buy-Sell Switching Points

Define the number of buy-sell “switching points” as the number of times that individual traders change the direction of their trading. Based on the hypothesis that switching points take place in business time, market microstructure invariance predicts that the aggregate number of switching points is proportional to the 2=3 power of the product of dollar volume and volatility. Using trading data from the Korea Exchange (KRX) from 2008 to 2010, we estimate the exponent to be 0.675 with standard error of 0.005. Invariance explains about 93% of the variation in the logarithm of the number of switching points each month across stocks. Most of the variation represents changes in the number of accounts trading the stock and not the number of switching points per account.
Effects of the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L‐NMMA on cerebrovascular and cardiovascular responses to hypoxia and hypercapnia in humans

Cerebral blood flow is highly sensitive to alterations in the partial pressures of O2 and CO2 (P O 2 and P CO 2, respectively) in the arterial blood. In humans, the extent to which nitric oxide (NO) is involved in this regulation is unclear. We hypothesized that the NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor NG‐monomethyl‐l‐arginine (l‐NMMA), attenuates the sensitivity of middle cerebral artery blood velocity () to isocapnic hypoxia (end‐tidal P O 2= 50 Torr) and euoxic hypercapnia (end‐tidal P CO 2=+9 Torr above resting values) in 10 volunteers (age, 28.7 ± 1.3 years; height, 179.2 ± 2.4 cm; weight, 78.0 ± 3.7 kg; mean ±s.e.m.). The techniques of transcranial Doppler ultrasound and dynamic end‐tidal forcing were used to measure , and control end‐tidal P O 2 and end‐tidal P CO 2, respectively. At baseline (isocapnic euoxia), following intravenous administration of l‐NMMA, mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) increased (76.3 ± 7.3 to 86.2 ± 9.4 mmHg) and heart rate (HR) decreased (59.5 ± 9.0 to 55.2 ± 9.5 beats min−1) but was unchanged. Hypoxia‐induced increases in MAP, HR and were similar with and without l‐NMMA (5.0 ± 0.7 versus 7.1 ± 1.0 mmHg, 11.5 ± 1.4 versus 12.4 ± 1.5 beats min−1, 6.5 ± 0.8 versus 6.6 ± 0.8 cm s−1 for ΔMAP, ΔHR and Δ, respectively). Hypercapnia‐induced increases in MAP, HR and were similar with and without l‐NMMA (7.4 ± 3.1 versus 8.1 ± 2.2 mmHg, 10.4 ± 4.6 versus 10.0 ± 4.2 beats min−1, 16.5 ± 1.5 versus 17.6 ± 1.5 cm s−1 for ΔMAP, ΔHR and Δ, respectively) but the sensitivity of the response at the removal of hypercapnia was attenuated with l‐NMMA. In young healthy humans, pharmacological blockade of nitric oxide synthesis does not affect the increases in cerebral blood flow with hypoxia and hypercapnia, suggesting that nitric oxide is not required for the cerbrovascular responses to hypoxia and hypercapnia.
ClpA mediates directional translocation of substrate proteins into the ClpP protease

The intracellular degradation of many proteins is mediated in an ATP-dependent manner by large assemblies comprising a chaperone ring complex associated coaxially with a proteolytic cylinder, e.g., ClpAP, ClpXP, and HslUV in prokaryotes, and the 26S proteasome in eukaryotes. Recent studies of the chaperone ClpA indicate that it mediates ATP-dependent unfolding of substrate proteins and directs their ATP-dependent translocation into the ClpP protease. Because the axial passageway into the proteolytic chamber is narrow, it seems likely that unfolded substrate proteins are threaded from the chaperone into the protease, suggesting that translocation could be directional. We have investigated directionality in the ClpA/ClpP-mediated reaction by using two substrate proteins bearing the COOH-terminal ssrA recognition element, each labeled near the NH2 or COOH terminus with fluorescent probes. Time-dependent changes in both fluorescence anisotropy and fluorescence resonance energy transfer between donor fluorophores in the ClpP cavity and the substrate probes as acceptors were measured to monitor translocation of the substrates from ClpA into ClpP. We observed for both substrates that energy transfer occurs 2–4 s sooner with the COOH-terminally labeled molecules than with the NH2-terminally labeled ones, indicating that translocation is indeed directional, with the COOH terminus of the substrate protein entering ClpP first.
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria

The impact of open-pit lignite mining on water resources creates significant conflicts between different interest groups, such as the mining industry, water supply agencies, and agriculture in the mining region. The activities of each of the interest groups modify the water resources system and at the same time the conditions for resources use by other groups. Consequently, there is an apparent need for the analysis of regional water policies to reconcile the conflicting interests within such socio-eeonomic environmental systems. On that, a collaborative study between the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and Research Institutes in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and Poland is directed.
Librarians’ Use of Social Media for Professional Development in Nigeria

This paper examined the use of social media for professional development by librarians in Nigeria. The study was carried out using the survey research method. The study population was made up of 1294 registered members of Nigerian Library Association Online Forum. Random sampling technique was used in selecting 297 respondents for the study. Data was collected by means of questionnaire. Findings from the study revealed that online discussion forums such as NLA online forum, online social networks such as Facebook and Wikis were mostly used for professional development, while others such as podcast and book marking tools were used minimally. Librarians were also found to learn mostly by reading through the conversations of others and joining discussion groups. Based on the findings, the study concluded that librarians in Nigeria actively seek means of professional development using social media and recommends among others, that the use of social media applications such as podcast and bookmarking tools be explored as they could also contribute to professional learning/development.
Conversion to dementia in mild cognitive impairment diagnosed with DSM‐5 criteria and with Petersen's criteria

In a background of revision of criteria for states of increased risk for progression to dementia, we compare the conversion rate to dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as diagnosed using DSM‐5 (DSM‐5‐MCI) and Petersen's (P‐MCI) criteria.
Re-evaluation of acid-base prediction rules in patients with chronic respiratory acidosis.

RATIONALE The prediction rules for the evaluation of the acid-base status in patients with chronic respiratory acidosis, derived primarily from an experimental canine model, suggest that complete compensation should not occur. This appears to contradict frequent observations of normal or near-normal pH levels in patients with chronic hypercapnia. METHODS Linear regression analysis was used to estimate the relationships between arterial pH, bicarbonate and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2) from 18 separate arterial blood gas measurements in 18 clinically stable outpatients with chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure from chronic obstructive lung disease, and without clinical conditions or medications likely to cause a primary metabolic alkalosis. RESULTS The PCO2 ranged from 45 mmHg to 77 mmHg, and pH ranged from 7.37 to 7.44. In only three of the arterial blood gas measurements were the pH values lower than 7.38. From the regression equations derived from these measurements, the pH decreased by 0.014 for each 10 mmHg increase in the PCO2, and the bicarbonate level increased by 5.1 mmol/L. These values are quite different from a decrease in pH of 0.03 and an increase in bicarbonate of 3.5 mmol/L predicted using the rules derived from the canine model. CONCLUSIONS In patients with chronic stable hypercapnia, acid-base compensatory mechanisms appear to be more effective than would be predicted using the classic rules.